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.

Painting

                                        Pictures taken 21 June 2013

Starting out nice and neat

Whenever toddler E gets bored in the afternoons, breaking out the paints usually cheers him up. And it's good for my conscience since he demands TV whenever he gets bored. Painting is creative, hands-on and keeps my busy boy happy.

Which means mama is happy too.

I need a bit of colour

That's his 'I'm not done, stop taking photos!' face

Piano Man

It was a hot afternoon on 13 April and there wasn't much to do. I guess toddler E decided to liven things up a bit and put on an impromptu piano show.

La la la!

Deep in thought during his performance

First Trip to the Zoo

Took toddler E on his first trip to the Singapore Zoo with Ollie and auntie J on 26 March. It was a pretty hot & humid day, which is the norm for Singapore. J's hubby had a free pass for entrance to the zoo from his company so we used it that day (Thanks Ollie's dad!).

We walked around at first (note to self: eat or pack breakfast because the prices are ridiculous for a kaya toast set) and had a bite to eat before venturing further into the zoo. After walking through some exhibits, we saw that Splash Safari was about to start and took the opportunity to rest and enjoy a show.

Waving for the camera in his old man singlet

Looking for the star of the show

Splash Safari

No action shots of the show in progress because toddler E and I were both busy watching! It was a good one with a sea lion. Toddler E remembered sea lions from our visit to San Francisco as a stopover on our way back to Singapore after my sister's wedding in Las Vegas.

In memory of an icon, Ah Meng the orang utan

It was nice to see Ah Meng, albeit as a statue. I'll always remember her as the face of the zoo when I was a kid growing up.

While Mama Was Sleeping (14 June)

Someone's figured out how to turn on the camera even when my iPhone is in locked mode. I found these pictures in my photo album.

What's up my nose?

Is that my chin??

Huh, so this button takes pictures?

Daily Bath - Love It or Hate It

How toddler E went from loving his bath to being really reluctant to take one.

It began with him getting really worked up about getting water in his face so he started refusing to wash his hair. Before that, I washed his hair like I always did since he was born, by cradling his head and neck on my arm (body out of the bathtub and on my lap) and scooping water over his head. No mess and no water in his eyes. Once he became more mobile, he wouldn't sit still so I'd pour water over his head while shielding his eyes and hope for the best.

After a while, he was just flat out refusing to wash his hair at all. So I went out and bought a shampoo hat so water would not get into his eyes. It's almost exactly like a sun visor except made of soft plastic. That worked great for a couple months. Then he was refusing to wear it or wash his hair (again).

I think it was daddy E who put his foot down and told toddler E that he had to wash his hair, no questions asked. There was whining, negotiating and tantrums but in the end toddler E accepted his fate.

He still negotiates bath time now but I think it's because he's reluctant for the day to end and sleep is boring? Toddlers and their insatiable need to live, learn and do things. Inspires me to get away from the screen (computer and phone) and be there doing things with him.

Sunglasses: Before & After

Sometimes I forget to bring toddler E's sunglasses out. He gets upset and I can see why.

This is without sunglasses:

Sun in my eyes, mama!

Ahhh, so much better with sunglasses:

Mr Cool Guy

Found this pair of sunglasses at Target in Las Vegas when we last visited my sister, auntie D. They were super duper cheap, less than SGD 5!

Ya-Ya Mandarin Kids Playgroup

As toddler E grows older, he's become more restless at home. The usual lunch and shopping outings that I take him on don't seem to satisfy his curious mind as much lately.

So I've been searching for activities for him to participate in where I can be present in the class because let's face it, I'm not the kind of mother that can hand her child over into the care of strangers without a significant amount of trust involved.

Since daddy E and I are concerned about toddler E's Mandarin development, I found Ya-Ya Mandarin Kids Playgroup through Meetup and was thinking about trying out a class but the current sessions were mostly in the east and we live in the north-west which is quite a distance to travel for a 45 minute playgroup.

Then I noticed that Happy Willow posted on Facebook about a trial class for Ya-Ya Mandarin Kids Playgroup on 22 May and I signed up almost immediately. Happy Willow is an indoor playground located in Fusionopolis which is right above the one-north MRT station. I can get there in about half an hour on public transport which works out great.

Here are pictures of the session toddler E attended on 12 June.

Storytelling

Parachute time!

I think he's trying to wink like the bee?

Toddler E seems to be enjoying himself so far. There's been issues with him wanting to play at the indoor playground instead of attending the playgroup so I've tried bringing him in right when the session starts. This way I'm hoping that he doesn't have time to even think about running off into the playground first. Unfortunately he's been faster than me quite a few times and ran off into the ball-pit before I could usher him into the playgroup area.

Once he actually gets over being upset that I've cut short his playground fun and pays attention to the facilitator, things run more smoothly and he sings along to the Mandarin songs and eagerly listens to storytelling time.

And after playgroup, he has unlimited time at the indoor playground. That is a win in my book!

Dim Sum Panda!

My brother came back from Vietnam for a couple weeks and we went out together with my parents for a family dim sum brunch on 8 June. I've not really found a decent dim sum place in Singapore until I was introduced to East Ocean Teochew Restaurant by a friend and fellow mummy blogger, J.

They have wonderfully attentive service and the dim sum is fresh and yummy. They make great fried fish skin, I've only tasted better in my college days in Toronto. The restaurant has a menu especially for children that has cute dim sum animals, the panda is filled with lotus paste. Yum! 

Dim sum panda looks just like Kung Fu Panda!

Remember toddler E's cute & innocent smile while posing for photos with the dim sum panda.

Lots of tries to get this posed shot

Because after I was done taking photos, he promptly bit the panda's head off and said, 'Mmm, delicious!'

Playtime at Mothercare (Father's Day Edition)

Toddler E had a really nice time at the last Mothercare Playtime so I signed him up for the next session on 31 May. It's limited to one session per month which seems fair since it's a free event with material provided.

This session involves making a portrait of daddy as a Father's Day present. I swear toddler E picked the green Frankenstein template on his own. Zero prompting from me. I swear!

I like that the session is only 45 minutes long. Toddler E has a somewhat short attention span (like most toddlers at this age) and the teachers (there were 2 lovely ladies facilitating the session) kept things going at a good pace so that he didn't get bored and run off.

At the start, while waiting for any latecomers, the kids are given a picture to colour in. 

Oooh, dog!

Once everyone is more or less settled in, the crafting begins.

Portrait of papa courtesy of toddler E

I helped with cutting out the hearts and toddler E told me where to stick them onto the paper.

Happy (Belated) Father's Day!

Motherhood Exhibition 2013

I love baby fairs, walking around and looking at baby stuff and checking out deals on accessories and disposable diapers. I used to look for deals on cloth diapers as well, but toddler E is potty training right now so it wouldn't be practical to buy more cloth diapers at this point in time.

I took toddler E to the Motherhood Exhibition on 30 May 2013. Normally, he would insist on running around to look at things and generally get into the displays and grab toys from the various stalls. After negotiating with him for 10 minutes to get on my back in the Manduca, he finally agreed because I think I promised him gummy bears afterwards.

Mr. Kaypoh

Art Garden 2013

Took toddler E to this year's Art Garden at the Singapore Art Museum on 24 May. It was Vesak Day, a public holiday and the exhibition was pretty chaotic with children running around and their parents running after them.

It was free entry for Singapore citizens and PRs which was nice. We might take him back again when it's not so crowded to go through the exhibits at a more leisurely pace.

Somewhere over the rainbow...

Mirror, Mirror on the table?

E rockin' a pair of 3D glasses on the rocking horse

Jumped right into bed and got under the covers

I only wish toddler E were this enthusiastic about going to bed at home!

Udon Day

Daddy E convinced me to try an udon restaurant called Tamoya in Liang Court. I'm not a fan of udon because I've only ever had soggy, tasteless versions in Japanese restaurants here which specialise more in sushi. But Tamoya sells ONLY udon and tempura to go along with it.

So we took toddler E on 19 May 2013, started our day with kaya toast & eggs with toddler E drinking Milo cooled down in a saucer because it was served steaming hot in a coffee cup.

Starting the day with Milo in a saucer

Then it was on to udon!

Udon!

Toddler E loved it. He ate it all by himself and asked for more.

I thought it was pretty good too!

Slurp!

Preschool Planning

As toddler E grows older, I've begun researching kindergartens to find one that suits him and us without burning a hole in our pockets. Preschool education in Singapore seems to range from the incredibly expensive places that charge a few thousand per term to those that charge a few hundred (with financial aid from the government via ECDA). 

We are planning to wait until toddler E is 4 or maybe 5 years old before enrolling him into kindergarten. I did not want to put him under the care of an institution before he was able to walk and talk (and confident in his bathroom habits). Both daddy E and I were not enrolled in kindergarten until we were 5 or 6 years old and going by the pressure Singaporean children are under today, we wanted to give toddler E a carefree childhood for as long as possible. 

I also read this article on Steven Biddulph, an Australian psychologist who advocates quality child care (there are several other articles from different sources as well, I'll add them to this post later on).

Here's a quote, 

"In a new book, Raising Babies - Should under 3s go to Nursery?, he argues that this growing international body of work combined with neurobiological research clearly suggests that at least during the first two years of life, brain development unfolds at its optimum with one-to-one care. This care could be from mother, father, a loving relative or, if necessary, a single, attentive paid carer."

We are also very aware of the fact that toddler E needs to learn how to be independent and I believe that can be taught at home. Of course if I put him into daycare or preschool now, I could have some child-free time which would be lovely. However, I will grit my teeth and persevere with a toddler attached to my hip (or within shouting distance) for the next couple of years. 

So I took toddler E to a seminar / open house at Wharton Preschool in Ang Mo Kio on 18 May 2013. The school follows the Montessori method of teaching (I'll do a post on the various teaching methods as I'm learning about this too!). 

He seemed to enjoy the session, especially with the lunch lady giving him lots of home-made chocolate chip cookies!

Listening to instructions but wanting to play

Rhythm & Legos

Crafting his 'guitar'

Hello Paige!

I've been waiting a long time to bring toddler E to the theatre. When he was younger, I figured he would not understand and would probably be wailing through the entire show. So all I could do was patiently wait until he grew older and developed an understanding of what is going on around him. 

And 4 May 2013 is the day he watched his first play! The play is called Hello Paige! and tickets were pretty affordable. The audience sits on the ground around the stage which is set in the centre and it's free seating so kids have room to wiggle and jump around if they needed to. Perfect for toddler E who has ants in his pants and can barely sit still for a minute. 

Surprisingly, he was very still during the show. Seems he was trying to absorb and make sense of what was going on. No tears happened, just a quiet toddler watching the show. It went so well that I've started planning which plays to take him to in the future. Hello Paige! is the first in a series of 4 and I've got tickets for Hello Ling! which is the next one.

Free seating on the floor

Hello Paige!

Watching the performance

Happy Painter

Auntie W's house 27 April 2013

Toddler E is an avid painter. He loves it more than he liked crayons and markers. Whenever he is in a bad mood, painting lifts his spirits almost instantly.

My silly Picasso.

(Second) First Trip to the Dentist

We tried taking toddler E to the dentist for a check-up when he was 2 years old. He wasn't having it and refused to open his mouth for the dentist even after seeing daddy E and I go through our own check-ups.

So we tried again 6 months later on 13 April 2013 and it went pretty decently. He was impressed with the playroom at the clinic and had a good time with the toys. When it came to his turn, he was cooperative overall and the dental hygienist was able to get a good look at his teeth and even floss a bit.

He was pretty happy with the reward of a fancy pencil too!

Play room at dental clinic

Cars and construction equipment are always a hit

Post checkup