Happy 2014!

It wasn't so long ago that little E looked like this:

27 April 2011

Hi mom

And now he looks more like this:

24 December 2013

Picasso-ish

I'm glad that I can look back on those early days of sleep deprivation + steep learning curve in caring for a new baby and figuring out how things will work with the husband and in-laws and just family in general and say: I SURVIVED.

Things can only get better from here!

Happy New Year everyone!

Little Biker (On a Bicycle)

My father-in-law bought a bicycle for toddler E. It's still too big for him, but he enjoys riding it around the driveway and in the living room.

I spent some time searching for a toddler helmet (at a reasonable price!) that is also well-made and finally found one at Toys "R" Us for about $25.

With a helmet, I could finally take toddler E out of the driveway to ride his bicycle along the park connector near our place.

12 December

One good picture before he ran off into the playground

The Garden House Preschool

In my search for a preschool / kindergarten for toddler E to attend in late 2014 or early 2015, I took him to an afternoon preview of a programme called 'Sproutlings' designed for children 15 - 36 months at The Garden House Preschool.

Here's their description of the activities included:

"Get a taste of what we provide in our core programme with the comfort of having Mummy or Daddy around. Different experiences will be set up each week for the children to explore their senses and to try out their hands at gardening! A healthy, organic snack will be served while the children connect with one another in a group setting.

This is a chance for parents to get an insight to setting up invitations to play."

So we attended the preview on 26 September and had a lovely time!

Inside classroom

Getting into everything

Sandpit was a big hit

Water play area

Cooking area with dry pasta in pots

The focus was on outdoor play which I loved because a majority of the preschools in Singapore keep the children in an air-conditioned environment the entire time they are in school.

There were several outdoor play areas set up, a mix of sand, water, finger paints & dry props (like the cooking pot section with pasta in the pots). Toddler E tried every one except for the paint section towards the back of the building because he was stuck at the water play table and wouldn't budge for the longest time, not even for a snack!

The preschool is designed for up to 5 years old and toddler E will be 4 years old by the time I plan to enrol him in school. Plus we would be living in Yishun by then and The Garden House Preschool is somewhere in between Toh Tuck & Bukit Batok which would make it pretty far to travel for us.

Papa's Boy

Toddler E has always been attached to me but I'd attribute that to me being his source of food in the early months. Now he has times when he clings to me like a barnacle and then there are time where he is happy to play on his own.

As he grows older, the husband also gets to spend more time with him and share his love of toys and cartoons with toddler E. Gone are the days where toddler E (as an infant) would bawl his eyes out if anyone but mama picks him up and comforts him.

The storm has passed, toddler E is growing up! And I don't miss those early infant days at all, no siree!

19 October 2013

Happy 3rd Birthday Toddler E!

I planned a quiet celebration for toddler E's 3rd birthday this year.

We went to Imperial Treasure at Marina Bay Sands for lunch as we were spending the night at the Marina Bay Sands hotel for a staycation / birthday celebration for toddler E. Both sets of grandparents and my cousins joined us.

The cake was a simple one from Polar Puffs & Cakes. My sister sent an enormous helium-filled Elmo (via toddler E's auntie W) which made toddler E one happy camper.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Elmo

I only managed to take 1 picture of the food, the peking duck was really tasty, yum! Too busy eating to take more pictures.

Delicious peking duck

After lunch it was time to put our stuff in the hotel room and go swimming!

Elmo coming with us to the hotel room

Parked safely in a corner

After a swim in the rooftop pool

The Gardens by the Bay looked quite lovely in the evening light.

Great view!

Christmas 2013

So toddler E is old enough this year to pay attention and figure out what Christmas is all about.

He's been entertained by the various shows each shopping mall puts on during the festive season and came up close with a solo performer at The Grandstand which he really enjoyed.

I guess right now he is happy about getting presents i.e. new and interesting toys and eating lots of yummy food. Next year we will be in our own home (this is our last year living with the in-laws) and I've got some ideas for Christmas traditions for our family.

23 November

Mesmerised

Still watching

Joining in!

Happiness!

The photos are of the solo performer at The Grandstand. He was really good, very skilled at playing music while riding his uni-cycle.

I also took toddler E to a Nikolaus party organized by Musical Monkeys, a musical playgroup that we attend on occasion. He got to decorate a mini Christmas tree which made him happy.

6 December

Decorating the tree

Jingle bells

Santa!

We caught Jack and the Beansprout, toddler E's first Christmas pantomime! Thanks to toddler E's auntie W, we had really good seats close to the action on stage. Toddler E really liked it, some parts were scary to him but he stayed and watched till the happy ending so all was well.

1 December

Christmas tree at the Drama Centre in National Library (Bras Basah)

First photo with Santa!

Jack and the Beansprout

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Quiet Time (Toddler E Remix)

So 'quiet time' has been going well and toddler E has found his own way of expending his energy without bringing the house down with kung-fu fighting and screaming.

My mom recently bought the LeapFrog LeapReader pen and some of the compatible LeapFrog books for him to read with the pen. His current favourite is Disney Princess: Adventures Under the Sea. 

So he starts out sitting and reading his books with the pen.

16 September 2013

Let's use the LeapReader pen

Ok, forget the pen, let's just look at picures

I'm pooped, time to lie down and relax

And ends up lying down and looking at pictures at the end.

Gymboree Trial Session

A friend told me about Gymboree offering a free trial class so I signed up on their website and finally booked a trial for toddler E. There's supposed to be several children in one class but we were the only ones who turned up for the free trial. The staff at Gymboree told me it was because their Monday sessions were newly added to the schedule and not many parents have signed up yet.

Toddler E absolutely LOVED the place, all the props were just the right size for him to climb on and push around. He had a really good time in the session which gave his imagination a good workout baking an imaginary cake using props provided like little balls as 'chocolate chips' and a parachute as the 'mixing bowl'. The facilitator was a lovely lady who did a good job keeping his energy and enthusiasm high while playing and then winding down with a song at the end.

9 September 2013

Crossing the bridge

Up the ramp!

King of the hill

Toddler E had great fun but we did not sign up for the package in the end. I would have preferred if they offered sessions where we could pay as we attended but I understand that they would need a minimum number of participants in order to keep the sessions running so selling packages makes more business sense.

The Magic of Quiet Time

So I've posted before about toddler E giving up his regular afternoon naps. 

I was worried, really worried. How would I get some 'me' time during the day? The time that toddler E uses to take his afternoon nap is a block of precious child-free time for me to get things done (or just sit and stare at the wall which happens more often than not) and it keeps me going until bedtime. 

5 September 2013

Thank goodness for talking books!

I read somewhere that some parents change nap time into 'quiet time'. So the child does not necessarily have to sleep (this was causing all the drama between toddler E and I) but gets to play quietly with their toys or books and mama gets a break too.

So I decided to try it out and my 3 'either / or' rules for toddler E's quiet time are:

EITHER

1. Toddler E plays with his toys, but he has to play on his own 

OR

2. I will read story books to toddler E in bed where he usually takes his nap

OR

3. Toddler E will take a nap if he doesn't want to do either of the above

It's been working quite well, toddler E usually starts by saying he will play by himself, sometimes reading a book (looking at pictures or listening to an audio book) and he stays awake for the entire hour of quiet time but I can lie down for 10 minutes to recharge. And sometimes he'll ask me to read him a few story books then chose to nurse and take his nap.

This arrangement works because toddler E feels like he has a say in naptime and I still get some rest in between.

Hello Ling!

We went to Hello Ling! on 12 August which is part of the PLAYtime! series at Esplanade. The first instalment was Hello Paige! which toddler E enjoyed very much. 

Hello Ling! focused on light with shadow play and contrast between light and dark. The music was catchy and the actors worked hard in keeping their young audience interested in the show. 

Toddler E is not so enthusiastic about having his photo taken these days, so when I ask him to smile he gives me this face:

Stop with the photos, mom -_-

He was actually happy to be there, honest!

Bright lights!

And shadows!

After the show we had lunch at Toast Box and toddler E had his first ever Milo dinosaur! He loved it, obviously. I ordered fish soup to try and get him to eat a healthy lunch but refused most of it and just enjoyed his drink.

Potty Training 101

So toddler E is showing more signs of being ready to use the toilet. He's seen us using it and we've always kept the toilet door open and explained what we were doing whenever he asked. While he's been happy to pee in the grown-up toilet (albeit with a child seat insert so he doesn't fall into the toilet bowl) he's not quite ready to give up pooping in his diapers yet.

A couple of days ago, toddler E wanted to use regular underwear for his afternoon nap. I told him he might wet the bed while sleeping and he said, 'I will hold my pee-pee (that's our word for urine) when I sleep. Then I wake up and will be dry!' Since he was so enthusiastic I just went with it and slipped a waterproof sheet under him after he fell asleep.

And lo and behold, toddler E was dry! I was amazed, he held his bladder for a 2.5 hour nap. Immediately after he woke up, I asked if he wanted to use the potty and he said no. Took about 20 minutes before he said he needed to pee-pee but the hubby was using the toilet so toddler E had to go in his BABYBJORN Smart Potty. He's always refused it before but after he went in it this one time, he's become comfortable and has been going in it all the time now. This is great news for me because I don't have to worry about helping him up onto the adult toilet and keeping track of the child seat insert, sometimes I leave it on the toilet seat and the hubby gets a surprise the next time he goes to the bathroom.

I think we have been really laid back on potty training, not pushing him to use the toilet if he didn't want to and answering any questions he had as honestly as we could in terms a 2 year old could understand. I read somewhere that the bladder doesn't mature until 5 or 6 years of age and control before then can be difficult for a child.

Thank goodness using cloth diapers has kept the cost down as we did not have to buy as many disposables, thus there was no extra cost involved in letting toddler E take a longer time to get used to being diaper free.

My Lovely Toddler

Future rockstar :)

There's a lot of prejudice in this world. Race, gender, sexual orientation and probably more that I am not aware of. What I AM aware of is my son's right to be himself and we endeavour to create a safe space for him to express himself in whatever way he chooses.

Toddler E almost always chooses a pink coloured instrument during a musical playgroup that I take him to, he will speak up and ask the teacher for the 'Pink one!'. No hesitation at all. At a different playgroup, the teacher had to mediate between toddler E and a girl who wanted the same pink instrument. She asked toddler E to give it to the girl and offered him a green instrument. I could tell he was disappointed, he had gotten the instrument first why should he have to give it up to a girl? I told him he did a nice thing letting the girl have it and that he could have the pink instrument the next time.

At a family gathering, he was happily playing Disney princess figurines with his cousin, also a toddler who's name begins with an 'E' but one year older than him, and they had a great time. He likes watching both Mike The Knight and Sofia The First. He's also very attached to his Masked Rider belt (think Power Rangers but only 2 guys instead of 5 or was it 6 rangers?). Every toy has it's own merit and we do not limit him to 'boy' toys or avoid giving him 'girl' toys.

Just keep on being yourself toddler E, your happy shiny self that brightens up everyone's day.

Princess Todzilla

Slinky 'belt'

No More Nap?!!

So the day that I have been dreading seems to have arrived. I have been living in terror of this day ever since baby E came into this world and now it is finally here.

Toddler E has given up his regular afternoon nap. 

It started a couple weeks ago when he refused to take a nap in the afternoon, but it made him extra cranky and tired in the evening so I held out hope that it was just a temporary thing, just a passing phase.

Then a week ago, he kept refusing his nap and kept his spirits up until bedtime. So this week I am resigned to fate and the fact that toddler E is growing up. He still seems to take a nap every other day or so, but most of the time he is content to play through 'nap time', now known as 'quiet time' or 'give mama's sanity a break time'.

I will stop watching the clock. Him giving up this nap was incredibly stressful for me because my expectation was that he would nap until he turned 6 years old. I thought he was being extra stubborn about taking his nap and there was quite a bit of tears (from both of us) about the nap and his seeming refusal to just close his eyes and sleep.

Taken by toddler E

Toddler E is also getting pretty handy with the camera on my iPhone. Here is a picture taken by him which features his cute little feet (I AM his mother after all, his feet will always be cute to me).

Never Forget the Manduca Carrier!

Took toddler E swimming a couple weeks ago. It was supposed to be at the public swimming complex right beside where we live, but it was closed for it's weekly cleaning. So we went to another one further away. Thinking it would be a quick swimming session just next door, I did not bring the Manduca carrier.

Oh boy was I wrong. 

So this is how I ended up carrying toddler E on our trip home when he was too tired to walk.

Photos taken 29 July

Not a happy camper

My poor arms!

For the Love of Playgrounds

Toddler E has always had a great love for playgrounds from when he was about 1 year old. But at the time he was too small to play effectively and going to a playground caused him more frustration than enjoyment.

However, the time has come when his physical abilities have caught up with his desire to run free on the playground so I took him to a few when visiting my parents in the east of Singapore.

Photos taken 24 July

Look at that cheeky grin

And swing!

Phew, made it

Hey Little Mousedeer

Since toddler E does not attend childcare, I am determined to have some sort of schedule where he is exposed to many different experiences and not just be a kid who stays at home and watches TV all day (his favourite activity).

So on 23 July I took him to watch Hey Little Mousedeer! at the AF Theatre. 80% of the audience was made up of school children on an excursion. I guess that can't be helped when I opt for a weekday showing instead of the weekend.

Sneaked a picture before the start

Toddler E seemed to like it, he was a little apprehensive at the start of the show but as the characters showed up on stage and the singing and dancing started he became more comfortable and enjoyed it.

Cycling with a Toddler

I've been wanting to take toddler E cycling since he turned 1 year old. But daddy E was not convinced that he would be safe at such a young age. I knew that it could be done because I'd seen another mom with two kids, one looked under a year old and the other maybe 2 or 3 years old, carry both of them on her bicycle. The younger one was in front and the older one in the back.

But to appease daddy E, I did not push the bicycle matter until toddler E grew older and more confident in his mobility. And it was a happy coincidence that Giant (like Zellers but selling more fresh foods) was having a sale on bicycles. So I bought one and got a child-seat (carries up to 25kg) installed.

It is toddler E's FAVOURITE thing in the world. He loves riding on the back and stopping over at various playgrounds in the neighbourhood to do his thing and explore. 

Taken 14 July

Driving Miss Daisy?

The bicycle is being housed at my parents' place in the east side of the island (we live in the west) because their neighbourhood is more bike-friendly (in my opinion anyway) and very close to East Coast Park.

Captain Underpants?

7 July - Toddler E has discovered where I stashed the superhero underwear that's meant for when he's 4 years old. I might have been a tad bit too overzealous about buying clothing for 'big kid E' rather than toddler E when we visited my sister in Las Vegas early this year. 

So he finds them, puts a pair on his head and comes over to pose for photos.

He's doing this pretty regularly now, he especially likes the pair meant to represent the Flash. I explained to him that the Flash's superhero ability is to run really fast and he was running up and down the hallway saying 'I'm the Flash!' for a good 20 minutes.

How you doin'? (His expression makes me think of Joey from Friends)

Also for future reference, introduce toddler to Captain Underpants. 

It's a Bear Hunt!

I read about the Singapore Innovative Childrens Festival and wanted to take toddler E to watch a performance or two. After looking through the list, I decided on It's a Bear Hunt! on 28 June since his current favourite bedtime book is We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury.

Bring a bear for the performance

Beginning

Great energy from the performers

I was wondering how toddler E would behave since it's his first time attending a performance where he needs to stay in his seat. Once the performance started, he LOVED it. The performers made a game of enlisting help from the audience (in this case, the kids more so than the adults) in searching for the Gain IQ bear mascot. Toddler E had a great time yelling along with the other kids in the audience whenever the bear made an appearance.

So excited to have his picture taken with a bear

He even wanted his picture taken with the bear mascot. Toddler E is normally wary of larger than life, stuffed mascots but he couldn't wait to take a picture this time. I had to wrangle him back into the line because he ran all the way to the front and nearly photo-bombed another child.