Bedtime Whispers

Bedtime is around late 9 to 10-tish for our family on weekdays. As soon as the ending credits cum ending music of whichever drama we are watching for the evening appears, the little boy would immediately jump up, say "night night" and gestures for everyone to head upstairs for bedtime.

In the bedroom, Daddy is usually the first one to K.O. on a weekday. Within minutes (seems like seconds even), one can hear the loud snoring of the man. Yesternite, hubby K.O. as expected. I was lying there, waiting to drift to sleep and at the same time watching the boy (who was still very much awake) rolling and tossing around. The acrobatic stunts went on for 5-10 minutes and I was getting sleepy. In a stern voice, I said to the boy "Ethan, stop playing and lie down to sleep". He seems to know the limits, obeyed my order and laid beside me. He then put his arms around me.

I whispered: Goodnight..
E echoed back in a whisper: Night night.
I: I love you.
E: I lohfffvuu.

I smiled, closed my eyes and drifted to sleep. Not sure how long it took for the boy to drift to sleep but he did eventually.

Quick update of E at 20 months old!

Days go by so fast for me. Sometimes, I wish it slows down a little...especially when it comes to my boy's growth. The little one is growing up so fast...!!! Slow down kiddo, mummy is not ready to have you all grown up so fast! It's been also been quite while since I updated this blog. No excuse. I am just too lazy. And of course, I been kept really busy with the little one.

E attends creche regularly for at least 2-3 times a week now. On average, each session lasts 2 hours. He enjoys playing there alot. Though he is used to the surroundings of the school, he still cries everytime when it's time for me to leave him there. He will cry "Mummy!!!" with big droplets of tears...this lasts for 3-5 minutes. He would settle down right after i leave and close the door behind. I am quite perplexed with his crying...he is obviously used to the playgroup and definitely loves playing there...(come on, they let him play with sand, run around in the outdoor playground, etc etc, all the fun things mummy sometimes forbid him to do...there is absolutely no reason why he won't love the place). I think he really has a problem with handling his feeling when its come to separating from me. Hope he able to learn how to handle that feeling soon!

Everytime when I return to pick him up, he will drop everything that he is playing, run to me with a big smile on his face, shouting "Mummy! Mummy!" (I really need to get this recorded on video :P). It warms my heart so much.

Besides creche, E is also showing great development in terms of language and mobility. He can say alot of words now (ain't going to list them this time...). More distinctively, he picked up a few words of French. He recites "Au revoir" with great accuracy and make good attempts to say "Bonjour" and "Merci". His teachers also make an effort to teach his some french nouns whenever they tell him his choice of food for gouter (french for tea-break). In terms of mobility, there ain't anything stopping this boy...he can run, jump, climb and do whatever acrobatic stuff you can ever imagined. It's quite a headache, I have to keep watch of him constantly. One minute, he is strapped in the high-chair (5-points harness!), next, he is right beside you..!!

Printemps is here finally. The cool weather and longer daytime means that we could get out for more activities. Great for the boy...he has never-ending energy! E enjoys going out ALOT! You will find him crying "door door" pestering to go out. He will even put on his own shoes and jacket.

Alright, time's up again. He is awake from his nap now and crying for me. FYI, he resists taking naps nowsday...and they last really shortly...on good days, 1-2 hrs max...but on most days, 15-45 minutes. That's why I say I am busy. It isn't an excuse :p Abientot!

DUCK!

After my previous entry, Lil E blurt out another new word - DUCK when he saw the little animal on his Baby Einstein program. His pronounciation was very accurate. I tried to get him to repeat the word and he obediently did it. Bravo! Later in the evening, he was ransacking through his toy basket when he found a rubber duckie....immediately he said out the word "DUCK". Good job little boy! Keep it up!

Teaching and Learning

Lil E turns 17 months old today. Of lates, I find myself worrying about my boy's learning. Am I teaching him enough or even the right things? E is becoming more alert by the day and yet I am still doing the same routines with him...which includes lots of television and very little mummy and son interaction and learning. To make the matter worse, he started creche again last week (on top of the LAEP play session on Mondays and Babygym class on Fridays). And I find myself rushing in and out of the house at least four days a week, trying to juggle with his schedule, cooking our meals and household chores...which leaves me with very little time and energy to teach the boy.

My MIL told me not to be too worry...claiming that Lil E is still young. Well, its true that the boy may be still young, but we all know for a fact that kids' brains are like sponge at this age, they learn things tremendously fast. I should facilitating his learning as much as possible now...instead of relying on the tv programs to do the teaching. The irony of all, I am supposedly a teacher.

On attempts when I tried to do teaching...I find myself having difficulty maintaining his attention or running out of patience. Perhaps its too much TV right from the start. The little one just cannot sit still for a minute except to view his favourite programs. Whenever I try to sit him down with me to teach, he would wiggle and twist his way out. The same goes for the babygym class. While all his classmates are all listening to instructions from their mummies, you will find Lil E running all over the place or rolling on the ground...and me chasing him like a mad woman.

Halfway through writing this entry, I paused and tried teaching the little one about the names of fruits using powerpoint. I sat him on my lap and ran the slides on the big tv screen. He was able to sit quietly on my lap for two minutes or so (ok...so good so far...not a bad start..). Then he recognises the banana..calling out "NaNa" (bravo!) and the next second, he was gesturing with his fingers like he was grabbing the fruits and putting them into his mouth, making the "Mmmmm...mmmhh..." sound totally ignoring me as I continued saying out the names of the fruits. I do not know whether to applaude or frown. Well, he did not say out the name of the fruits as I wanted...but he is certainly using his imaginary skill very well. -.- I think I really got to read up on how to teach pre-school kids...

I decided to note here a list of sounds or words that the boy can say now. Perhaps I can track his learning this way.

When refering to: Lil E would say:
His dad...........................papa or dada (which he would call out all the time)
Me..................................Mama (sadly only in moments of need)
Dog.................................woof woof
Cat..................................Ngiam (his sound for "meow")
Aeroplane......................Ah-bian
Eating............................Mumb mumb
Milk................................Neh Neh
Bird................................bird
boat...............................Boa
Bye................................ Bai
Hello..............................Allo
Peek-a-boo..................boo
Cow..............................Owwl
Cheese.........................Eeesss
Fish.............................Feessshh
Nose...........................Noh
Banana......................Nana
Apple........................Ah-Ple

He can also say:
Oh oh!.....whenever he does something wrong or if something drop
Wow!.......whenever he sees somethings he is amazed with or when he is engaged in activities involving height or speed.
Mmmm....when he munching on food he likes
Muak.......when he kisses or sends a flying kiss
Ouch!......when he "deliberately" or accidentally knock or hurt himself

That's pretty much the things Lil E can say for now.

Lil Rascal goes to Disneyland Paris!

We decided to head to Disneyland Paris for the Remembrance Day weekend. Initially, we were unsure of whether to take this trip...worried about the unpredictable autumn weather and Lil E not mature enough to understand and appreciate Mickey and all...but we decided to go ahead anyway. Weather was good for the entire stay. We stayed at Disney Sante Fe hotel and got a 4 days 2 parks pass. Lil E and us enjoyed the magical land to bits!

Life's getting real busy...

Gosh! I know that I have not been updating my blog for some time…but did not realized that two months had passed since my last entry. As usual, I been kept busy by the boy for the last two months that time passes very quickly!

The boy and his nonsenses...

Lil E is turning 15 months in two days. Here is a quick update on his growth and development. He is much taller…last measured at a height of 81 cm (I’m sure he is much taller now…I see his long pants becoming 3/4s) and weighing about 10.5 kg. His movements are definitely faster. One minute he is on the sofa and the next he is at the other corner of the room pulling stuff from the shelves. His hands and fingers have also turned very nimble…able to pick up teeny tiny fragments from everywhere, draw zippers, open bottle caps, etc. AND, definitely much LOUDER! He is into this screaming cum crying act recently (Boy! I hope it is a passing phase!).

His potty-training for poo poo has also succeeded. He has to do his big business on the toilet seat and not elsewhere (which is kinda troublesome when we are out traveling….yah I know I shouldn’t be complaining :P). Lil E loves music and dancing…whenever he hears his favorite tunes, he would twirl, shake his head, bum and hands. Hmm…what else? Well, this little boy has grown so much that I think the list can go on and on…so I am going to stop here for now.

August passed like a breeze…so many summer activities…swimming, picnic, gatherings, Singapore’s National Day celebration and more swimming. The month of September was even busier with more activities.

September is the start of the new academic year for the French students here. I enrolled the boy into crèche (the equivalent of the child-care centre in Singapore).

The first two sessions was an hour long and I was with him throughout as part of the adaptation phase. Lil E was skeptical about the new surroundings as I anticipated. Then came the third session, I stayed with him for 15 minutes, then I explained to him that I had to leave and will be back for him in half an hour. He was ok for five minutes and then I guessed he realized that I was gone and started crying at the top of his lungs for the remaining 25 minutes. By the fourth session, this boy was clinging on to me with all his strength when we arrived at the doorstep of the crèche. 45 minutes this time I was told…and 45 minutes he cried and screamed. When I picked him at the end, the care-givers were hinting that I do not bring E there anymore. I acted blur and ignore their hints. I think its too soon and unfair to stop Lil E from attending creche…after all, some kids need more time to adapt and perhaps my child is one of those kids.

The fifth session was worse! The care-giver took E from me as soon as I arrive and told me to come back in an hour. Errhmm…so this is what they term as adaptation?? As usual, the boy cried and cried and cried for the entire hour. And when I picked him up, I was invited to the directrice’s office. She told me not to bring E to crèche for now as it is very traumatic for E and the other French children to hear him cry. Perhaps he is too young she said. I defended my boy…knowing him, he takes a long time to warm up and get used to new people and surrounding. It took him at least 2 weeks to be comfortable with my neighbors and their kids. And how can you expect him to accept crèche readily within just 5 sessions (spread over two weeks and at different timing) and furthermore the time of separation between him and me was not structured increment as its should have been. From 30 minutes without me, they skipped right into 45 minutes and an hour without me. The directrice suggested that I bring E to the weekly LAEP sessions organised by the Maison de Enfance instead. Perhaps E can come back in December she said. And this was how my son got “kicked” out of crèche at the age of 1.

I was not thrilled that my boy cannot attend crèche for now. Thankfully, I did not have much time to dwell on it…we were much occupied with our two weekend trips, first to Amsterdam and then to London.

Amsterdam wasn’t quite what I expected. The city centre itself was congested with people, vehicles and BICYCLES!!! The narrow roads by the canals were also not that “baby-friendly”. We joined the day tour to Volendam & Marken (the fishermen village) and the windmills. Those places were picturesque. We would love to spend a longer time there but were forced to follow the hasty pace of tour guide.

London on the other hand was totally rejuvenating. We indulged ourselves in good food, great weather, terrific shopping, beautiful sites and spoke lotsa ENGLISH!

London September 2009

Partial potty training?

I've been toying with the idea of training lil E to go to the toilet for poopoo a couple of months back...but as usual procasination kicks in. I finally set my mind to do it after coming back from my hometrip in June.

I began the training using the potty that I bought from Ikea. Everytime, I see the "I want to do big business" face on Ethan, I would drop everything that I am doing, pick him up and rush to the potty like lightning! The first few attempts were tough. The little one put on a big struggle whenever I put him on the potty. I got to hold him down...but he did his poopoo there anyway.

This continues for a couple of weeks. The little one would scream and struggle each time...I was so afraid that he would knock off the potty. It is of good intention that I am doing this training now...but I do not wish to participate in any cleaning of the poo poo on the floor ...so I decided to get a toilet seat reducer. Instead of the potty, I would assist the little one to do his "business" in the toilet like an adult. The screaming and struggling still continue...but I did not give up. The training continues.

The most interesting thing happened this morning. I was in the kitchen fixing lunch for the little one...then I heard him crying for me on the sofa. Earlier, I have placed him on the sofa to watch his favourite shows and he obediently sat there for a long time! And so I thought the crying was a signal that he was getting bored, and so I ignored him. Usually, the little one would make him way to the kitchen if I did not respond to his cries. He did not...and continued screaming. I came out and saw the "face". I ask if he wants to poopoo and he cried. Rushed him to the toilet and indeed he wanted to use the toilet. Finally! I am seeing some signs of success in my training...hope this lasts!