Restraint

5 July 

E showed remarkable self-restraint and listening abilities today.

We had a long day of furniture shopping with my parents. E was getting bored and tired from not napping earlier in the afternoon. He was bugging me about sitting on kiddy rides at the mall and was going on and on about it. 

I squatted down to his eye level and explained to him that I know he's tired and really wants to sit on a kiddy ride, but I was discussing furniture options and prices with his papa at the time and we had to leave the mall in 5 mins (my parents were at the customer service counter getting something done and we were waiting on them).

He took it rather well. I saw his downcast expression but he said, 'Ok.' and settled down to wait quietly.

So so soooo proud of my big boy and I told him that tons of times today. He also showed an incredible amount of patience while we shopped for furniture in a crowded and noisy mall.

I was inspired to write this post after I read this article on Aha! Parenting.com.

Allergies

23 June

My allergies are acting up due to the change in weather, it happens several times a year. There is a constant flow of mucus from my sinuses, it was getting annoying. 

I had a nagging headache the entire day and told E that papa needs to help me because I'm not feeling well and he cooperated really well. Which means he listened to the husband and did not argue about every single thing from bath time until it was time for bed.

Bedtime went smoothly, E did not do his usual negotiation for an extra bedtime storybook. The husband read a Mandarin book to him instead. I do the English books as my Mandarin is atrocious. 

Couple hours after E falls asleep, he wakes up and sees me awake and reading my phone. He asks if my nose is ok, 'Do you feel better, mama?' I tell him yes but my head still hurts.

He looks at me then says he will 'pat pat' me so that I will feel better and starts patting my stomach as he falls back asleep.

<3 

A Princess Morning

23 May

This morning when I wake up, E tells me a story.

E is the princess and I am the talking castle that he lives in. 

Papa is the monster that Princess E needs to hide from and 'mama talking castle' (E's words, not mine!) would protect him.

He has the most amusing dreams. I've been trying to explain the difference between a 'day dream' and the dreams he has at night. Sometimes he will be falling asleep and suddenly wake up to describe a dream to me. I figure it's his imagination sorting through the day and putting information together. 

Pretend iPad

29 April

At bedtime today E tells me, 'Shhhh, I need to think about Sunday and not buying things at the petrol station.'

And I go, ' Ok darling.'

Once done, he says he's trying to think of how to transfer the thoughts inside his head to the outside. Then he says he'll write it down on his pretend iPad and shows it to me before going to sleep.

<3

Where?

24 April

The 'where' questions have started:

• Where does apple juice come from?
• Where does Ribena come from?
• Where does 'bak' (generic Hokkien term for meat) come from?
• Where do eggs come from?

As I write this catch-up post on 18 August, E has progressed from asking simple 'Where' and 'Why' questions and turned them into long conversations about making a drink like Ribena on his own now that he knows where it comes from (blackcurrants).

He also asks a lot of 'farm to table' questions. Like where does cheese come from? My answer has to start right from the beginning with milking the cow, processing milk into cheese then the cheese being transported to the grocery stores where we buy the cheese. Same with meat (chicken, pork, fish etc) and vegetables. I'm trying to be as factually accurate as possible but I'm a little hazy on some of the details. The hazards of living in a country with little space to spare for gardens and farms.

He's an information sponge, I tend to forget this. He takes the information we give him and extrapolates. In retrospect, it's amazing. Caught up in the moment, I find myself sighing a little when he asks so many questions at the same time because I'm tired of answering.

So here's a note to myself:

Stop sighing and answer questions enthusiastically because E is learning!

Kids and Eating (Part II)

20 March 2014

So E has been starting to refuse food. He used to love chicken rice and would eat it all up by himself, now he only wants the roasted chicken skin with rice. If I sneak a piece of chicken in, he spits the entire mouthful out. 

I have resorted to telling him, 'I'm sorry but the skin is stuck to the meat. If you want to eat skin then meat comes along by default.' 

He also has a new found love for the crispy coating on tonkatsu (Japanese pork chop). And anything with a deep fried coating, KFC is also a favourite. 

We have been having talks on 'Real Food vs A Snack' and have implemented a rule where E has to eat 'Real Food' before getting 'A Snack'. 'Real Food' meaning rice, vegetables and meat and 'A Snack' meaning chocolates, biscuits and sweets.

E uses the phrase 'sweets and treats' to refer to snacks. So cute. Except when I need him to eat some rice or he gets a stomach ache because he gobbles up oily and sugary food and neglects to line his stomach with the basic protein and carbohydrate groups. 

E has also been asking for Toblerone at breakfast. Sometimes he screams in my face as I am waking up to demand chocolate or some other equally inappropriate food item for breakfast.

17 August - Looking back while writing this delayed post, I think we have come a long way since March. It is now August and while E still loves his 'sweets and treats', he no longer yells about wanting chocolate for breakfast and actually had a good-sized portion of Korean red bean rice and grilled saba for lunch today. With an apple-flavoured drink which isn't ideal but 'you win some you lose some'.

Papa's Armpits

12 March - The husband and E had an interesting conversation before bed...

The husband and E are laying in bed just before bedtime. 

E says (to the husband): I want to smell your armpit!!

Lifts husband's arm to smell and goes: Mmmmm! Good!

The husband and I are shaking with suppressed laughter. 

E goes: Let me smell your other armpit!

Goes to smell the other side. 

E: Arrrrgh! Chow chow (stinky)!!! You did not take a bath, papa!

Catch-Up Posts

19 January

Elliott picked up my speech patterns and uses 'actually' while talking quite a lot now.

20 January

I came across a National Geographic book for kids about space (part of a series that has animals, dinosaurs etc) and bought it because I thought the bright illustrations would catch E's eye and spark his interest.

Book cover

E saw the book cover and said 'Just like Dr Who!'. He was  watching quite a bit of Dr Who with the husband at the time. We decided not to show him the episodes with the Weeping Angels until he's older, they are pretty scary (to me!).

21 January

I was supposed to meet my mother at Centrepoint after lunch but she was held up in the office and was late. So while waiting, I took E for a walk around the mall to keep him entertained. He totally did not want to take a nap so we had to be constantly walking to keep him content in the stroller. 

Then E wanted to walk so he got off the strollder. After a bit more walking, I noticed he was talking to his stroller. Listening in, I realised he was putting a pretend 'baby' in the stroller and giving it a snack. Then after a few steps, he took his pretend 'baby' out and put it in a pretend Manduca (baby carrier).

20 February

E can almost eat a full kid's meal! 

Last weekend after his Sunday drama class we went to his favourite udon place, Tamoya, and E finished kid's size udon AND a vanilla cone from Mcdonalds for the first time ever.

Chewed Up Candle

So this happened. E ate a red swirly birthday candle because he thought it looked like a candy from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

It happened back in December 2013 (yes, I know I'm really late on posting about this. Still in catchup mode!). I was lying down for a quick snooze in the bedroom and E was playing on his own with the husband busy working on the computer.

E came into the bedroom looking for me and quietly told me about trying to eat the candle with chewed-up red and white wax all over the front of his shirt. At first I thought I was still asleep and dreaming but when I realised this was really happening and I was awake, I did not know whether to laugh or cry.

I decided to be positive and laugh it off with him while teaching him what edible and non-edible means.

We were going through a tough weekend (kiddo challenging us on everything we said and the husband being busy with work and me down with a headache) but I'm glad I made a conscious effort to treat the matter lightly (it was not a life or death situation) instead of freaking out.

Still finding bits and pieces of wax in the study room to this day (19 January 2014).

Quick update, there is absolutely no more wax to be found as I write this catchup post!

Drama-Free Drama Class

Catching up on blog posts again.

3rd times a charm for drama class!

So, we took E for drama class no. 3 on 19 January and he seemed  more positive. E wanted to bring his dinosaurs so I said yes! (Anything that might help him stay and participate in the class). The teacher, Miss A, took the initiative to offer E a sticker before class. I think that helped smooth the way so that E was more open and receptive to interacting with her. 

But I really think the secret weapon was arriving early before all the other students so that E could explore the classroom setting with Miss A and settle in before the hustle and bustle of his classmates arriving for the lesson. Getting there early gave his teacher a chance to speak with E one-on-one and gain his trust.

We heard some crying and screaming about wanting to leave after class began but we did not interfere as I wanted to see if the teacher could handle E this time. The husband peeked in through a window and reported that Miss A spoke to E and he settled down pretty quick.

Since then until now, E has been attending this drama class on Sundays with no major issues. We introduced a goodbye ritual where E gives (and receives from) each of us a hug and a kiss so we won't miss each other and it has been working!

Hopefully this goodbye ritual will serve us again when E starts kindergarten next year.