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Sunday, December 27, 2009

Homeward bound

We're having a really terrific time here in Singapore, eating and catching up with people and spending quality time with family. And Christmas, oh Christmas!

I have to say, there's definitely more of a Christmas atmosphere here than in Melbourne. The extravagant lights, throngs of people, piped Christmas music, Christmas cheer, it all brings back a rush of memories and revelry.

Some pics via Just-whatever.com






Lunch was special at my family's where everyone got together to swap presents and stories (Uncle Y's being the most outrageous as usual, something about his Chinese god-daughter hooking up with an Angolese diplomat's son and bearing his child. And its political/legal/moral ramifications.) And we ate and ate and ate.

I think my parents are really enjoying the time with their little grandson - they've been babysitting him, and watched him after the party as we went to catch Avatar 3D. (Pretty amazing movie, a wholly created world! [My hip parents had already caught it before we did - Dad was proudly announcing that he got to watch it on his Senior Citizens pass - just $4 only okay?!]) It's great to see Mum and Dad pouring so much joy and seeing it reciprocated, with Aidan saying "I want to go Por Por's house" (to see/play with the fish in the fake pond apparently) pretty often, or "Por Por where?" Seems like my parents' doting have paid off handsomely. ;p

Of course he's also been having heaps of fun with his cousins and living with Gran and Grandad too - who've been spoiling him with lotsa treats.

Anyhoos! Aidan's much needed haircut - click to see a bigger pic:

Aidan is getting his much needed haircut. on Twitpic


Wednesday, December 9, 2009

A New Addition

On Monday, we welcomed to the world a brand new little brother for Aidan.


No, don't jump your guns, IVY and STEVIE had the baby, not me! Lil' Zacharaiah!! We've been eagerly anticipating your arrival, and now here, you are, you gorgeous thing!




Brilliant thing is, Aidan's been completely enamoured with lil' Z. He's been kissing him, patting him, and telling him off like a big brother does ("No more crying Zachariah!"). And this morning he said "Mama, mama, help me mama! Mama, mama, help!" To which I frantically replied, "What's wrong??!!", and he said, "No, Zachariah cry, 'Mama, help!'" How CUTE!!


And then tonight, just before bed, he copied my exercises! Leg lifts, tricep dips and star toe-touches. It was adorable! "Mama, Aidan try!" I should've taken pictures. But I've taken heaps of videos lately (like one this morning, singing another rousing rendition of Twinkle Star, this time with diamond fingers...will upload it soon!)

What a cutie!



Thursday, December 3, 2009

Another milestone!

Aidan can wear his pants on his own now!! Woohoo! Just taught him to pop down, put one leg in, then the other, and voila!

So proud of the little bubs. Now if he can only stay put and do a number on the toilet, instead of rolling the toilet paper around, or asking me to sing Around the Mulberry Bush over and over again.


Thursday, November 26, 2009

Aidan on the "phone"

The funniest thing the other day, he picked up our XBox remote control and started talking into it like a telephone.

Conversation was varied, ranging from ordering Chicken & Pasta, to asking Guo Jin about drums. Hilarious!

Here it is; it's pretty long though, and a tad boring towards the end, but still pretty funny:



Thing is, Aidan LOVES watching himself on this video (or any video of himself for that matter). Quite
hiao lah. Haha!! He can watch it over and over again!



Friday, November 20, 2009

The Big Three O

Aidan fed himself noodles with chopsticks the other day. CHOPSTICKS. Albeit the kind with handles for training little kids, but he's pretty adept and handling food with it. Impressive!!

We got the Pororo ones from Mama Moo, as well as this thing called the Wean Machine for mushing up baby food, as a baby shower pressie for Ivy, and an anti-bacterial spray (rather than the alcohol gels which are nasty on my dermatitis-ridden hands).

In other news, I had a whole gadzillion of these at my b'day party over the weekend:



which is probably why I fell sick and am still nursing a sore throat. But thanks Candice they were lovely! And she actually gave me the recipe, which I'm dying to try out!




EG has more photos which he'll upload to FB soon!

It was a terrific weekend, I felt so loved! Friday nite out with the girls, a whole day of parties on Saturday with beautiful weather - Ivy's baby shower and Jin's housewarming - followed by a walk around the Flemington Twilight craft markets and dinner (if you can call eating at 5.30pm dinner) at Hellenic Republic where I got stuffed fatter than a Christmas turkey.

Then Sunday with a celebration in the park (great weather again!) with friends. And food prepped by Ivy. Who can ask for more?

Thanks for journeying with me!



Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Imaginarium

I think Aidan's got an imaginary friend named Momo. He asked me today, "Momo, where?" then answered his own question, "Outside!" He then proceeded to the hallway, and shouted, "Momo, where are you?"

It's quite curious, this Momo creature. So far, I've sussed out that Momo is a HE, and he's GREEN. And he's NOT a DRAGON. Hmmm....interesting!

It's so hot in Melbourne this week that I'm glad we had swim class this morning. And we bumped into May with Faith and Caleb who were there with their Mainly Music mother's group! Lots of great splashing around and it was pretty crowded; I reckon everyone had the same idea - escape the heat in the indoor pool. Chubby little kids in floaties, mums keeping and eye on them, and some Dads too (an aside: I spied a really cute Dad today, looks a lot like that guy from Glee but better looking. Looks like the pool's the new mixer! And don't worry...EG is still the best looking Dad in the world... *disclaimer*)

Here's hoping the weekend gets cooler with all the parties we're having (including the Big Three-O!!!)



Thursday, October 22, 2009

Communication

He said a full proper sentence the other day, albeit a short one.

"I want to stay home."

There you have it folks, subject and predicate! Pronouns, preposition, subject, object, the whole shebang!

I was pretty proud, even though I still had to convince him that no, Mama had to run errands and go to school too, and that he'll have fun in school playing with Mia and Genevieve and Oscar and all his friends in the sandpit.

Poor bubba, what a pout. But he lightened up.

We've been having quirky moments lately with his use of the English language (vagaries with his use of Mandarin and Hokkien abound as well). Like last night, as EG recalled (I have a vague memory of it), he woke up in the middle of the night (sleeping in a cot our room while we have guests sleeping in his), and said loudly, "Mama! What you do-een?", to which I'd apparently grumpily replied, "I'm sleeping!"

And this morning, when we finally woke up, and played our "let's hide under the blanket" game, he shouted very VERY loudly, "Anybody in-SIIIde??", over and over until Wendy shouted back "Hi Aidan!!" which left him very surprised!

So he shouted again, "Any, out there?" (I'd corrected him and said that's what he should've said, since WE were IN the room)

No reply then. But we went downstairs, and Wendy relayed her amusement at having gone down earlier to check her email only to hear such an unlikely call coming from above!




Friday, October 16, 2009

Our P-plater (literally!)

The following post is not suitable for those with a weak constitution. Or those currently eating while reading.

Today we mark the beginning of the end. The end of nappies!

Woohoo! Aidan did his first pee AND poo on demand in the toilet! It was a little one, hiding among the folds of the MOUNDS of toilet paper he likes throwing into the bowl, but there it was.

What celebration and rejoicing! (And I have spared you graphic photos.)

As a reward, he got to stick a star onto his potty training chart (although we don't use a potty - just straight onto the loo with a a training seat attached), and HAVE CHOCOLATE!!

Yum yum. Somehow, chocolate seems to suit the occasion (the colour brown, perhaps?)

Ok, I think I've grossed enough people out by now.


Monday, October 12, 2009

To wit, I say

My! Time flies when you're having fun. Or at least being so extremely busy you forget to blog!

Life has been really full lately, what with Tupp parties and writing for Meld and taking care of my darling talking motormouth of a two-year-old.

Did I mention what a motormouth he is? Talks non-stop, with so many words, and he's really communicating his wants, likes, dislikes. Although he sometimes also has the unfortunate habit of hitting things out of frustration. Like people.

In addition, I get the sneaky sensation I'm being conned most of the time. Case in point: On our trip to Tassie, EG wouldn't let him have the remote-control for the TV. He said, "Aidan, you've had enough TV." Then A starts to whine and cry, as you'd expect, and EG stayed firm, while A kept going on and on. Then suddenly, he stopped, looked at EG with a sly smile and said "Aidan, pretend cry!"

OMG.

You kinda know that kids are smart and manipulative, but you figure it's an unconscious move on their part, being unable to harness self-control. But I didn't imagine HE KNEW he was manipulative. Maybe on a subconscious level, but not overtly!

Now I know why my friend said kids are dead cunning.

Anyhoos, here's another recent video: A responding to a video of his Kaofu (Uncle).








Monday, September 21, 2009

Today's post has been brought to you by the number 2

So we went up to Mt Hotham last weekend:




In other news, we had Aidan's 2nd b'day bash combined with Zoe-Grace on Saturday. Crazy - 50+ adults and 15 kids. Yikes! Pictures will be up soon...


Thursday, September 10, 2009

Happy 2nd Birthday!!

Yes, my little man, you've finally turned 2.

2 years since that fateful day, when the contractions came fast and furious, and you came roaring out to greet the world. (ok, maybe not quite roaring, probably more of a quiet salute).

Time flies, and from a little bubsy who was born after a tiring 17-hour labour, you've blossomed into a fine young man, sitting on my lap crunching Special K while I type this.

I love mornings like this when it's already 10.30 and we're still in our pajamas having breakfast and watching Babar on TV.

And you've already got 4 birthday wishes! (I sang "Happy Birthday" to him and he shouted"Hip Hip Hooray!" after - must've been the many times he's heard us say this at other people's birthdays.)

Can't wait to celebrate the rest of the day with you!


Wednesday, September 9, 2009

On the eve of...

WOW. What an eventful day. It started with two rude men and ended with a nosebleed!

All this the day before his 2nd birthday!

Delivering the fruits and veg to GB, I was told off by the Irish gent (rudely I might add) to drop it off at the loading zone around the corner. And after deliveries was done, was sworn at by the guy blocking my exit in the loading zone for parking there. We got into an altercation, but suffice to say, I can understand why Fight Club members feel exhilarated after a bout. Feels good to blow off steam.

The rest of the day was uneventful (save for Aidan's THREE-hour nap), until after dinner when Aidan started jumping on the couch, and FELL OFF, hitting the glass coffee-table on the way down (landed on his fours though - good instincts!) and promptly burst into tears with BLOOD DRIPPING FROM HIS NOSE.

Yikes! The sticky red liquid soaked up tissue after tissue, and I had to yell up to Ellie for some help 'coz EG was out, but eventually he settled down, and was happy after some chocolate. His upper lip's a little swollen though.

My hope is that he learns from this, and not think of the incident as a performance he can repeat to get more chocolate.

That said, he's bouncing up and down on the couch next to me again. SIGH...


Monday, August 24, 2009

Aidan's first haircut in the salon

Aidan's first professional haircut!

See the pictures here!




I'll add more details soon.


NB: Finally, we got the video from Terence, who was visiting Melbourne and tagged along to the salon. It's here.



Thursday, August 13, 2009

Healthy Cookies (yes they exist!)

We've been on the hunt for healthier snack alternatives for Aidan, without too much sugar ('coz he's energetic enough as it is!) So after Googling around, I found a great cookie recipe which we tried this morning!

If you've been following my tweets today, you'd have seen the results as the cookies were being made.

Here's what happened (click on photos to see larger version):


Making healthy cookies. Step1: mash banana on Twitpic
Mash a large ripe banana

Add butter n brown sugar n mix on Twitpic
Add in butter & sugar

Sift the flour on Twitpic
Sift the flour

Add all the dry ingredients to the wet mixture n mix mix mix! on Twitpic
Add all the dry ingredients to the wet ones and Mix!!

Chop an apple up in the Happy Chopper on Twitpic
Chop up an apple in the Happy Chopper

Add it to the dough on Twitpic
Add it into the mixture

Mix it all up on Twitpic
Mix it into a dough!

Spoon onto baking tray lined w greaseproof paper, abt 5cm apa... on Twitpic
Spoon them and drop 'em onto the cookie pan

Into the oven they go for abt 20 mins at 160 degrees C on Twitpic
Bake for 20 mins at 160 degrees C

Ooh, my bad, they DIDN'T spread. The aroma in my kitchen is H... on Twitpic
Here they are baking...they SMELL DELICIOUS!

The finished product!! on Twitpic
All done! Onto the rack to cool...

Yummy cookie!! on Twitpic
...and into Aidan's tummy! Yum!!



Here's the recipe, which I got from ChefMom.com. I've tweaked it a little...didn't add the cinnamon or macadamia nuts, 'coz I didn't have any at home!

Apple-banana wholemeal cookies
1 large ripe banana
1/2 cup unsalted butter, really soft (or use olive oil as a healthier alternative)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup of oatmeal
1/2 cup white flour
3/4 cup wholewheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
1 apple, chopped

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Mash banana in a large bowl. Add butter (or olive oil) and brown sugar. In another bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add these to the banana mixture. Add the nuts and apples last.

Spoon onto cookie pan lined with greaseproof paper, about 5 cms apart. Bake in oven at for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Prep time: 30 to 45 minutes. The recipe makes about 30-40 cookies, depending how big you make them!

And trust me, they were REALLY yummy. I usually gravitate towards chocolate, but these weren't too sweet so I just kept popping them into my mouth! WARNING: 1 or 2 cookies might be a healthier alternative to chocolate; pop 6 or 7 of these babies like I did, and you'd need to swim 10 laps!!




Monday, August 10, 2009

Thinking thoughts

Just some quiet reflections.

I made a new friend recently, my Tupperware manager actually, E (yes, I've recently joined Tupperware; for Tupperholics, my AP was on 2/8/09, and 1st demo this Sat after Sessions!), and our long car rides to Demos and Sales meetings have given us an avenue to talk, and swap stories.

E's such an amazingly wonderful person, very open about her life and what's she's battled with, and I'm just so impressed with her positivity in spite of everything. It really feels like God's had a hand in bringing us together, for such a time as this.

Tonight we talked about lots of things, our family as usual, and based on her own experience post-birth, it made me wonder if all the feelings and anxieties I had with my newborn could've been classified as post-natal depression.

Now labeling anyone with the big D-word is pretty scary, although during the 1st year of Aidan's life I did check out a few websites to see if I exhibited signs. While I ticked a few boxes, it wasn't quite enough to label me with PND. I guess there's a spectrum.

I think my feelings mostly tied in with a sense of a loss of control. I think I was angry most of the time. Not angry enough to yell or scream or throw a plate, but I often felt stressed, anxious, tired, and got the sense I was well in over my head. Which resulted in me snapping at everyone, all the time.

So maybe it wasn't just the baby blues, maybe it was more than that. I guess I'll never know. I'm hoping I'll be more aware when the next one comes along.

In the meantime, I've learnt a bit more about myself
in the last week, why a lack of control over situations tend to tip me over the edge (esp. nearing my period...hmmm...hormones do play a part!) and what amazing AMAZING girlfriends I have. And a gracious husband. And a merciful God.

Here's to tomorrow!



Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Aidan's first girlfriend

SUCH a cute thing happened yesterday. As usual I picked him up from childcare, and Mia, the friend he always talks about, was getting picked up by her Dad too. We always tease Aidan about Mia, saying "Is Mia your girlfriend?" to which he always shyly/slyly turns away and says "Nooooo!"

Well yesterday, as they were leaving, he pointed to Mia and said, "Mia, girlfriend!" I was a little embarrassed mind you, after all her Dad whom I'd never met before was standing there, and here my son was, declaring his eternal devotion. But Mia was nonplussed.

I said, "Aidan, why don't you give Mia a hug goodbye?" and Mia's dad added "Yeah, go give him a cuddle and a kiss. " So they cutely toddled towards each other, gave each other a hug and pat-pat on the back, and MIA LEANED IN FOR A KISS - ON THE LIPS!!

Then they toddled back towards their respective parents.

Sniff, my boy's all grown up. Got his first kiss (from a peer, not like, from Aunties he knows...). And in front of the girl's Dad too!! What a stud haha!!





Monday, July 27, 2009

Parental gushings

Ooh...a quick update! A just brushed his teeth on his own, properly! He usually just smooshes the brush around his mouth, but today he really looked like he was doing it properly, back and forth, left to right, even BEHIND! WOW!

Sometimes I forget that HE'S NOT EVEN 2 YEARS OLD!!

I think I have a genius on my hand, whose vocab is big, can recognise Alphabets (letter O! letter A!), Numbers (counts 1 to 10, altho sometimes he skips 5, 6, 7, 8) and Shapes (cheese Square! Crescent moon!), is physically adept (he can really catch himself before he falls) and is gorgeous (proof here)! Whaddaya know, we scored the Trifecta, the type of kid/person you can get so jealous of 'coz they're so good at everything!

Haha, ok, I'll stop gushing now.

Must...be...humble...

Vocab

New words recently: CRESCENT moon, aunty, uncle, kookaburra, wake up (which he yells into my ear each morning), and a host of others too numerous to mention. He's really getting the hang of this whole communicating thing, which I'm really proud to watch happen! Although sometimes he stumbles and trips over his words, and reminds me of myself as I fumble through my Italian. Molto patetico!!

Nowadays he does this little jig around the house, and Ivy's house too, and says "dance dance dance"...how cute!!

Anyhoos, more photos from my bro who took these on his recent trip!

Click on the photo below!





Friday, July 17, 2009

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

New AUDIO recordings

Here're some new recordings Aidan did on my iPhone recently! Note - AUDIO ONLY!




Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Swim

Phew! Finally, THREE weeks of Aidan and E-Gene falling sick, getting well, and falling sick again have passed. I've been inoculating myself with echinacea pills TWICE a day just so I can take care of the 2 babies. And trust me, the taller one's the bigger baby when he's sick... ;-)

Today, sadly is the last day Aaron, Aidan's kao fu (Uncle in Cantonese) will be with us before he leaves this evening back home to Singapore! Boooohooo....

Little A's really enjoyed having his kaofu around, waking each morning calling his name, and the silly games they play. My brother's always been great with kids, and with his nephew, it's no exception. A big stocky giant gone mushy putty with his little bubba.... I've also really enjoyed spending quality time with my bro, catching up and seeing the sights and eating eating eating!

Anyhoo! Today we FINALLY went to the pool for a little swim, and boy did little A love it! Slid down the froggy slide, a giant (you guessed it) frog's mouth into which he hops in from the back and slides down the frog's tongue! SO CUTE! When I've got the pics I'll upload it. He also loved the "fountains" and bubbles, and wading through the water while holding my hand. And even accidentally dunking his head underwater didn't faze him! And with big A pretending to be a crocodile and splashing little A, they make quite the cute couple!

Sigh. I think Aidan and I are both gonna be really sad tomorrow when we wake up, and don't see the snoring giant asleep on our couch in the morning...


Monday, June 22, 2009

New photos

Here're some new photos Aidan's biggest fan took recently. To check them out on Facebook, click on the photo below (you don't need to log in)

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Some recent photos

Here're some pics taken by Ivy recently. I'll post up the FB link to the album once she gets it to me! :-)




Soh family's visit in May


Granny and Aidan sharing a meal


Climbing into my new home...


...It's pretty comfy!!


Happy June Father's Day

Since it's Father's Day in some parts of the world today (we celebrate it in September over here), I thought it'd be pertinent to remind Aidan on how much E-Gene loves him... ;-)

Dear Aidan

As you edge closer to your 2nd birthday, here's a gentle reminder of how much we love you. And especially how much your Dada loves you.

He
- loves cuddling you and playing with you in the room he's setup and decorated for you.

- is grateful for all the cuddles you return, especially today when he's sick, and you walked up to him to give him a hug, saying "cuddle".

- is always patient with you, even when he has to discipline you for being disobedient.

- is always supportive of your mama, and goes to work so that she can stay home and care for you full-time.

- loves teaching you new things, like how things work, and animal names.

- isn't afraid to show you how much he loves you. He says his favourite time of the day is when he gets to hold you as you fall asleep in his arms.

- is always on the lookout for ways to protect you (like straightening the rugs so you won't trip and fall).

- works hard each and every day, waking at 5.30am, is on his feet all day with no breaks til 5.30pm, then comes back to play with you, wash you, entertain you, before finally crashing into bed at 10.30pm. Is it any wonder he's lost so much weight? ;-)

And as you grow, you'll discover the many different sacrifices he makes each day to care for you and provide the best that he can for you. May you grow to trust his wisdom and love, as he's showed you how much his Creator has loved and cared for us.

Hugs and cuddles and heaps of love,
Mama and Dada





Sunday...blandy Sunday...

Sadly my two boys are pretty sick today, although one's still up and chirpy, while the other's mooching in bed. Guess which one's which? ;-)

Aidan's got a slight fever, runny nose, and a chesty cough. EG is nursing a really bad headache - he says he's never had one this bad before (and being allergic to panadol, nurofen and whatever else is in the NSAID family doesn't help!) I guess this means I might have to miss little Adrienne's 1st birthday party today to take care of them - bummer! :-( We've already stayed home from church.

On a cuter note, A's vocabulary has been increasing exponentially (airplane, chicken porridge, wiggles, maht0 (tomato), cumber (cucumber), all with perfect enunciation!), as well as his ability to 'read'. He can point out Os in words, and recognise a few other letters. And since I've been sticking up labels on items in his room, we've been playing games like "Where's the word 'Bookshelf'?" and he'll run to point it out. He can also point out colours! Keep it up bubba!

The cutest thing he's doing lately is saying "Sorry". As in "Sorry, please excuse me". He'll try to scoot around his Dad or Uncle Jon or Uncle Jeremy and say "Sorry, Jon" or "Sorry, Jeremy", or even "Sorry, Percy" when his little Percy tank engine falls off his train track. Hilarious!! I'm just amazed he can use it in context. How terribly polite!


Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Fame!!! part 5

Aloha everyone! The ad's finally out! Presenting.... Aidan's first print ad!!


July '09 issue of Practical Parenting, Page 8

We're now taking offers...


I kinda wish I had the nerve to snap pics during the photoshoot, but somehow thought if I was being a busybodies our chances would be slimmer! Weird I know! Maybe next time (if there is one)?? ;-)



Monday, June 15, 2009

Singin' in the...bathtub.

Ages ago, when I was a child, my mum did a recording of me singing "One elephant went out to play..." from The Elephant Show. I got up to six elephants and you can hear my mum going "okay okay, enough already lah", and me saying "no!!! more elephaaaants!!"

Well, the tradition has carried on!



It took me FOREVER to get this audio file up 'coz Blogger doesn't allow you to post audio files, so after trying HEAPS of different methods, finally used iMovie, dragged a photo and added the audio (that in itself took awhile too, since I'm pretty tech unsavvy!!)

Oh gosh, I sound EXACTLY like my mum! Not only do I look like and act like her, now I sound like her too! Creepy... ;-)


Wednesday, June 10, 2009

And since I'm blogging...

Notice something familiar about A's new haircut?


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Now that he's scored a print ad...maybe a film career's next? ;-)



Photos are up!

Here're some recent pics - click on the link below!






Rainy Day afternoon

So we've abandoned the healthy-cookie baking idea this arvo in favour of making...Playdough! Yes, coloured sticky fun for everyone.

The recipe I used:
2 cups of plain flour
4 tablespoons of cream of tartar
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 cup of salt
2 cups of boiling water
Food colouring



Yes, the delicious (I'm sure you've snuck in a piece or two when you were a kid, come on, admit it) recipe calls for ONE WHOLE CUP OF SALT. What the?!! That's half my bottle at home! That's a heck of a lotta sodium in one sculpture.

Anyhoos, here's the photos taken from my iPhone. Grazie to PhoneView's trial version which allowed me to transfer the photos from my iPhone to my comp.


Mix mix mix...


Voila! A lump of dough. Then I split it in half,
and coloured one lump pink, the other green...

Weee!!!

Fun on a rainy day indoors...

We had lots of fun, creating "snow" men, logs with button-balls, "cookies", cut out animals, and I even created a "map" using the dough to explain to Jeremy D (who's staying on my couch for a couple weeks) how to get to the bus stop. Isn't Playdough useful?!!

Note: As I'm typing this blog, A is sitting next to me with the iPhone learning new words, and recognising shapes. He actually knows "SUB!" and "WAGON!" now. What a clever kid!!


Happy 21 Months!

So much has happened in the past month it's hard to pen it all down. But I'll do my best!

He loves bike rides, especially since his Grandad brought him cycling around the neighbourhood when he was here, he's learnt how to fake a snore, and he got up to heaps of mischief with his cousin Ariel while she was visiting.

He's really learned a lot in the last few weeks, new words, an EXTENSIVE vocabulary, and he's really recognising numbers and alphabets now. He can point to the correct word (I've been sticking up labels in his room, like "Clock" or "Wardrobe"), and we've started potty training - he can tell us "Poo Poo", although sometimes it's a false alarm. But now he gets out of his bathtub to pee (we'd put the his bathtub into the grown-ups bathtub, and he steps into the big one to watch himself drip a couple drops), instead of weeing into his bathwater. Although for the very very first time, he pooed into his bath on Monday.

Charles has just taught him 'kah' and 'chiu'. (Can we start with English first before Hokkien?!!) And he's also learnt to say a mumbled grace before meals (which sounds something like "isygwehvviuhwiheioheoif.... AMEN!"), as well as sing "Twinkle twinkle little star", while filling in the last word in other songs we sing together. And he's changed "Oh where...is my hairbrush" to "Oh where....is my Gong Gong (what he calls my dad)!" Bob and Larry would have a fit!

Nowadays he's been playing with my iPhone and learning words and shapes through the Apps. He actually sits still! But I limit it to a couple of minutes, so his eyes won't deteriorate too quickly - ack, video games at 21 months! Terrible!

He's also got his first haircut on Monday. It was meant to be a trim, to retain his Zac Efron look, but I think I've turned him into Moe from the Three Stooges. Although I think it's calmed down since then, and it looks a little better. Will post pics soon.

As for today, we were well on our way to our first swim class, but it started raining...again! Battling howling winds, piercing drizzles and a runaway pram for the 30 minute walk to the (indoor, heated) pool was NOT the way I'd imagined it. And I didn't exactly relish the thought of having to corral the little munchkin in the ladies' locker room for a post-swim shower either. I finally decided to turn around. Sigh...maybe next week...when we actually have the car!


Didn't quite mk it 2 our 1st swim class this morning. Match c... on Twitpic


So today's rainy-day activity... baking (healthy) butter cookies!

Also... Aussie readers, look out for his Heinz ad in the July issue of Practical Parenting, out this month!!




Thursday, May 7, 2009

Fame!!! part 4

Monday's shoot went pretty well, we were told to bring several outfits for him to change into but in the end they had an orange jumper for him to wear. We showed up bright and early at a beautiful house in Armadale (1/2 an hour early actually, 'coz I was so afraid of being late!), got him changed, and were led into a bightly-lit kitchen filled with important advertising types, production co-ordinators, art director, stylists, photographer, photographer's assistant... in short, lotsa people.

He was then presented with POTS and WOODEN SPOONS. That's like releasing fish into water. Or chocolate to me.

So there we were, time-slotted between 2 other adorable kids (blonde-haired, blue-eyed, what else?), rotating turns and having my eardrums pierced by the pounding in the room, punctuated by sounds made by my MIL re-enacting her version of an air-traffic controller at a children's circus. It definitely elicited responses from Aidan, 'coz when the other kids had a go (and we were ushered out of the room) they didn't seem to have done too well. One was fussing, and the other seemed rather afraid of the "drums", so much so that they had to call A back into the room to show her how to do it! I think it helped that he was a little older than the other two (yet looked between 12-18 months, which was the brief), so was better at co-ordinating his limbs. And all the while, he was smiling, rearranging the pots just the way he liked it (how pedantic, like his Dada!), banging away so hard the wooden spatula broke, and using his mouth to drum by biting on the spoon and nodding!! I think he did the last one 'coz he figured, Hey, these people have been watching me do the same ol' same ol' for awhile now, let's try something different!

I almost thought we should forget the whole affair, with him bunging his face TWICE in the preceding week, leaving a scratch across his forehead between his brows, and under his left eye (Murphy endangering my career as a future stage-mum?!!) But we showed up anyways, and I'm glad we did, because we just found out that HE'S THE NEW HEINZ BABY!!!

Yes folks, we made it! I've seen a draft copy of the ad, it looks fantastic, our little precocious tyke has just earned his first paycheck, and I'M GOING TO GETTING AN EXPENSIVE MASSAGE FOR MOTHER'S DAY. Minus the manager's fee (Stevie, who sent us the casting-call email), and grandparent's fee (for dancing around like a lunatic to get him to respond) of course.





Thursday, April 30, 2009

Family

The in-laws have arrived!

It's gonna be a fun few weeks :-) Yesterday I spent the whole day cleaning, getting ready for their arrival today.

Looking forward to it!



Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Fame? Part 3

So, great news, we got picked for the new ad! We're not sure if it's gonna be a print ad or an online one, or if he'll even be featured in the final edit, but we're just really excited to be part of the experience.

The shoot takes place on Monday, and we'll have more details then. My MIL's coming along, since my in-laws arrive tomorrow morning. Yay! We're really looking forward to their visit! Woohoo...it's always great to have family around. :-)

Anyhoos, in other news, Aidan's vocabulary has been expanding daily. He greets me "Morning!" when he wakes up, before asking "Dada, where?!" then "Work!", he can name all his body parts (some even in Chinese!) says "Hi" and "Bye" (did I mention this before?). Yesterday he said "No no NO THANKS!" (hmm...firm but polite I guess!), he can also say the 3 Cs - "cookie", "cake", and "cracker", the 3 Bs - "bird", "bubbles", "bath", "phone", his own name, "Mama, Dada, IVY!" and lots more, I can't keep up! He can even recognise ring tones, and knows whether it's Mama's phone or Dada's.

There are also some words that tickle him to bits which I prefer him not to say. Like "kookoo", which Ivy and Stephen taught him. HARRUMPH! Now he keeps pointing to himself and saying it! Adorable I guess, at this age, but not so when he's like, er, 22.

He's also getting better with sitters, although times at childcare can still be teary. The other day, before I'd even finished leaving instructions with Jon, he'd already said "BYE!!" and waved me off. The same on Monday at Em's too, when I was just heading out to load the car! Cheeky little bugger!

Well, the Foos and Kienan are arriving on Monday...it's gonna be great to see the 2 boys play together again!!

Here's a photo sequence taken at a friend's wedding the past weekend, featuring the Soh boys and Faith, one of Aidan's run-around playmates. Thanks Joy for the photos and captions.



Girl: Wheee!
Boy: Just a minute...



Girl: Ooh, I'm way up high!
Boy: He's MY daddy!



Boy: Get off my dad's arm.
Girl: Eh? What did I miss?


Friday, April 24, 2009

Fame? Part 2

So we made it to the casting today, after driving for about 45 mins in peak hour morning traffic. I was so nervous about being late that I couldn't really sleep the night before! But we got there with enough time to spare, and for me to compose myself after the harried zipping and speeding through the streets, praying I wouldn't hit a traffic jam.

It lasted for about 15 mins, after the initial "wah" factor of arriving at the made-to-impress office - they own the BUILDING. Yikes! And it's all open-plan, so you can see everyone working as you arrive. And the impressive ad campaigns all strung up on the walls.

We were led by a very pretty lady to a room where the art director, a petite girl, got Aidan to play with some pots and pans with wooden spoons (phew! His favourite activity at the moment!), while she took some shots. He was shy at first, but banged and smiled happily away, occasionally looking up to half-smile at the camera. She said she got some cute pics, so hopefully that's good news for us!


After filling up some forms and such, we were handed a Heinz goodie bag, and whisked back to the car in the morning drizzle. Fingers crossed. Maybe he could be the next Heinz Nurture baby! They said the ad could either be a print or online ad, and I had to sign a talent-release form stating the compensation paid for the shots, if we were chosen ($800 for main kid, $400 for the back-ups), would be for unlimited use worldwide.

I did some googling last night, wondering what it'd take to start Aidan's career as a child genius slash star slash prodigy slash beloved national treasure, and found out it'd take a LOT. Modelling agencies charge a registration fee, followed by an annual fee to maintain an online profile of your child, head shots, composite etc. For $500!! Every year!! And that doesn't even guarantee your kid'll get picked!

Hmm.

Methinks it'll be awhile before I'm a stage mum.

Anyhoos, after we left, I dropped him off at childcare where he did his usual sobby goodbye. And of course I felt really terrible and guilty leaving, even though I knew he'd stop once I left (his carers always say he's pretty happy the rest of the day, and whenever I arrive to pick him up and spy through the class window, he's always toddling around playing and having fun).

But I just couldn't shake the feeling today, and I felt so lonely and anxious and purposeless at home, that I decided to head out again and catch up with C over lunch. It was pretty good to have our chat.

I wonder if I'll ever shake the horrible feeling like I'm abandoning him there, even though I know the environment's really good for him and he learns a lot there, especially interacting with the other (ang moh) kids. SIGH! Man, when he starts real school...



Thursday, April 23, 2009

Fame?

Some interesting news. We recently sent in Aidan's photo for a Heinz ad call-out, and got shortlisted! So tomorrow he'll be in for casting/audition, bright and early at 9.30am, and we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Let's hope he'll be his sparkly self and won't be intimidated by all the strangers! Now I'm just contemplating what he'll wear, what I'll wear (*ahem*, ad people DO look at the mums y'know), what time we should leave the house to avoid traffic, and whether the whole shebang's gonna be like that in Mad Men.

There'll be one main kid for the Heinz Nurture print ad campaign, and 2 "back-up" tots who may or may not be in the ad. Hope we get into the top 3!
If all goes well, it'll be a fun experience for me (if he behaves), and a real eye-opener.

(And maybe my career as a stage-mum will be kick-started into gear!) Muahhahaha.....

PS. The photos I sent in were the bath troll-hair one, and this:


Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Nightmares and dreamscapes

It's hard when he goes through his night-terror episodes, when he screams and thrashes and there's not much you can do to comfort him, not even hugging him close, because he's still half-asleep, semi-conscious, and hysterical.

According to BabyCenter:

Night terrors are sleep disturbances in which a child may suddenly sit bolt upright in bed, cry, scream, moan, mumble and thrash about with her eyes wide open, but without being truly awake. Because she's caught in a sort of a twilight zone between being asleep and being awake, she's unaware of your presence and isn't likely to respond to anything you say or do. An episode can last anywhere from two to 40 minutes, and when it's over your child falls back to sleep abruptly with no memory of the incident.

...
Don't try to wake her. And expect that your efforts to comfort her will be rebuffed – a child having a night terror really can't be calmed down, and if you try to hold her it may make her wilder.


We usually pick him up and try to soothe him but it's usually to no avail...he has to eventually wake up, then he'll calm down, suck on his pacifier, and go back to sleep. Poor bubba. Tonight's episode was longer than usual...I reckon about 30 mins? Sigh...

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Winter wonderland

He did the cutest thing today, saying "hop! hop!" and then bending his knees to make a great big leap into the air. Where does he learn such gestures? I wonder if he picked it up from childcare. Whatever the case, he's been adorable and chatty, having created his own language and babbling it like a brook in the forest.

And how completely creative was he this evening, ripping out tons and tons of styrofoam packaging from the new table base that's arrived. Our own indoor snowstorm! Beautiful little dots that foamed around us, covering the table, the floor, my hair, his pyjamas,
my dinner. A gorgeous blanket of fluff, specially created for me to clean.

When I used the smacky-stick on his hand, after repeated calls for him to stop, he winced his face in pain, in tears, then blindly walked forwards with arms outstretched for his routine comfort-hug. What sweet embrace. Especially when he turned to the package and said "No, no."

Then repeated the snowstorm again.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Funny faces

Thanks Jo for the video!




BTW, another milestone, Aidan's learned to feed himself! And I'm not just talking about finger-food - he's mastered that awhile ago. I'm talking about bowls of porridge and pasta! I just pop it in front of him with a spoon, and there he goes. If it's too hot, he says "Hot!" (albeit with a funny accent...sounds more like "hu-ot!"), then blows at his spoonful of food. Or he'll wait til it cools down then shovels it in.

Mind you, it's not a very neat experience, but he does it pretty well, and the mess is quite contained, and easy to clean up. Sometimes he helps me wipe up his mess too (he's going through his "let's copy mummy phase"). What a cutie.

Couple more weeks til the in-laws and friends arrive. Can't wait!!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Lucky troll

It's been awhile since my last post since I've really been out of action on two counts - a wedding on Sat we were busily preparing for, and the fact I was pretty sick, sick, SICK the whole of last week. Fever and headaches are not a great combo when you're taking care of a 1.5 year-old.

But now that it's all over and the Easter weekend is coming up, I'm looking forward to a relaxing time ahead. That and the in-laws are coming for a visit at the end of the month, along with some good friends of ours. Really looking forward to having the house filled with fun and laughter! EG and I quite like having people over...we've already had 2 guests sleep on our couch over the last couple weeks...

Anyways, another fav pic we took awhile back...here's my favourite little troll doll!!


Friday, March 20, 2009

Cupcakes


Another foray into the baking world today, this time for Maddie's 1st birthday tomorrow!

We got a couple batches going, and will frost them tomorrow morning. Will upload more pics then!

Anyhoos! For those who haven't been following the drama on Twitter and Facebook, we got burgled on Tuesday. The day before my operation, to remove a bone that's been growing behind my ear for about 1 1/2 years now.

What? you say, A bone? Growing out behind your ear?! And a break-in?!

Yes. An osteo mastoid. But it's been successfully removed, I'm still recovering, but as you can see, am up and about running the house as well as my chores as per normal. But as if preparation for major surgery wasn't nerve-wrecking enough, we had to have money and my wedding jewelry stolen too. :-(