Kai Hock's Story

儿的生日是娘的苦日

2011-04-20T14:23:00.003+08:00

有人对我说过这句话。。。“儿的生日是娘的苦日”

想想这句话还真有道理。从前，生孩子哪里有现在这么先进的妇产科设备。生产是又不可以要求麻醉，而且还有生命的危险。生个孩子就像是从鬼门关走了一趟回来。

现在的人生孩子还真宝贝。而且，还有不同的生产设备可以选择。久而久之，儿的生日就只注重在如何为儿庆生。还有谁会记得自己的母亲？说句老实话，我这么多年来的生日都没有想起我的妈，也没想到感谢她。

今年，家亨的生日那个早上，他拉着我走到沙发。叫我坐下，然后双脚一弯，跪在我面前，对我说了一句“妈妈，谢谢您生我。”

天啊，我的儿啊。太令妈妈感动了。我也要说，“家亨，谢谢你来到我们的家，当我们的儿子"

They are just different

2010-12-30T00:46:00.002+08:00

Last June holiday, we signed Jiaheng and Yixuan up for a Children Yoga class at our nearby CC. They enjoyed it and requested for another session this holiday.

Today is the first lesson, it is real interesting watching them do the different Yoga poses. Especially Yixuan, who on one hand wanted to do the difficult poses like the other older children in the class while doing her best to balance.

When the class was dismissed, the children swarmed out of the classroom. But Jiaheng and Yixuan was no where in sight. I peeped into the class and upon seeing me, Yixuan ran forward and very enthusiastically explained why they were still in class. Apparently, the other children can't wait to leave after class was dismissed and randomly threw the yoga mat at the mat corner. As a result, the whole pile of mat collapsed. Jiaheng and Yixuan stayed behind to help tidy up.

As I approached the kids and the Yoga teacher who were tidying up the area, the teacher commented affectionately "They are just different". I am so proud of my 2 children.

----- posted by Mommy

Comic Reliefs

2010-09-28T11:31:00.005+08:00

Our daughter brings so much joy and laughter to our family.

On days that we are down, we just need to recall some thing she said or some actions she made and that will naturally bring a smile to our faces.

Just to share some comical moments of her...

Monday Morning - at the dining table

==========================

Papa just brought a metal container with two half-boiled eggs in it from the kitchen. Laid the metal container on the table and asked "Who wants half-BOILED eggs?" And of course Jiaheng will be eagerly waving his hand.

Then Yixuan asked "What about half-GIRL egg?" At this moment, you can literally see question mark shooting off Papa's head. (like those you see from comics when the cartoon character is simply clueless to what is happening)

And the mystery is solved when Yixuan continued "I only want half-GIRL egg, don't want half-BOY egg"

Ha Ha Ha... Oh man!

Wednesday Evening - at Grandma's home

==============================

Grandma has the habit of offering incense to the Buddha in the evening. Yixuan volunteered to help. After seeing Grandma does it so many times, Yixuan also knew the protocol. So she took over the joss sticks, and started mumbling something.

Well, if you listen close enough, you will understand what she is saying... "Please bless my gor gor so that he will be a good boy, bless my ma ma so that she will be a good girl, bless my papa so that he will be a good boy, bless my gong gong ...."

The chanting repeated itself and went on till she covered all family members. Finally satisfied, Yixuan handed over the joss stick to Grandma.

Of course, Grandma is so proud of her granddaughter for having done such a good job (thumbs up). This is clearly evident from the smile on Grandma face. Just when Grandma is about the place the joss stick in the holder, Yixuan shouted out "Thank you, GOD"

Oops! she must have been confused between the GOD in her school church and the "GOD" that Grandma worships to.

In response to Yixuan's unexpected last statement, Grandma immediately chanted and asked for Buddha's forgiveness for what the little girl said while choking on her own laughter.

That's how comical our girl can be. :)

Sweet nothings...

2010-08-20T21:53:00.003+08:00

While sitting next to me on the sofa this evening, Jiaheng was making this "Uh hmm" sound (like clearing throat). I asked him not to do it and then why is he doing it?

Then he said "There is something stuck in my throat, and its Mama, I want to digest you so that you can go into my heart and i will always remember Mama."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The other day, while Kai Hock was chatting with him. Kai Hock mentioned something like "next time your wife will laugh at you if you keep doing this". Can't really catch their conversation, but definitely can hear what Jiaheng's reply was. He said "I don't want a wife, I only want Papa and Mama".

So so sweet....

----------- posted by Mommy

Jiaheng's Newest Goals

2010-06-13T21:56:00.004+08:00

Jiaheng sets many goals for himself.

He has a goal for his Mental-Arithmetic. It is 1st May 2011, I am a 1 Dan-Level student.

His newest goal as of 9:57pm, 13 June 2010, is as follows:
=============================

This is my goal.

I want to play golf at the age of 8. And I want to be a PRO when I am age 10. When I am a PRO, I will like to go to 3 places.

The first place is St. Andrews, Scotland. The second place is Augusta National, USA, which has the famous Amen Corner. The Amen corner consist of three of the hardest holes on the course. The third place is Pebble Beach, USA, where Tiger Woods won the record breaking of 15 shots!

=============================

By the way, he got inspired after reading a book on Golfing which he borrowed from the library. Well, Kai Hock and I don't play golf. So we got to rely on his uncle to do that for us. hmm... I hope my bro will get the hint. :)

-------------posted by Mommy

Family Team

2010-05-28T23:36:00.003+08:00

I was with my wife at the Hong Kong Convention just last weekend. We were there for 3 days. It is amazing how strong the partnership can be when it comes to a family team.

We saw husband-wife team, father-son team, mother-son team, brother-sister team. It is so motivating and touching to see family members succeed together. When the family has a common goal, the bonding and drive is doubly strong.

Nothing beats the support coming from your family members. In times of weakness, it is always support from family that gives me the strength. In times of doubt, it is always the support from family that gives me the clarity and direction.

I am grateful that my wife is with me in the business. I am grateful that my sister is with me in the business. We are all working towards our Freedom. The feeling is great.

I will go wherever you go

2010-05-02T00:40:00.005+08:00

I love holding Jiaheng's hand. He likes it too. Sometimes, he likes my hand to fully engulf his hand. Sometimes, he likes to interlock our fingers.

That day, while holding his hand, I observed that it has grown much bigger. The fingers have grown longer. The palm has grown fuller. Upon comparing his hand with mine, I made a comment saying that his hand used to be so tiny in mine. Now, it is nearly going to be as big as mine.

Then he commented... "Yar mummy, now you hold my hand. When I grow up, my hand will be bigger than yours and it will be my turn to hold your hand and bring you around. Where do you want to go next time?"

I replied, "I will go wherever you go, Jiaheng."

And not expecting this reply... "Mummy, then you must be prepared to take lots of bus. I will bring you to many places on my bus".

Oh yes, my boy wants to be a bus captain when he grows up. So, we can "travel the world" on his bus :)

童真

2010-05-01T23:03:00.004+08:00

小孩子之所以这么可爱，不单单是他那圆圆的脸蛋，可爱的表情。还有他们那超有感染力的童真。

他们不会刻意压抑自己的情绪，喜怒哀乐完全表露无疑。想说的话就说出口，也不会修饰用词。喜欢就是喜欢，不喜欢就是不喜欢。

开心就是开心，能大声地开怀大笑。甚至能笑到从椅子上摔下。伤心时，大滴大滴的眼泪从脸颊滑落，一点都不吝啬。

今天早上，老公买了早餐回来，顺手就放在餐桌。虽然女儿已经点了她爱吃的素包，可是一看见老公买的油条，整个脸都亮起来。眼睛睁得大大地，双臂长得开开地。很自然就一边跑，一边兴奋地高声叫到“油条，油条，有油条”！好像是碰到失散多年的朋友般的开心。

一听说，如果她能快快把包子吃完，爸爸会给她一小块油条，本来是小口的吃，马上就自动加速，大口大口地吃了起来。

吃完包子就直攻爸爸留给她那一小段的油条。虽然只有那么一小段，可是它就是妹妹手心里的宝。只见她小心翼翼地用双手把油条检起。好满足地一口咬下，露出了超开心的脸，笑眯眯地看着爸爸和我。

看着妹妹这么满足地吃着。我也不禁感到一股无比的温馨涌入心田。这普普通通的油条魅力可不小，真要谢谢它了。

Jiaheng just sums it all

2010-01-07T01:20:00.002+08:00

If you ask me how has Jiaheng's experience in school been? How is he coping...

Well, I think it cannot beat the thoughts coming from the horse's mouth isn't it?

=======================

In his own words:

End of Day 1 - upon seeing him after school dismissal

"Mommy, I like Mrs Kwok 85%, the lady parent helper 10%, the uncle helper 5%. All in all, I like school 100%"

End of Day 1 - before he closes his eyes at bedtime

"Mommy, school is easier than I thought"

End of Day 2 - upon reaching home

"Mommy, my VP is very strict but my P is very fun!"

End of Day 3 - upon reaching home

"Mommy, the Art teacher is very strict! But I like it."

So all in all, I think Jiaheng has seized up his school happening pretty well and I know he has done well!

------------ posted by Mommy

家亨的“不可能”任务

2010-01-04T10:38:00.000+08:00

听人说某某人想“望子成龙” 还是想 “望女成凤”。虽然听起来有一种莫名的压力，但这还不是为人父母的心愿吗？有哪个父母不想子女出人头地，做个有才华又有用的人呢？

可我家的家亨却是 “望妹成凤”! 看起来儿子是比我跟老公还着急呢。

今天他从珠心算班回来就迫不及待地将他买给妹妹的礼物拿出来。还以为他会买些什么饰品还是什么玩具，没想到尽是两张贴在墙壁上的学习海报！哎哟。。。真丢人，我这个妈妈也太肤浅了，只想着买玩的东西。该好好检讨检讨自己了。

家亨兴致勃勃地拉着妹妹，要教妹妹数字。一张海报是数1 到100 的那种，另一张是乘法表。家亨啊，你是不是野心大了些？只见他拿着妹妹的手指一个一个数字的指着，一边指，一边读，像极了小老师。只可惜，还念不到20，妹妹就没耐性了。

家亨还不气馁，还一直念着 “来妹妹来，哥哥教你。你不要哥哥教你吗? 来来。。。” 妹妹只是一味使出她的杀手锏。。。那 super innocent 的笑脸，然后躲开哥哥的 “追踪”。看了不知道是好气还是好笑。

家亨，你要加油哦。。。不要放弃你的 “不可能” 任务。我代妹妹谢谢你的一番好意了。

----- posted by Mommy

A Dream Fulfilled

2010-01-04T01:08:00.002+08:00

When I was still a teacher, I often felt sad when school reopens. Not because that is when I have to start work but I feel sad that I cannot be there with my son when his turn for his 1st day of school comes.

It is very heart-wrenching even thinking about it. The thought that I cannot be there to prepare him for school, to send him to school, to see him in action at school...

In my mind, I kept thinking that I have to be here at my own school with other people's children but not mine. I know it is an obligation, it is my duty as teacher but it just saddens me.

Being with Jiaheng on his 1st day in school is like a dream that cannot be fulfilled.

Well, today, I am very happy to say I have achieved my dream! I actually did everything that I dreamed of doing. From the preparation for school to the 1st waffle bought at the canteen! I am just thrilled. The fact that I am enjoying time freedom is just so satisfying! And all these cannot be possible if not for my ever encouraging and supportive husband.

I am so happy. :)

------------ posted by Mommy

Oxidative Stress! Starring the Thief, the Police, the Builder

2009-11-17T13:22:00.004+08:00

Oxidative Stress sounds like a big big phrase. Understanding the meaning of it also caused some stress ... ha ha ha.

I have read quite a bit on what is oxidative stress and have come up with a version that is layman enough to explain free radical and anti-oxidant to a 4 year old?

Enjoy the story
=======================================

Starring :
Free Radical as the thief;
Antioxidant as the police;
Vitamins & Minerals as the builders

Crime Scene:
Your body cell as the house.

The Story:
The free radical is the thief that goes around to steal things from your body cells a.k.a the house. What do they steal? They steal molecules from the cells and in the process, the cells are damaged.

The antioxidant is like the police. They will go round to hunt down the thief. When the antioxidant catches the free radical, they will donate a molecule to the free radical so that the free radical stops going round to destroy the cells. But, the police cannot finish catching all the thieves, so there will be some cells which will be damaged.

Now, it is time for the grand entrance of our builder heros a.k.a vitamins & minerals. They will provide the raw materials for the body to repair itself.

Oxidative stress happens when there are more damages than repairs. Over a period of 10 - 20 years, this can potentially lead to faster aging and degenerative diseases (cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart diseases etc).

*** End of Story ***

Food for thought...
We should be getting our vitamins and minerals from our food. But really how much are you consuming of the right type of food? What did you have for your 3 meals today?

Here is a typical menu for a day:

breakfast : bread and coffee
lunch : fishball noodles
dinner : vegetables, meat and rice

Antioxidants, vitamins & minerals come from FRESH fruits and vegetables. So how fresh is our food based on the typical menu for a day?

Hope you enjoyed this story! :)

Graduated!

2009-11-12T17:30:00.007+08:00

My son has graduated!.... errr.... from K2 only lah. But there is graduation gown, motar cap, fanfare, scroll etc. Like the real thing right?

Let me count... still have to wait another 18 years for the real thing leh... never mind, just take it as the preview. :P

The school had a graduation cum concert. The theme of the Concert is "Wonderfully Made" this year. Really must give credit to his teacher, Tr Iris for putting in so much effort in coming up with this dance item, Adam & Eve. Really not easy. There is choreographing, rehearsing and coaching the kids to come up with such a magnificent performance. I see already very 感动.

No wonder, my Jiaheng a.k.a. Adam kept asking me "Mommy, do you know what is love?" while he was preparing for the concert. Now I know why.

-- posted by Mommy

这样的儿子哪里找？

2009-11-04T23:56:00.005+08:00

女儿的三岁生日要到了。回想起刚出世的她，小脸蛋上印着黑黑的一片瘀青。那时看了又心痛又担心，害怕那不是瘀青而是胎记。医生一再安慰我说那是接生时用钳子夹她出来留下的。但是还是担心的要死。直到那瘀青散了才安心。

唉。。。做父母的总是为孩子操心这，操心那的。养儿一百岁，长忧九十九，可能就是这个意思吧。

我们从澳洲回来就开始筹备女儿的party。虽然只是在家里举办，也只是请了immediate family members 但是也不可以太马虎。主要是布置家里和准备goodie bags 和食物。就这些也够忙的我团团转。

Party 结束后，我真的好累好累。女儿睡了后，我告诉家亨说妈妈好累要进房休息，而且脚板好酸痛，要他帮我拿一只捶脚的棒来。没想到，我躺在床上感觉到有人在帮我捶脚。还真舒服，儿子you are so sweet。我也真是累了，加上儿子的superb service，不知不觉的睡着了。当我忽然间醒来时，儿子还在帮我捶脚。On top of that，他还开了风扇吹我，怕我热。哎哟，当下的我好感动啊！儿子你真孝顺。

过后跟老公说起这件事，老公说 “这样的儿子哪里找？” And I totally agree， we are so blessed。

--- posted by Mommy

sailing...kangaroos... Perth

2009-11-03T21:31:00.000+08:00

My wife and I spent 4 wonderful days in Perth, Australia. This is my first time in Perth and the second time for Tse Wern.

It was a fully-packed 4 days, with activities arranged neck-to-neck. We were given the best lodging, the best food, the best treatment, the best experience. 4 days of great learning from inspiring leaders and 4 days of great fun.

Our hotel was next to a beach. The coastline is so long that it seems that it is never going to end. The sand was white and the sea was shades of blue and turquoise. The food is good just that there is no Chinese food for the 4 days in Perth. Yup! No wanton noodles, no chee cheong fun, no nasi lemak. Still, the food is tasty and most of the time grilled or boiled so very healthy.

We got a chance to do a dinner cruise at Swan Lake to admire the skyline along the coast as the boat cruised down the calm waters. And on the last night, we experienced a Gala Dinner. Yes, I know we must be super formal for Gala Dinner but I did not put on a tuxedo, just settled for a suit. But, my dear wife made a great fuss over what she will be wearing. Husbands out there, you will know what I mean. :P

How can a trip to Australia be complete without a visit to the kangaroos? They are very gentle and friendly animals. I was feeding one super active kangaroo and when I turned to leave, it actually reached out to clutch my hand. See how charming I am, even a kangaroo cannot resist me. :P

If you asked me what is one thing I remember most about Perth.... I will say its Sailing!

We were told that people in Perth love sailing. And we got first hand experience in doing that. It was thrilling. Our boat was travelling at about 20 knots and the wind direction kept changing that afternoon and we were like changing sides ever so often! There were a few times when I really thought that someone is going to drop into the water as the boat went like near 150 degree down into the water on one side.

I really marvel at how our boat captain can sail a boat single-handedly. I mean there were like 6 people working together to get our boat moving. When it was time to turn, one person got to release the rope on one side, the other got to tighten the rope on the other. Then one person got to ease the sail in the middle of the boat and one more got to steer. Not to mention, we need someone to tighten the wench when the rope is being tightened. Just so much action going on ALL AT THE SAME TIME! It was chaotic but FUN!

Definitely a good trip.

Afternote: Cheers To Good Gut Health

2009-11-03T01:13:00.002+08:00

I mentioned in my earlier blog that taking antibiotics upsets the balance of good bacteria in our gut system.

Quite a few friends told me that they DO NOT take antibiotics as they know that antibiotics do them no good in the long run. But little do they know that everyone is taking antibiotics whether or not they like it or not. How is that so? Cos the meat that we take consume contains antibiotics. Nowadays, it is common practice to inject the live foal and poultry with antibiotics and these will then be passed to us when we consume meat. Scary isn't it?

That is why I am trying to turn vegan now. Will share with you more in my later blogs.

Cheers to Good Gut Health

2009-11-02T06:41:00.006+08:00

I have come to understand that good gut health is very important... the hard way.

My wife used to have very bad morning sickness when she was expecting our first child. She will not only throw up in the morning but also throughout the day. We always joked that perhaps it can't be classified as morning sickness but all-day sickness (of course after her 1st trimester when her vomitting ceased, as if she had the mood to joke when she is "merlion-ing")

The anti-nausea pills prescribed by her gyanae didn't help. So, we resorted to alternative medicine. The natural therapist gave her probiotics and from there I learnt that probiotics are beneficial bacteria that keeps your gut healthy. Sounds yucky right, taking BACTERIA! But good ones of course. Yup! that's right. You need GOOD bacteria in your gut to have a healthy you.

When you have a healthy gut, you can digest food, absorb food nutrients and have a better immunity. That was the first time I really understood probiotics and the need for good probiotics to maintain good health. That was a good 7 years ago. And I have been hoping to find a good probiotics in the market.

To begin with, everyone has good bacteria in their gut. Problems start to occur when these good bacteria starts to reduce. Apparently, consumption of antibiotics wipe out all the bacteria in the gut, whether good or bad and that badly upsets the condition in the gut. Also, stress, illness, poor diet, lack of rest, environmental conditions, low water consumption will greatly affect the good bacteria in your gut. I guess the more I know, the more I know I need a good probiotics.

Whenever, I think of probiotics, the image of Felicia Chin holding that bottle of V****** saying how the live prebiotics culture helps in keeping you healthy pops up (not that I am a fan of Felicia, but the fact of how misleading advertisement can be scares me). The fact that V****** has sugar in it already greatly discounts the fact that the bottle is going to help you. Cos sugar is actually food for the bad bacteria! To me, the sugar is more for marketing purposes and to appeal to the public more than having any real functions.

Later, I also learnt that is getting good bacteria to reach our intestines is really not an easy task. When we feed good bacteria through our mouth, it first needs to survive the very acidic conditions in our stomach. Those strains of probiotics that survive this first cut will then make their way down our intestines. Most strains of probiotics will already die while making the long journey down your intestines. When the probiotics reach the intestines, it makes no point for them to just sit around there. They need to multiple themselves to create the balance in our gut system.

Not all probiotics are created equal. And only a handful of strains can actually achieve the feat of surviving the long journey down the gut system. Ha ha, my chance to impress you (*wink wink*) You will need the strains of probiotics under the LGG and BB-12 to really get the good benefits of live probiotics you take. So next time, you consume yogurt or some other probiotics, turn to the ingredients to look out for these star strains.

While we take the probiotics daily to maintain our good gut health and to increase our immunity, sometimes, I wonder if it really helps. I do notice much less burpy, much less bloated feeling after meals, much less gas output (if you know what I mean). But I can't possibly cut myself open to see if the good bacteria is growing or not right!

I guess the ultimate test for me was when my mum-in-law had upset stomach yesterday. She told me that she had already been to the toilet for a couple of times and still having diarrhea and pain in the abdomen. I asked her to take 1 pack of the probiotics that contain the star strains. Half an hour later, viola! She says the pain and the gas in her abdomen is gone. She didn't have to visit the toilet after that the whole day.

It's amazing how the good bacteria works and I am glad I found a good brand of probiotics that work! Will be happy to recommend to you too.

是宝还是草？

2009-09-09T14:59:00.007+08:00

我周遭的朋友都当他们的孩子是个宝。都是爸爸妈妈心头的一块肉，掌心里的宝。

那是多么幸福的一件事。甚至可以说是多么幸运的一件事。孩子一生下来，并不能够选择自己的父母是谁。父母也一样。能够成为一家人是多么难得的事。为什么有些孩子能那样幸福，有些却不能？

老公下楼买完东西后对我讲述他看见的一幕。听了觉得好心酸。

老公下楼时已是将近凌晨十二点了。那位小女孩就躺在两张并排的咖啡店塑胶椅子上睡觉。样子看上去，那小女孩只不过五，六岁大。她的妈妈就坐在旁边跟别人喝酒，聊天。试想想，在那时候，自己的孩子会在哪儿？在梦乡作着甜美的梦吗？还是躺在妈妈温暖的怀抱里睡着？

那为什么有些孩子就要在露天的冷椅子上过夜?

当老公买完东西时，刚好那位妈妈正要回家了。只见那妈妈又是大呼小叫，又是恐吓。什么你还不起来，我就不带你回家。什么你还不起来，就把你送给uncle。见孩子半梦半醒间，动作缓慢，那妈妈不是揪，就是打。

我一听，立刻觉得火冒三丈。冷静下来时，又为那小女孩感到心酸。我们的孩子是那么那么的幸福啊。我自己也是那么那么的幸福。真庆幸有那么疼爱自己的爸爸妈妈。

我知道我是我父母的宝。家亨和怿萱也是Kai Hock 跟我的宝。

--- posted by Mommy

What I love...

2009-08-12T11:44:00.005+08:00

The view on the 19th floor from our unit is simply great. From the Abundance Room, we can see the Southern landmarks of Singapore. To name a few, we can see The Singapore Flyer, The Concourse, UOB building, Swissotel The Stamford, Singapore.

I love gazing at the lights coming from the tall buildings at night, patches of red, yellow and blue littered all over the skyline. The lights look especially charming and bright when I switch off the lights in our home. When the eyes got adjusted to the darkness, the view before my eyes becomes more prominent. It does give me a sense of serenity looking at the night scene in the silence of the night.

I love looking at the raindrops falling down from the sky. When I look up into the sky, it looks like streams of water coming out of a watering can. When the wind changes direction, it guides the rainwater from left to right and then left again, as if the wind is guiding the raindrops in a dance of Waltz. When the wind gets stronger, they changed the dancesteps from a graceful Waltz to a passionate Tango.

I love looking at our 2 babies lying sound asleep on their beds in their own room. I love looking at their faces while they sleep. I love looking at their relaxed features on their faces. So lovely.

------ posted by Mommy

Sleep Talk

2009-07-23T23:23:00.004+08:00

While unpacking the 50+ boxes we brought from our old place, I uncovered a book that I store away long time ago called "Sleep Talk".

I used to do sleep talk to Jiaheng when he was younger to train him to sleep more soundly. It seemed to work. Kai Hock's buddy also had some positive experiences with sleep talk when he used it to combat bitting habit for his twins.

As the first page of the book suggests "SLEEP TALK - A breakthrough Technique For Helping Your Child Cope With Stress And Thrive Through Difficult Transitions".

It seems to be all encompassing isn't it. It has Sleep Talk for Picky Eater, Sleep Talk for Sleeping, Sleep Talk for Toilet Training, Sleep Talk for Manners, Sleep Talk for Fingernail biting etc etc. It covers Sleep Talk for various stages of a child, Infants to Adolescence.

The way Sleep Talk works is to make use of the child's awareness of sounds during sleep. At a particular stage of their sleep, the parent will read a script to the child. The script will address a particular issue with the child. It is believed that at the stage of deepest sleep of the child, the child will be very aware of sounds and the script will offer the child alternatives to his present behavior that may result in greater success.

The book even provides scripts meant for addressing various issues. How thoughtful. This book is definitely worth exploring.

Give you a sample:

The following script is for addressing Bet-Wetting issue:

"Damon, this is your mum.
I just want to let you know how much I love you.
I just want you to know how proud I am that you are my son.
I want to let you know how proud of you I am when you wake up in the morning and your pajamas are dry.
When you wake up, you have plenty of time to get to the toilet.
I appreciate it when your bedsheets and you are dry.
I am proud of you because I know that you are proud of yourself.
It does not matter where you spend the night - you wake up in a dry bed.
Thank you for being my son.
I love you so very much.
Sweet Dreams"

The author of the book is Lois Haddad, R. N. Why not check out this book if you have done all you possibly could for your child but still does not see desirable result?

------- posted by Mommy

Enjoying our new home

2009-07-23T21:43:00.004+08:00

The first thing that captured our hearts when we first saw our new home was the spectacular night view. And the best part is that we can see all the way South to the Singapore Flyer.

I chose the room that faces the Singapore Flyer as my work room and the children and I have voted to name it the "Abundance Room".

The children decided that their room will be called the "Fun Room". Our living room is the "Joy Room" and the Master bedroom is the "Love Room".

The children have settled down very well in the new home. In fact, they slept through the night on the very first night in our new home. They are so fascinated by everything in the new home. From the storage compartments under their beds to the lighting in the home.

And of course, one very good advantage of living in a mature estate is the accessibility to various kinds of shopping and food. From medical halls to laundry shops to saloons to bakery, you name it, we have it all here. Now, we are TRULY home-based. Besides, running our home-based business, there is not much reason to travel far from home to get our necessities settled.

We love our new home and is enjoying every moment of it here. We have bid good bye to our first love in Serangoon and will now build another loving relationship with this new home in Toa Payoh.

Our Girl's 1st day in school

2009-07-13T22:32:00.004+08:00

Kai Hock and I decided to start Yixuan's school in the middle of the year as we wanted our little baby to stay home with us a little longer. But the little one is more eager to take flight. Yixuan kept saying that she wants to go school like her big brother so we decided it is time to let her go.

Today is Yixuan's first day in school. Based on Jiaheng excellent track records on his first day in school, I was hoping that it will also be easy for me this time round for Yixuan.

The afternoon session children were gathered in a room while waiting for the morning session children to dismiss. Yixuan looked so grown up and solemn sitting on the mat cross-legged. I was glad that she doesn't look anxious about the first day in school. Like what the Papa always say... Mama always seems more "kan cheong" than the little one. Sigh! What to do? Mama always worries the most.

When the teachers came to fetch the children from their respective classes, Yixuan said "Mummy go outside and wait, cannot come in". I was taken aback when I heard her, but it is a good opportunity for me to stay out and observe if she can do it herself. I quickly jumped on the opportunity and 'obediently' did what I was told. *double wink*.

I felt so sneaky and sheepish trying to peep from the outside window to see how Yixuan was doing. On one hand, I tried to let her go. On the other hand, I was dying to see how she is coping in the classroom. So in the end, got to end up spying on her. The moment I thought she is going to see me, I had to duck. Aiyoh! Can really pull my hair off... try to be cool lah... let her go in herself lah.

Luckily for both of us, Yixuan seems to blend into the environment very quickly. When the class teacher introduced her to the class, she very cooperatively and calmly stood next to the teacher, facing the class. During her lesson time, I can see from her back that she is sitting up very straight and cross-legged. Even though, I cannot see her face expression, I can already visualise her trying her best to appear serious.

After about 15 minutes, the moment of release came! The teacher started to play a song and I was simply tickled seeing Yixuan's pony tail sway vigourously left and right as she moves her head left and right to the beat of the song. Ahhh... this image suits my little girl more, she just comes alive when music is played.

Then it was break time, followed by toilet break, followed by outdoor play. Again, I did not follow her in as she seems to be coping good. I tell myself to restrain my impulse to sit in with her. Why ruin her eagerness to be independent? I can reassure you that it is not easy for this Mummy to just let go. But ultimately, I am glad I persisted.

It seems like eons before she reached her last period. Mummy's neck cannot stretch any longer after all the peeping sessions.

I am so proud of my little girl for having adapted so well on her first day of school and am so proud of myself for having SURVIVED her first day. :) And of course, I must thank Yixuan for making it an easy day for Mama.

------ posted by Mommy

我们的第一个十年

2009-06-22T15:10:00.001+08:00

我觉得我是幸运的。在茫茫人海中能遇到我的老公。

老公，你常说只要我开心，你就开心。在结婚十周年的今天，你准备了一连串的惊喜给我，真的让我有些招架不住，受宠若惊。我要告诉你，我真的玩得很开心，只是不好意思让你整天都在做陪客，一直在等我。

我知道你为了今天的节目筹备了有两个多月。真的很谢谢你为我所做的一切。正如那 nail therapist 所说。。。you are so sweet。连老板娘都那么觉得呢，你几棒一点哦。说真的，那不知道 next destination 是哪里的感觉还挺好的。我是个典型的 planning 派，总要策划，准备，以防万一。久了都觉得有些闷。今天，那种被你带着走的感觉真好。

老公，你常说我很好养，花费少。既不喜欢逛街又不喜欢买东西。所以你就把这十年累计的一切奢侈一天内全给了我吗？你是知道我是个不爱乱花钱的人，虽然不至于是个守财奴但算一算今天的花费也是会觉得心痛（老毛病，改不了）。就这一次好了。：）

我会记得这十周年的一天。这只是我们的第一个十周年，还有第二个，第三个，第四个，第五个，第六个。。。要对你说的是今天的每个节目都让我很感动，但最让我感动的是你许下的那个愿望。放心！我们一定会做到的。要白头到老哦！

Our Comical Family Tree

2009-06-05T22:48:00.007+08:00

At the breakfast table this morning, Jiaheng & I were trying to sort out the relationships among our relatives for Yixuan. E.g: Who is Papa's Mama? Who is Mama's Papa? etc

I suppose Jiaheng and I didn't do a good job cos the little girl seems pretty confused. In the end, I decided to draw out a simplified family tree for her.

(Stage 1 : Basic) Only drew Kai Hock, me and Jiaheng and Yixuan. (and of course, must draw long hair for the girl and punky hair for the boy) Simple questions just revolving Kai Hock, me, Jiaheng and Yixuan were asked to check for understanding. The results .... 100%! yeh! Pass with flying colours.

(Stage 2 : Intermediate) I added in 阿公, 阿媽(the paternal grandparents), 公公 and 婆婆 (the maternal grandparents). Somehow, the little girl seems to think that 阿公 is my father instead of 公公. So mummy has no choice but to put in some distinction to the drawing. This girl is really pushing her mummy's drawing skills to the limit (as if there were any to start off with :P)

So I drew a strawberry next to 阿公 (cos 阿公 is our faithful strawberry supplier to make the little princess happy). And I drew a moustache on the icon symbolising 公公 (and Jiaheng was simply tickled when he saw the moustache I drew... hmmm... is it really that funny??)

Ah... this distinction seems to do the trick and the little girl cleared Stage 2 too. Seems like Mummy has not forgotten what she learnt while teaching to start off with concrete examples and move towards abstract association.

(Stage 3 : Advanced) Actually, I was a bit reluctant to proceed to Advanced stage. Thot of just letting the information seep in for the little girl but Jiaheng just kept encouraging us to continue. So, we added in 3 姑姑 and 1 舅舅. Conclusion... Blur.

Stage 3 failed. Kua Kua Kua... Never mind, we can always try again next time with more people added to the family tree. A long list to go : 大姑丈，二姑丈，大表哥，二表哥，三表哥，表弟，舅妈，太婆，曾祖父，曾祖母。

One thing I am grateful is that my mum-in-law insists that we address our elders according to their seniority. Hence the many terms. She always says "Don't call auntie and uncle. Must call properly. There are so many uncles and aunties in the streets."

P.S. In case you are wondering why 舅舅 has rounded ears, his is a fan of Mickey, that's why.

--------posted by Mommy

Reaping the fruits

2009-06-05T00:34:00.002+08:00

We started Jiaheng on his Money Jars when he was younger and kept encouraging him to keep this good habit of money management.

We even increased his allowance from $1 a day to $1.50 when he turned six. (inflation, you know? ^^) In fact, he has been using money from his NESS (Necessity) jar to pay for his school's excursion fees and even his Yakult-Milk scheme in school.

Today is Kai Hock's birthday and Jiaheng very generously decided to use his NESS funds to buy Papa a birthday cake. After counting the coins for a good 20-mins, he handed me a big pile of coins to exchange for two $10 bills. Coupled with another $10 bills in the jar, Jiaheng said that he will like to get a $30 cake for Papa.

It is one whole month of savings for him. Everyday, without fail, he will recite his Dizigui by himself and then ask for his $1.50 savings ($1 in NESS , $0.30 in FFA , $0.20 in GIVE)

Now it is time to reap the fruits :) Keep up the persistency and consistency. Mommy knows that they will serve you well when you grow up.

---- posted by Mommy

The Games We Play

2009-06-04T21:54:00.003+08:00

I really find that playing games is the best way to teach our children. There are so many learning points we can derive from well-selected toys.

Yixuan is really into a few games right now.

Game #1 - UNO
---------
Yes, you are right. She can play a game of UNO independently. The only challenge is that she has issues holding up the 7 cards fanned out in her tiny hand. So, the best she can do is to place the cards all faced up on the floor. We the professionals will hold the cards in our hands and spy on what cards she has at the same time so that we can strategise our winning moves. ^^

Rules wise, we go for the most basic i.e. no placing of double cards; no interception; no reverse; no skip. Lest the many variations puts her off. However, the main teaching points in the game is to teach her to match numbers and colours. I must say she is a fast learner. After 1 session with her Papa, she is ready to play.

She even manages to win & wow Grandma with her new skills. Ha ha

Game #2 - Giant Floor Jigsaw Puzzle
---------
The Alphabet Jigsaw was actually inherited from Jiaheng. It covers a floor area of about 60 cm by 100 cm.

For beginnings, it is better to start with bigger pieces of puzzles. It is easier to handle and not so straining on their eye sight. And it is just so accomplished for them to see a giant piece of work done. Yeh!

I will first dramatise the process of searching for the correct placement for a piece of puzzle. Soon, I find that Yixuan will imitate me looking at the model answer on the puzzle box and try to match the placement of the piece that she is holding. From that first piece, she will find the other connecting pieces and slowly grow the puzzle. Most times, she can finish the 26 piece puzzle herself with a little help here and there.

Well, I could have just done the 'start from A and form to Z' method. But, I find that the forming of the puzzle with different starting pieces proves more challenging for the girl. That is when I can say "What is the piece BELOW G?" "What is the piece ABOVE K?" etc. Another great learning opportunity, isn't it?

I am really not too surprised to hear Yixuan trying to use the prepositions like BELOW and ABOVE the next few days though she mixed it up most of the time. Whatever!.... It is still a good try. :)

Game #3 - Scissors, Paper, Stone
---------
Yes, it is the good old Scissors, Paper, Stone game that we played when we were kids.

Think about it... it is pretty good motor skills for a 2.5 years old to come out with a Scissors sign.

I was lazing on the bed when Yixuan requested to go pee pee in the toilet. As I just laid down, this lazy-bum-bum mummy was really very reluctant to get up and bring her to the toilet. So, I asked Kai Hock to bring her. As usual,Yixuan refused. It is strange sometimes why there are so many things that ONLY mummy can do in the eyes of the little ones.

To keep my chance to continue to laze around, I suggested that we play Scissors, Paper, Stone. If I win, then Papa will bring her to toilet. If she wins, then I will bring her to toilet. I thought that I had everything planned out. I predicted that she will come up with an easy Stone sign (showing a fist). Else, it will be a Paper sign (showing an open hand). For me, I will come up with a Paper sign to counter her. Smart right?

Lo and Behold, while mine was a Paper sign, hers was the Scissors sign (showing a Victory sign horizontally). Aarrghhh... how can this be? Really 人算不如天算喔。What can I say but to concede defeat. Just got to crawl out of bed and bring the victorious girl to pee pee lor.

Really cannot under-estimate the learning ability of this 小不点 and the power of learning with FUN!

----------- posted by Mommy

I also have ONE !

2009-05-27T23:17:00.010+08:00

Mummy has a Mother's Day Card, so have I!

Jiaheng was beaming with pride when he presented the Father's Day card to me today. Can see that he has put in lots of effort in the card.

Jiaheng, Papa likes it very much! Thank you, thank you, thank you. And thank you so much for being such a teachable boy, Papa really enjoys teaching you.

If you are wondering what the words " Thank you for teaching me I promise myself"

"I promise myself" is the starting phrase of the Optimist Creed that I was teaching him.

古灵精怪的公主

2009-05-24T01:37:00.006+08:00

算一算，公主已经两岁半了。最近发现公主越来越古灵精怪。

发现（一）
---------
这个星期，爸爸出了国。爸爸出国后的第一个早上，公主睡醒后看不到爸爸，便问我爸爸在哪里？我回答说爸爸出国了，过几天才回来。公主听后就哼起了一段儿歌。。。“爸爸不在家。。。我请客人先坐下再敬一杯milo”

发现（二）
---------
今天上弟子规，老师讲到“孔融让梨”。说到孔融四岁就懂得长幼有序和兄友弟恭的道理。然后就叫了两位四岁的小朋友出来示范，拿了两粒大小的梨子让他们选，让他们决定是要把大梨还是小梨让哥哥。两位小朋友都照孔融那样把大梨给了哥哥。

公主坐在自己的位子边看边说，“妹妹要拿大梨，妹妹长大了，拿大的”。我还没来得及向她解释，老师就说要位更小的朋友出来示范。接着就叫到家亨的名字，叫家亨把妹妹带出来。Oopps!

公主有板有眼地走了出去，站在大家的前面。老师问一句，她回答一句。到了关键的那问题时，我的心差点要跳出来了！真不敢听下去。老师问“妹妹，要把哪粒梨给哥哥呢？”，说着举起双手的两粒梨。

公主从老师手中接过两粒梨把大的那粒递给哥哥。哥哥也很高兴地接过梨子。这时我才松了一口气。被公主耍了。。。

----- posted by Mommy

Our first appointment is done!

2009-05-19T12:18:00.004+08:00

Today is our scheduled HDB first appointment date. It took us a whole 2 hours to get all paper work done. Can't really remember the procedure, it is just one paper signing after another.

"Owner 1, please sign here. Owner 2, sign here... sign here... sign here... sign here... sign here...here... here... sign here..." For a moment, I thought I turned into a document signing machine!

As we are doing contra for buying and selling our flat, all three parties (i.e. the couple buying our current flat + the gentleman selling the new flat to us + Kai Hock & I) need to be present for the contract to materialise. It is like a battalion moving from one counter to another. I must admit it was quite fun. :)

I like the young couple buying our current flat. In fact, they left a good impression with me the very first time we met. Nice people, I must say. Very friendly and warm. We are happy our current home will be in good hands.

Our current home has served us well for 10 years. Kai Hock and I spent 4 "honeymoon" years here before Jiaheng arrived. Then 3 years later, it welcomed its 4th occupant, Yixuan.

Every time I step into our home, I will feel secure and at ease. It is not just a shelter over our heads but it has shared 10 years of our life stories... like a good, loyal friend. I am going to miss it. *sentimental, sentimental*

Well having said that, I am also looking forward to moving into our new flat. It is a different experience altogether with new neighbours and new environment. But ... yes! I am looking forward to it. Especially when Jiaheng starts his Primary one next year. It will such a breeze to send him to and fro school as the school is just a stone throw away. :)

Not forgetting the nice gentleman who sold the house to us. He shared with me some family history of the house while we chatted at the HDB. So kind of him to leave me some of his fond memories.

At the end of the day, it is all these nice people you meet that makes this world a warmer and happier place to live in isn't it? And I am lucky to meet so many of them.

------ posted by Mommy

Mother's Day Card

2009-05-09T11:55:00.001+08:00

The card says it all....

Thank you Jiaheng. :)

Swine Flu

2009-04-30T15:44:00.004+08:00

6 years have passed, it still hits a sore spot. April 2003 was the happiest yet the darkest month for me.

Happiest as I welcome Jiaheng, my favourite boy into the world and into our family. Darkest as our family struggled with SARS and praying that my mum-in-law get out of her coma soon.

6 years later, April 2009... again, the world is hit with a pandemic, the Swine Flu. From the news reports, it seems that the Swine Flu is hitting the world harder. It is getting on my nerves and the first persons whom I want to protect are my favourite boy and girl.

On top of a healthy diet of fresh fruits and lots of vege (I m lucky tt they are vege lovers), I will up their supply of anti-oxidants. Every night, I will soak 1 grape-seed extract and 1 Vitamin C in their milk bottles. When the pills dissolved, I will mix in their milk powder. Not forgetting the daily children's multivitamins to boost their immune system. And of course, they will need to drink lots of water to hydrate themselves. I am not taking any chances.

The reason why some people fall sick and some don't when the flu bug hits is their immune system. When their bodies are well-protected with anti-oxidants, the chances of them falling sick is highly reduced. This is my way of protecting my two angels. Jiaheng, Yixuan, I love you both so so much.

----- posted by Mommy

Our Princess is Going to School

2009-04-23T21:05:00.003+08:00

Yixuan loves sending Jiaheng to school. Whenever she is asked "Do you want to go to school like Ge Ge?" You can be assured that the answer will be an absolute YES!

Mommy also observed that she is more ready in terms of her behaviour. Nowadays, Yixuan is able to go into Gym class by herself without clinging to Mommy. She will just turn round at the doorstep and give Mommy a big big smile, and then briskly go into the Gym class to start the routine.

As Yixuan is turning 2 and a half years old soon, Mommy decided it is time to source for a school for her. We must thank Jiaheng for giving us a good lesson in choosing pre-schools. So, this time round, the selection process was a breeze. We know what we wanted and from the 5 short-listed schools, we zoomed in to one... The Ascension Kindergarten. The only thing left is to pay the school and the staff a visit to ascertain that this is the school we wanted for our Princess.

And that is what we did today. We brought Yixuan along. The Ascension Kindergarten is similar to Marymount Kindergarten in terms of pupil strength. Compared to Jiaheng's current school, the pupil strength is easily 4x larger.

When we arrived, it was Assembly Time when all the children gathered for some songs and activities before school formally starts. I was actually a little shocked to see so many children in the hall. What ran through my mind was "Will Yixuan be scared to be with so many other children?" But when I took a glimpse of her face, my worries simply vanished. The look of enthusiasm was written all over her face. :)

The vice-principal who brought us for a tour of the school was very warm and friendly. The staff and teachers we came into contact with were also very approachable. The children looks happy in the school. The facility though a little old (can't help it lah... the school has a long history) is comprehensive. The curriculum sounds interesting. The teacher to pupil ratio is reasonable. Guess this is it!

Yippeee. Our Princess will be starting school in early July. :)

Specially for you... a Zoo Membership

2009-04-20T21:59:00.005+08:00

When Jiaheng was younger, we will go to the Zoo once every 2 or 3 weeks. We will only target a particular area to explore and then go back another day to explore other parts of the Zoo. And of course, we hold the "Friends of the Zoo" membership.

But for Yixuan, we seem to have more and more activities occupying us during the weekends. So much so that we only brought Yixuan to the Zoo once since birth. Kai Hock has been harping on how "pathetic" his girl was to only go to the Zoo once ... and that she only saw 2D images of animals and not 3D ... and that how happy she will be to see the animals live. So I finally decided to apply for a Zoo Membership specially for Yixuan.

Aiyoh, Yixuan simply refuses to smile at the Uncle holding the camera. Every time, the Uncle says "cheese", she will purposely clamp her mouth together. Once the Uncle puts down the camera, she will break into a big wide smile. She kept repeating her trick throughout the 3 or 4 shots we attempted.

Even the Auntie at the application counter was so amused by Yixuan's action that she has to place her palm over her mouth to stop herself from laughing out.

Aaargh! We had no choice but to settle for this "best" shot for the Zoo card.

Well, although this little girl has close to no on-site experience at the Zoo, she definitely has high expectations of what she wants to see at the Zoo. One moment its "Meerkat", the next moment she wants "Armadillo". (thanks to the animal picture cards we have been showing her)

Aiyoh, girl, Singapore Zoo tak ada have Armadillo hor. Meerkat also not even shown on the map leh. Can ask for more common ones or not?

Guess the most amusing part is to see her imitate her GeGe holding the Zoo map and walk about, as if she really knows how to read the map. No worries, little girl, we will definitely bring you to the Zoo more often... especially after we have invested so much on the Zoo membership. :P

---- posted by Mommy

妹妹的偶像

2009-03-24T11:19:00.004+08:00

如果婆婆早到我们的家，婆婆会带着两个孙下楼去等家亨的校车来接家亨上学。

妹妹最喜欢接送哥哥。能够出门，又能够穿她的 “kok kok” 鞋。（“kok kok” 鞋是那种会发出像高根鞋那种声音的鞋子）

怿萱总是高高兴兴的出门，但不见得是高高兴兴的回来。为什么？关键在于哥哥。如果哥哥上了校车没跟妹妹挥手，妹妹回来时便会一副失望的样子说哥哥没看妹妹，没跟妹妹挥手。嘴唇还稍微嘟嘟的。让人看了不知道是好笑，还是好气。

今天，妹妹回来可乐了。笑着说 “gor gor，有跟妹妹挥手！两只手。有，有挥手。” 一边说，一边露出一副得意的样子。

妹妹的偶像一出，谁以争锋啊。真是服了他们。

--- posted by Mommy

Preparation for Jiaheng's 6th birthday

2009-03-19T21:49:00.003+08:00

Jiaheng is turning 6 years old on 12 April 2009.

Can't believe that I have been a mum for 6 years. It was just a tiny body that I held in my arms 6 years ago. And now, he is getting a bit too long for me to cradle in my arms. :) Still, I love to hug him like a baby... cos he is still a little baby in mommy's eyes.

Since this is the last year that Jiaheng will be celebrating birthday in his school, I wanted to give him something special to remember by. Next year, he will be in Primary One, and I figure that it is no longer possible to go to school to celebrate birthdays.

While browsing the internet, I came across the brilliant idea to come up with a personalised goodie bag for his friends at school. Something that is special cos it is made by Mommy.

After 2 nights of hard work, this is the result...

Really can't wait to see his expression when he sees it. :)

------- posted by Mommy

What is the difference between a rich person and poor person?

2009-03-18T22:28:00.002+08:00

If I were to ask you the above question, what will your answer be?

Come on, take a minute to ponder about it?

Mommy was in the room next door putting Yixuan to bed and Jiaheng was doing his Abacus next to me. I popped him the same question.

And here is his answer...

"For rich people, 1 cent will grow into 10 cents and then 10 cents will grow into 1 dollar. Then to 10 dollars and 100 dollars.

Poor people will think 'aiya, what can you buy with 1 cent?!' "

Boy! This 6 year-old kid has a success mind-set.

What is your definition ?

Jiaheng is 3 out of 32 of an adult

2009-03-10T16:33:00.002+08:00

Yesterday morning, after Jiaheng finished brushing his teeth, he came to me saying that his teeth is very painful and that he felt something moving.

After checking, I realised that his front incisor was slanted and behind the incisor another pearly white has cut through his gum. Heh! This is Jiaheng's first adult tooth... or so I thought... cos after the dentist checked him, she told Kai Hock that in fact the molars have come out on the left and right of the lower jaw.

The lady dentist was very friendly. Kai Hock found her through the internet. The regular dentist we went to is a nice doctor too, however, I guess he is more used to serving adult patients so not very "zai" when it comes to little ones. Jiaheng went for his regular check-up with our regular dentist a couple of times but that was just for routine checks and cleaning so we were not particularly anxious. But this time, we expected some form of extraction so Kai Hock wanted to look for one who is more experienced with children and so we found this lady dentist located at Telok Blangah.

We are very pleased with her... she really knows how to deal with kids and make them comfortable. As such, the extraction process was very smooth and before Jiaheng knows it, the tooth was already extracted.

After the extraction, the dentist offered a lollipop to Jiaheng to reward him for his "bravery". According to Kai Hock, Jiaheng first took a lollipop with a pink wrapper then he wanted to take another. The lady dentist said he can only have one. Jiaheng explained that he wanted one more for his meimei who is asleep outside the treatment room. The dentist said that meimei can get one the next time she comes.

Jiaheng thought for a moment and said that he will only take one and he will give this one to his meimei because his meimei likes pink. Upon hearing that, the lady dentist "melted" and offered him one more lollipop for himself. Aiyoh, my son, you so sweeeeeet. :)

Once, Jiaheng can start talking without the cotton pad in his mouth to stop the bleeding, he cannot wait to tell everyone he met that he is now 3 out of 32 of an adult cos 3 of his adult teeth came out.

And of course, an excellent teaching opportunity for me. Son, ... you are now 3 out of 32 of an adult... so your behaviour should be more responsible and more like an adult, ok? He just looked at me with an innocent look, nodded and said "OK" and walked off happily.

Well, not sure how much he understood from my teaching... Aiyoh... never mind... still have another 17 chances before all his baby teeth come out. Ha ha

--- posted by Mommy

Science Centre - Mind Fest 2009

2009-03-08T17:03:00.001+08:00

We were lucky this weekend.

We went to the Science Centre with the kids planning to visit the routine exhibits but found out that there was a special activity, Mind Fest 2009 going on. Mind Fest was mainly organised for the school children and they are only opening to the public for this weekend. Just in time.

The children enjoyed the activites cos they were very hands-on. We designed our own aircraft which is supposed to float out of a gas chamber steadily. It is entirely up to the kids' imagination and creativity how they want to design it. There was also a paper plane flewing competition where you can pit the airplane you folded with others.

For Jiaheng, he was not keen on pitting his airplane against others but more keen on just flewing the plane and running after it.

Then there was a photo-light photography exhibit. We went in to a darkroom and were given some light emitting devices to create patterns with and then to capture the patterns on photo. Hmm... where am I? Too far for the light to capture me... should have stood next to Jiaheng.

Yixuan's favourite activity was the Jitter-Bug activity, where we get to decorate our jitter bug and to create our very-own design. As I anticipated, our jitter-bug turned out to be a pinky bug cos Yixuan will keep passing mommy pink (Yixuan's fav colour) feathers to decorate the bug. Here's our very own design drawn by our Jitter-bug.

I always enjoy trips to the Science center. Always something new.

Musical Zion Concert 2008

2008-12-08T12:36:00.005+08:00

Jiaheng had a school concert entitled "Musical Zion". This concert serves 2 purposes. One is to allow the children in the school to have the chance to display their musical talents on stage, the other is to give a farewell concert to the Kindergarten 2 children who will be making their way to Primary schoool next year.

Jiaheng's K1 item is a dance item. Before the dance moves, there is a short dialogue between him and a girl classmate.

The dialogue goes like this:

男：Hi！萧君慧！你准备好了吗？

女：嗯！我好紧张啊！这是我第一次在舞台上表演。

男：（轻拍女生的肩膀）哎呀！不用担心，放轻松！
（拍一拍自己的胸口）有我在此！我是你的舞伴，我会帮你的，请放心！

女：可是，我还是很。。。。

男：没问题的！你喜欢我们的舞蹈吗？

女：喜欢！非常喜欢！老师说我们的舞蹈要和朋友互相配合。

男：团结一致！

合：才能把舞蹈跳得好！

男：来！快！请我们的朋友也一起来跳吧！

合：让我们一起来跳个“友谊操”吧！

Children nowadays are so much bolder than us. Imagine facing the whole hall of audiences and yet expected to deliver. I am so proud of him for rising to the occassion and doing such a good job.

Hmmm... what was I doing when I was just a 5 year old like Jiaheng?

Masak-masak? :P

Yixuan is a Gym Babe

2008-10-16T01:50:00.003+08:00

Recently, we signed Yixuan up for a Gym class. Actually, I have been wanting to sign Yixuan up for an enrichment. Just nice, my friend's girl is also attending the Gym class and my friend strongly recommends it.

Jiaheng used to attend the same Gym so I kind of know what to expect. The activities seem to suit Yixuan so we decided to go ahead. Today is the 3rd class and I feel that we have made the right choice to get her started.

The Gym is not those "music & movement" type but a real Gym school with balancing beams, bars, trampolines etc.

Yixuan has an excellent sense of balance for a two-year old. It is easily observed from her daily activities. She can ride on Jiaheng's scooter-bike (those type that requires you to put one leg on the board and one leg on the floor to push yourself forward). She can climb onto Jiaheng's bike (those real bike and not those push-cart type) and pretend to ride (cos legs not long enough to turn peddle one round) without falling over!

She can do most of the activities that the teacher stipulated and seems to enjoy what she is doing. Like walking on the balancing beam, crawling backwards, do donkey kicks, arch to look like a table etc. Aiyoh! Some moves really 高难度. I also got problem doing some of her moves.

Through the Gym activites, I can also see some traits of her character. Can literally see the determination to complete the tasks by the look in her eyes. Will this be our girl's character when she grows up? 拭目以待.

But I am real glad I signed her up, cos this also gave the both of us a "Mommy & Me" time out of the house. :)

------- posted by Mommy

儿子还蛮感性的

2008-10-15T23:52:00.003+08:00

今晚是农历九月十七，所以月亮还很圆很大。

家亨刚好站在窗旁，好象是被那美丽的月亮吸引住了。"Mommy, you know the moon is really big and bright right?"

听到儿子这么说，我突然兴起，便吟了一段 “举头望明月，低头思故乡。” 我这一显了显身手，儿子就给了我一副 ‘妈咪，你真棒！' 的expression。嘻嘻，感觉还真不错。。。

其实在家亨很小时，我也教过他这首诗。当时他只是会catch 到每一段的最后一个字。好像我念 “床前明月”，他就会大大声的回应 "光！"。回想起来还挺好笑。我问家亨他还记得吗？他竟然还记得。：）儿子还说他在Sherise家的墙壁上也看过这首诗，他说他只看得懂一些。既然这样我便教了家亨念这首“静夜诗”。

"Mommy, what's the meaning?" 听到儿子这一问，当老师的职业病又犯了。我就一句一句的解释给家亨听。当我解释到那段 “低头思故乡”，我叫家亨想象一下当他长大后，可能要到外国读书，爸爸和妈咪都不在你身边。当你看到月亮时，你就会想到在家里的家人。

突然儿子说了一句 “Mommy,you don't say anymore, I am already very sad." 一边说，一边转身把自己的脸埋在枕头里。差点连最后的那几个字都听不到了。吓！真的把我吓了一跳。没想到儿子会有那么大的反应。

虽然在黑暗里，我感觉到儿子哭了。儿子真的长大了。能够appreciate家人和爸爸妈妈对他的复出。我也感觉到自己的脸颊湿湿的。。。

"Come, come and give Mommy a hug."

------ posted by Mommy

Something I Learnt from Jiaheng

2008-10-06T00:21:00.004+08:00

Jiaheng's 弟子规 teacher told the class that it is important to have a 志向, i.e. to have a direction in life.

If you do not have 志向, it is like packing your luggage and lugging it all the way the airport but just standing there from morning till night but still have not taken flight, simply because you don't know where to go!

During "Jiaheng's Late Night" today, Kai Hock, Jiaheng and I were having a game of monopoly. Needless to say Jiaheng had a very enjoyable night. While I was lying next to him in bed, Jiaheng said this to me.

"Mommy, do you know that the dice for monopoly is just like the “我的志向”that teacher was talking about, you know? It is like you need to know where you want to go. Like if you want to dice to land at box 8, 10 and 11, you will tell the dice to go there, just like our 志向. Right?"

I just replied "Yes, Jiaheng". Although I didn't comment much, but while Jiaheng drifted off to sleep next to me, I can't help but think how correct he is. :)

-------- posted by Mommy

I didn't know Jiaheng is that popular

2008-09-30T21:09:00.002+08:00

Jiaheng's school celebrated Children's Day this morning. It is a combined session with the morning class pupils. Really bustling with laughter and energy in the room with 70+ children in the room.

The average class size is about 8 to 9 pupils. My wife always says that class size matters so she is pleased that Jiaheng's class is not extremely big. She will say small size means teacher can give more individual attention to the pupils, can have more activities to cater to individual, etc. As these comment came from the point of an ex-teacher, I have to fully respect that. :P

Since the class is not that big, we kind of know all of Jiaheng's classmates. My wife knows who are his best friends, who did what in school, who is his partner at the graduation night etc. For me, I can at least match face with names lah. Both my wife and I feel that it is important to know our child's friends, especially when our children grows older. So my wife always makes it a point to talk about what happens in school and what his friends and him did in school.

At the celebration, Jiaheng was seated across the room from us and we could see him clearly. His 2 girl classmates are seated next to him. During one activity, Jiaheng left his seat to get something. I spotted that another of his classmate sat on his empty seat. Guess what? The 2 girls immediately pulled him out of Jiaheng's seat. I can't hear what they were saying but could guess from their body languages that they are saying that that's Jiaheng's seat.

Woah! Didn't know my boy was so popular in school. *wink* Told mommy about it and my wife said "Yar yar... Papa and his egoo.ooo...." Ha ha, true true... of course I am proud of my boy!

Is there a difference?

2008-09-17T15:52:00.005+08:00

My mom and mom-in-law are both 60 years old this year. Both are housewives for many years. Both are on the 'chubby' side and wears a short hairdo. Both have similar lifestyles.

But when the two senior ladies stand next to each other, many people do see a difference in them. My mom-in-law looks younger compared to my mom.

Why the difference? People may just say "Aiyah, its like that one. Not fair one. Some people just look younger." or they will just say "Genetics what" Maybe all these is somewhat true but I always believe there must be an explanation.

I believe I have cracked the code. Whatever is within will be reflected on the outside. So when a person is healthy and nourished on the inside, it will be reflected on the outside. I brought both my mom and mom-in-law to do a test at a natural therapist centre. Based on the Celluar Health Analyser, my mom-in-law's real age is 60 but her actual age of her cells is 59.4. My mom on the other hand has a cellular age of 99!

I was shocked when I saw the report! So was my mom.

What could contribute to the difference? I firmly believe it is due to the years of supplementation that we gave to my mom-in-law. My mom-in-law will religiously take the supplements. My mom on the other hand refused to take it saying that supplements do not work.

I guess the test speaks for itself. Luckily, it is still not too late. My mom finally relented and started taking the supplements and I am really overjoyed. Yipee!

儿子说他明年要 Convocate 了

2008-07-30T20:03:00.004+08:00

下课后，儿子很高兴地对我说他们正在准备graduation concert。 K2 的同学们要毕业了，儿子的K1 班也有份参加。

突然兴起，把摆在厨里多年的Convocation旧相簿拿了出来给儿子看。哇，女儿和儿子好像捡到宝！指这儿，指哪儿，口里不停说着“妈妈，妈妈”。两兄妹好像在比赛看谁能赢这“SPOT THE MUMMY CONTEST”

我就借着机会psycho他们两。看看他们想不想长大后也convocate。“要，我也要！” 当他们正看得兴起时，我也在多年后再度翻阅这相簿。天阿！十一年前的我好年轻阿！还有与家人合照的，和朋友合照的，和死党们的合照。真的是勾起了不少少年时的回忆。

尤其是和AJPS的死党的合照，真的是好怀念AJC的岁月。那天天呆在darkroom 聊天，做tutorials，process film， develop photos 的日子。

这张，我们是排成一行的。那张，我们是排成V字形的。还有这张，站在高高的柱子上。哇！极会摆pose ，不愧是AJPS的精英。那一张张青春洋溢的脸孔，那一张张充满期待的样子。All ready to face the real world? hmmm... 连我自己都不太记得自己心中的想法是什么了。只感谢上天眷顾我，毕业至今，家庭，感情，事业都交了不错的成绩单。

儿子打断了我的思绪说了一句“妈妈，我明年也要convocate了。” ：）

---- posted by Mommy

Reasoning with my 5-year old

2008-07-25T12:18:00.004+08:00

I realised that it is not an easy battle after a few tries. Reasoning with my 5-year old requires me to take each step with caution and also to really structure my sentences properly.

Let me give you an example.

We were having dinner the other night. And Jiaheng doesn't seem to have much appetite that night and taking his food very slowly. I decided to give him a time limit to complete his meal. As with any people, we have to put in the RISK and REWARD to get them going.

If he cannot complete his meal in the next 15 minutes. his RISK will be:
- not to be able to ride on his bicycle for the rest of the night.

His REWARD will be:
- to be able to join Yixuan and me in a ball game after dinner.

I said this "Jiaheng, if you cannot finish your meal in the next 15 minutes, you cannot ask to ride your bicycle for the rest of tonight." Thinking that I should pre-empt the situation for tomorrow, I 'smart-aleckly' added "If tomorrow, the same thing happens, you cannot ride your bicycle and your scooter bike for tomorrow night"

Thinking that I have covered all grounds, Papa feels happy about himself.

Then Jiaheng asked "Papa, if I cannot ride the bicycle and scooter bike tomorrow. Does it mean I can ride my scooter bike later if I cannot finish my food in 15 mins?"

Aiyoh! How har? Should I say yes or no? Based on Jiaheng's reasoning, the answer should be "yes". But if I say yes, then there is no RISK already.

Finally, I said "Yes, Jiaheng" and abruptly completed the episode by saying "Eat your food quickly". *gua gua gua...* :< (hitting my own foot with my hammer!)

Hmmm... kids nowadays har!! Need to be extra careful with words and reasoning the next round.

Whose side of the bed should we sacrifice?

2008-07-24T22:29:00.004+08:00

Every afternoon, Kai Hock will debate over whose side of the bed should we let Yixuan sleep on for her nap?

Yixuan is turning 21 months. We are trying to potty train her. She is relatively "zai" (meaning steady) when she is awake. When she needs to pass urine, she will make a "err" sound. When you bring her to the toilet, she will squat down, then appear stun for a few seconds (I think she is thinking of how to go about it cos still not part of her natural response yet). And she is done! After that, she will be so proud of herself and motion me to see her by-product.

When you check with her whether she needs to go to the toilet and she has no need for that, she will tell you "No". Of course, there are still times when there are accidents. We are fine with that cos we just mop it away and change her then we are fine.

The challenge comes when she takes her nap. Oh oh! So whose side of the bed should she lie on this afternoon? Of course, we will take precautions like making her go toilet before napping. And putting a blanket that is tripled folded under her. The challenge really lies in the moment of her waking. We have to be SUPER fast to transport her to the toilet the very instant she wakes.

That is the point when we can't make it and the result is a wet blanket. On days, when we are lucky, the blanket manages to absorb most water and only a bit seep through. On not so good days, you know the result lah...

Still far from being fully potty trained, but I think Yixuan is doing great.

---- posted by Mommy

Luckily, you marry Papa

2008-07-10T01:08:00.002+08:00

I really don't know what sparked off this thought in Jiaheng's mind.

On the trip to Grandma's place for dinner, Jiaheng made an interesting comment. "Mommy you know, Papa is such a good manager" * Har ! Eh, but your Papa is not a manager leh *

"Why do you say so, Jiaheng?"
"Because Papa can manage so many things so well" * At the back of my mind, I can already picture Kai Hock's smug look when I tell him this *

"Luckily, you marry Papa. If not, Jiaheng won't have such a good Papa and Yixuan won't have such a good Mommy."

I felt like crying when I heard those words. Our son appreciates us and is proud of us! Isn't that what we as parents hope for?

They are the reason why we are working hard. We want the best for them. We want to groom them. We love them. We want to be their role model. But we also want them to feel proud of us isn't it?

While still feeling touched, at the back of my mind, I can see Kai Hock's smug face again. :P

------ posted by Mommy

Fish Therapy

2008-06-25T14:06:00.005+08:00

22 June 2008 marks the 9th year of our wedding. It has been 9 years since my wife and I got married. Looking back, it has been a wonderful journey together, and along the way came Jiaheng and then Yixuan. :)

We are both very grateful for these 2 wonderful kids. It must have been the good fortune left from our ancestors. As I get to know more and read more, I am beginning to believe that you have the power to create your own destiny and to accumulate good fortune to be passed down to your descendants.

I was cracking my brain where to bring Mommy to for our anniversary. Some place where she has never been to, some place where it will be a surprise for her.

Then a great idea dawned on me. Mommy used to be a teacher so she used to stand for long hours. After near a decade of teaching, she started to have cracked heels and dry skin on her feet. It became worse with the 2 pregnancies, with so much weight added to her.

It really pains me to see the deep lines on her heels. We tried a few things like moisturisers, foot scrubs etc. But they didn't really help. Even though, Mommy kept saying never mind. I really hope to find a solution for her. I decided to book an appointment with the Fish Doctors.

It was a cosy place nestled among the many famous eateries at Novena Ville. I actually found this place using the Internet, the reviews seem to be good. The Fish Doctors are supposed to be a totally natural skin treatment experience. The Fish Doctors will gently nibble on your skin and provide massage to your feet at the same time.

Mommy was still guessing non-stop even minutes before we reached our destination. Is it SPA? KTV? Massage??? Nope! none of the above. I was beaming with satisfaction that she did not manage to get the right answer.

The staff there were very friendly and knowledgeable too. When they knew it was our wedding anniversary, they even gave us an additional 15 mins for the dip.

But alas, I didn't expect Mommy to be so terrified of the fish nibbling her. Once she put her feet in, she quickly retracted them. I was prepared to leave. Mommy insisted that we should stay. I knew she didn't want me to feel bad.

Initially, Mommy only mustered enough courage to dip her heel in, then slowly after some tapping and distraction, she managed to dip her both feet in. So proud of her!

We completely the 45 minutes of dip together. The final product was pretty good too cos the feet were visibly fairer and smoother. Mommy said perhaps next time, when she mustered enough courage, we can come again.

The feel of giving someone a surprise is really nice. Seeing Mommy in suspense, trying to guess where I will bring her to. But it is really 人算不如天算, the final person to get the surprise was actually myself. Sigh! got to do a better job next year... our 10th anniversary :)

A Secret Formulation :)

2008-06-15T16:04:00.004+08:00

Since my wife has shared how the vitamin C 'saved the day' for our children, I also like to share our secret formulation to fight cough and cold.

Whenever, I sensed that cough or cold symptoms are building up, I will pop in 2 tablets of PolyC (vitamin C) and 2 tablets of Proflavanol (grapeseed extract, super duper antioxidant). I will do it twice a day. Believe it or not, most times, with this formulation, I can easily ward off an up and rising cough or cold.

If 'sway sway', cannot suppress the cough or cold, it will go off in a shorter period as compared to previously. Really, my wife and I are totally sold on this formulation. No need to see doctor and get ourselves so drowsy from the cough/cold medication.

Try it yourself ...

Just a thought

2008-06-15T15:31:00.004+08:00

My father just completed his second cataract operation. Everything is going well for him. He says that his vision is no longer blurred. Even the doctor is impressed with the rate of recovery for someone my father's age.

The visionex supplement I gave him has really helped tremendously. :) Now that, my father has seen the positive effect himself, he has finally 'approved' the use of supplement on himself already. Yippee!

Just that these few days, a scene kept surfacing in my mind. That day, at the hospital clinic, I saw lots of elderly. You may say, what is so uncommon about seeing elderly at the cataract clinic... Old already will kanna cataract what??? No, no. that was not what I meant. I meant, where are their children? Aren't they supposed to be with their parents when they are not well?

Maybe, I won't say 100% elderly lah. There are a few young ones but they are maids, not closed ones to the patients. The maids are not even communicating the old person. The old person is just sitting there, keeping to himself the whole session. And I kept asking myself this question, where are their children?

At work? Too busy? No time?

It just reflects on our society that young people are all too busy working. The word 'busy' is easily the most used word in their dictionary. Sometimes, they just neglect the most important thing i.e. their family, their loved ones.

Reflecting back, I am just glad I made the decision to move forward. Else, I will not be able to be there with my father.

A Gruelling 5 Days

2008-06-12T22:11:00.003+08:00

Kai Hock and I both agreed that it was a gruelling past 5 days. We were like a pair of meerkat doing our sentry duties religiously.

Jiaheng came down with fever on Saturday afternoon, then he just got worse and hit 39.7C on Sunday night. Despite taking paracetamol and high fever medication like Brufen, the fever merely dropped one degree and hovered around 38.5C.

His whole body was burning, lips turned deep red from the heat. When you hold him in your arms, you seem to be holding a bundle of charcoal. I must say, Jiaheng took things in his stride pretty well. Everytime, you asked him how is he feeling, he will say "Good".

"GOOD!!!", how can anyone feel good when you are approaching 40C??? Still, I appreciate his toughness cos it made the whole process much comforting for us.

We first brought him to a Western doc on Sunday who just told us the fever is due to virus. Gave us 2 bottles of fever medication which hardly helped. Then we decided to bring him to our Natural therapist doc who gave him some homeopathy drops for the virus and taught us how to use Vitamin C to help his body fight the virus. This method was much more helpful.

We are supposed to give him Vitamin C every 2 hours until he starts to have diarrhoea. When he has diarrhoea, it will mean his body is saturated with the vitamin C. Then we stop and let his body fight the virus. We decided to pound the Vitamin C tablet and mix it into his milk for Jiaheng.

I must say the USANA Poly-C we used was really potent. A small tablet but really really "a hard tablet to crack". We pounded with a metal pound (those type you used to tenderise meat). One pound, nothing happened, not even a crack! Then another, then another pound... finally, we managed to break into smaller pieces, then we had to use a metal spoon to crush the small pieces into powder. This cycle repeated itself every 2 hours.

One day passed, no diarrhoea yet. Our natural therapist friend told us that it is because Jiaheng's body has used up every single mg of the Vitamin! The second day went by, still no diarrhoea but at least he managed to go to the toilet.

We are real glad that we supplied Jiaheng with the Vitamin C else he will have a tougher time to bounce back. Finally, on Thursday night, the fever is gone and he slept like a baby that night. We finally heaved a sigh of relief.

I still remembered that evening when his fever was still not going down and I was bathing Jiaheng. I saw his face in the mirror reflection, he had dark circles under his eyes, face looked so pale. Then when I touched the back of his head to wash his hair, I can feel the sizzling heat from his head. At that moment, I just felt like crying.

Even though Kai Hock and I are left with a pair of "panda eyes", we are very happy that the whole incident is over and we have our healthy Jiaheng back.

---- posted by Mommy

A touching song

2008-06-11T23:33:00.003+08:00

The first time I heard the song, I was drawn by the beautiful voice of the singer. Then when I understood the meaning of the lyrics, I love this song even more. Very touching and meaningful words.

I am sharing this song with you, and I am sure you will learn something from it too.

---- posted by Mommy

嘿！嘿！你真棒！

2008-06-03T13:20:00.004+08:00

Last Sunday, Jiaheng went for an abacus competition. He was the one who requested to join the competition. Kai Hock and I believe that learning always happens when there is fun so we initially didn't really want him to go. After all, he is just 5 years old. Too early for competition lah. But since Jiaheng thought it was FUN, so we just went with his request.

There were about 500 children at the competition. What's even scarier is the number of parents! Easily double the number of children (maybe even more, plus the maid, the extended family... aiyoh) The whole place was just jammed with people, people and more people!

There are two categories. One is the abacus one, the other is the mental calculation. Jiaheng signed up for both.

Quite amusing to see our own son doing the competition cos he was in the big hall and we parents can only see them through the glass windows. A bit like Charlie Chaplin movie. No sound, only movements. We see their hands raise and then come down, raise and then come up. Then start doing the sums, then raise hands.

And the ultimate thing is we caught Jiaheng yawning just before the competition started. YES! yawning... aiyoh.

The whole event lasted from 1 pm to 5.30 pm with the 4 rounds of competition, answers marking, prize presentation all thrown in.

We are proud to announce that Jiaheng came in second for his abacus category and third for his mental category. Look at his cheeky expression...

Jiaheng says he still wants to go next year.

---- posted by Mommy

Jiaheng's love story with his abacus

2008-05-31T00:22:00.003+08:00

Since young, we have been taught how to use paper and pencil to do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Then when we got older, we got dependent on our calculators. We even have calculator function in our mobile phones. By and by, we lost touch with the ability to do mental calculations, or rather, we become lazy to do so.

If not for Jiaheng, I guess I will never be associated with ABACUS.

Jiaheng has always been fascinated with numbers. We kind of regretted teaching him the term "infinity" because after that he kept 'stalking' Kai Hock and me with big numbers. How many hundred plus how many hundred, then subtraction by how many hundred. Then it grew to thousands. Really tak boleh tahan liao.

Then Papa came up with this brilliant idea to send Jiaheng for abacus class. Then he can do the big numbers plus and minus himself. Then we can be SPARED...!

That sparked it all off. The love story of Jiaheng and abacus...

Jiaheng kept saying that he can see the abacus beads stirring in his head. He always looks forward to going for his abacus class. And that is where we learnt the phrase "嘿！嘿！你真棒！"

Jiaheng is now in Grade 8 for Mental arithmetic and Grade 9 for Abacus arithmetic. Something new for me. Abacus also got grading?! like piano??? The children will start off with Grade 13, then slowly progress up to Grade 1. Then go on to Level 1 and finally reach Level 10. When you reach Level 10, you are really the Master (Shi fu) liao.

Currently, Jiaheng is doing 2 digits, 10 numbers for his Abacus; and 1 digit, 6 numbers for his Mental, plus and minus included.

We are happy that Jiaheng is enjoying his abacus lessons. Ultimately, we are not looking at a boy genius in our house, rather, we are looking at brain stimulation. If we don't stimulate his brain when his brain cells are growing, are we only going to do it when his brain cells start to die?

When we were young, our parents are not aware about child-hood development. They are not aware that children develops most and best before the age of 6. Now, we know it and we want to do something about it so that we don't short-change our children.

There are many arguments about whether single hand stirring or two-hands stirring is better. I guess there are pros and cons to everything. So, we fixed our criteria on the fact that his school's style can stimulate both sides of the brain cos he uses both hands to stir the beads.

... and the by-product is we got a calculator-Quek in the family. :P

----- posted by Mommy

Can this be true?

2008-05-29T00:01:00.006+08:00

This evening, Yixuan went for her 3rd vaccination. This is supposed to be the last one after her earlier 6-in-1 doses.

But before her vaccination, I asked the doctor if we could check her height and weight. It has been ages since I last measured her height. Yixuan seems to be so much shorter when she stood next to her brother. Her brother has always been in the 97th percentile range. People often comment that he looks much taller than his age. Secretly, I do contribute this to the fact that he takes supplements cos Papa & Mommy are not those tall tall type.

When I look at the duo 6 months ago, there was a huge gap. 6 months later, the height gap is still so big. But blur blur Mommy never factor in the consideration that the brother is also growing. Silly right!

So Mommy always comment that her little girl is so S-H-O-R-T. And can't wait to start her on her supplements once she reached 13 months of age. Today, Mommy decided to ask doctor to measure her. And surprise surprise! Doc says she is 86 cm! Once out of the clinic, Mommy can't wait to take out the health booklet, flip to the chart which does Height-for-age comparison and UNBELIEVABLE... Yixuan is at the 97th percentile! Can this be true???

So our little girl girl is not S-H-O-R-T after all! Hiak Hiak Hiak! Mommy is beaming with joy. :) Must carry on the effort to supplement her, then she will grow taller and healthier ...

----------- posted by Mommy

我们的小小客人

2008-05-28T23:21:00.006+08:00

昨天和今天，我们接待了来自英国的小客人，敏涵(a.k.a. Anna)。当然还有我的老友，那就是敏涵的娘。

孩子们都很高兴家里来了客人。我的妈妈更是乐得看小敏涵吃她的小点心。一边说敏涵吃得多么多么快，多么多么多，一边想着自己的孙女能够吃得这样多该多好。（老人家就是那样。。。总喜欢多吃多吃）

敏涵还真是讨人喜爱。脸颊总是红红的，象极了妈妈。见到人就笑，名副其实的开心果。还有她那惊人的毅力！当她已设定了目的地，她就往前冲。不论在她面前的障碍有多大(oops! sorry Aoqun, not saying that u are huge k)，都无法使她止步。敏涵总有法子爬过去。那种毅力和 never say die attitude 真是值得我们这些大人学习的。

很高兴能够和老友度过两个下午。谈谈天，说说地。看看孩子，捉捉小瓜。吃吃东，尝尝西。时间很快的过了。

下午乘着伞，遮他们两母女上车时，突然感到很不舍。下次再见时可要等到明年新年了。

---- posted by Mommy

Mommy in Baby's Eyes

2008-05-28T12:39:00.006+08:00

Yixuan is very intrigued by Ge Ge's pictures. We have loads of them pasted on the walls around the house as well as in home-made picture books. She will go pick out one book, flip the pages and call out at the people in it.

Just the other day, she repeated her act. The only difference is that she was calling the people wrong, she kept pointing at Ge Ge's pictures and calls Ma Ma.

"No no, this is Ge Ge. Say, G... E.. G... E.." Mommy kept repeating.

But Mommy is wrong, Yixuan did see her Mommy in those pictures! I only realised that when Yixuan pointed. See below and see if you can spot Mommy (more correctly, parts of Mommy) too. :)

------ posted by Mommy

7 years worth of supplements !

2008-05-25T12:02:00.000+08:00

Recently, my father found that his vision is deteriorating. Upon a check-up, we found that he had cataracts and is supposed to go through a surgery to remove it.

My father said "Ah ya... it is part of growing old lah, cannot help it". But I seriously don't think so. Why can't people age gracefully with a healthy body to enjoy their golden years? That started my father's and my 'debate' in my attempt to help him understand how to achieve better health.

Below is just an abstract
-------------------------
Why do we have cataracts when we age? Because the culprit behind this is degeneration of cells as we grow old.
Why do cells degenerate? Because the degenerated cells don't have sufficient raw materials to repair and rebuild.
What can help cells regenerate? Anti-oxidants!

In fact, most of the common diseases we see today like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, cancer are mainly degenerative diseases.

So if they are degenerative diseases, we already have the solution to better health isn't it?
We just need a quality Anti-oxidants with the correct quantity.

Then my father said "But it is so expensive to take supplements, and I am so old already, no need to have all these". Luckily, I am prepared for this, and so I did the Maths for him.

His operations and consultations this time round for both eyes come up to about $7000. If we were to invest this sum of money into Anti-oxidants supplements, we can easily supply him with 7 years worth of supplements.

The better deal is he does not need to go through the pain of operation, and the anti-oxidants can also protect his other organs. Isn't it killing multiple birds with one stone.

FINALLY! I managed to convince my father that he should start his supplements today.

I am really very happy that my father is on the path to better health. I know that I can't guarantee that my father will not be knocked down by major illnesses from today onwards due to the many years of unhealthy eating and stress. But, I do know, I have done the best I can to help him with his health. It also serves as an important lesson to those who are younger with more years ahead of them to build up their health while they can.

I promise myself to talk health to my friends and relatives so that they can make an informed decision and own their health.

Jiaheng's first compo

2008-05-20T17:10:00.008+08:00

I remembered the time when I was in Kindergarten, it was just the routine chalk and talk lessons. No doubt we also learn the alphabets & numbers, do colouring & art and craft, the way the lessons were conducted were still very conservative.

School lessons nowadays are really more creative and innovative than the ones we had years back. Recently, Jiaheng brought back a 'friend' from school. His 'friend' is supposed to spend a weekend with us and then Jiaheng is supposed to write an essay about what they have done together. His 'friend' is non-other than the infamous "Ee-yore" from the Winnie the Pooh gang.

Of course, the school could have just set the children a composition entitled "The Adventures of Ee-yore" and make the children sit down to conjure and document down an adventure. However, they chose the more 'hands-on' method by making the children live the adventure with Ee-yore. Which adventure do you think will leave a deeper impression in the minds of the young ones?

Apparently, the school is doing some activities revolving around the theme of PETS. The children have been tasked to bring a pet soft toy to school. During the circle time, they are supposed to introduce their pet to their class. Then Ee-yore the ambassador, will follow a child home each week, then the child will document Ee-yore adventures in a book. This book will then be passed to the next child.

Talking about circle time... hmmm... what a great way to introduce public speaking and building up confidence in the young ones. Imagine facing an audience and standing in front of the whole class and yet be able to talk freely. This task could have proven to be too difficult for many adults. Yet, the children have no issues with this. Daring, adventurous, willing to take risk, not afraid of failure... our children. Sadly, we lose much of these good qualities along the way when we grow up. Sometimes, we have so much to learn from our children.

Share with you what Jiaheng wrote...

--- posted by Mommy

Our Money Jars Work

2008-04-18T13:24:00.007+08:00

I came back from T Harv Eker Millionaire Mind Intensive course with a totally different perspective of money.

The MMI course changed the way I view money, manage money and grow money. To me, this is one course that I think is truly value for money. Just a mere two hundred plus dollars for a 3-day intensive course. Harv really over-delivered. So much good information to walk away with and to apply.

If you are keen to get an insight into a Millionaire Mind, go to www.themillionairemindcoach.com
[psst... tell u a secret, got free ticket to National Achievers Congress if you can commit before 25 april. Good bargain]

Let me give you an example of what Harv taught me on how to manage money. It is really working very well for us.

Harv suggested that we maintain 6 money jars which we label as "NESS", "GIVE", "PLAY", "EDU", "LTSS" and "FFA". And of course, there is a certain % of your monthly income tagged to each jar.

NESS (55%)
- Necessity Fund. Money for our daily expenses etc.
GIVE (10%)
- Charity Fund. To give out to one charity organisation of your choice every month. The more you give, the more you will receive.
PLAY (10%)
- Play Fund. To spend your money without guilt. Pamper yourself, indulge yourself.
EDU (10%)
- Education Fund. To use it on seminars, books, workshops etc. to grow yourself
LTSS (10%)
- Long Term Savings. Can be used to purchase a more costly item, or save up for a trip.
FFA (5%)
- Financial Freedom Account. Something so important, yet so often neglected by people.

Every week, when we receive the cheque from our home-based business, we will split it up into the various proportions and deposit into the money jars.

I simply love the "PLAY" fund. You see, my wife and I are more of the savers type. Not sure if you can associate with me, but we often measure financial security with the amount of savings in the bank. So the "PLAY" fund allows us to spend without guilt cos it has been planned for right from the beginning. Anything is fine as long as it makes you happy. Be it a Spa relaxation, a sumptuous meal, a new pair of shoes... the list just goes on.

We just took out all our savings from the "LTSS" fund to purchase a new sofa. If we do not have this fund set-up, I am pretty sure we will overspend on the sofa. With this fund in place, we spent within our limits and yet have money left over for other purposes.

To me, the most important fund should be the "FFA" fund. The money from FFA can be used for investment (e.g. stocks, bonds, run a biz) to generate more money. That is the secret behind how the rich get richer. That is how you can plan for your retirement.

I am so intrigued by Harv's teaching that I am adapting his teachings and coaching my business partners ONLINE every night at 10pm. If you are keen to drop by our econference room to listen in to the teachings, drop me an email kaihock@gmail.com

At times like this...

2008-03-28T11:44:00.008+08:00

When Yixuan fell and cut her lips;
no amount of coaxing can stop her streams of tears.
At times like this, I am glad I can still breastfeed her.

When Yixuan threw up again, again and again;
dehydrated and tired.
At times like this, I am glad I can still breastfeed her.

When Yixuan was running a fever;
her small body burning and all appetite gone.
At times like this, I am glad I can still breastfeed her.

When Yixuan's tooth was about to cut through the gum;
uncomfortable and cranky.
At times like this, I am glad I can still breastfeed her.

When Yixuan was woken by a bad dream;
scared and dreamy.
At times like this, I am glad I can still breastfeed her.

When Yixuan was over-stimulated in the day;
tired and fussy before bedtime.
At times like this, I am glad I can still breastfeed her.

When Yixuan wants to have her "Mommy & me" time;
just her and me.
At times like this, I am glad I can still breastfeed her.

To all the great mummies out there. You are the best!

-------- posted by Mommy

Another breakthrough

2008-03-26T14:39:00.007+08:00

Today at breakfast, Jiaheng was looking intently at the orange box on the dining table.

It is for some sachets of powder used to make an alkaline drink. Just got it from mum this morning, so it is the first time Jiaheng saw it. So maybe that explains why he is so interested in the box. After some time, Jiaheng told me "Mommy, it is correct. " "What is correct, Jiaheng?" I asked.

"Mommy, you see here. (pointing at the bottom left corner of the packaging) It says 112 g NET. And it is correct."
"How do you know, Jiaheng?"
"Well because xxgsgdeg kdsgj adikg adklgj ... that is why it is 112 g"

Jiaheng said a series of things which included some multiplication and some adding and some subtraction in it. At that time, I was still not in the right frame of mind to really catch his argument. So I asked him to hold on and let me get a piece of paper to write down what he said.

While he repeated his argument again, I quickly scribbled down some notes so that I can verify it. Here is how it looks like

How? Can catch any ball? Ermmphh! Let me decode the "Jiaheng-vinci code" for you.

On the box, it was stated 112 g NET, 28 sachets each 4 g NET.

That was why he got 4 x 10 = 40 (for 10 sachets), then he went on to get the total for 30 sachets (i.e. 40 x 2, 40 x 3 = 120g). But 30 sachets are too much, so he used his abacus formula to deduct 4 g (-10+6) and then deduct another 4 g (+1-5). Finally 112 g.

Well, this definitely is not the quickly or least number of steps way of getting 112. However, it did amaze me in the way his mind is able to handle multiple steps and doing all those multiplication, addition and subtraction all at one go. :)

Then I said, how else can we get 112? What about 28 x 4? And he said yes, it will be 28 + 28 + 28 + 28. Also can, he concluded.

So after checking and doing double checking, Jiaheng is now very happy with his own conclusion that the printing on the box is "mathematically correct"! (of course lah, son) And carried on with his breakfast.

To me, it is another breakthrough for him to handle such complex sums even before turning 5. Good job, son. Love you.

----------- posted by Mommy

Drama Queen

2008-03-19T19:54:00.004+08:00

I think we have a Drama Queen at home. Perhaps, even TCS Caldecot Queen may not be as 才华横溢 as our Drama Queen.

This evening, we were all in the room busying. Jiaheng was very kind and offered his service to help me sort out some documents with the help of Mommy. I was replying email. Our dear Drama Queen was also very busy... busy walking in and out of the room in her 'majestic manner'.

As our Drama Queen was making her grand exit, we heard a thump sound. And then she was standing outside the door (pretending to whine in pain) and kept pointing to her tummy (or so we thought). She always points at her tummy and make a whining sound when she needs to pass motion. I asked her "Want to poo?" She did not acknowledge me and kept pointing to her 'tummy' with a pitiful look on her face.

Then Mommy asked "怕怕吗？" Almost immediately, our Drama Queen swung into action. She got down onto her knees and slowly and carefully lower her small body to lie down sideways on the floor.

Orh... she was actually pointing to her chest which means scared and not tummy as I thought (can't be helped! Her body torso is barely 50 cm, how to be exact which part she is pointing to????) And our Drama Queen was dramatising what happened when we heard the thump sound. She actually tripped on her way out of the door. So the whole episode is re-played right before our eyes.

Drama! Drama!

黑目客

2008-03-19T00:12:00.005+08:00

可怜的妈妈，竟然变成了一位“黑目客”。

妈妈的左眼睛又肿又积了一大片瘀血。连弟弟的那幅大大又stylish的墨镜都掩盖不了那大大片的瘀血！好可怜。。。看得我们都很心痛。老公也带了妈妈去看了医生。妈妈自己也去看了一次医生。已经一星期多了还是黑黑的一大片。

是谁!!! 谁是那罪魁祸首!!!

Oopps! 原来是怿萱。有没有搞错。。。一个不到一岁半的小泥子尽然把一位年过半百的妇人“打得这么伤”。Freak accident lah，怿萱在玩得忘我的境界下，一跌就跌在躺在床上休息的婆婆上，狠狠地在眼睛附近送上一击。大大的冲击力使眼睛周围的细血管破裂才搞得婆婆变成了“黑目客”。

弟弟的婚礼将近。新娘要美美，这位准家婆也要美美的。。。妈妈开始着急了。Take it easy mom, doc says will heal in another 10 days. Phew! Just remember to claim accident insurance from me hor. Paiseh...

---- posted by Mommy

Contagious Laughter

2008-02-27T00:38:00.003+08:00

That's Papa's Happy Gal. :)

Going Vegetarian

2008-02-26T22:15:00.005+08:00

As AQ and family are back from UK for the New Year, we met up with a few other PS mates for a dinner. After that dinner, Jiaheng decided to go vegetarian.

Woah! Dun get me wrong, there is nothing magical about the dinner. Just that, prior to the dinner, the teacher at DiZiGui passed us a VCD to educate children to refrain from killing, 杀生。Then at the dinner, we ordered a steam fish and roasted chicken. Perhaps, something clicked in Jiaheng's mind when he saw the 2 big plates in front of him and he decided he doesn't want to 杀生。

Then mommy decided to be 'naughty' and test her boy a little. "Jiaheng, you really want to go vegetarian?" "If you do, you cannot eat 'bak bak' that Ah Ma cooks you know?" (BTW, that 'bak bak' dish is Jiaheng's favourite and grandma will cook it specially for him every weekend)

"Where does 'bak bak' come from Mommy?"
"From pork"
"Where does pork come from Mommy?"
"From pig"
"Orh. Then I dun want to eat 'bak bak' already"

Frankly speaking, i was a bit taken aback by Jiaheng's response. I didn't expect him to give up his 'bak bak'.

Then I pushed my luck a little more... hiak, hiak, hiak.
"Jiaheng, then you cannot take char siew bao you know?" (mommy really knows where are all the soft spots!)
"Where does char siew bao come from Mommy?"
"The char siew is from pork."
"Orh. Then I dun want to eat char siew bao already" (I thought I spotted a hint of hesitation though :P)

Jiaheng really went vegetable-vegetarian for more than a week... until Sunday morning. We went to the foodcourt for breakfast before going for his Art class. N guess what he saw at the foodcourt?

YES! It is his favourite of his favourites - Japanese food. He relented and decided to queue for his teriyaki chicken. I went over to join him at the queue. Before, I had the chance to ask him... Jiaheng started his 'defence statement'.

"Mommy, today is Sunday, so it's a holiday. That is why I can take the Japanese food. Monday to Saturday, then I take vegetarian." And he completed his 'defence statement' with a nod of his head as if he is in agreement with his justification.

At that moment, Mommy is already bowing over in laughter deep inside but still trying to maintain my composure on the outside. Really kanna 内伤。

Well, I can understand the internal struggle within himself. On one hand, he will like to be compassionate and refrain from killing. On the other hand, Jap food is his FAVOURITE!!! Afterall, he is just a little kid who is barely 5 years old.

Well thanks to Jiaheng, the whole family's diet is changing to the healthier vegetables and soya products like beancurd.

Everything happens for a reason. So I guess Jiaheng's move to be vegetarian allows us to be healthier on top of the supplements we are taking.

------------ posted by Mommy

Yixuan to the rescue

2008-02-20T01:12:00.003+08:00

Jiaheng has a kids' study table that comes with a chair at it's matching height.

Yixuan often sees her brother seated at that table and on that chair. And somehow, that has become Yixuan's favourite haunt. Everytime, Yixuan sees an opportunity to climb up that seat, she will. And when, she finally gets on the chair, it sure takes lots of coaxing to get her off it.

Just before dinner, Yixuan finally got her chance to climb onto the chair. She was seated comfortably and contented in the chair when Jiaheng tripped over his scooter bike and fell. Instantly, Yixuan swing into ACTION! Yixuan to the rescue....

First, she let out a screeeaaammmm.... (as if to alert mom and me). Then she got down her favourite chair and stood besides the "victim" and put her small hand on Jiaheng's shoulder (as if to comfort him).

So touched by her actions neh!

----------- posted by Mommy

I found my Grandma

2008-02-14T20:28:00.004+08:00

It has been nearly a decade since I last saw Grandma.

Even though I knew of her existence since I was very young, I did not meet Grandma till I was in my teens. Due to some circumstances, she had to leave home when my dad was around 3 years old.

I think Grandma and I have some affinity for each other, I like her since the very first time I saw her. Grandma carry herself very well and being a pious Christian, she does volunteer work for the chapel. Sadly, we lost contact with each other once again nearly 10 years ago.

I knew dad missed Grandma even though he did not explicitly say it. Just the other day, our car stopped at the junction of St. Andrew's Cathedral and the old Capitol cinema, dad just muttered that Grandma used to work in the bookstore at the bend of the road.

Being a mother myself, I believe that Grandma must be also thinking about her own children. Yet due to circumstances, unable to reunite. That made me make up my mind to look for Grandma.

I tried to check with my eldest uncle but he said that he does not have Grandma's contact. I tried to search for her name in the chapel that she is active in but to no avail. Then I tried the yellow pages... hoping that her house is still registered under her name and that her old address is still valid.

Perhaps, the UNIVERSE has aligned itself to help me find Grandma. I was searching, searching, searching then I saw her name appear and the street name is the same as her previous address. However, the block number has changed. I am not taking chances, I will call the number I found.

.... ring... ring... ring... (Oh dear! my palm is getting sweaty) "Hello... " I can recognise that voice! More importantly, Grandma sounded healthy. I talked with her and passed the phone to my mum who was eagerly waiting for her turn. The conversation lasted about 30 minutes. I am very glad that the phone call turned out the way I hoped for it to be.

Grandma kept saying "thank you" to us for calling. Grandma, why is there a need to say thank you?

As I grow older, I learn to appreciate my parents more and I am sure my dad also appreciates his mum for bringing him to this world. We should say thank you to you instead, Grandma. :)

I am extremely glad I made the move to find Grandma. And Kai Hock, thank you for all your encouragements.

------------ posted by mommy

"Lo Hei, Lo Hei"

2008-02-13T22:03:00.000+08:00

Today is the seventh day of the Lunar New Year. Today is also commonly called 人日, meaning everybody's day. So HaPpy BiRThDaY To EveRyOnE!!!

It is typical in Singapore to celebrate 人日 with this interesting custom called 捞鱼生。I am "indebted" to the person who invented this mouthwatering, appetizing, piquant, flavourful and delicious dish. Yum Yum! I can eat 鱼生 for the whole 15 days of the Lunar New Year.

And as the whole family mix all the colourful ingredients and zesty sauce together, we will say all the auspicious words to wish everyone a good year ahead. "Lo Hei, Lo Hei"

This year, we have one more eager participant at the table ready to "Lo Hei" with us. That person is none other than our Baby Quek Yi Xuan.

"Hey! Come on, gimme a chance ok? I also want a pair of chopstick lah! Eh Eh... why my arms not long enough to reach the centre plate har? Oh well, never mind, I scoop from grandmother's plate. "

(of course, the above is narrated by mommy and spiced up by mommy's imagination) But, dun play play ok. Yi Xuan really can hold the chopsticks very well for a 15 months old. You can distinctly see the chopsticks open and close, open and close under the command of their young owner. The next thing we knew, Yi Xuan managed to pick up a strand of the shredded vegetable and put it into her mouth!

Judging from her progress, there will be one more competitor to fight over the 鱼生 with me liao.

------- posted by mommy

My Eulogy

2008-02-01T01:15:00.000+08:00

To be read by Mike Ray, my mentor and friend ...

"Kai Hock has been a man who dares to live his dreams. To achieve the freedom that he seeks and deserves, he quits his secure job to assist thousands, and thousands, and thousands, and thousands of people in transforming their mindsets, achieving their goals and attaining their freedom.

Kai Hock has been a friend that I honour and respect for his vision of creative systems, revolutionising the network marketing industry. His persistence in growing the business inspires me to continue to work closely with him in all areas of life and business.

He has been a dearest father and model example to his boy and girl, and a faithful and loyal husband to his wife. A filial son and son-in-law to both sets of parents. It is with deepest wish that he finds his new place in heaven and watching us, blessing us and praying for us."

This is how I wish my eulogy will be and I am working towards achieving that.

Be Healthy and Happy always

2008-01-31T20:01:00.000+08:00

Today, my mum passed me an application form to ask me to fill up for her.

It's an application form for senior citizen. The application required a recent photo of her so I decided to take a picture of her and print it out myself. Seeing the zoomed up picture of her on my laptop screen, I can't help but noticed her gray hair. All of a sudden, it strike me that my mum is no longer young. She is turning 60 very soon.

I am really very grateful to her for ALL the things that she has done for us.

I still remember as a little school girl, I often forgot to bring homework/book to school. The immediate response was to call home for help. Deep down in my heart, I knew that mum will bring the book to school for me. However, the very moment the phone went through and I heard her voice, I will uncontrollably burst into tears. I can only stop when I hear her reassuring voice over the other end of the phone.

My mum knows exactly what I like and dislike. She knows what is my favourite dish, what is my favourite fruit. She knows what are the things that make me happy and what makes me sad.

Even when I got married, she never stopped caring for me and now my own family. I think very few mums will travel to their daughter's place nearly every day to help her out with the children. Besides helping to take care of the kids, mum will always help me out in the household chores. Even though, I tell her there is no need to do the household chores... guess what? ... the chores will still be done.

Kai Hock always say that our house cannot be so spick and span without my mum. He often jokes that he made a very good deal by marrying me... cos he gets an additional mum to dote on him! :P

My brother secretly told me that mum was so worried for me when I was admitted to hospital cos of morning sickness that she cried at night. I can guarantee you that my mum will not be able to sleep well at night whenever one of the kids is not well.

My mum is truly a wonderful mum who gives off her best to the family. She is also very supportive of Kai Hock and I as we pursue financial freedom for our family. And I am really proud and fortunate to have her as my mum.

Thank you mum!

My wish for my mum as she turns 60 is for her to be healthy and happy always.

------------- posted by mommy

Falling Asleep on His Own

2008-01-25T01:22:00.000+08:00

This blog entry is dedicated to all the uncles and aunties out there... thank you for your concern for Jiaheng after reading the previous blog entry on "Suffering from Grief".

He is doing much much better now.

In fact, there is a good news to share! Jiaheng finally managed to fall asleep on his own now. Previously, he must have me next to him before he can fall asleep. These days, he can drift off to dreamland by himself. He will even tell me to go and do my stuff so that I can finish everything earlier and go to bed earlier.

That is a major milestone for him and for us.

------- posted by Mommy

Suffering from Grief

2008-01-14T13:19:00.000+08:00

Our close friends would have know what happened to our family in April 2003.

That was the peak of the SARS period, that was the time Jiaheng was born... that was the time when my mother-in-law was diagnosed with SARS. My mother-in-law was in ICU for a whole month. We nearly lost her. Somehow, coincidentally or miraculously, she pulled through after Jiaheng was born.

I still remembered we had to choose a name for Jiaheng real fast! Cos we wanted to fax the name to the hospital so that the nurse could read out the name to her while she is in coma. "Mommy, your first paternal grandchild is born, we have named him 郭家亨。Get well soon and come home to us. We are waiting for you."

We chose the name 家亨 as it also carries the meaning of 家运亨通。 So that our family can pull through this crisis together. And we did.... fortunately.

The unfortunate thing was that Kai Hock was "quarantined" when I was about to give birth to Jiaheng. Why quarantined in inverted commas? Well, we are not in direct contact with my mother-in-law since the time she fell sick, but the hospital and my gynae felt it will be safer for the baby and me if Kai Hock was to stay away for a period of time.

I still remembered it was a tense period in the hospital. Everyone was so "fearful" of me... that I had to go through the delivery all by myself, operated in a brand new theatre, stayed in a special ward after delivery. On one hand, we could have chosen to keep quiet about my mother-in-law's case cos we are not even staying with her nor came in contact with her before she was admitted. On the other hand, we chose to be civic-minded and informed the hospital and got faulted for all these. Frankly speaking, I still feel sad when I recall all these.

Guess the worst part was that they isolated Jiaheng from me after birth. And we are getting the repercussion of this incident after nearly 5 years.

Jiaheng is suffering from grief. :(

I still remembered Jiaheng had a nickname called "cool man" when he was a baby. Why? Cos he never seem to nap just after he turned 4 days old. Always alert and looking out for people. Then it is the most daunting task to get him to laugh. Usually, when you do some silly things to tease a baby, they will be giggling rit? Not for our baby. When we finally get him to giggle, it will not last more than 10 secs.

Jiaheng has been a great learner since young. In fact, I can proudly say that he achieved most of his milestones ahead of his peers. The only thing that doesn't seem to have been activated is his ability to sleep through the night. Hey! I thought babies should be sleeping through the night by the time they turned one year old? If not, two years old?

Nay! For Jiaheng, he still wakes up in the middle of the night coming to 5 years old. What does he do when he is awake? Yes... to look for Mommy. Just to touch me or to snuggle close, then he can go back to sleep.

Everything makes sense when we consulted our natural therapist. Apparently, Jiaheng is suffering from grief. We always thought that babies will only have their first memory by the time they are 3 years old... actually, they can have memories from the moment they are born... or even in mommy's womb! They can have feelings. Amazing right?

Imagine, you are separated from Mommy for one hour when you are 5 years old. Is it long for you? Now imagine, you are separated from Mommy for 24 hours when you are barely an hour old. That is MORE THAN A LIFETIME of separation!

Well, all these are in the past. We are now looking to the future. We are glad we have answers to questions that have been lingering in our minds for a long time. We are even happier that Jiaheng has been treated.

To a better tomorrow... And son... we are sorry to put you through all these. We want you to know that Papa and Mommy love you very much. Sleep well at night.

-------- posted by Mommy

Yixuan's doggy nature

2008-01-10T20:33:00.000+08:00

Sometimes, I feel that the Chinese Horoscope has a part to play in a person's character.

Our princess is born in the year of the DOG. Very often she will display some characteristics of a dog. Of course, she is a very cute puppy.

She will play with her toys. And the next moment, she will bite the toy between her teeth and walk to you. Reminds us of a puppy fetching a stick for her owner.

She will sit in your lap and play. Then the next thing, she will bury her head in your chest and snuggle, snuggle. Like a puppy being friendly with her owner.

Yixuan also has a special liking for dogs. Whenever, she sees pictures of dogs in books, she will point it out to us. Once, Mommy decided to "test" her. We have a story book, that has the picture of the same dog but in different postures and occupying different parts of the page. Mommy will turn to a page and ask "Where is the dog?" and Yixuan will scan the page and quickly point out the dog amidst other characters in the book. Yixuan can identify the dog even with just the head sticking out of the page. So what do you call this? Like attracts Like. :)

Interestingly, who do you think looks more like the doggy in this pic? Ha Ha Ha!

BottleTree Club

2008-01-02T19:34:00.000+08:00

We don't just talk business.

When we are with our business partners, we also have fun. I feel that the FUN component is extremely important in sustaining a healthy working relationship. Really! All work and no play makes Kai Hock a dull man. Hehehe

The best thing is to be able to do the things you enjoy and still make money from it. So basically, everyday, you are having fun.

To mark the beginning of the new year, which is also the 发 year， we decided to have a family day at BottleTree Club. It is a nice place and I also recommend that you and your family pay it a visit one day. There is a restaurant which serves quite good food at a reasonable price. The 土窑人参鸡 is a must try. The soup is still piping hot even towards the end of the meal!

Of course, there are other activities besides "makan"ing lah. There is a children's playground, a boating area. But the prime attraction is Fishing! You can go for prawn fishing or lake fishing. The little ones had to settle for "longkang" fishing. Our kids simply had a splashing good time trying to scoop the fish out of the pond.

Just in case you are wondering why is the place called BottleTree Club and not WaterBottle Club or BottleNeck Club???

It is because of the tree that is at the backdrop. It has a shape of a Bottle and naturally, it adopts the name BottleTree. It is a native plant from Australia and the owner of the Club imported it from Australia. Hence the name. :)

By the way, this photo is taken by Sherise, our 4-year old photographer! Not bad rit! Really takes after her photographer mum & dad.

Did you know?

2008-01-02T02:05:00.000+08:00

Did you know that lambs feed while on their knees?

Frankly speaking, I do not know that... until I was told during the 弟子规 lesson. It is the lamb's innate behaviour. It is their way of showing their appreciation to their mothers while they feed. It is their way to thank their mothers.

To think that a beast has such respect for their parents, what more we humans?

爸爸妈妈，谢谢

2007-12-31T01:21:00.000+08:00

昨天教儿子“弟子规”的老师好用心啊。她要把一张光碟送给小朋友们，每一位小朋友都能够得到一张。唯一的要求就是要小朋友在领光碟前，对着大家说声感谢父母的话。

我觉得出发点是很好的。老师常常对他们说要对父母敬孝，但从未从小朋友口中说出来。

原本是让小朋友们自愿上前的，但是有对兄妹要先走。所以，老师让他们先说。岂料，兄妹俩站在那里老半天，都还没说出感激的话。是他们不会表达吗？不见得吧。他们看起来都上小学了吧。是他们太害羞了吗？那位哥哥平时上课总不合作，义工阿姨们常费心的教他，他都不会不好意思。怎会害羞呢。老师又是鼓励，又是给 leading questions 。许久，才说了声谢谢。

老师后来说了一句话，我觉得非常有道理。她说“对父母说感谢的话没什么不好意思的。反而是件好事。我们天天长大，父母天天老了。有一天，父母走了，我们会哭的。我们落的泪要是感激的泪而不要是后悔的泪。现在父母还在，要赶快对他们说谢谢。”

后来，老师又叫了一些有兄弟姐妹在的同学一同出来说。我想是要他们壮壮胆吧。可惜，还是你推我，我推你的。不然就是在那儿笑，不愿意说。老师只好 lower her standards, 让他们走到父母前对父母说。幸好，有一位孩子很勇敢地在大家面前说他有多么谢谢他的父母亲。谢谢他们幸苦的把他养大。听了，好感动。总算有人能好好的谢谢他的父母。

我一面看着前面一些孩子还是不怎愿意好好的向他们的父母道谢，一面不由自主的想到自己的儿子。儿子还未被叫上去。如果被叫到了，会不会像其大多数的孩子般扭捏？

差不多有一半的孩子都被叫到时，我看见家亨的手举了起来。但是，老师没看到，叫了另外一位同学出去。这位同学回去了，家亨的手又举了。老师又是没留意到。第三次，家亨不等了，干脆自己走去前面。

当我看见儿子站在大家面前，有一股冲动想立刻站起来好让儿子能看到自己。还好，家亨已经看到了我。家亨说 “谢谢爸爸妈妈。我要孝顺你们。” 可想而知，那时的我有多感动。加上，坐我旁边的一位妈妈说　“你儿子啊？哇 steady man”　这份感动还多加了一丝自豪。

只可惜 Kai Hock人在 KL ,不然我想他一定会以我们的儿子为豪的。不是吗，老公?

借用老师的一句话　“敬孝要逞早”，你也对自己的父母说声谢谢了吗？我说了。

-------------posted by Mommy

AfterMath of the Bad Fall

2007-12-26T12:57:00.000+08:00

I wrote about the bad fall Jiaheng had more than a month ago. Till this date, we are still fixing the impact that the fall had on him. :(

About one week after that fall, which left a big bump on the back of his head, Jiaheng started a real bad cough. He was coughing every minute. At the same time, he was having watery eyes and the running nose. He looked real pathetic.

Kai Hock and I were debating if we should bring him to a western doc, who can give him immediate relief at the expense of drugs... a chinese physician, who uses herbs but takes a longer time to see results... or a natural therapist, who uses only herbs and supplementation but could see faster results than the chinese physician. Eventually, we decided on the natural therapist. Thinking back, we were really happy we made the right move.

We didn't know it was so serious! We just described the symptoms Jiaheng had the previous day and the natural therapist asked if he had a fall recently. He then felt the back of his neck and told us that the fall had cause his structure to shift. The shift had caused some blockage and thus he is having such bad cough, watery eyes and running nose.

Frankly speaking, I was quite amazed by the therapist. He could actually came up with such a diagnosis by just looking at Jiaheng's symptoms which looked so much like flu. Jiaheng had a cranial adjustment and the next day, he was like 90% recovered. :)

However, we still need to go back a few times to make sure the structure does not shift.

It is such great responsibility as parents. Guess this responsibility will only increase as our children grow older.

-------- posted by Mommy

戏剧，情牵25年

2007-12-23T23:31:00.000+08:00

昨天，看了新传媒制作的“戏剧，情牵25年”。真的带回了好多美好的回忆。

那一幅幅戏里的画面。。。一首首动人的片曲。。。一张张熟悉的脸孔。这一切的一切仿佛带着我回到年少的时候。

“红头巾”，“牛车水人家”， “边缘少年” - 这些是中学时候与同学们的热门话题。我们更喜欢剧中的歌曲。喜欢听，喜欢唱，还喜欢它们的歌词。事隔那么多年，我竟然还记得“红头巾”的歌词！可想而知，那年少的印象有多深。

还记得中学时，是新遥的高峰期。回想起和几位好友一同参加了一次歌唱比赛。那时，我们的音乐老师，Mrs Teo 还帮我们编曲，练习，还真谢谢她。虽然我们落败了，但那次的经验让我们的校园生涯增添了不少色彩。

想知道我们的参赛歌曲是哪一首吗？是“我的倒影”！如果你也是新遥迷，你一定有印象吧。好想知道那时参赛的几位好久不见的朋友现在过的好吗？戏剧真能情牵。。。

------- posted by Mommy

Interesting lesson on parenting for me

2007-12-23T02:59:00.000+08:00

Jiaheng and I went to 弟子规 today. Just my boy and me. Cos Yixuan is down with false measles and Mommy is staying home with her.

Just as we arrived at Fortune Center, Jiaheng asked if he could take over the long umbrella that I was holding. I replied, "You can have the umbrella if you can handle it properly". Jiaheng promptly and readily said "OK!"

Hearing Jiaheng agreeing so readily, I was about to hand it to him. Then, I recalled a strategy mentioned in a parenting book. And so I added, "If you cannot handle the umbrella properly, I will have to take it back".

When Jiaheng heard that his privilege will be taken away if the umbrella was mishandled. He quickly asked "Pa what is handle properly?" Hmmm.. so he does not understand what I meant by handling the umbrella properly afterall.

Thinking deeper, he is just a 4-year old who is so ready to agree to what you say just so he can get the umbrella. Then hearing that there is a condition tagged to keeping the umbrella with him, he quickly asked "What is handle properly???"

I then told him that it means not to drag the umbrella along while walking, not to poke the umbrella into the ground like a walking stick, just to hold it properly so that it will not be a hazard to the people around him.

Orh... he said. Guess what he did? Jiaheng decided to just hold the long umbrella vertically up in the air. He looked so cute! A short while later, he said "Pa, my arms are very tired." Ha ha ha. Really 啼笑皆非 man!

Once home, I shared this incident with Mommy and we had a good laugh over it. I learnt something from this incident... i.e. never assume the child understands everything just because he says "OK" to your request. And always make an effort to explain words that you suspect may be out of the child's vocab.

I always tell Tse Wern that learning how to be a good parent is even more challenging than doing my Masters Degree. We are learning everyday.

My mailbox can produce money besides bills

2007-12-19T00:47:00.000+08:00

Every time my wife opens the mailbox to collect our mails, she likes to briefly go through the stack to scan for important mails before bringing them home.

I remember my wife commenting "credit card bills, utilities bills, phone bills, why only bills har?"

Now, it is a different story. Our mailbox can also produce money. We receive our weekly earning statements from our home-based business in our mailbox too. :) So no more "why only bills har?" *wink wink*

Recounts of our Macau Trip

2007-12-18T23:18:00.000+08:00

I was very concerned about how our princess will take to the air flight.

Many people have been giving us kind advices on how to help Yixuan relieve the pressure of the plane taking off and landing. But all these advices are getting into me making me worried. How will Yixuan take to the flight? Will she cry? Will she feel discomfort?

So once the plane started to taxi on the runway, I immediately pushed Yixuan to suckle. But that was the last thing on her mind then. All she wanted to do was to look out of the window to see the other planes that are parked at the airport. She retaliated and pushed away, I insisted and pushed her to suckle... repeatedly saying "Come on Yixuan, suckle, suckle ok?"

Then Kai Hock came to her rescue asking me to calm down and relax. She will be fine. :) Only then did I stop insisting and let her enjoy the take off. Hey, actually it is much easier than I expected. Once the plane took off and the novelty has worn off, Yixuan said "Nan nan" (meaning milk). :)

The weather at Macau is fine. Back in Singapore, it had been raining continuously for the past few days. We seem to be walking around under air-con condition everywhere we go. How nice.

After all the research and planning (with help from Jiaheng), we are raring to go. There are so many places to cover...

I especially like the historical sites at St. Paul's Ruins, the food streets along San Ma Lou, the cable car ride to the Guila Lighthouse and the black sand at Hac Sa Beach. Seeing Jiaheng, I think he enjoyed everything there. He was always running ahead of us, checking things out, then running back to hurry us to catch up on him.

One advantage of travelling free and easy was that we just took our time to explore. We could take short breaks every now and then so that parents are not too tired from all the walking. We could change the itinerary as the situation demands.

There were a couple of silly incidents that happened... the icing on the cake. Perfect! ;> One night, we planned to go to a Portuguese restaurant at the Military Club. The building is a classic and the restaurant turns out to be quite a posh one. When we look at the menu, the siren went off, cos they are in Portuguese and English and we do not know what to order.

Recalling what I saw from the internet forum, they mentioned about the set dinner so I "cleverly" suggested that we take 4 sets. Kai Hock did suggest trying a variety but I was so confident that I said "No need, let's go for 4 set dinners."

The appetisers was supposed to be clams. Sad to say, it was too fishy for our taste. When the main course was presented, we saw a fat, long string of dark-coloured lump on the plate. No one said anything until we were half-way through the meal when my dad could not hold on anymore and said it looked like S*IT and my mum burst out laughing. Frankly speaking, it does have an uncanny resemblance. (pardon me). Luckily the dessert saved the day.

There are still some good dishes in the trip, like the roasted pigeon (suppose to be a 100 years old recipe), the stew beef (at Hac Sa Beach), the legendary roasted goose (those that are mentioned in the Hong Kong drama series).

All in all, this is a good trip and we are happy to be back home too. HOME SWEET HOME.

P.S. I still have lots of clothes waiting to be washed and dried. Oh oh... rain rain go away, come again another day... please!

---------- posted by Mommy

Lunch with My Father

2007-12-12T00:26:00.000+08:00

I come from a family of 4 siblings. I have 3 elder sisters and I am the youngest. My father was the sole breadwinner of the family when we were young. My mum is a traditional woman who works hard looking after us.

Since young, I seldom have much recollection about my father as we rarely spend time together. He was often working long hours as times were hard raising 4 young children. One of the most vivid thing I remember about my childhood was that my father will buy back supper and he will wake us up to eat.

Sad to say, I do not have much knowledge about my father. I do not know much about his childhood or about his growing-up years. We hardly have a chance to talk about all these things as survival and bringing home the bread was more important.

Recently I have an idea. Why not have a lunch date with my father? Just the two of us. And he can tell me more about his past so that I can get to know the man who took pains to bring me up.

So it's set. It is arranged that we go for my father's favourite beef kway teow at Geylang Lor 9.

My father is not the chatty type who opens easily to people. Although we did not talk alot, I still managed to gather a fair bit of information about him and his past.

I tell myself.... we must have more of such dates in future. I definitely do not wish to leave in regret that I do not get to know my father better when I have the chance.

Domestic Scientist

2007-12-09T00:16:00.000+08:00

My ex-colleague just gave birth to a baby girl and invited Kai Hock, Jiaheng, Yixuan and me to the first-month celebration.

I was happy to meet up with a few ex-colleagues. I was hoping to see more but unfortunately, quite a few could not turn up. Nevertheless, I had a wonderful time chatting with the few who were present.

Then Ms Chew mentioned about another gathering that I missed. Jeffrey asked what was I doing? I was expecting the answer to be either a home-maker or Stay At Home Mum. But Ms Chew said that they replied I was a Domestic Scientist. Hey! so innovative.

So what do I experiment on? My kids??!!?? Ha ha

Domestic Scientist... cool! I like it. :)

---------- posted by Mommy

Our Macau Trip

2007-12-06T00:20:00.000+08:00

A few days ago, one of my friends text chat me and asked why Kai Hock and I have not been updating our blog these few weeks.

Then I realised that it has been really quite some time since we wrote in our blog. And the "force" behind that? None other than our dear Jiaheng and our upcoming Macau trip.

You see... Jiaheng is now on school holidays. So, I have to find all sorts of things to entertain him and he can't do without Mommy when he is practicing his abacus. The whole day is just dedicated to the 2 kids. By the time, they are asleep, I got to quickly catch up with some work. And then, it's time for bed.

These few days, I have been burning some midnight oil to plan for our upcoming trip to Macau. We will be there for 5 days n 4 nights. Really look forward to our Macau trip with my parents, Kai Hock, Jiaheng and Yixuan.

Kai Hock made an interesting comment... He said, "Some people actually spent more time planning for an overseas trip than planning for their life!"

Sad to say, that is kindof true... When you ask someone what his dream is and what is his plan to achieve it? Perhaps, not everyone can give you a clear answer.

I am glad we know what we want in life and we are working together to achieve that goal. ;)

-------- posted by Mommy

I really regretted my procrastination

2007-11-19T00:33:00.000+08:00

We knew the choice of floor tiles in the toilet was a bad one when Kai Hock first slipped in it. Then I had a "go" at it once too.

So we bought this bottle of liquid that is supposed to make the tiles anti-skid. I tried it in our master bedroom toilet and it worked beautifully. But it came with a lot of hard work cos you need to continuously scrub the tiles for 3 minutes to create that anti-skid effect. You may say only 3 minutes what... yar... one tile is 3 minutes... multiply that with the number of tiles needed to fill the toilet. That is the total time that you need to scrub!

It took me much endurance to complete the anti-skid process in the master bedroom. Boy, am I proud every time I step into the toilet. :) But after that long-drawn process, I kept delaying the anti-skid process in the kitchen toilet.

And today, I really regretted my procrastination.

I was washing at the kitchen sink, when I heard a loud thump! My motherly instinct told me that something was wrong. I turned back and saw Jiaheng lying on the toilet floor. His back of the head is exactly on the metal tracks where the door slides open and close! I froze for a moment before I knew how to react.

Jiaheng has always been a very strong boy and can really endure pain. Most of the time when he fell down, he will just get up and the next moment he is fine. I remembered the worst accident was when he clamped his finger on the sliding door at my mom's house. You can imagine how painful it is but he didn't cry. He just used his hand to press the injured finger very hard and clamp it between his leg and said OUCH, OUCH! Luckily, I was not there to witness it and my mom only told me a few days later else my heart will bleed again.

This time round, Jiaheng really cried. The tears just streamed down his cheeks and he just cried and cried and cried. I really don't know what to do... All I could do was to put my palm at the back of his head and comfort him. All I could feel was pain in my heart.

I was so scared when I felt some liquid on my palm. Guess I watched too many drama series, I kept imagining that it is blood on my palm. Can you imagine how relieved I was when I realised it was only sweat from Jiaheng's head and my palm?

Even now as I type away, my emotions are still stirring. The images of Jiaheng crying and the red lines on the bump (as a result of the metal tracks) just make the pain in my heart worsen.

I am so angry with myself for allowing this to happen. Bad mommy. :(

I am so sorry Jiaheng. It is mommy's fault for not fixing the tiles earlier. Mommy just finished the anti-skid in the toilet... this will not happen again. Sorry...

--------------- posted by Mommy

R.I.P

2007-11-16T23:44:00.000+08:00

It's one bad news after another.

Just not too long ago, I received news from one of my friends that her uncle just passed away. And today, we received news that Kai Hock's only uncle also left us. :( He is only 48 years old. Shouldn't it be the prime years?

Frankly speaking, I am personally not close to uncle. I only met him at most 3 or 4 times since Kai Hock and I got married. There was some misunderstanding in the family several years back and we have not met him since. But what I DO know is he left behind 3 children, his youngest child is only 16 years old. What I DO know is that 3 children just lost their dad. What I DO know is that he has yet to enjoy life after working so hard for so many years raising his children. What I DO know is a wife just lost her husband. Sigh...

Uncle passed away because of cancer. CANCER... a word so familiar (cos it's so prevalent) and yet so scary.

Why should anyone pass away because of cancer? It never existed say 50 years ago... then why is it that you hear of it taking away loved ones almost everywhere you go?

My mom-in-law is quite affected by uncle's departure. After all, this is the only brother that she has and he was brought up by her. More than once, she recounted to me how she took care of uncle since young.

My mom-in-law wanted to be there at wake to help out throughout the 5 days. We are worried about her own health and kept reminding her to take her supplements. We often put so much stress on our body and mind without giving our body the ammunition to fight damage. We do it ever to often without even realising it.

One year, we are still fine. What about ten years from now? Worse still twenty years from now? That is where it all started. That is where we give the chance for our healthy cells to be destroyed and cancer cells to multiply.

Recently, I watched a documentary by BBC on the Truth about Vitamins. It really gave me more confidence to continue my family's lifestyle of taking our supplements daily. Cos I really don't want to see diseases take away anymore of my loved ones and friends.

It is also my wish that we can help more people. Do go and watch this documentary by clicking here.

Uncle, rest in peace.

Happy

2007-11-14T01:40:00.000+08:00

I signed up for an insurance policy with AIA many years ago. One good thing about this policy is that it allows me to go for a complimentary body check-up once every 2 years. Besides eating well and taking our supplements daily, we also feel that a check-up is important to monitor the status of our health.

As there was fasting involved, I booked my appointment early in the morning. There is no need for me to travel so early in the morning now, so I was quite overwhelmed by the huge crowd of people on the bus as well as the MRT. Most of them seemed to be in a hurry. So I got to "siam" here and "siam" there so as not to "kanna" knock by people.

The clinic is situated in International Plaza, right smack in the CBD. It is on the 36th floor. It was a beautiful morning, I was feeling refreshed. Unfortunately, the staff are not as cheerful. The lady who was doing the initial test for me was somewhat grumpy.

The lady doctor who was supposed to attend to me rushed into the room. There were already 3 patient files slotted in the small window next to the room door. Since I was the 3rd patient, I saw how the doctor opened the door, called for a name, a patient went in with a straight face and then came out with a straight face. Then time to call for the next patient.

Why like that? No warmth one ah? So I decided to try out an experiment. When it was my turn. I went in, smiled and greeted the doctor "Good morning Doctor". She replied good morning without even looking at me. Then I went on "How are you today?" with a more upbeat tone.

I think she was caught off-guard with my greeting but instantly, I could sense a change in her attitude. She looked at me and smiled.

After that smile, the whole check-up progressed very amiably. We chatted and found that she has 3 children and the youngest one is only 6 months old. We talked about our breastfeeding experience. She even gave me some advice on children vaccination.

Before, I left the room. The doctor commented that homemaker mothers are happier. We both laughed. Are we? Perhaps. :)

Before I left the clinic, I said "Goodbye" and added "Have a nice day" to the reception lady. She smiled and returned the greeting.

A little gesture, a smile, a genuine greeting can really work wonder. It brightens up other people's day as well as mine. The feeling is good. I am happy I did that experiment.

Seeing Good Progress

2007-11-05T00:54:00.000+08:00

One of the phrases in 弟子规 states
“或饮食或坐走长者先幼者后”

It translates to whether you are drinking, eating, walking or sitting, let the elders go first; younger ones should follow.

It is a way to show respect to your elders by giving them priority.

Well, Jiaheng seems to have internalised this quite well. Let me give an example...
Example : (At the breakfast table this morning)
========
Kai Hock prepared a slice of bread for Jiaheng, then one of me. While Kai Hock was spreading the jam on his own bread, I started to eat. A quarter of the bread was already in my mouth, and just before my teeth sank into the bread, Jiaheng said "Wait! Mommy wait!"

My first reaction was to pull the bread out of my mouth. Jiaheng followed "Mommy, Papa is older so he has to eat first. " Oh ok... since we were the ones who taught him 弟子规, then we should abide right? So I "obediently" waited for Kai Hock to finish spreading his bread.

Then Jiaheng made an interesting comment. "Next time, we have to wait for Ah gong to eat, then Ah Ma to eat, then Gong Gong to eat, then Popo to eat, then Papa to eat, then Mommy to eat, then Auntie Joanne to eat, then Jiu Jiu to eat, then I eat, then Yixuan can eat."

Ha ha ha... poor Yixuan... how long must she wait before she can eat if we are to follow what Jiaheng described?

----------- posted by Mommy

Abstract Art

2007-11-02T02:31:00.000+08:00

Our boy has been attending art class at the Asian Civilisation Museum for a few months now. When my wife told me about the art class, I was keen to give it a go.

Both my wife and I are more of the analytical and mathematical type, we can hardly express ourselves well by drawing. I really envy those people who can just draw off their impressions... I can never do that.

So when we were invited by the organiser to the art exhibition at the museum, I really don't know what to expect.

We were extremely pleased with what we saw.

Although I must admit that we don't really know what his art piece is supposed to portray. :P So we just say it is a nice piece of art... Abstract Art... hehehe

Birthday Lunch

2007-10-31T16:00:00.001+08:00

It has been 2 weeks since my birthday lunch with Kai Hock. But I am still savoring that relaxing mood and time we spent.

Kai Hock suggested going to the "Sizzling Rock" restaurant at Boat Quay for my birthday lunch. (Why lunch and not dinner? Well our gal is so so so attached to Mommy at night that I cannot be out of her sight when she awakens... can't blame her too cos I hardly go anywhere without her)

It was a rather unique Al Fresco dining experience at the edge of the Singapore River. Despite being outdoors right smack at noon time, it was still breezy and cool... As we arrived just before the lunch time crowd sets in, we had the choice of table. We chose the table nearest the waterfront, overseeing the Asian Civilisation Museum building just across the river... away from the heat and sweat on the pavement.

From where we were seated, we could see the lunch time crowd streaming out from the offices nearby. Everyone seems to be in a hurry, the exact contrast to our relaxed mood. ..悠哉闲哉。

The concept at "Sizzling Rock" is interesting cos our food is served raw. We get to cook the food in front of our eyes on the volcanic piece of rock super-heated in a special oven to over 450 ° Celsius... All our senses were stimulated... we got to smell the aroma from the meat cooking, we got to hear the sizzling of the food, we got to see the steak cooked to the right degree, we got to feel the heat from the rock...Best of all! We got to taste the food straight off the rock.

After the meal, we sat around a while more. The feeling is good to be able to just sit around unlike others who were rushing back to work. That is definitely one big plus point to own a business. It gives us the flexibility of time. We choose when to "work".

Then, I felt like drinking some traditional kopi (not those Starbucks type but KopiTiam type). We strolled to the "Coffee & Toast" at Raffles Link. Oh oh... there was still a queue. Never mind, we decided to go for ice-cream and went back later when the crowd was gone.

I had such a good experience that I brought my mum back for lunch a week later. (when Jiaheng was at school... and Kai Hock was at home looking after Yixuan.. thanks 老公)
----------- posted by Mommy

电梯

2007-10-31T15:32:00.000+08:00

挨了两年的电梯翻新终于完成了。别了吵杂声, 也别了满地尘埃的地板。真好！一出电梯就到达家门口。

那天我第一次乘搭新的电梯。脑海里突然想起四年多前抱着大儿子从医院回家的情景。。。

我是破腹生产的，生产后的第三天便出院了。那时候，电梯只停留在一楼，五楼，八楼和十一楼。我们住在四楼。所以要在五楼出电梯，再走一段路，再下一层楼，才能到达家门。出院那天，这段路，说长不长，说短不短，还真难走。

刚动完手术不旧，所以伤口还很痛。下那段梯级是最难过的。老公那时候因还在 SARS quarantine 也不在我身边。没法了。只能够咬紧牙关走下楼。。。 Ouch!

想到这里，还真有些心有余悸。那段日子真不好过。公公，婆婆都在医院。三位姑姑也不知所措。只有老公在那撑着。

还记得老公有多想目睹儿子出世。还说要亲自剪脐带。：）出院当天，爸爸载着儿子和我到我娘家让老公隔着车窗看看孩子一眼。

很庆幸的，儿子出世后，公公和婆婆相继出院。经过那段日子，我们更能体会到亲情的重要。也更珍惜和家人在一起的时候。
--------- posted by Mommy

Already walking

2007-10-24T15:27:00.000+08:00

It has been a month and a half since Yixuan's First Steps. Now at 11 and a half months old, she is already a steady walker. In fact, she can move in REVERSE gear, FIRST gear or SECOND gear. Once, she even went up to THIRD gear... and gave everyone a big scare.... cos she is like a reckless driver zooming in and out of lanes!

See her in action...

弟子规

2007-10-23T22:42:00.000+08:00

弟子规，圣人训
首孝悌，次谨信
泛爱众，而亲仁
有余力，则学文

The "Standards for Being a Good Student and Child" was taught by Chinese saints and sages of the ancient past.

First, it teaches you how to be dutiful to your parents, and how to be respectful and loving to your siblings.

Then, it teaches you how to be cautious with all people, matters, and things in your daily life, and how to be a trustworthy person.

Furthermore, it teaches you to love all equally, and to be close to and learn from people of virtue and compassion.

When you have accomplished all the above duties, you can further study and learn literature and art to improve the quality of your cultural and spiritual life.

The above is the outline of 弟子规.

I really find the teaching very useful and will use it as a guiding principle for teaching Jiaheng and Yixuan. The recommended standards for students may seem stringent by today's standards. However, it is apparent that the people of that time felt it was important that the child should be well disciplined and taught moral principles and virtues when still young. They felt that without strict discipline and moral standards, a child would amount to nothing.

It is worrying for me when I see many parents nowadays listening to their child instead of the other way round. Parents do not act like parents. Children do not act like children.

We definitely do not wish that to happen to our children. One main motivation for my wife to stay home is to give our children more attention while they are still young and in the molding age.

I won't say for sure that they will be excellent people when they grow up but we must do whatever we can to provide the path for our children.

Don't you think so?

* Go Go Go! Ale Ale Ale *

2007-10-21T23:42:00.000+08:00

Today is a fruitful day. My father-in-law wanted to buy a new dining table and we decided to visit the IKEA mega-store that recently opened.

Everything went smoothly and we managed to get one that everyone likes. After that, my bro-in-law brought us to a cafe at East Coast Park for dinner. While everyone was settling down at the table we just got, my mum-in-law said "Look at Yixuan".

Seven pairs of eyes fell on the little girl who is already seated in the high chair. She looked immobilized... you know like those people in those Kong Fu show when their acupuncture points are blocked? Yes... she just looked like that.

We followed her gaze and it landed on the plasma TV in the restaurant. It is a soccer live telecast. Woah! We have a young young soccer fan at the table ... to add to the elder soccer fan (my bro-in-law) and an even elder fan (my father-in-law).

* Do you really want it? Yeah! *
* Do you really want it? Yeah! *
* Do you really want it? Yeah! *

* Here we go! Ale Ale Ale *
* Go Go Go! Ale Ale Ale *

Maybe if Jiaheng shakes his bum bum like Ricky Martin next to Yixuan at that moment.... it will complete the PERFECT picture. :P

A Healthier Child

2007-10-09T02:20:00.000+08:00

Jiaheng has been on USANIMALS, a children's multi-vitamins since he was 15 months old. I still remember he put up both his thumbs when he first tasted USANIMALS. *Yummy*

USANIMALS has a berry taste, so slightly sour. Unlike the other multi-vitamins I have seen with artificial sweeteners, USANIMALS is only flavoured with natural fruits.

So far, Mommy and I are happy with what USANIMALS has done for our boy. We have seen quite a few benefits of putting Jiaheng on USANIMALS so far.

We find that Jiaheng's immune system is better with the multi-vitamins. I won't say that he doesn't fall sick * which child doesn't fall sick leh? * but what we noticed is that he recovers faster even when he is sick.

Also, something very important for Mommy... Jiaheng's height! Both Mommy and I are of average height. I am 1.7 m and Mommy is 1.55 m * but of course, she will say she's ard 1.59m * But very often, we hear people comment that Jiaheng is very tall for his age. He is past 1.1 m at 4 years old.

By chance, one of Jiaheng's classmate started taking USANIMALS after hearing my mum say that Jiaheng takes it. 2 weeks later, the classmate's mum told me that her son's eczema has greatly improved. The boy has not complained of itch for a week now. Boy! how happy we were to help someone else in their health.

10-10-10-70

2007-10-04T01:43:00.000+08:00

Jiaheng brought home an envelope today and there is a picture of a girl on it. It is a Children's Day appeal for charity to the community chest for the less fortunate.

I asked Jiaheng "How much do you want to donate to help the little girl?" Jiaheng excitedly brought out the container that has the label "Charity" on it... poured out all the coins... counted them... and declared that he will like to donate $2.00. Hmmm.... that will be 20 days worth of savings for Jiaheng.

We started a savings program for Jiaheng earlier on. Every day, Jiaheng will ask us for his $1 allowance. Earlier we prepared 4 containers for him. One labeled "Charity", one labeled "Investment", one labeled "Delayed Gratification", one labeled "Spendings". For the "Charity", "Investment" and "Delayed Gratification" container, Jiaheng will deposit $0.10 into each of them. $0.70 will go into the "Spendings" container.

We taught him how to use the money he saved. For the "Charity" savings, he can find an organisation he likes and donate the money monthly.

For the "Investment" savings, we told him that he is not to touch it. He can put it in a bank and can use the money when he is old enough to handle his money wisely.

For the "Delayed Gratification" savings, we will decide on an event and aim to save up for it. We all decided that we want to save for the Macau-Hong Kong trip end of the year. So Jiaheng will also have his money to spend when we go for the trip. :)

For the "Spendings" savings, he gets to withdraw it every Sunday and spend it on his breakfast with grandparents.

We find that with the 10-10-10-70 savings program, he is more conscious of the value of money. We will only give him the allowance when he asked us for it. If he forgot, which happens quite often... not forgetting that he is only 4 years old... he will have less to spend on Sunday.

It is quite amusing to see him count his "Spendings" savings on Sunday. If there is more money in the container, he will suggest going to a foodcourt to eat. If there is less, he will say "We can only go to a Kopi tiam" Not bad leh... he knows the pricing varies for foodcourt and Kopi tiam. Haha.

When shopping for food, he will shop around for something within his budget. There was once when he chose to only eat toast for breakfast ... cos not enough money saved for the week. And he will be more than happy when he has saved enough for his favourite Japanese food. I enjoy seeing him shop for his food... seeing the little fellow looking at the food signboards and comparing the prices. So cute. :P

While a 4 year old boy is trying his best to learn how to spend his money prudently, there are some adults running into debts and have difficulties managing their money. What an irony! It is definitely important to be mindful of finance in the pursuit of freedom.

I learnt how to do it from an online movie. You can view it at
www.simplyworkathome.org/wealthy (the password is 2476724). Share with me if you learn something useful from the movie too. Cheers!

A Happy Children's Day

2007-10-02T00:34:00.000+08:00

It is Children's Day today. Children's Day has always been a special day for me.

When I was young, we always get to bring home some Children's Day souvenirs from school. Be it a mug, a file or a pencil, I will look forward to it. Not forgetting the sweets we got from our teachers... and it is a school holiday on Children's Day.

I also want Children's Day to be special for my children. I decided to give all my time to them today. No work, no training, no phone calls.

We went to Science Center. There is a Super Science Show specially for the young audience today. It was entertaining. The 2 performers were enjoying themselves and indulged themselves in a talkshow. The young audiences also felt the energy and warmed up too.

But the best part was when they passed 4 gigantic balloons around. Once the giant balloons were released, the whole auditorium became quite chaotic. Some children left their seats and scrambled around to get their hands on the irresistible balloons. Wherever, the balloons went, you can see a crowd standing and stretching their arms up.

The balloons were pushed from the front to the back and from left to the right. Somehow, it just did not come over to our side of the auditorium. I can see from Jiaheng's eyes that he really wished to have a go at the balloons too.

Finally, the balloons were pushed to our side. I stood up and lightly pushed the balloon to Jiaheng. He quickly stretched his little hands up as much as he can... YES... he managed to touch it. In that instant, his eyes lit up and broke into a wide smile. Then he looked at me and said "THANK YOU Papa." It felt really good.

The space exhibits were very interesting too. Can't imagine living in such a futuristic world. Hmm... Papa & Mommy will be in our sixties then and the children in their thirties. How will life be then? Will Jiaheng be like me, bringing his child to Science Center to celebrate Children's Day? ? ? Just a thought... :)

On our way home that night, Jiaheng told me that he had a very enjoyable and happy day. Same here son. Papa also had a Happy Children's day... because of you and Yixuan.

Shake my hand

2007-09-30T23:56:00.000+08:00

It really makes me wonder what is going on in a child's mind at times. They can think of the funniest things.

Today while I was lying next to Jiaheng in bed, he asked me to shake his hand. "Mommy, can you shake my hand?" I reached out my hand to him and he took it.

"Mommy, I pass my power back to you ok?" "Jiaheng, what power?" I asked. "Mommy, you gave me the power to read, now I want to give it back to you, so that you can pass it to Yixuan and then to the 3rd baby, the 4th and the 5th."

I am tickled by what he said and at the same time feel happy at his generosity. Woah! 3rd baby, 4th and even the 5th! Thanks but no thanks my boy. I am very happy and contented with my 1st and 2nd baby... and not to mention the biggest baby of you all... your Papa of course! Haha

Guess I will just stick to that... at least for the next few years. Mommy wants to reserve my time to grow up with the 2 of you.

Up till now, Mommy has not regretted giving up my job to stay home with you and Yixuan. To some, they may view it as a sacrifice. To me, I view it as a blessing and a gift to be able to do so. Nothing beats the bond we created.

=================
posted by Mommy