Wiley coyote

Aidan set this up this morning, while playing Lego with Gran.



He said, "This is Mama, Dada, Aidan and Baby!!"

Hmmm.... methinks he's dropping A MAJOR HINT. Did somebody put him up to this??!!

Innocent eyes...bah!

Tube talk

Our morning ritual of breakfast has taken a new turn, with Aidan rejecting all bread and bread-like products. This means he won't eat sandwiches, buns, not even the chocolate-swirled ones!

Added to that, he hops onto his grandparent's couch and says, "I want TV!"

And apparently he has an aversion to any forms of encouragement given on-screen:

Ellen: Blah blah blah....hooray!!! (Audience claps)

Aidan (sipping his Milo): No clapping! Nooo clapping!

Me: It's all right, they're just cheering for the people on stage.

Ellen: blah blah blah....chicken! (audience cheers AND claps)

Aidan: Stop it! Stop clapping!!!

In conclusion, all he ate this morning were the dried berries from my cereal, his Milo, and a small bite of his peanut butter-and-chocolate-swirl bread. That's it.

Good grief, which kid in his right mind REJECTS PEANUT BUTTER-AND-CHOCOLATE-SWIRL BREAD?!!

Sleuthing: The Mystery of the Sleepwalker

Dear Aidan

You did the most adorable thing tonight. Dada and I came home from a movie (Sherlock Holmes, a pretty enjoyable Robert Downey Jr-Jude Law brom-com action detective noir film - how many genres could Guy Ritchie fit into it?!) to find you snuggled up under the covers, in OUR bed!

I think you did that last night too when you mysteriously appeared beside me in the middle of the night. I had no recollection of you crying out, or calling me, or even me lifting you up to sleep with me. I deduce you must have climbed up on your own!

I love snuggling with you, hugging you and cuddling you. I wish you'll stay little forever.

Love,
Mama

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:

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!

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.

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!

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!

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!!!)

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!

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.

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).

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...

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!

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...