Happy 5th Birthday!!

Wow I can't believe 5 years have passed. 5 years since he was born, 5 years + 9 months since this blog has started.

My goodness, so much has happened! He's evolved and grown and talks so very much more now. Talks and talks and talks...lol...sometimes I can't shut him up!


I spent the weekend making a Transformer cake. Well, not quite one that transforms, just the Autobot logo really!

We had 2 mini parties - one at Kids Church yesterday...

Heehee that's me in my Cookie Monster jumper...

quite apt considering the cupcakes I made for the Kinder party (see end of post)

 

...and one for Kinder today.

Here's what they were all eating - I'll post a tute onto www.buttercup-bakeshoppe.com soon!

Meee wannntt COOOOKIE!! Omnomnomnom...

Looking back, I'm just grateful for the person Aidan's turned out to be. Smart, inquisitive, bouncy, cheerful, often garrulous (although that could be hereditary lol), and does a mean Shuffle (we're working on Gangnam style next). Next year he'll be starting Prep; I wonder what those changes would bring!

So Aidan, my hope for you in the years ahead is that you'll continue to grow in understanding, faith and love. May you allow your Creator to transform you from an innocent Boy into a solid, just, Man. May you learn what it means to fall in love, have your heart broken, and have it healed. May you discover the wisdom of the ancients, and use it wisely. May you find hope in the midst of cynicism, and joy in the profundities of life. May you never lose your sense of Wonder.

May you always be safe, just as you were the day you were born, cradled in my arms.

Love you always.

Questions to ask on a Prep school tour

Well! It's been awhile! We're nearing September...2 months before our Mr-Mr turns FIVE. Eeks!

Which means that next year, he begins Prep.

It took me awhile to understand the school system here, and figure out that there were 3 types of primary schools we could send him to. Public, Catholic (semi-private), and Private (aka pay-through-your-a**) Schools. And having gone on a couple of school tours, I'm always confused at the criteria I really should be looking at for a choosing a school, and how that affects his entrance to particular High Schools etc.

Anyhoos, I shall just jump past all my dilemmas and explanatory notes, to the list (by no means exhaustive, though LONG *lol*) I've come up with, which could hopefully help a few mums out there battling the Aussie public school system:



           School:

• How big are the school grounds? What are the designated play areas (if any) for the different grades?
• Does the school have a buddy system (pairing say, a Year 5 with a Prep kid, to help the latter adjust)?
• What's the school's policy on bullying? (Some have a zero-tolerance approach.)
• Is the school zoned for Enrolment or does it have "boundaries"? (ok, from what I understood, Zoned schools have set a kilometer radius around them, which means that if you live outside of that radius you're not eligible to enrol to that school. Other schools have "boundaries" which they put in place only when demand for places in that school exceeds supply, which means that priority is given to children who live within a kilometer radius of that school. It's all really fuzzy to be honest, each school has its own policy, but it seems that if you live near enough to the school of your choice, they would still have to take you in regardless.)
• Does the school have a tuckshop/canteen? How often does it run? (Helps to figure out how many lunches you have to pack!)
• What high schools is the school affiliated to, if any?
 

Lessons:

• What's the school's definition of school-readiness? (Most Prep teachers don't expect kids to be able to read of know their ABCs or Numbers yet...they're there to learn, which is refreshing to the Singaporean format! Phew!)
• What's the size of each class, and how many Prep kids are there in a year? (Class size helps to suss out how much individual attention your child will receive.)
• What's the timetable like? What breaks are there for the kids? (Some schools have fruit breaks in addition to lunch and recess, with fruit being provided by the school.)
• Does the school do composite classes (ie. combined years) or straight classes? (Either of which has its own advantages & disadvantages.)
• Is Prep Year a straight prep (only prep-aged kids) or Composite (Prep and Year 1s together)?
• What's the school's emphasis on literacy and numeracy?
• How are the children's progress assessed/monitored?
• How does the teacher/school deal with kids who need more attention, or who aren't challenged enough during class?
• What second language (if any) does the school teach?
• Does the school have a Religious Education class? Is it opt-out or opt-in? What do children who opt-out of these classes do during the lesson time?

           Extra-curricular:

• What type of technology programs (computer classes etc.)  does the school provide? (Some schools have computer tablets that the children learn with.)
• Is there a full-time Art teacher or Music teacher?
• What excursions are there for Years 1-4 (Years 5 & 6 typically have excursions, some schools do trips to Canberra to learn about Govenment on alternate years, or Surf Camp). What about incursions (Aidan's kinder typically had chick hatcheries or rabbit hutches coming to visit!)
• What's the school's sports programme (eg. P.E., swimming, footy etc.)
• Does the school have a performing arts or music program? 

             Parents:

• Does the school have a parent council, and/or ways parents can get involved with the school?
• Is there a before-and-after school program for the kids whose parents work beyond school hours?(nowadays these are "outsourced" to neighbouring centres)

At the end of the day, ask questions that are important to you, questions that you really care about. Think about what you want your child to be exposed to, and how these influences can shape him in his formative years. For example, EG and I do feel that it's important for Aidan to be exposed to people from several different cultures, and to make friends from different backgrounds, hence the ethnic mix of a school was an important consideration for us.

If possible, during the school tour, have a chat with the Principal and Teachers to get a sense of their values and how they teach their children. One of the schools we "interviewed" had a low staff turnover rate (which could mean they're happy chickens over there), and balance that out by sending their teachers on development courses to learn new techniques and teaching methods.

Like I said, there're dozens of questions to ask when considering a school for our kids.

What other questions do you reckon we should ask? Feel free to Leave a Comment below!

Holiday....Celebrate...It will be so nice!

So to date the Soh family has:

1. Met up with old friends and new friends.
2. Eaten their fair share of Chinese New Year treats.
3. Put on 3 kgs - EACH - because of said CNY treats.
4. Just returned from a fantastic weekend away to Bintan with the Kohs, Pngs and Foos.
5. Look like bright red lobsters because of said fantastic weekend  away to Bintan with the Kohs, Pngs and Foos.

How quickly 3 weeks have passed! It's just zoomed by in a lightning quick second, and we're on the last leg of our trip here, though not before EG and I spend a romantic getaway to Krabi!

Here're some pics we took in Bintan:

Aidan and David. buddies at the beach!

Don't we love this vacayyy

Family time!

THIS is what a vacation's suppose to be...lying by the pool, reading a good book.

All rugged up after a good swim.

The Angsana Resort Bintan even served frozen watermelon sticks as we lounged!

And the staff were SO warm and SO hospitable!

 

 Tanned and Rested!

Happy 2012 and the chronicles of Batboy...

Wow another year has passed. And we've seen such exciting adventures! We've started 3 y.o kinder, and made yummy baked treats for people via Buttercup Bakeshoppe.

Lately Aidan's major obsession is a red cape he got as a birthday pressie in September.

With the weather warming up and GORGEOUS, he's been spending more time in the park, and always, always with the red cape. That, along with the varied costumes he's received as Christmas pressies, can make a simple trip to the shops and cafes a completely fun dressup experience!

Batboy with his super spy goggles

Transformer Aidan

 

Transformer Aidan, seen here with Tradie Dad

"Oh my GAHD, the Decepticons are drunk on Energon. Again!!"

 

Batboy strategising the reclamation of Arkham City from the hands of the Joker

and his nefarious gang of asylum inmates.

Batboy enjoying a well-deserved treat after his victorious reclamation of Gotham City 

(previously known as Arkham City) from the hands of the Joker 

and his nefarious gang of asylum inmates.

Batboy accepting his trophy for defeating the Joker and...oh you get the drift.

How humble and shy he is, oh great warrior-boy.

One of Batboy's many tricky disguises! 

And his able sidekick, the Pink Avenger!!

Spiderboy, with his many Christmas pressies!

Skywalker Jones launching his super missle!

Ah, and sharing some good times with his Godma and Didi this morning!

Well, after a whirlwind 2011, I'm really looking forward to some R & R in Singers next Sunday. NEXT SUNDAY I can't wait to get back for a loooong vacation! Woot!

Soh, from the Soh family, a very Happy New Year!

Fight or Flight

Nothing jumps you on edge while watching Phineas and Ferb with your son than seeing a threatening arachnid advancing towards you.

Gah! No fear, SUPER MUM is here! With a single bound she leaps into action and rolls up an old Life & Style section while simultaneously reaching for the can of insecticide (SUPER MUM, much like Elastogirl, has arms that extend way beyond human proportions. That is why she can juggle bags of groceries as well as her 15-kilo pre-schooler while exiting her vehicle.)

Spinning around, she tells her son to hold his nose so the noxious gas doesn't fill his lungs, then sprays the bejeesus outta that spider. It starts running back towards the wall so she sprays some more. Then freezes when she sees not one, not two, but 100,000 (or it could just have been 15, the adrenaline was really pumping) mini little baby spiders disperse from Mama spider's body as she struggles forward.

OMIGOD! I'd destroyed an entire family of spiders! She was probably transporting them to a safer location when she made a wrong turn somewhere!

Poor Mama Spider!

As a combatant in the jungle fray it was fight or flight mode for me. But as a fellow mum, I felt truly sorry that she who was trying to protect her children met such a fatal end. Was Papa spider wondering where his family has disappeared to? Why his little incy wincies weren't climbing up that spout again?

Alas, only a decent burial would do. So I gently scooped all their little bodies up with tissue, and ceremoniously dumped them into the bin.

Lookalike!!

We picked up a free book that teaches kids how to care for their teeth, and the accompanying poster.

WHO DO YOU THINK THIS LOOKS LIKE?!!

It's uncanny isn't it?

Of course, it makes it much easier to coax my little man to brush his teeth "like the Aidan in the poster!"

Teeheehee!

A day in the life of...

It's only mid-day but I thought I'd share what a Thursday's usually like for us in the Soh household.

Today we started off pretty normal, with Aidan and I snuggling in bed, reading a book and horsing around. It's Day 3 of him sleeping without a nappy at night, and we're pretty excited that accidents have been kept to a minimum. And of course, my rambunctious son likes to jump around and crack jokes. Like "Aaah! The spaceship! It's attacking me!" or "HA HA Mum, I FARTED! In the BED! HA HA!" or

"Knock knock"
"Who's there?"
"Boo"
"Boo Who?"
"Oh don't cry Mum, it's only a joke!"

He was playing pretend again, "Aaah! Somebody's shooting my nan-nan! HA HA HA!!" (I think all this nan-nan business arose from this incident.) To which I replied drolly, "What, is it target practice?"

Harrumph. Boy fart jokes.

Anyhoos, we had a lovely late brekkie of a sausage on cheese toast with milo, and Aidan started to pretend that we're at a tea room. By the way, conversations like the one below are quite typical in this household!

Aidan: "Would you like some tea?"
Me: "Why yes, thank you."
(Goes off and pretends to pour a cuppa)
"Here you go."
Now it's my turn.
"Would you like a cup of...coffee?"
"But, I can't! I'm not a grown up yet!"
Oops, my mistake. "Er...how about some hot chocolate then?"
"No, tea thanks."
"Ok, would you like a cup of tea?"
"Yes please."
I go off to the pretend teapot and pour a cuppa.
We both calmly sip our "tea", me secretly thrilled we can play tea-party pretend even though he's a boy and not a little girly girl, when he suddenly spits out his "tea" and shouts, "YUCK! Why are there WORMS in my tea?!!"

So much for my tea party.

And then it was off to swim class, where he's getting better and better at his strokes and stretching out his breathing. (Not that I can tell, I'm off in the big pool trying to get rid of the belly bulge from my love affair with chocolate bikkies.) But we get back together after the lesson and pop into the play pool where he and his friend Nati splash around, jump around and go up and down the froggy slide.

Until he threw up. And the pool is witness to the horrific Exorcist sight of Aidan spewing red bile and bits of sausage. I had to do the painfully embarrassing task of telling all the parents in the pool to Leave Leave Leave, my son has just puked, good God don't get it on your child!!

Typical day.

Another milestone

Champion!

Aidan slept through last night without a nappy.

We thought since he's turned 4 it's about time he started leaving nappies behind...and about time he slept in his undies, like a proper, grown up boy.

That, plus the fact we ran out of nappies. Hah!

Anyhoos, we'll see how tonight goes!

In the meantime, here's a shot we took today. Because, really, he's my hero <3 <3

Looks pretty fierce here, but there's another pic I took where he's smiling...

Happy Fourth!

This post is a little overdue, but better late than never!

Can't believe how quickly my little one's turned a grand ol' four. FOUR! That's the age where we REALLY start to remember things...like how I used to swivel the fan away from my baby sis late at night because I was SO HOT and who cares if she suffocated in the heat?

I was not a nice child.

That said, my bubba has grown leaps and bounds in the last year, he's now 103cm, a grand leap from the 96cm measured at his third birthday.

We've always had crazy conversations, and lately their getting more grown up. "So, Ma, how was YOUR day today?" He then turns to his Dad. "So, Dad, how was work today? Good?"

Precocious preciousness!

We celebrated his birthday with some time away in Perth - saves us on the big ol' birthday party (I feel terrible for him though! I really have to brush up on my caking skills to make that Bumblebee-Transformer cake he wants). It was a short holiday, but lovely weather, and great to see the cousins and Aidan's great-aunt and great-uncle again.

Here with Amanda-jie. He's been doing the sticky-out tongue thing lately!

With the cousins at Kings Park, Perth. Beautiful day for the Wildflower Festival!

My Aunt and Uncle, happy as ever.

(And my uncle's as crazy as ever - it's in the genes I tell ya!)

He LOVES the sunshine!!

With some Corica Apple strudel to celebrate his birthday.

Cheeky tongue again!!

Love our pyjamas - all in bright colours! heh

We met up with the Chuas  who were in Perth too - 

JoJo and Aidan had SO MUCH FUN in the water!

SO! Reflection time... as I do whenever we hit milestones...

2011 has been a tremendous time for my growth personally, since I've found a vocation I can be passionate about - cake decorating. And Art! It's been terrific to be able to involve that dormant creative side of my self, and allow it to grow and grow, especially through the Bakeshoppe. I think keeping busy and purposeful (Proverbs 29:18) has allowed me to Breathe again, and while I don't think I've perfected the art of parenting, I'm getting there.

Yesterday and today, I've been pretty sick. But thankfully I don't have any big orders in this week, which means I can get much needed rest, and that has allowed me to really step away from everything (especially Facebooking ack!!) and spend meaningful time with Aidan. Who's also pretty sick btw, we're both down with the flu AND fever.

We memorised Scripture as part of our church's 40 days of Prayer (to the tune of "Spider-Man, Spider-Man..." in a groovy '60s beach-boys vibe LOL!!), read books, played lego, told stories, cuddled, watched heaps of telly.

This, and our trip to Perth has really made me treasure the current opportunity I have with Aidan, that we can spend days together and hopefully I won't waste it! Once he starts prep...*sigh* My baby's growing up so quickly!!

Special times...

Of bumblebees and noodles

Things have really been heating up (hur hur) in the kitchen lately, what with the constant stream of cupcakes, cakes and whatnots to make. This week alone I've made 2 wedding cakes, and about 100 cupcakes, including mini ones!!

Phew!

And Aidan's turning 4 in a couple of weeks, and what does he want? A TRANSFORMER-BUMBLEBEE cake, like this one:



The only thing I could say to him was "SIAO AH?!!"

He's been such a great kid lately, helping me with my baking and generally not getting up to too much mischief so I can get work done. And he said, "Mama, you're the best Cooker!" Hmm...a pressure cooker maybe?

Anyways, in light of all this baking, I thought I'd post something different. A couple of weeks ago I made seafood hor fun and it garnered a bit of attention from friends on facebook asking for the recipe, so I thought I'd post it here.

Seafood Wat Tan Hor Fun (adapted from May's Favourites)
1 pkt fresh hor fun - at room temp. at loosened
250g medium green prawns
100g choy sum (chai sim)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4-5 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp cornflour mixed with 4 tbsp water
2 cups chicken stock
White pepper to taste

Sauce Mix
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp chinese cooking wine
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Method
1. Rinse, peel and devein prawns, leaving tails intact.
2. Fry hor fun over a hot wok until fragrant and slightly burned. Use a little (1 tbsp) cooking oil if necessary. Transfer cooked hor fun to a serving dish.
3. Heat wok with 2 tbsp cooking oil and fry garlic lightly.
4. Add prawns and fry til they turn pink.
5. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.
6. Add choy sum and cook lightly.
7. Add cornflour mixture, then reduce the heat.
8. Add Sauce Mix and stir, then slowly pour in beaten egg and stir again lightly for the "dropped egg" effect.
9. Pour sauce over the fried hor fun, sprinkle white pepper to taste and serve with green chillis if you like.


For more baking hijinks, visit http://www.buttercup-bakeshoppe.com

The boy who cried wolf

THE MOST HILARIOUS THING HAPPENED YESTERDAY.

It was just a typical Monday, filled with soccer practice, Chinese lessons (me teaching him 1 to 20 in Mandarin, and drawing out the characters; he picked it up pretty quick I must say, he can recite it all! Must be all the repetition before bed when EG pats him and counts to 20 in Chinese...anyways, I digress...) and the usual household errands.

We'd just returned from the park and I decided to fill the tub so he could have a bath rather than a quick shower. His "swimming pool" as he calls it. And I ducked downstairs to start preparing dinner.

All of a sudden, I heard cries of "Mum! Mum! Muuuuuum!" and I rushed upstairs in a panic, only to have him shout "Mum, the water, there isn't enough!" Hmph. So much for an S.O.S. I filled the tub with a little more water then left.

Ten minutes later, another cry for help. Again, I rushed up, only to have him tell me "Help! Help! The water is draining away!"

"No, it's not, there's still enough water in the tub for your to play in. And have you heard the story of the boy who cried wolf? I am NOT coming up again, I have to cook dinner, and no more cries of help!! Because I'm not coming up again, do you understand me?!"

*Pause*

"Are you going to tell me the boy and the wolf story?"

!!!!!!!

I went back downstairs. Five minutes later, I hear crying. REAL crying. Not wracking sobs, but teary enough to warrant another trudge up the stairs...sigh...

I entered the bathroom to see his tear-stained face and asked what happened. "Sniff...my...my....nan-nan." he sniffed, clutching his chest. "My fish bit me."

Turned out his fishy bath toy had accidentally clipped his nip, and I'm so terribly sorry, I'm a bad mother but I BURST OUT LAUGHING and then quickly kneeled by the bathtub and hung my head so he couldn't see me fighting the giggles while I tried to comfort him.

"Oh you *gasp giggle* poor thing... *choke chortle* are you ok? Does it still *pbbbttttHAHAHApbttt*... hurt?"

And inside me I was thinking, Talk about karma!

Warning: Expletives involved

There's a hilarious "children's" book that's topping the bestseller lists and it's called "Go the F___ to sleep". Now Noni Hazelhurst (an Australian actress who hosted Playschool for like 23 years) has done a video reading for it, and it's pretty damn funny.

You can read the article here.

I can totally relate to the book - I'm sure every parent can! Even now, with Aidan turning four in a couple of months, I STILL had to spend a good 45 minutes last night returning him back to bed in the middle of the night (2.45 - 3.30am, to be precise). Usually I'd just hug him to sleep because I'm just too darn lazy to return him back to bed, but he's going off night nappies soon, and the thought of being actually soaked while dreaming of cruising down the Nile is just too much to bear. That, and having to keep rewashing my sheets.

And then he was back again at 5.30am; this time since EG was already awake to get to work, he brought A back to the room on my behalf. Not that I was asleep anyways, since returning to bed at 3.30am I couldn't get back to sleep properly with my sleep cycle completely disrupted. And I really do think that with bad sleep, your body just can't deal with stress and physical labour (like standing for five straight hours in the kitchen baking & decorating - not back-breaking work, but tiring nonetheless). Hence your immune system is down, and you fall sick, sick, sick.

Throw in the cold weather and germs swarming around us, it really does bring out the inner hypochondriac in me! A's caught conjunctivitis, I'm still having a slight cold, and I'd only just recovered from a viral infection a couple weeks ago. I've washed my hands countless times today; I think my skin's about to peel off.


So I can totally commiserate with parents who, on top of sleep deprivation and their usual work, end their day having to negotiate with a four-year-old as uncompromising as Gaddafi.

While I do spend about a good 20-30 minutes putting Aidan to bed - teeth-brushing, book-reading, and the "three things" (GAWD the "three things", they take too long, why and how did ever we start this routine?!) which are Prayer, Songs, and "Pat-pat 20 times Mum!", I don't need to beg, cajole, bribe or threaten (no...that only happens during  daytime activities, like packing his toys, or getting off the computer - the computer! Aren't we suppose to nag them about the computer only when they reach 13???!!)

Many parents do though, and by the time they get out of the room, there's barely any energy left for quality time between spouses. You flop onto the couch, or into bed, breathe a sigh of relief, and you're out for the count.

That's why EVERY parent needs a book like this:

Just to blow off some steam!

Playdates 'R Us

Since Tess & Pierre left on Tuesday, the house has been rather quiet. We had a really great 2 weeks having my sis around, cooking for us, playing with Aidan...it was wonderful! And we got to celebrate her birthday (a few weeks early) with her too, which is pretty rare since she's usually in Singapore, and we're here in Melbourne, in July. Here's the cake we made for her.

You can read more about this at Buttercup Bakeshoppe's blog

Anyhoos, we solved the general loneliness by having playdates both yesterday and today with our neighbour Sarika's daughter, Samiksha (or Sammi, for short).

What a blast! Had a great tea-time at their house yesterday, and today we're returning the favour. Currently, the two of them are watching some telly as I typed this, and laughing about something memorable. ("Underpants!!" I overhear.)

When Aidan saw Sammi today, after emerging from his shower in the bathroom, he said, and I kid you not, "Hey! Wow, you're all dressed up...You look beautiful Samiksha!" She was wearing a blue-bow hairband and a pink jumper.

O. M. G. What a charmer!! I reckon he's got that silver-tongue from his Dad.

And then they ran off and created a ruckus in the guestroom and downstairs. Hmm. Must get them to pack the mess up before she goes...

 

 Cheeeeeese and whiskers!!

But the great thing about playdates is that it gives each mum a little time off to herself. I get to bake, and I hope Sarika gets some time to rest, seeing how she also has another baby to care for.

Speaking of baking, lots to prep for this Sunday's Southside Handmade and Vintage market! See you there if you're free, it's 11am-5pm in St. Kilda. :)