Never go to the zoo without a camera

12 June

... matters not that we must have been there at least 4x.

The boys became park rangers

We watched with amazement how this smart ape figured out the way to get his (her?) food

S.P played with the water slide for the first time

We made new discovery of this playground next to the waterplay. Peanut had an exhilarating time - his first on a flying fox play equipment.

A zoo visit is not complete without feeding the animals. This time it's manatees.

Did you know that manatees are cousins of elephants and each can weigh up to 600 kilos?

Look mum, I came in first in the race.

The outfit is no coincidence. This boy has consistently liked to be Spiderman.

We will have to figure out a way to bathe these boys without getting their left hands wet ....

It takes a genius (or a crook) ...

11 July
This is what greeted me on a Monday morning:

Photo 1: A shot of the whiteboard - S.P pointed to the string of 'writings' in green and tried to had me believe that they were Chinese characters. No doubt, they were highly complex ones made up of many strokes!

Photo 2: These were written by Peanut with chalk on the blackboard - practising for his spelling - both English and Chinese, complete with han yu pin yin.

"Cool man"

2 April 2011

Photos taken minutes before we left for a movie, I think it was Rio:

How to recover from a cough

Warning: This post starts off rather innocuous and light, like all my other postings but gets unsuspectingly heavy toward the end - not for the faint hearted. But adversity is part of life and we all get our fair share at some point or other.

Last evening, I learned something new - on what to eat to get well from a cough that has lasted more than 2 weeks - from none other than my wise 4 y.o-to-be.

"Mama, I eat one M&M and then I sleep. I wake up, no more cough already!"

I do not promise that it will work for you. But if you want to try, you must first do the following for 2 weeks:

- Abstain from banana, orange, chocolates, ice-cream and all things cold
- Abstain from fried food
- Get lots of rest (including forced afternoon naps)
- Drink lots of water
- Finish a bottle of Prospan (herbal cough mixture)
- Stay away from the fan
- pop Vitamins C

And you ask, "He did all of that?". Yes, isn't he just wonderful? I just couldn't bring myself to chide him for taking the little indulgence with that M&M.

You think I'm being strict with him? Well, I believe you are not alone. My mum and parents-in-law happen to think so. Slightly more than 2 weeks back, my parents-in-law indulged S.P with chocolates. The following day, he got an ice-cream from popo. Then a stubborn cough followed. I highly suspect that they would need little persuasion to resist being indulgent with snacks after this. And I can finally give up my incessant nagging which honestly is making me unpopular with myself - how nice.

Did I also mention that you should get someone to cover you with a blanket in the early hours of the morning when your hands and feet are cold?

Btw, if you think I'm paranoid. Yes, you're right. The stubborn cough, irritating it maybe, I can cope with that. What scares me is the fever. This child, unlike Peanut, had an episode of febrile convulsion - fits or seizure is the more commonly used word. It happened in Dec 2009 at 38.6 degrees at 11.30pm. For that 5 minutes which seemed like eternity, I went berserk - I thought he was going to die on me. He was stiff, shaking in spasms, his eyes rolled up, I could only see the whites, he did not respond to my cries (I think I was yelling, "Don't scare mama". I was totally incapable of giving any assurance to my child) and I could not tell if he could breathe... It's an experience I would not wish on my worst enemy. So each time he has a fever, I would drop everything at work and stay home with him. It doesn't matter that the PD (plus all the medical literature scoured from the internet) had assured that a febrile convulsion, though frightening to observe, is nothing serious and definitely not life threatening.

I love being a mum. The only time I remember hating being a mum was during those 5 minutes of helplessness, succumbed to an overwhelming fear of loss of my child.

Have you eaten your fruits today?

It's Fun Friday and this time, the theme is fruits - obviously! Check this out: Fruit costumes - it's where I got the idea for Peanut's costume.

RSAF Openhouse 2011

29 May 2011

We were among the tens of thousands who made it to this year's Air Force Openhouse. It's no mean feat, I assure you. We almost didn't make it as I contemplated to turn around and leave when on arrival at about 9.30 am, I had to drive on past car park after car park full with parked vehicles.

It's madness - I am almost certain that I would not have braved the crowds but for the 2 boys. We pressed on and managed to park at the last car park some 800metres away from the entrance of the grounds. We were amply rewarded - the boys spotted Samual and Matthew (Peanut's classmate) and so it became a party of 8!

The enthusiastic start at the entrance

Admiring a fighter jet whilst Q-ing for a photo opportunity


We q-ed for 15 minutes to get alongside the cockpit - we were told that the Q for a cockpit shot would take 3 hours!!

Samuel's dad was the only one who could name the different fighter jet models. For the rest of us, well, it didn't matter.

I know I know, this is the Apache (that's what the sign reads).

Urrr ... another fighter jet.

Look, mama, a gun.

Count on us to defend our countrymen?

All of us were totally enthralled by the show

The Chinook airlifting a truck. The boys' jaws dropped.

.. I have a feeling we will be here again this time next year ...

The Next Morning

We survived the long night ... sort of. It went like this:

7 pm - let's see, he should be having dinner at this time.

Time check - 8 pm, no phone call. Should be cleaning up after meal, changing into PJ, brushing teeth and preparing for bedtime.

8.15pm - Mr M asked if we should drive by the school and check. I said, "Don't be silly. He will be fine."

8.30pm - Still no phone call. I asked Mr M if we should take a stroll and checked if it's lights-out at the school. Mr M said, "Maynot be bedtime yet. The teacher mentioned that the schedule could slip as they may be back late from the excursion to the Underwater World."

8.45pm - It can't be 15 minutes, seemed like such a long time ...

9pm - All's quiet. Sweet Potato went to bed, did not miss his bro at all.

9.30pm - Guess, we are in the safe zone. He's probably sound asleep by now - with all the activities packed in the day. Grandpa called Wati on her handphone (we only found out the next day) secretly checking if the school called.

1 am - Not morning yet. If only I could sleep as blissfully as S.P.

3.30 am - Mr M has abandoned me.

Time check - 5.30 am
7.30am - Still not time for pick-up yet.

8.15 am - FINALLY. I was amongst the first parent to be at the school to receive a well rested chirpy Peanut who couldn't stop talking about his night at school, how his teachers took turns with his comfy blanket, how he had to share his blanky with a classmate and both were tucking at each end through the night. And on and on about the jellyfish, the entertaining acts of the sealion, the sting ray, his drawing. He declared triumphantly that he can now stay over at Ah B's (his uncle, my cousin) place. Gulp, maybe next time, I'd cope better?

My baby is all grown up and ready to conquer the world! Boo-hoo-hoo.

Tonight is the School Camp and I ...

This is a costume I created for Peanut for his camp in Dec last year. The theme was birds and each kid had to do a short introduction of himself in Mandarin.

The shapes were cut out from felt, glued onto the raincoat and feathers were added as the last touch.

Thankfully, most of the felt "feathers" stayed on through the evening ... and one year on.

Tonight is the School Camp (again) and I am feeling the jitters because ...

my darling is staying the night ... that is, if all goes as planned - his first stay over. Who knows, maybe I'll get a phone call from the teacher at 8 or 9pm (lights out according to the time table the school sent to us). Any bets? I wonder if I'll be able to sleep tonight or will I be staring at the empty bed next to mine? Or staying up waiting for the phone to ring, perhaps?

Love is a Many-Splendored Thing

Yesterday, out of the blue (or rather after stepping out of the bathtub) my lover no. 2 said to me, "I wish I can love you a thousand years."

Isn't that overwhelmingly s-w-e-e-t?

Those were the exact words ... sounds like something from a love ballad from (depending on which age group you belong to) Michael Buble, Chicago or Air Supply ? Trust me, I can't remember when was the last time I listened to love ballads and I definitely do not play such songs when the kids are in the car! For the records, I know more kiddie songs and nursery rhymes than I know of love songs. So don't ask me where my young Casanova picked up that line from ... it is ... I too find it hard to believe ... utterly, completely and absolutely original.

Children can be so creative and full of surprises ...

This morning, I said to my lover no. 2 when dropping him off at school, "I love you a thousand years." And his reply was, "I love you a million thousand years."

I'm quite certain that my lover no. 2 has declared his love for me with "I love you"s many many (probably a thousand) more times than my lawful husband has.

Well, we do have our lovers' quarrels, like when I disagree with his ways - especially when he resorts to physical means of resolving conflicts with my lover no. 1. Even then, he would never ever say that he stops loving me; he would only say in an indignant tone amidst streaming tears, "I love you! Why do you scold me? You don't love me anymore."

I dread the day when my lovers think me too old and find themselves a lover of compatible age.

P/s A message for my lover no. 1 and no. 2 - "I will always love you!" Just don't ask me who I love more, ok?

Never Seen Before Footages #3

At the park at Henry Park Apartments - this is the Secret Recipe outlet nearest to our home. The boys' favourite - grilled chicken with mushroom sauce served with butter rice and of course, banana choc cake and NY cheesecake (a close second).

This is Peanut. I marvel at how much he has grown - from fearless due to sheer ignorance as an infant to encountering fear as a toddler and now, as a young boy who has overcome fear of heights and swimming. And for me as a parent, the journey is one of heightened watchfulness over an infant to explaining fear and dispensing reassurance to a toddler and now, parental pride and admiration. What a journey! Peanut and Sweet Potato, thank you, I'm enjoying and loving every bit of it ...

Never Seen Before Footages #2

Boys will be .... girls?

At Big-O cafe at Paragon. Highly recommended - gorgeous devilish yummilicious sinfully indulgent luxurious dark choc cake to satisfy the deepest yearning. Only problem: it's so rich that the boys would skip dinner if they had it for tea.

Never Seen Before Footages # 1

It's been a long time ... suddenly inspired by the photos which I have been taking with my handphone (on those days when I least expected I would need a camera and so reluctantly used a poor substitute ... for those so very precious moments .. please bear with the poor quality).

Life's little pleasure - discovering the joy of sharing an ice-cream ... a cheap McDonald's ice-cream ... nothing fanciful ...

Welcoming Year of the Rabbit

According to the elderly folks in my family, the Year of the Tiger is a bad year for Mr M and I (both born under the same zodiac sign - the Monkey. Double whammy?!!). Indeed it has been a terrible year - coping with illnesses month after month and in the last 2 weeks leading up to CNY, we were besieged by the flu - I am still recovering from Bronchitis, Wati had a fever running at 40 at its worse, followed by CY who recovered from fever in time for CNY, but was crawling on the 1st 2 days of CNY as the bacteria had gone to his calf muscles, again :-(

Yes, the clinics were awfully crowded - it's a flu epidemic alright.

Still, we managed to partake in the traditional celebrations, hosted 2 family parties and visited 5 families on Saturday to make up for our earlier absence.

Wishing all lots of cheer, good health and prosperity in the Year of the Rabbit!