The other day I was trying to explain to the kids about the difference between night and evening, and that the evening is basically the transition from daytime to nighttime.
Matty was able to grasp it quite fast and even gave a very funny definition – “evening is when the sky gets really squeezy with the moon, the stars and the sun up there”.
Friday, 5 March 2010
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Enough is Enough
Barely 2 years into being part of the education system, Elaina has decided for herself recently that she had enough of school. Each day she will cry when being dropped off at school and come back declaring that she is not going back to school ever again. The initial enthusiasm burning in her seemed to have dissipated overnight, one would have thought that something bad must have happened to her thus resulting in that reaction. In fact her teachers were extremely worried of the change in her attitude and scratched their heads over what could have caused it. We were even called in by her English teacher for a discussion.
Truth be told, there is nothing abnormal in her behavior. She was just finally “showing her true colours” now that she has grown comfortable with the environment and the people around. She was just like a little walking volcano that will explore a few times a day and mostly over insignificant events. The best advice to her teachers was to totally ignore her and exclude her once she gets to the point of being ridiculous. When she realizes that nobody is feeding her the attention she is craving for, she will naturally stop.
Chances are that her teachers might have been firm towards her bad behavior causing the repulsion she had towards school. Now that she knows the teachers have been talking to us about her has made it harder for her to change her mind that school is not where she wants to be. I am still keeping my fingers crossed tightly that this is just part of the Terrible Two stage and it will blow over soon once she blows the next candle on her birthday cake just like Matty.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Life Without Diaper
23 January 2010 marks the last day when I put on the last diaper for Elaina. After throwing away dry diaper each morning for the last few weeks, we have decided to take the plunge and put Elaina in her undies even for the night as well once she finishes the last opened packet of pull-up pants. It was a milestone for the little girl and parents alike.
I used to hear about tormenting experiences of other parents when it comes to toilet-training the kids for night. The day training is one thing but the night training is worse. At least during the day, the mind is lucid and in the eventuality of an “accident”, the only washing involved is the butt, the underpants and the floor. During the night, the mind is only half-awake and the thought of a wet bed full of pee is not very entertaining. Plus I dreaded to relive those nightmarish days of waking up regularly at night to do night-feeding, except that this is night-peeing.
I have in fact prepared myself quietly that I am willing to continue to put the kids in diapers at night for a while until we run out of sizes to buy before I think of toilet training them at night. Waking up Elaina in the middle of the night was the last thing I wanted to do because she is able to sleep through till the morning and I didn’t want to break that. At least for Matty he is still likely to wake up once or twice each night which will be a good opportunity to train him.
But thank goodness, the kids have been very kind to their mother. Despite it was tough potty-training both for the day (Matty took 1 year when it is usually 3 to 4 months on an average, and Elaina throwing tantrums each time she is put on the throne), this mummy didn’t have to do anything with the night training. It just came so naturally for the both of them. As soon as they were fully trained for the day, within a week they will get out of bed each morning with a dry diaper.
The other thing that thrills me is that all these came just before we are due for our next holiday. For our last trip, we had one hand-carry luggage with nothing but diapers and even then it wasn’t enough to last through our 10-day trip. We ended up having to buy another pack for Elaina. This time we have one less load to worry about!
I used to hear about tormenting experiences of other parents when it comes to toilet-training the kids for night. The day training is one thing but the night training is worse. At least during the day, the mind is lucid and in the eventuality of an “accident”, the only washing involved is the butt, the underpants and the floor. During the night, the mind is only half-awake and the thought of a wet bed full of pee is not very entertaining. Plus I dreaded to relive those nightmarish days of waking up regularly at night to do night-feeding, except that this is night-peeing.
I have in fact prepared myself quietly that I am willing to continue to put the kids in diapers at night for a while until we run out of sizes to buy before I think of toilet training them at night. Waking up Elaina in the middle of the night was the last thing I wanted to do because she is able to sleep through till the morning and I didn’t want to break that. At least for Matty he is still likely to wake up once or twice each night which will be a good opportunity to train him.
But thank goodness, the kids have been very kind to their mother. Despite it was tough potty-training both for the day (Matty took 1 year when it is usually 3 to 4 months on an average, and Elaina throwing tantrums each time she is put on the throne), this mummy didn’t have to do anything with the night training. It just came so naturally for the both of them. As soon as they were fully trained for the day, within a week they will get out of bed each morning with a dry diaper.
The other thing that thrills me is that all these came just before we are due for our next holiday. For our last trip, we had one hand-carry luggage with nothing but diapers and even then it wasn’t enough to last through our 10-day trip. We ended up having to buy another pack for Elaina. This time we have one less load to worry about!
All About Punishment
It wasn’t too long ago when a few of my forum buddies were on the topic of their kids telling lies and how they tried to overcome that problem. I was quietly congratulating myself for not having to deal with such ugly situations because Matty had never been caught lying (ok… at that point in time it never occurred to me that he could have been lucky) and Elaina is still at the age of sprouting nonsense and telling make-believe stuff which sounded real (she calls herself “Baby Giraffe” and me “Mummy Giraffe” and gets upset if you call her a big girl) which makes it really hard to tell if there was any ill-intent on her part, let alone brand her a liar.
Of course now, I can’t quite say the same because Matty was caught lying to us twice in a row over one weekend.
First was when he lied that he was playing with the toy shopping basket and Elaina tried to siphon it off from his hands when it was really the other way round. Of course the little sister protested likewise. It was only after we threatened to ask the maid who was the only witness, and that the person caught lying will be in huge trouble did Matty decide to bite the bullet and come clean about his deed. He was punished by sitting on the sofa for 10 minutes and not allowed any toys or TV. The very next day he insisted that the maid told him to get the iphone to keep himself entertained and even suggested to his father to double-check with the maid to prove his innocence. Obviously and needless to say he ended up being punished by not being allowed anywhere near the iphone for 5 days. That was as good as banishing him to hell.
Since then, Matty hasn’t told a single lie (or maybe he is lucky that he didn't get caught?) but each time when Elaina acts up Matty’s first response would be to deny the little one the iphone for 5 weeks. Looks like the iphone is not just a family entertainer it is a good tool when it comes to instilling punishment. The thought of taking the phone away from the kids is enough to make them shudder and think twice about committing “crimes” LOL.
Friday, 15 January 2010
The House is Infested...
... with bugs! Just went I thought that we are finally seeing the lights at the end of the tunnel with Matty all recovered and I am the only one left fighting the last battle, Elaina's nose started to drip with a cough setting in on Monday. Shortly after that, Papa and Matty got the bug on Wednesday. Poor Matty was off all forms of drug for only a week and now he is back to the routine of pumping medication. I cannot even recall when was the last time I didn't need to touch or feel a bottle of cough or flu syrup.
I am feeling irritable most of these days. The medication is making me groggy and the bugs are draining my energy fast. Exasperated, tired and sick of this situation with the flu bug sparing nobody in this family.
I am feeling irritable most of these days. The medication is making me groggy and the bugs are draining my energy fast. Exasperated, tired and sick of this situation with the flu bug sparing nobody in this family.
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Dying Young
I suspect that one of Elaina's front teeth is in the process of dying. It is starting to grey and seems to be shrinking. The possible cause could be due to the bad fall she had a few weeks back that spilt her lip. I recall Lye Cheng telling me her girl had the same problem last year after she fell down in school.
The good thing is that it will not affect her permanent tooth that will push out in the near future but in the meantime she will need to live with the ugly tooth *sobs*. Now I can only pray hard that she will not start to yell pain. When that happens I will have to haul her to the dentist for a root canal procedure. It will be too traumatic an experience for someone this young.
The good thing is that it will not affect her permanent tooth that will push out in the near future but in the meantime she will need to live with the ugly tooth *sobs*. Now I can only pray hard that she will not start to yell pain. When that happens I will have to haul her to the dentist for a root canal procedure. It will be too traumatic an experience for someone this young.
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Weaning off Bottles
Matty starts Kindy 1 tomorrow and to him it is a big thing. Something like turning 21 or getting married sort of big. I suppose this must have been the result of his teachers preparing him and the rest in the Nursery class of the change since they won't be having the same set of teachers this year.
Being egoistic as usual, it is a great deal to be more "grown up" and he has been talking about big boys going to Kindy 1 for the past few weeks... including drinking milk from a cup. We quickly jumped on the chance to make the switch on 1 January since he was so into doing big boys stuff in Year 2010. Elaina upon seeing that decided that she wanted to join in the fun.
And so that is the story of how we weaned the kids off milk bottles. If only everything was this easy.
Being egoistic as usual, it is a great deal to be more "grown up" and he has been talking about big boys going to Kindy 1 for the past few weeks... including drinking milk from a cup. We quickly jumped on the chance to make the switch on 1 January since he was so into doing big boys stuff in Year 2010. Elaina upon seeing that decided that she wanted to join in the fun.
And so that is the story of how we weaned the kids off milk bottles. If only everything was this easy.
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
A Christmas Not So Merry
Christmas holidays didn't play out the way it should have been this year. Spirits were riding high and there was so much anticipation leading up to Christmas. The kids were gearing up to the day and counting down to it. But all that took a nose-dived and crashed the early hours of Christmas eve when Matty started to vomit almost non-stop due to gastric flu. Once at half-past two on his bed, the second time on our bed at three in the morning and two more times on the sofa. By then we were on our toes the minute Matty starts coughing and did manage to rush him to the toilet in time for the fifth and the sixth time he puked. He was weak from all the chucking and we had gone wobbly from all the changing and washing.
We whipped him straight to the doctor as soon as the morning broke knowing very well that chances of him getting a hospitalisation order was high. Christmas dinner, the long weekend and opening of the presents had to be shelved. I was disappointed only because I know Matty was and Elaina was pretty much ignored with everyone buzzing around and shuttling between home and hospital for the next 2 days.
By the time he was discharged on boxing day, Matty was still in denial of the situation. He had insisted that it was Christmas Day the day he got home. We chose not to argue with him because it would have been an open invitation for trouble.
Though he has now recovered and back to a normal diet, Matty has lost a fair bit of weight... now looking like a malnourished kid with a big head, bony torso and limbs, and an extremely flat butt. Hopefully it won't take him too long to pile those weight back on with his constant requests for milk, cookies and all things fattening.
We whipped him straight to the doctor as soon as the morning broke knowing very well that chances of him getting a hospitalisation order was high. Christmas dinner, the long weekend and opening of the presents had to be shelved. I was disappointed only because I know Matty was and Elaina was pretty much ignored with everyone buzzing around and shuttling between home and hospital for the next 2 days.
By the time he was discharged on boxing day, Matty was still in denial of the situation. He had insisted that it was Christmas Day the day he got home. We chose not to argue with him because it would have been an open invitation for trouble.
Though he has now recovered and back to a normal diet, Matty has lost a fair bit of weight... now looking like a malnourished kid with a big head, bony torso and limbs, and an extremely flat butt. Hopefully it won't take him too long to pile those weight back on with his constant requests for milk, cookies and all things fattening.
Tuesday, 15 December 2009
Bye Bye Diaper
One week ago I was still griping about how futile our efforts had been in trying to toilet train Elaina, one week later we marveled at how well she is doing.
Since last Friday Elaina managed to put on her undies for extended period of time during the day and managed to stay dry except for a few occasions (usually after she wakes up in the morning it is tough to drag her to the loo on time before she decides to let go) when her diaper will be wet. It is a remarkable improvement to see that not only has she not protest about being put on a potty, she always get off it with some output and from time to time she will indicate that she needs the loo, all in merely 3 days. Now, I just need to master the courage to take her off diaper completely during the day time even when out.
There was a slight embarrassment though when we were out shopping over the weekend. She actually clapped and cheered for me when she heard my pee trickling down the bowl and even called me a clever girl... just like how we praise her each time she gets it right.
The day when I can finally save on my diaper spending is finally here!
Since last Friday Elaina managed to put on her undies for extended period of time during the day and managed to stay dry except for a few occasions (usually after she wakes up in the morning it is tough to drag her to the loo on time before she decides to let go) when her diaper will be wet. It is a remarkable improvement to see that not only has she not protest about being put on a potty, she always get off it with some output and from time to time she will indicate that she needs the loo, all in merely 3 days. Now, I just need to master the courage to take her off diaper completely during the day time even when out.
There was a slight embarrassment though when we were out shopping over the weekend. She actually clapped and cheered for me when she heard my pee trickling down the bowl and even called me a clever girl... just like how we praise her each time she gets it right.
The day when I can finally save on my diaper spending is finally here!
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Wedding of the Year
The wedding we (or rather I) were preparing and looking forward to finally happened over last weekend. The kids had fun... mainly because of the short stay over at the hotel . The room we had was even affectionately referred to as "the special room" by Matty.
Except for a few negligible hiccups here and there, including Matty failing to take his afternoon nap and puked a little (thanks goodness while he was still in his tees and shorts and not in his tux) it was a rather uneventful event in a good way.
At least I am glad that Matty survived the whole night wearing his 4-piece suit (jacket, shirt, vest and long pants and even a bow tie) without any fuss and Elaina didn't cry during the march-in with the newly-weds. Although she got distracted by the dry ice so much so that she forgot she was suppose to walk towards the stage. The entourage had to move off without her and as a result she ended up right behind. She did eventually got her act together but by the time everybody got to the destination she was still happily toddling along, throwing the petals and barely halfway along the ballroom. I am less apologetic that Elaina failed to deliver the desired result, instead I felt bad towards the couple that my girl stole the limelight from them.
Except for a few negligible hiccups here and there, including Matty failing to take his afternoon nap and puked a little (thanks goodness while he was still in his tees and shorts and not in his tux) it was a rather uneventful event in a good way.
At least I am glad that Matty survived the whole night wearing his 4-piece suit (jacket, shirt, vest and long pants and even a bow tie) without any fuss and Elaina didn't cry during the march-in with the newly-weds. Although she got distracted by the dry ice so much so that she forgot she was suppose to walk towards the stage. The entourage had to move off without her and as a result she ended up right behind. She did eventually got her act together but by the time everybody got to the destination she was still happily toddling along, throwing the petals and barely halfway along the ballroom. I am less apologetic that Elaina failed to deliver the desired result, instead I felt bad towards the couple that my girl stole the limelight from them.
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Where has all the time gone to?
It is very distressing to know that the year is coming to an end but is still a long list of items to be ticked off from the to-do list. From cleaning the wardrobe, arranging get together lunch dates, catching the 2012 movie, putting up the Christmas tree, getting the Christmas presents, new pair of heels, organising board meetings, getting year-end accrual numbers to holding a farewell party for my retiring boss. What a way to close the year!
The even more distressing part is that I missed Matty's year-end concert due to my team meeting which I cannot wriggle out from and Elaina's performance got cancelled because there were too many cases of HFMD popping out at school and mostly dominated by children from the afternoon classes. Both kids must be disappointed (or so I think).even though for different reasons.
On one hand I dread the coming of December because it only meant that I have less time to work around, on the other hand Christmas will surely make the kids excited and I know that they are looking forward to it with their constant chatters of digging out the Christmas tree and what they are hoping to get as Christmas present. And while typing this I was reminded that I need to order the ham for Christmas... see my to-do is growing longer by the minute!
The even more distressing part is that I missed Matty's year-end concert due to my team meeting which I cannot wriggle out from and Elaina's performance got cancelled because there were too many cases of HFMD popping out at school and mostly dominated by children from the afternoon classes. Both kids must be disappointed (or so I think).even though for different reasons.
On one hand I dread the coming of December because it only meant that I have less time to work around, on the other hand Christmas will surely make the kids excited and I know that they are looking forward to it with their constant chatters of digging out the Christmas tree and what they are hoping to get as Christmas present. And while typing this I was reminded that I need to order the ham for Christmas... see my to-do is growing longer by the minute!
Monday, 9 November 2009
Where is the Rice and Where Are Your Eyes?
Yesterday for lunch I decided to skip the rice and noodles, and serve potatoes instead (I always try and cover the 3 food groups when it comes to meal-planning) because I wanted to clear the potatoes I bought 2 weeks ago. Upon seeing the food that was served-up, the first question to me from Elaina (the little rice-tub) was "Where is the rice?". Hmmm...
This morning Daddy has to rush to work and so I took over the chauffering job. While making the way to Matty's school, he asked "Why he cannot see my eyes" while staring at the rear-view mirror. I am short... so short that the rear-view mirror is above my eye level ok my boy? -.-""
This morning Daddy has to rush to work and so I took over the chauffering job. While making the way to Matty's school, he asked "Why he cannot see my eyes" while staring at the rear-view mirror. I am short... so short that the rear-view mirror is above my eye level ok my boy? -.-""
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
The Inherited Cough
Matty has been coughing intermittently for at least 2 months and in between that he has had at least 2 to 3 visits (lost the exact count!) to the doctors' and had been taking leftover cough syrup on and off. The cough didn't sound that serious but it is very irritating that his throat just doesn't seem to clear up after so long. We have been blaming it on the bad air quality that we see (yes... "see" because it is so hazy) the last 2 months.
Finally decided that he needed a specialist to help us get to the root of the problem, and off we went to a respiratory specialist yesterday. After a Q&A session that lasted a couple of minutes on the family medical history and his own medical condition, the doctor confirmed that this is a hereditary condition. I cannot remember the term the doctor used, but Matty's sensitivity can result in sinus, bronchitis (asthma if left untreated) and eczema. So the poor boy is now on a treatment course that will take up to 3 months to help him recover and hopefully keep the next relapse as far away as possible.
Because it is genetic and no way to cure it we just need to deal with the situation as it comes along. After having to manage his eczema for 2 years now, I know that it will get better over time only because we have learnt to pick it up early enough to prevent a full blown problem. It sort of becomes a part and parcel of our lives. For now, I will take consolation that 94% of the children will grow out of it by the time they hit 16 and in the meantime pray that he falls within that percentage.
Finally decided that he needed a specialist to help us get to the root of the problem, and off we went to a respiratory specialist yesterday. After a Q&A session that lasted a couple of minutes on the family medical history and his own medical condition, the doctor confirmed that this is a hereditary condition. I cannot remember the term the doctor used, but Matty's sensitivity can result in sinus, bronchitis (asthma if left untreated) and eczema. So the poor boy is now on a treatment course that will take up to 3 months to help him recover and hopefully keep the next relapse as far away as possible.
Because it is genetic and no way to cure it we just need to deal with the situation as it comes along. After having to manage his eczema for 2 years now, I know that it will get better over time only because we have learnt to pick it up early enough to prevent a full blown problem. It sort of becomes a part and parcel of our lives. For now, I will take consolation that 94% of the children will grow out of it by the time they hit 16 and in the meantime pray that he falls within that percentage.
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Only the Best
As parents, it is only natural that we strive to do our best for our babies (yes, babies because they never grow up in our eyes). Not sure if it is because of that innate sense of responsibility, I have been changing my blog templates for probably a gazillion times. None seems to be good enough.
I finally found this Christmasy template and has even a counter to count down to Christmas. Had to fudge with the html codes a little to get the counter working because I found out that the setting was for Christmas 2 years ago.
Until after Christmas is over, I probably will stop giving giving this place another facelift. Too many face jobs can lead to a botch job (Ok... bad joke... God bless MJ's soul =p).
I finally found this Christmasy template and has even a counter to count down to Christmas. Had to fudge with the html codes a little to get the counter working because I found out that the setting was for Christmas 2 years ago.
Until after Christmas is over, I probably will stop giving giving this place another facelift. Too many face jobs can lead to a botch job (Ok... bad joke... God bless MJ's soul =p).
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
New Kid on the Block
Elaina started playgroup at Matty's school on Monday and my girl has done me proud. Not only did she not shed a tear, she has been enjoying school so much she comes back smiling and is always looking forward to another day there.
My heart will surely break to see any of my kid cry because he or she got "abandon". Thank goodness both Matty and Elaina didn't make me go through that stage.
My heart will surely break to see any of my kid cry because he or she got "abandon". Thank goodness both Matty and Elaina didn't make me go through that stage.
Saturday, 24 October 2009
How Sweet
I suffered a skin-crack on the underside of my left thumb last week due to excessive washing and wore a band-aid around it for a couple of days.
Earlier this week while in a car ride, Elaina suddenly turned to me and asked "Is your boo-boo better?". I couldn't catch what she was referring to at that moment and she went on to say "show me your hand"... grabbing my left hand. Seeing that the skin had healed she exclaimed that "Oh, its better now. No more boo-boo".
That was heart-warming and it is the existence of such moments that make one remember the worthiness of parenthood.
Earlier this week while in a car ride, Elaina suddenly turned to me and asked "Is your boo-boo better?". I couldn't catch what she was referring to at that moment and she went on to say "show me your hand"... grabbing my left hand. Seeing that the skin had healed she exclaimed that "Oh, its better now. No more boo-boo".
That was heart-warming and it is the existence of such moments that make one remember the worthiness of parenthood.
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Independence
When you are old, you wished you were young. When you are little, you wished you were bigger. The latter is the stage that Elaina is in right now.
These days she will scream her head off if she is "deprived" of doing something that she wants to do. Like climbing into the car seat herself and buckling up, removing her own clothes, switching off the TV, making her own milk, choosing her own clothes and the list just goes on.
On one hand, we should be happy that she is gaining independence and wants to take on some responsibilities but on the other hand that learning process is slowing everyone down on a busy morning when we are dashing out of the house for school and work. Patience will wear really thin from time to time. Her consistent tantrums became a convenient excuse to justify that lack of patience. Honestly, I feel so bad towards her when that happens and wished that I can be more tolerant.
One thing I can never work out is why she can be so enthusiastic about doing all the "grown-up" tasks but somehow she just refused to be toilet trained. That's what I call a true liberation (suitable for her age)!
These days she will scream her head off if she is "deprived" of doing something that she wants to do. Like climbing into the car seat herself and buckling up, removing her own clothes, switching off the TV, making her own milk, choosing her own clothes and the list just goes on.
On one hand, we should be happy that she is gaining independence and wants to take on some responsibilities but on the other hand that learning process is slowing everyone down on a busy morning when we are dashing out of the house for school and work. Patience will wear really thin from time to time. Her consistent tantrums became a convenient excuse to justify that lack of patience. Honestly, I feel so bad towards her when that happens and wished that I can be more tolerant.
One thing I can never work out is why she can be so enthusiastic about doing all the "grown-up" tasks but somehow she just refused to be toilet trained. That's what I call a true liberation (suitable for her age)!
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Witty Solutions
Matty has recently picked up the skills of retorting. Not in a negative way but he leaves me speechless.
Last week he told us that he doesn't want to wear his watch ever again the reason being that each time we tighten the strap, it leaves him feeling some pain. When I asked him how is he going to tell the time if he is staying off ever wearing a watch, he replied in a matter-of-fact manner that he can always look at someone else's watch.
Took the kids to the zoo last Sunday again and decided that we should probably take up membership since the kids are enjoying zoo so much. They were going gaga over the new membership card and I had to remind them that if they drop the card we will never be able to enter the zoo again. Matty promptly offered me a solution - we can always buy another card. Good one my boy, but it ain't going to happen since your mother doesn't print money for a living!
Last week he told us that he doesn't want to wear his watch ever again the reason being that each time we tighten the strap, it leaves him feeling some pain. When I asked him how is he going to tell the time if he is staying off ever wearing a watch, he replied in a matter-of-fact manner that he can always look at someone else's watch.
Took the kids to the zoo last Sunday again and decided that we should probably take up membership since the kids are enjoying zoo so much. They were going gaga over the new membership card and I had to remind them that if they drop the card we will never be able to enter the zoo again. Matty promptly offered me a solution - we can always buy another card. Good one my boy, but it ain't going to happen since your mother doesn't print money for a living!
Fun Can Lead to Fear
We attempted to get Matty into proper swimming early last month but it hasn't been working out very well.
The first lesson was a breeze but by the second one he wasn't too co-operative and by the third lesson he simply refused to get into the water. We found out the reason to the opposition - he choked on some water while learning to "blow bubbles" underwater. We figured that it must have happened during the second lesson. For now we have pretty much shelved the plan until he is a little older, although we still try our luck once in a while by persuading him to give it another shot. Not getting lucky though.
We also found out from this episode that Matty has a very skewed idea of what swimming is actually all about. He kept insisting that there was no swimming done during the classes. We eventually worked out that because he has been doing nothing but water-play at the pools since he was 6 months old, to him swimming consists of splashing water and waddling around the pool. After much explanation, we managed to clarify this misunderstanding. So now he calls it "fun-swimming" instead.
I am starting to worry if he will have the same repulsion when he starts formal school. At the moment, school has lots of fun factor to it. Oh dear.... he will be shocked to learn the truth.
The first lesson was a breeze but by the second one he wasn't too co-operative and by the third lesson he simply refused to get into the water. We found out the reason to the opposition - he choked on some water while learning to "blow bubbles" underwater. We figured that it must have happened during the second lesson. For now we have pretty much shelved the plan until he is a little older, although we still try our luck once in a while by persuading him to give it another shot. Not getting lucky though.
We also found out from this episode that Matty has a very skewed idea of what swimming is actually all about. He kept insisting that there was no swimming done during the classes. We eventually worked out that because he has been doing nothing but water-play at the pools since he was 6 months old, to him swimming consists of splashing water and waddling around the pool. After much explanation, we managed to clarify this misunderstanding. So now he calls it "fun-swimming" instead.
I am starting to worry if he will have the same repulsion when he starts formal school. At the moment, school has lots of fun factor to it. Oh dear.... he will be shocked to learn the truth.
Friday, 2 October 2009
Die Already
Die already lah.... how to make Matty stop using the phrase "die already"?
He kept using this phrase last night whenever he saw someone on TV made a blopper or had an accident.
I did a self-check and I know that it wasn't me.... not one of those phrase that I had actually used before. When I asked him where he picked that up from, he wasn't able to tell me. All he could say was "ya... because he die already".
Elaina being the mimicker of her older brother these days, started repeating it shortly after.
This time really die already!
He kept using this phrase last night whenever he saw someone on TV made a blopper or had an accident.
I did a self-check and I know that it wasn't me.... not one of those phrase that I had actually used before. When I asked him where he picked that up from, he wasn't able to tell me. All he could say was "ya... because he die already".
Elaina being the mimicker of her older brother these days, started repeating it shortly after.
This time really die already!
