From the Mouths of Babes

I often find it a joy to carry a conversation with very young children. They don't mince their words, they say it as it is, and sometimes, what comes out of their mouths really catches you by surprise.

I have missed many memorable and funny conversations I had with my children because I have neglected to record them. So, I have decided to do just that, to record such conversations I may come across every week. Here are two this week.

Conversation 1:
This is a conversation between S and Papa.
S: I don't want a younger brother. I want an older brother.
Papa: But that's not possible. You are the eldest.
S: I wish I can go into a machine which will turn me into a baby. Then Nigel will become my older brother.

If only there is really such an age-reversing machine. I certainly not mind turning 10 years younger.

Conversation 2:
Had this conversation with N today.
Me: We are going to Yeye's house for dinner.
N: What are we having for dinner?
N: 副总裁

This is what happens when your son watches too much of a certain Taiwanese drama serial.

What Difference A Year Made

Sarah was required to bring a photo of her in a traditional costume to school for her Social Studies lesson. As I was browsing through my storage of photos for one such photo, I came across these. They were taken of her wearing the same cheongsum, but one year apart. What a great difference! She has lost her baby-ish looks and looks like a little lady now. I feel the need to capture as many photos as possible of the children while they are still little now. Very soon, they will grow up, but at least I will have these keepsakes to browse through and reminisce about the good days when they are so sweet and cute.

This was taken in Feb 2010

A year later in Feb 2011

Recycled art

It is great to have a Grandma who is fun and creative. Over the past weeks, my mom has done some crafts with the kids using recycled boxes. My mom is great in this aspect. She once did a gigantic club house with Sarah. Many a time, I wish that I had inherited her creative genes.

Here is what they have done over the weeks.

With Nigel so into trains, they made a train using shoeboxes, paper rolls and tissue boxes. They covered the boxes with colored paper and Sarah decorated the train with stickers.

This flower arrangement was made using branches from wilted fresh flowers and paper roll.My mom had some fresh flowers which has wilted so she removed the flowers and washed and dried the branches. Next, they cut out flowers and leaves from colored paper and glued them on the branches, and this was put in a vase made out of paper roll, and tada, you have a nice flower arrangement. What I like about this is that we can always change the patterns and color of the flowers to create a different look. I am thinking of using crepe paper to make some tissue flowers to replace these.

I must say I was very surprised when I saw what my mom made out of a remote control car toybox. An apartment! She left the toy box intact and used the loose parts to segregate the box into 3 storeys. The box was covered with colored paper and the windows cut. Sarah wanted an attic, so they made one out of a cereal box. The kids loved this one!

It is so wonderful to see 3 of them working together, creating art out of recycled materials. The children enjoyed the end products very much. For their next project, I will probably get the children to be more hands-on with it, like getting them to paint over the boxes instead of just covering with colored paper. Let's see what the next project will be.

Which method?

This question has been on my mind for quite some time now. Which method to use to teach Nigel to read? Phonics or the whole word method or a combination of both methods. I had taught Sarah to read using the phonics method, and it was a breeze for her. As for Nigel, I have taught him all the letter sounds, and has been using somewhat the whole word method to teach him to read and it was quite successful in that he is receptive and is able to recognise and remember the words. But because I am familiar with the phonics approach, I thought I should give it a try. Well, I would say it wasn't as easy as using the whole word method, with him having difficulty in blending, but to be fair, we have only done this for 2 days.

Right now, I am more inclined towards the whole word method, but I need to research more on it as I have yet to find a structured approach which will eventually teach the child to read all words. Unfortunately, most of what I have read so far tends to favor the phonics method, and almost all parents I know used the phonics method. Hopefully I will be able to find some answers soon.

A simple and wonderful day

My little boy turned 3, and I hope I got wiser on this day. The day started like any other normal day. I prepared breakfast, did some work with Sarah, prepared and sent her to school. And then, this is when the fun starts. Hubby took leave for the day and brought the birthday boy and gal to a wonderful birthday lunch at Royal China. Lovely ambiance, delicious food. The birthday boy enjoyed his food tremendously.
After filling our tummies, it was off to collect our birthday cake. No cartoon cakes for us as both hubby and I think that it is such a waste to spend money on bad-tasting cakes. We would rather splurge on a good quality cake. So far, hubby has always been able to suss out the good bakeries. This year we got our cake from Chef Icon Nature Bakery. Their cakes are awesome! We got their signature Chocolate Travona as our birthday cake, and the Strawberry Hokkaido Roll as a side. Both are heavenly. I will probably do another post on this bakery and their cakes.

We got home for some rest before fetching Sarah from school and continuing with the celebration at home. A simple, yet delicious dinner followed by the cake cutting concluded the day. It was a very simple celebration, and this is how I like my birthday to be, spent with my loved ones.

Going Public

We seldom take public transport since we have the convenience of a car. But both kiddos love the MRT, especially Nigel who currently loves trains. So once in a while, we will take the MRT to somewhere nearby just so the kids have fun. This picture was taken some time ago when we took the train to the Jurong Lake. They were both looking out the window, marveling at everything they saw.

Today, we decided to venture further, taking the train to town for Sarah's ballet class. Both Sarah and Nigel were exhilarated, to say the least. Nigel was asking questions non-stop, like "Where is the coal?" (he though all trains run on coal like the engines in Thomas and Friends), "What is that loud noise", "Why is it bumpy?". Basically, the kids just had great fun!

After today, I say it is great going public. We not only help the environment, the kids have a great experience too, and we don't have to worry about having to find parking and we save on the exorbitant parking fees. What's more, it is so convenient to catch a bus or train here as our home is just a stone's throw away from the MRT station and bus interchange.

A Long While

Wow, it has been almost 9 months since I updated this blog. I must admit somewhere along the way I kind of lost the mojo to write. What's more, I now find it easier to post pictures and updates on Facebook, so blogging has taken a back seat. It does takes a bit more effort to write a post and uploading photos takes a long while. But having said that, I find Facebook too public. There are times I hesitate to post something as it may be something I do not wish for everyone on my friends list to view. Also, sometimes I have thoughts which are too personal to post on FB. So I guess its now back to blogging, to capture the beautiful precious memories of my family.