Baby En's Tantrums?

What always scares me when I am out shopping are hearing the incessant wails of babies/ kids, trying to wail and scream their way to getting what they want..

And since 1 yr of age, and after his weekly play class, Baby En really became more expressive in all aspects.. and unfortunately, expressively both for the good and the bad!

On the good side, he is a real cutie pie when he is affectionate and gay.. He is increasingly "playing back" all that we have communicated to him, roaring like a lion when he sees lion/ tiger images, learning to express fear such as "scare-scare" and even kissing us when we ask him to!

However, last week, when we brought him shopping for Baby Xuan's last minute stuff, En kicked up a huge fuss when we did not allow him to browse on his own at the toys department.. To me, this seems like a REALLY bad sign.. tantrums at such a tender age? Aren't these stuff supposed to come only when they reach 2 yrs old, hence, the term Terrible Twos?

He is barely 15 months and he is already trying to assert his will over us.. while a part of me fear for hubby's and my lives ahead, the other part of me can't help marveling at the rate that he is growing.. almost everyday he is showing us that he is developing and growing.. from new vocab to new antics and acts, and are quite a joy to share these moments with him..

And, we vow not to let him be the ill behaved spoilt brat in public, and I am keeping fingers crossed that we will have better control the next time we visit a toy section..

Baby En - The Shopper and "Bookie"?

We started Baby En on his shopping recently.. It started with letting him crawl around Carrefour, and this little boy was "stuck" at the rack that had all the toys for quite some time.. While we browsed for Baby Xuan's baby items, En was at the opposite ailse looking and touching the toys.. so much for self entertainment.

Then when we brought him to the bookstore, he was busy going through the various books, so much so that when it was time for his class, he refused to move away from the bookself..

And it seems like the little boy has developed quite a love for books, even if it is just flipping through the books again and again.. and he will also hand me the same book numerous times to be read.. well, there are only so many times I can spin different versions of stories for the same pictures..

Still we hope En will share our avid love for books, and I can't wait to get him his own bookshelf! :)

The Men In My Life - and the Precious Moments

It has been written in the stars that Scorpio is one of the soul mates of Cancer.. Well perhaps it is cuz of the stars, but perhaps it is also cuz of the efforts that Daddy has put in for Baby En since birth, even now, Daddy is the one who will bath Baby En since preggie mummy has given up lifting and carrying chubby En.

The 2 men are qute inseparable, and En just loves his dad to bits. And the weekly Kindmusik class now further strenghtened the bonding between the 2 of them, as dad spends an hour of quality time playing and learning with Baby En..

Sometimes it makes me wonder about my role as a mum... Perhaps its the stars, (the cerebrel air signs generally dun mess with the water signs), perhaps its cuz I am preggie with Baby Xuan, which makes keeping up with baby En's activities quite challenging sometimes.. after all the most exciting thing i can do with him is reading to him in funny voices.. duh, so exciting..

The first time I saw En giggling while whirling around in his Kindermusik class in the arms of his dad, I had to look away.. cuz of the tears pricking my eyes.. everytime I see the 2 men having such fun and special times on their own, i feel very touched.. it is much like watching a very finely executed movie that makes one feel a tad breathless, and I am privileged to be the audience of it...

Such moments should be captured, and always remembered - This joy that we have with our little babies, and the special tenderness we feel for them.. Years later, if and when we are faced with a rebellious punk, a defiant rebel or a recalcitrant mischief maker, and when we exchange heated words of anger and hurt, I want to be able to look back on such moments and remember the strong bond that we have built and shared. And to be able to see and remember the little innocent and wonderful baby...

Many Kudos to En's daddy, for being involved, committed and just always being there for En and us.. Parenting is really hard work, but it would have been harder without the equally strong commitment, time and devotion from the dad..

En-zart ?

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A KIA-SU MUM!

I am really not a kia-su mum.. some people wonder why i started looking for activity class for En and ended up signing him up with Kindermusik, unless I am THE kia-su mum..

I really am not.. En has been a very active baby since he learnt to crawl.. and we observed that he loves to watch other kids play when he is at the nanny's place - we often caught him watching in fascination when other children are playing, and burst out laughing for reasons only known to him..

Coupled with his seeming interest in music, so I thought to let him try the trail class and see if he would enjoy interacting with other kids.. it turned out that he enjoyed his trail class immensely.. esp. the props that were provided in the class.. to the extent that he was really reluctant to return them...

One direct benefit has been his increasing interest to walk, since he is the only baby in class that has yet to start walking on his own.. and the class also helps to expend his boundless energy as he crawls around and watches the other kids in fascination..

well, if he has not seem so animated or engaged in the class, it would have been a waste of money, but since he enjoys it and is engaged with the class, it seems really cruel to deprive him of the exposure.. I feel it all depends on the kid.. some kids seem less involved or engaged in class, but for me, so long as en has fun, it is money well spent... and when the fun stops, then there willl be less value in putting him through such classes.. until then, well daddy will still have to spend the weekly hour playing with him and the other kids in class! :)

It is not how much he can learn from the class, it is all about giving him a wider experience, especially those that he enjoys.. ! So I am NOT a kia-su mum!

En's Outing III - An Exploratory World

En had a real trooper day out at Sentosa again last weekend.. Grandparents went to stay at the new Siloso Beach Resort hotel, and baby En popped by to see what's happening at this brand new hotel..

It is a world of discovery for him as he crawled around the hotel room, and overlooking the scenic view offered by the glass windows..

And the little boy is fascinated with water fountains, and he loves to play with the gushing water with glee..

It is quite a joy to see him playing with the water hesitantly, and exploring his world in little touches and baby steps.. What a wonderful world it must be for him..

Baby En - the Ah Beng?

These days, as we see more facets of En's cheekiness and his blase responses to our repremands, both dad and mum are beginning to habour great fears that Baby En may turn out to be much more than we can handle..

At just 1 year of age, En has already started defying us, and displayed his many faces of being quite the "Ah beng" sometimes. And he is insistent on getting his way, but thankfully both mum and dad can be equally stubborn and firm in not letting him have his way all the time... Still, the battle of wills can be so exhausting..

His boundless energy has really made me wonder if I have enough energy to keep up with him and his antics.. Just the other day, En was engaged in a battle of wills with his cousin, refusing to let go of his cousin's toy and we had to sternly ask him to let go.. While we have won that battle, I suspect that the war is far from being over.. more of such tussles are sure to happen and I just worry that we won't win them that easily the next time!

We are definitely NOT looking forward to his Terrible Twos stage.. keeping all fingers and toes crossed that we can cope and manage!

Baby En's First Many Unassisted Steps...

happened on 16 Nov, at 27 College Green, quite unexpectedly!

Both Papa and mummy were sitting around and chatting when suddenly the little boy was in front of us, having taken 4-5 steps unassisted!

"AND WE FORGOT THE CAMERA!!" were both our first exclaimations.. We have always wondered when he will be taking his first baby steps! And until the last weekend when he attended his trial Kindermusik class (more on that next time), Baby En has not shown much interests in walking..

And knowing that boys tend to develop a tad slower than gals, we were not anticipating him walking any time soon..

And what a lovely surprise to see him tottling and tumbling! Since then, he has been walking both assisted and unassisted... it really would not be long before he will be all over the place on his own..

Meanwhile, we probaby have to get him another new pair of shoes as the little boy is already beginning to grow outta his size 3 size!!

Proprietary Mummy Skills

All along, my pregnancy food cravings have been quite a challenge for my hubby to fulfill, cuz I tend to crave for food that I have tasted overseas, like the roadside potatoes wedges we had in Vienna, or the galette in Britanny, the gelato in Venice, the tang yuan in Shanghai.. sometimes I wonder if its the food or that feeling..

Anyway, recently for once, my craving for the "siew mai" (chinese pork dumplings) can be fulfilled, but only those made by my mum... I have always loved my mum's cooking, it has a special quality about it that is hard to replicate... Years later, I still remember some of her signature dishes with fond memories.. and this is a special bond shared between my mum and I..and even now, I will ask her to specially cook those dishes for us..

That got me thinking, that I will want to have some proprietary skills that my kids relish, and for years later, whenever they return home, I will be able to do that for them, or they will always associate and remember me in relation to those fond moments..

Unfortunately, I am not a terrific cook.. i love baking, though i hardly find the time to do so.. Yet I have been toying with an idea recently, that i should start my own special blend of chocolate chip cookies .. Much like my hubby loves the cookies that his mum bakes.. so I will be able to bake that for them weekly or monthly.. and they will grow up loving and remembering those "cookie moments'...

Another skill that I have been thinking of has been the "piano moments", when we move, we will be able to bring along hubby's piano to our newhouse, and En has recently been fascinated with the piano at his cousin's place, and coupled with his enthusiasm for his weekly Kindermusik class, I think music may be a good bonding mode for 2 of us.. and I will be able to overcome my all time regret of being scared off music classes by the evil music teacher!!

So the chocloate chip cookies and piano classes shall form my proprietary Mummy skills that hopefully my kids will appreciate :) though I am still sourcing for the unique blend of chocolate cookie recipe.. all contributions welcomed!!

En Strapped In...

Way before we have Baby En, we always wonder when we saw one parent sitting at the back seat, accompanying their kids while the other parent drive.. and typically they are Singaporeans..

In contrast, the foreign familes which we observe hardly do this, both parents remain in the front seat while their kids remain at the back..

To me, the latter's way seems more wholesome, and perhaps, symbolic of the values they believe in.. that parents stay together, just like being seated together, instead of splitting up to focus on their kids.. It is inevitable that parents tend to be very kid focussed, and hence, will "give up" or trade off their spouse for their kid..

So we have decided when we have Baby En that we will train him from young to stay in his infant seat alone while both of us remain in the front seats. And must say we have been rather successful in training En to stay in his car seat since young.. Though as he grows older, sometimes he will wail incessantly to get our attention, but in general, he is quite a well behaved baby when strapped in..

We have already transitted him from his infant seat to his new car seat some time back in anticipation of Bao Xuan, and it works better for us as we can now see his funny expression facing forward now.. Then again, when we have 2 baby seats in the car next time, I really wonder what the 2 babies will do at the back.. hm...

Baby En - the Goldfish??

These days, bringing En out for dinner or lunch can be a real challenge, because we find a real Cookie Monster with us all the time..

Baby En really loves food, all kinds of food.. and it is amazing how his radar detects the "food" category, which makes him go "mum-mum-mum-mum".. His chant gets louder and louder if we ignore him.. which can be rather embarrassing for us .. And the way he clamours for food, sometimes, even trying to climb out of his baby seat to grab at our food, makes other diners wonder if we are the selfish parents who are relishing our food and not feeding our baby... When the reality is that Baby En already had his usual specially prepared lunch or dinner and is just greedy for more!!

So these days, we have to try to master the skill of feeding him bits of food to stop his chant, while at the same time eat our fill.. so much for being able to multi - task..

I used to hear a story about goldfishes, that they are such silly creatures that they will eat whatever you feed them.. They do not know when to stop and can eat till they bloat...

Momo, our dog, shares that trait.. we once brought her to a doggie X'mas party feast where she ate all the food that was given to her, till we had to stop her or her belly will burst!

Now I am wondering if Baby En is like that as well... he seems to keep wanting to eat, no matter how much we have fed him for lunch/ dinner. Sometimes I am afraid he will be like the goldfish - not knowing when to stop and eat till he has stomach problems!

Then again, for kids, this may be a phase - something I think I better enjoy, because most kids I observe, once they know the value of play, will trade play readily for food, anytime..

My future problem is more likely to be trying to coax En to eat during meal times... in any case, it will still means that the luxury of me enjoying a quiet peaceful meal seems out of reach for some years yet!! Sob Sob..

Introducing Yap Bao Xuan, Edric

Finally.. we have decided on the name for Baby 2, and even had a glimpse of his face and features at the recent scan..

Introducing Yap Bao - 3 Xuan-1, Edric, on the left, little brother of Baby En.. Well, after going thru the many "Baos" and fitting almost every word in the Chinese dictionary with the word "Bao", we concur that Bao Xuan is not too obiang a name, and quite meaningful.. It was a close and tough fight with other Baos, such as Bao Kai-3 and Bao Kun-1...

Xuan is typically associated with books and literacy, and in one of the dictionaries, Xuan also refers to having a charismatic quality.

Since baby is due to arrive in early Jan, he will be a Capricorn, a star sign typically associated with leadership and ambition, so we have also named him Edric, which means "Properous Ruler" in Gaelic.

At about the same time, 31 weeks, Baby En also showed us a glimpse of his facial features (scan on the right), and comparing the 2 scans, we find that Bao Xuan seems to have taken after En's features, except for the stubby chin... and perhaps not as smiley as En seems to look in his scan..

Now what's left is to think of a nickname for Bao Xuan..
From the beginning, we have called Bao En Baby En or En-En for short, which suits him fine..

Xuan Xuan, however, sounds a tad too girlish... though I have a good mind to call him Xiao Bao (little precious) !

Time flies so fast... We have about 8 more weeks to go before Bao Xuan will reveal himself..

As for whether I should re-vamp the blog, I am still thinking how to go about it, and how the "air-space" will be shared by the 2 brothers..

Feeling So Ashamed..

of myself. Just on Sunday, we went to the ever crowded Marina food court for simple dinner with En and my parents...

And 2 tables away from us, I saw a teenage boy on a wheelchair, and it was obvious that he had some disability which seems to prevent him from even lifting his head, nor move any parts of his body...

Yet, his expression was one of contentment and joy as he ate his dinner, and I saw his mum was painstakingly feeding him his dinner one mouthful at a time.. also with joy and at ease... The boy was well dressed for the outing, even with a watch on his hand. Other family members sat around the table, conversing with ease and well, very normally...

And as I watched, I was awashed in shame..

- Ashamed of those times when I have allowed myself to feel dis-spirited because I felt so alone in my pregnancy and for having a kid, which set me so apart and alienated from friends who are either single or married without kids
- Ashamed of those times when I face my own fears of how we can cope with bringing En out and the hassle it involves when bringing a kid out

As I watch the boy and his family, what seems so easy and at ease would not have come easy, yet these people are taking it in stride and moving on with their lives as normally and enjoyably as they can..

It made me re-think and reflect how we should just adapt to changes with courage and take on life-changing changes in stride.. That is what it means by moving on in life, if you care, come along for the ride, if not, each new change and experience bring their own little joy and satifaction too, if we can only face them with ease and courage.. and count all our little blessings..

I Hope You Dance, My Sons...

Someone recently asked me what are some of my hopes for my children.. What do I want for my kids.. Wow, its really quite a tough question to answer.. As parents, we tend to harbour too many hopes for our kids, and to simply put them into words can be so tough..

Then I remembered a song which I sent a friend when things were rocky for her, I wish for her to hang on to her strength, her faith and have hope.. And now looking back, this song "I Hope You Dance" By Lee Ann Womack describes all my hopes so aptly..

For for both my sons, it is just a simple hope - I hope you will both embrace life with courage and choose to dance to the joys that life offers ...Check out the song in En's JukeBox Ravs!

I Hope You Dance

by Lee Ann Womack

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty-handed
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance, I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin' might mean takin' chances, but they're worth takin'
Lovin' might be a mistake, but it's worth makin'
Don't let some hell-bent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to sellin' out, reconsider
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance, I hope you dance
I hope you dance, I hope you dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion, always rolling us along
Tell me who wants to look back on their years
And wonder, where those years have gone)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

Dance, I hope you dance
I hope you dance, I hope you dance
I hope you dance, I hope you dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along
Tell me who wants to look back on their years
And wonder where those years have gone)

En's Outing Part II - Of Man and Dogs

We accomplished something 2 weeks ago, we brought Baby En and Momo out to the Dog-Run and McDonald's - SANS the helper!

It was not as bad as we thought...aside from En's incessant whining in his car seat during the journey, both En and Especially Momo were exceptionally well behaved...

En is quite well socialised with dogs, and he was not fearful even when the dogs barked at him.. Momo proved herself quite the nurturer.. when we placed her leash on the pram (with one of our hands on the leash still of course), she trotted along with the pram - no sudden lurches or speedy running, not even when she came across other dogs.. It was as if she knew...

It was a Joy watching En trying to grab momo's leash.... and when we let Momo free, she would still stay close by while Dad tried to get En to walk.. Momo would sit in front of En, as if protecting him from other dogs.. Momo is just such a sweet and sensitive dog.. She has always been a great dog, and now I see the potential of her as a great companion to my 2 boys..

At the McD, En kept asking for fries and ice cream - well the junkie mum fed bits of the fries and sips of the ice cream to satisfy the little junkie.. All in all, it was a good trip, and we ought to do that more often... To enhance this special bonding between Man and Dog.. 

En - The "Manja" King

Recently En acquired a favourite animal - THE TORTOISE.. He recognises the eyes of that tortise, he knows that green thing is The Tortoise, and he even knows how to hug The Tortoise...

And he does it very well indeed... He will look around for the object of his affection and put his side of the face onto the tortoise, hugging it..

Quite funny, if only he knows how to manja us this way too - more frequently.. :)