Speshol Station

Last weekend, as we get into the car to run yet more errands for our home renovation (furniture hunting walks a fine line between heaven and hell, heaven when we find the perfect piece and hell when this perfect piece is nowhere to be found).

E pipes up: Are we going to a speshol station?

Me: Um, no not really. We're not going anywhere special, just getting some errands done.

E: No, are we going to a speshol station where I can get the Lego toy car?

Ohhh, he meant 'petrol station'! The F1 is in town, today is the last day of the races, and the petrol station was running a promotion where buying $60 of petrol allows you to buy a Lego replica of the F1 racing cars.

The husband had bought one of the Lego cars when he last filled up the tank and E remembered.

What's In a Name?

E and I were having our usual pre-bedtime conversation and this came up.

E: Mama, why is my name E?

I blathered on about how daddy E and I gave a lot of thought on what name to give him before he was born and we thought that E was a very nice name and that's why we chose it etc and so on.

E: Well, you should have named me 'David'. I like that name.

Me: If you like, you could apply to change your name when you grow up.

E: Okay. I'm sleepy now, good night mama!

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!