The Grinch



I remember putting a baby in bed on Christmas Eve, but something must have happened at night because it wasn't a baby who woke up on Christmas Day. It was... THE GRINCH.

I don't know what came over DN yesterday. He was grumpy, testy and very disagreeable. He didn't want to eat his breakfast cereal, lunch or dinner and survived on crackers and apples the whole day. Whenever we took anything away from him, he'd lose his temper, start wailing and knock his head on the floor. (!!!) (Stop it! You only have one okay!!!)

Great. Just what I needed on Christmas Day when we're all supposed to be on our best behaviour (and I'm not supposed to use expletives around the baby).

At around 9am, I lost my temper. I quickly passed him over to PF because if I'd continued to be around DN, I would have lost it and shouted at him (and I mean, really SHOUTED at him). It was that frustrating!

Looking back now, I know what the problem is. The problem is me. :( I haven't come to terms with 3 things.

1. I can't control everything.
With a baby, it's difficult to have a schedule and expect him to follow it all the time. Sometimes, he just doesn't want to eat porridge at 12.30pm and unless I knock him out and feed it to him via IV, "it ain't gonna happen buddy." When I cook a new dish (like the Shepherd's Pie), I must be prepared for him to hate it and start using it as paint.

2. I can't expect the house to be neat and clean all the time.
There will always be toys on the floor, books on the couch and porridge on the wall. Sometimes, I look like Quasimodo, hunched over and scurrying all over the house, wiping food off the floor and picking up toys and books. Sometimes, I lose it when DN flings food around or sweeps all his books onto the floor. But I know he's still young and everything is new and just waiting for him to explore, so he's just being curious.

3. I can't expect to have my social life back.
Okay, this one I knew for a long time. I think I'll only get it back when DN goes to the army. -_-

Update
It was 2 new teeth that caused the grinch-like behaviour. 2 incisors, 1 on top and 1 below. Sodesune!

Viral Fever

DN is sick... pooey.

When we put him in bed last night, he was perfectly fine. An hour later, he woke up crying. He was hot! A fever, just like that! His temperature was about 39 degrees. Thank goodness we had some paracetamol in the fridge.

We were actually supposed to attend a birthday party this afternoon. PF and I were looking forward to it for two reasons:

1. It's a KFC party and DN is now old enough to join in the games (sort of) and he'll probably win a prize or two coz he's a baby and everyone panchangs the baby!
   
2. It's a KFC party! ('nuff said. Colonel Sanders, you da man!)
   

So we missed the party coz DN has a viral infection (I think he got it from Globetrotters, grrr...) and is highly contagious. Oh well. :( So we spent the day relaxing at home, watching Bob the Builder, playing with his toys, reading books...

DN wasn't moody or grumpy at all, just hot, so nothing for us to worry about really. I found this on www.kidshealth.org...

"The illness is probably not serious if your child:

• is still interested in playing
• is eating and drinking well
• is alert and smiling at you
• has a normal skin color
• looks well when his or her temperature comes down."

Hmm, let's see... DN was still begging for crackers, fruits, fries (we had to have our KFC!)... smiling on demand... running all over the house... yes, I think he's fine!

DN hated having the fever patch on his forehead. Kept shaking his head when we tried to put it on and when it's on, he'd fling it right off and it'd go "piak" on the floor. (It's a gel pad.)


But I love the fever patch! It's got cute little penguins on it!

Day Out with Funny Bee

When my brother Josh (who's 17 years my junior) was little, LY used to come over and play with him all the time. Josh had this strange looking bee toy. It was a bee-robot-monster-thing and Josh loved it. LY came over one day, saw it and asked him what on earth it was. He said, "It's a funny bee."

Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

I don't know why, but it cracked us up. Funny bee! He's 100% right! It IS a funny looking bee! From that day on, LY was known as Funny Bee. Even now (and he's 15 years old), he still calls her Funny Bee when he forgets to be macho, cynical and indifferent.

Since LY is so adverse to the name Aunty LY, I shall christian her Funny Bee again. Actually, if truth be told, it felt weird calling her Aunty LY too. Funny Bee sounds right. So LY, please reprise your role as Funny Bee, friend to all children and giver of good gifts! ;)

DN and I met Funny Bee, Kristie, Kyra, Ember & Imelda at Globetrotters for lunch yesterday. Globetrotters is the Mecca of all kiddie restaurants. Parents love it coz they get to dump their kids in the play room. Kiddies love it coz they get to dump their parents in the restaurant. Everyone's happy!

Before you can enter the play room, you have to remove your shoes. After removing DN's shoes, I told LY to take a whiff. Now, only a best friend will obey such an instruction. So she did and I'm not sure if I'm her best friend anymore. What she said cannot be published on this blog, haha. She can't believe that those little 14cm feet can produce such odours. Oh gosh. I can't imagine what they'll smell like when he's 15, and they are encased in socks and school shoes from 7am until 4pm.

The play room had everything a zoo had - screaming and sweaty children, monkeys climbing all over the place, and even a funky smell. Lovely. The play room assistant was walking around in a daze, looking very defeated. Poor thing. I bet she'd already made a vow to be celibate.

Ah well! At least the kiddies had fun!


Where's Wally DN?







DN found a slice of plastic bread in the play room and held it the entire time. Here he is baking it. Hee.






We went home for his afternoon nap and when he woke up at 5pm, LY and I decided to drop by the Mango sale at Isetan Scotts. * note to self: never bring a mobile and active baby into a changing room with curtains for doors.

We had dinner at Mos Burger and DN abandoned his fish and broccoli porridge when our corn soup and potato croquette arrived. I wonder why. -_-

"Broccoli vs deep fried mashed potato cutlet seasoned with special spices that you never put into my porridge. Go figure, Mom."


DN : "Thanks for bringing me and my mommy out Funny Bee!"

School's Out!

Finally! I'm so happy that our 2-week break is here. I'm kinda looking forward to taking care of DN all by myself for the next 2 weeks. I say "kinda" coz I know it will not be that easy switching from a weekend mom to a weekday mom. Today was my first day taking care of DN, the house, the dog and the fish. Okay, strike the fish. I forgot to feed them today.

When DN had his morning nap, I zipped about the house and mopped the 1st floor. I decided to mop the 2nd floor during his 2nd nap coz I wanted to shower and grab a quick breakfast. Just as I dropped my tea bag into my mug, I realised I hadn't cooked his lunch yet. #$@*!! So I quickly started cooking the porridge and preparing the broccoli and salmon. DN woke up when I was halfway through. Goodbye breakfast! See you in 2 weeks' time!


I stir-fried some salmon and broccoli florets with some grapeseed oil and salt. Mighty tasty!







I then mixed it into porridge.













After lunch, my best friend, LY, came over and she helped me mop the 2nd floor and looked after DN while I showered (again). I overheard her telling DN, "Do you want Auntie LY to carry you?". She has finally resigned to her fate as Auntie, not JIE JIE LY. (A fate which I accepted long ago when a Filipino helper asked me (at NTUC no less), "Auntie, where is the kaya?" I was tempted to leave her to her own devices for calling me "auntie", but I led her to the condiments section because I am... *sob*... an auntie-with-a-heart.)

At 3.45pm, Auntie LY helped me bundle DN into the car and off we went to My Gym for an X'mas party. Oh boy, and did DN have fun! The minute I plonked him down in the gym, he wandered off exploring and forgot that he ever had a mother.

"Mommy? Hmm... that word sounds familiar. Is it the name for those monkey bars over there?"

Sadly, hare-brained me forgot to bring my phone, so I don't have any photos of DN at the X'mas Party. :( But some of my friends kindly took photos for DN and I so I'll upload those pics later.

After the party, we had dinner at Sin Ma Seafood Restaurant at Geylang Lorong 3 with DN's Granduncle Eddy who's flying back to California tomorrow. When my mom fed DN his dinner in the car, I noticed a funny smell.

Me : Who farted in the car???
My mom : Not me.
Me : Well, it's not me either. DN, did you fart?
My mom : It's not him. It's the porridge.

OMG! I made fart porridge today! :(

Overall, it was a fun day. I didn't do too well with the flying solo bit coz I forgot to feed the fish and I had help from LY, the amah-on-wheels, who offered to mop my 2nd floor. I really admire SAHMs who fly solo EVERYDAY. (Like you, Ling!) They do everything from cleaning the house to wiping baby bums to even cooking lunch/dinner for the family. (Can meh!?) I am a little tired now, but after looking at these pictures taken today, I can't wait for tomorrow. :)


I found this pic in my phone this morning. Someone was playing with something he wasn't supposed to!







DN :"Oh crap. Shouldn't have taken that picture. Better run."










DN is such a camera whore. He's always smiling for the camera now!

My favourite photo

DN's photos are arranged according to months and each folder is named like this - "year-age-month" (eg : 2007 1yr3mths Dec). I label all his photos with the date they were taken - "year-date-photo number" - for example, 07dec14(1). (1) means that was the 1st photo taken, (2) means it's the 2nd and so on. This way, I know immediately how many photos were taken that day. Also, naming them like that means my photos appear in order when I open any folder. When uploading photos onto this blog, I reduce the size of the photo first. This "smaller" photo gets the same name as the parent photo, but with an (a) at the end, like this - 07dec14(1a). Straight away, I know it's the same photo, but in a smaller size.

It's good to be anal retentive! *smug*smug*

All of DN's photos are in my laptop and when I have spare time in class, I sneakily browse through the photos. Like now! (My kids are doing a mock test, haha. Merry Christmas class!)

So I was browsing through the "2007 8th Mth April" folder when I saw this photo. I love it! It's my fav photo for now. :D



07 apr 14 (16a)

Price tag, name tag, DN's been tagged!

I've seen these on other people's blogs and have secretly harboured the hope that I'd get tagged too, hee. Ling tagged me so here goes... 5 things! (I'm tagging on DN's behalf.)

A. Found in my Room

1. A big mess (Mom & Dad keep trying to get me to pack all my toys, but I have more important things to do... like overturning this bucket and all its contents onto the floor.)
2. Diapers - NTUC tape diapers (for day), Nepia pull-ups (for nights) & Nepia tape diapers.
3. A Flensted Dog Mobile
4. My little library of books - The Eric Carle ones are my favourites.
5. Dust! :(

B. I have always wanted to...

1. Climb up the stairs myself (but Mom won't let me)
2. Put my hand in the fish tank and play with the fish (but Mom won't let me)
3. Get out of my stroller the minute I'm put in (but Mom won't let me)
4. Pull Mom's earrings because they're so sparkly and dangly and be-yoo-ti-ful (but Mom won't let me)
5. Pee & poop in the potty Mom, but sometimes when you gotta go, you gotta go. Time and tide waits for no potty!

C. Found in my (diaper) bag

1. Munchkin suction bowl
2. Pigeon fork and spoon set
3. My snacks! Sometimes Mom stews fruit for me, most times it's crackers.
4. Water bottle
5. Diapers

D. Found in my (mommy's) wallet

1. 2 pictures of Mom, Dad and me :)
2. Discount cards that she hardly uses but daren't throw away coz "you never know!"
3. Bobby pins
4. Lip balm
5. (not enough) Money

E. I'm currently into...

1. Opening and closing drawers and taking things out and in
2. Begging Mom and Dad for bites of their food
3. Drawing on the IKEA chalk board
4. Signing "tree", "leaf" and "baby"
5. Giving kisses without being asked!

5 people I'm tagging

1. My Aunt Dawn
2. My Uncle Josh
3. Mom's best friend, Aunty Li Yen, who only wants to be known as ZHE ZHE Li Yen
4. Mom's forum friend, Michelle
5. Mom's forum friend, Shirlyn

Ready, set, GO!

Jiang Hua Yi Yu!

"Children growing up learning two or more languages simultaneously can do so without difficulty. They learn at an early age about the arbitrary relation between words and their referents." (Reynolds, 1990)

It's true! Compared to the rate at which I pick up Chinese words, I think DN's learning curve is really a learning totem pole. I am humbled. -_-

He spends his days with PF's parents who only speak Chinese and Hokkien so it's no wonder that he understands English and Chinese and a smattering of Hokkien.

In Chinese, he understands when we say...

• Qu chuan xue (Go wear your shoes)
• Qu diu diao (Throw this away)
• Tui qu ku ku gu gu de fang jian (Push it into Aunt's room)
• Er duo / bi zi zai na li? (Where's your nose / ear?)
• Tang tang he shui (Lie down and drink your water)
• ...
  

And he knows what these are...

• Gou (dog)
• Mao (cat)
• Pai shou (clap hands)
• Xiao xiao (smile)
• Deng (light/lamp)
  
• ...
  

And now, we think he knows how to read Chinese too. (haha) Today, he dug into the pile of newspapers, tossed aside all the copies of The Straits Times, found a copy of the Chinese papers and brought them to his grandpa! Together with his reading glasses! LOL.

This he definitely DID NOT get from me because I am the sad monolingual one who told one of my student's parents during Parent's Day that her son was going to retire (tui siu) if he did not buck up and start studying. (I was supposed to say "tui bu" - "lag behind".) I knew something was wrong when Mrs X tried to stifle a snort.

Humph.

Can you say "Couch Potato"?

The only DVD that DN likes watching is "The Wheels On The Bus". It's about Beep, a double-decker bus that's really the village kaypoh. He occupies his time doing things like shuttling Little Bo Peep's sheep to the hairdresser, hunting down the Mayor's hat and cooling down Hot Cross Buns. (Don't ask.)

Anyway, this is the only thing DN will watch on TV. Not my first choice, but at least it's not Barney the (idiotic) Purple Dinosaur or those abnormally hyper-happy teenagers from Hi-(are they on speed?)-5. If only he had an affinity for CSI, Heroes or Miami Ink.

Sometimes, PF and I put it on in the mornings as we rush about the house getting ready. Yesterday, I caught DN in super-couch-potato mode.

I take credit for the big eyes and effervescent personality, but the couch potato trait is definitely from PF!


Can this picture be any more unflattering?











DN : "If I don't blink, I won't miss anything."

Wedding Bells

Royston and Shi Ling got married on Sunday (2 Dec) and we had to decided to bring DN along. We normally wouldn't have done so but both sets of parents had wedding dinners that night too, and all in the same hotel. (How strange is that!)

DN normally sleeps between 830 and 900pm so we had to play around with his naps that day. We pushed his morning nap to 1130am (from 10am) and his afternoon nap from 4pm to 6pm so he could last longer that night. When he woke up at 7pm, off we went to the Marina Mandarin.

The initial plan was to eat 2 or 3 courses and then leave, but we ended up staying until 1030pm, 2 hours past his bedtime!

You see, we've discovered this about DN. As long as he is constantly being fed, he will sit nicely at the table. The only "impolite" thing he does is shout "mum-mum-mum-mum!" if the food doesn't reach his mouth fast enough. Eating out is pretty easy now as long as we have his Munchkin suction bowl. Just stick it on the table, throw some rice / noodles in, and that'll keep him busy (and the restaurant staff too, coz 70% of it ends up on the floor).

Of course, we couldn't use the Munchkin bowl at the wedding dinner. (damn those posh tablecloths!) So I spent most of the dinner cutting food up, mashing it and feeding it to Mr Bottomless Pit. Whatever we ate, he ate. DN loved the soup, roasted duck and cod fish. :)

• Cold Dish (Crispy Silver Fish, Roasted Duck, Lobster Salad)
• Shark's fin in clear chicken broth
• Teriyaki cod
• Chili crab with fried man tou
• Chocolate mousse
  
• Wedding cake
  

As you can see, it was a very unconventional menu. What a nice change from the usual Steam Garoupa, Abalone with Mushrooms and Honeydew Sago. The bride and groom also did away with the "yam-senging" and didn't take table-to-table photos. They were mingling with all their guests and most importantly, got to eat all the courses!


PF, me, Mr Bottomless Pit, Royston, Shi Ling











The chocolate mousse!

Sunday Lunch

When all three of us eat together, we have to start feeding DN his food first. Once he sees us eating, he loses all interest in his own food and he starts to beg* for our food. We tried to trick him by pretending to scoop food from our plate onto his spoon, but it only worked the first two times. After that, no dice! He was probably thinking, "How stupid do they think I am???"

*Beg: Saying screaming "mum-mum" / signing "please" and "more" / pointing at our food / losing his patience and crying!!! Grrr...

Since he keeps eyeing our food and won't eat his own food, I thought it would be good to cook something for ALL of us.

Ta-dah! Shepherd's Pie! Or something vaguely like it. Shepherd's pie purists will probably feel violated because I used minced chicken and pork instead of beef and I chucked half a pumpkin inside. Haha.


1. Dice 1 red pepper ($0.99) and half a pumpkin. ($1.70)








2. Slice up 2 big onions. ($?? Found them at home)








3. Boil 5 large potatoes, Russets are good. ($1.35)








4. Mash the potatoes with lots of some salt and butter. I didn't add milk coz DN is allergic to that but milk is usually added for the creamy taste. Set the mashed potatoes aside.





5. Saute some garlic and add the onions. Fry until the onions caramelise a little. When they're almost transparent, toss in the pumpkin.





6. After the pumpkin has softened a little, add the red pepper. Cover the pot and let the pumpkin cook some more.






7. Add about 400g of minced meat and stir well. ($1.82 for the chicken and $2.20 for the pork) Cover the pot and leave to cook for about 15 minutes. Here's when you add some salt, pepper and whatever spices catch your fancy. (Oregano? Bay leaves?)



8. When everything's cooked, transfer to an oven-proof dish and spread the mashed potatoes on top.







9. Score the top with a fork. Why? So there'll be more crispy bits later on!








10. Bake on a high heat until the top is brown. It doesn't have to be in there for long coz everything's already cooked.






11. Tadah! Nice, brown and crispy!









12. Feed hungry baby that was peering eagerly into the oven earlier.









*This pie was perfect for feeding 3 adults and 1 toddler. Total cost of pie : only $8.06! If you add the cost of onions, garlic, butter, salt and milk... 12 bucks the most?

Was it a success? Well, yes and no. The adults liked the pie. The toddler? Hmm... he got sick of it after awhile. :( I think it was the lumpy texture that he wasn't used to. (He usually eats porridge.) In the beginning he ate everything. After awhile, he started sticking out his tongue and picking out all the meat lumps. That's gratitude for you. After slaving in the kitchen for 2 hours, my baby spits out his food and starts to use it as a medium for art. It's back to brown rice porridge next week, Mister!


"Looking cute is not going to make me forgive you for throwing mashed potatoes on the floor, okay? ... er, I think..."

Here fishy-fishy-fishy!

We have a little pond at the back with a little elephant fountain and some fish. Our track record for keeping fish (alive) hasn't been that hot. They've all died on us! We keep going to the aquarium to buy new fishes for the pond, wait sorry, RETIREMENT HOME FOR FISH. Seriously, my pond is like a hospice home for guppies and swordtails, a place for them to live out the rest of their lives. (usually a week, sob sob...)

I dropped by the aquarium to get a new batch of guppies. I think they are going to live long and prosperous lives because we've decided to move the pond outside. I hope the sun will do them some good. (Good luck guppies! May you live long! PLEASE!)

DN loves looking at fish. Whenever we're out and he sees a pond or hears running water, he'll starting signing "fish" and will crane his neck and try to find the fish. When we're at the fish section at the supermarket, he will sign "fish" frantically and stare at the fish. I wonder if he's wondering why they're not moving. :(


The new batch of guppies. Only $1.50 for the lot. We always buy arowana- fodder... the fish that are fish food for other fish!





DN probably gave all the fish migraines when he was trying to fit the bag into the jar. Look at them... they're all a blur!

Evening Walks

DN spends his days with his Ah Ma and Ah Kong (PF's parents) while we're at work. We drop him off between 8-830am and get back there around 630-7pm for dinner. He likes going there because his Ah Ma manages to find all sorts of things for him to do around the house, like carrying clothes from the room to the washing machine and transferring containers from box to box. His favourite activity there is going on walks around the estate with his Ah Kong, who will point out the lamp posts, cars, babies, assorted vegetation and animals along the way.

Dandy!

If I manage to leave work a little early, I'll bring him for a walk when I get there. It's more fun now that he can walk on his own. His favourite part of these walks is to visit the fish on the 1st floor. A neighbour has a pond with many koi fish. When he wants to go for a walk, he'll start signing "fish" or "shoes". If no one obliges, he'll grab his shoes and throw them at your feet! Haha.


The incumbent MP for Bukit Timah GRC on a walkabout around his constituency.








MP Ong Der Nen watching a demo tennis game.












During his walkabout, MP Ong Der Nen was especially impressed by one resident's koi pond.







Along the way, Mr Ong picked up a few souvenirs to remember his walk by - 3 baby coconuts and 1 pumpkin.







(Just kidding! The pumpkin's from the market! The coconuts are really from the garden though.)

Sleeping through the night...

NOT.

DN is 1 year, 2 months and 10 days old and he is still not sleeping through the night. Those of you with kids are probably going, "What?!" (as in, "I'd better start being kind to animals to earn good karma so it doesn't happen to me next time.") Those of you without kids are also probably going, "What?!" (as in, "What's the big deal?")

Oh childless ones, let me initiate you into the mutually exclusive worlds of babies and YOUR sleep. In the famous words of JK Rowling, "neither can live while the other survives." In other words, as long as you have a baby, you can kiss sleep goodbye. If you want to sleep for 8 hours at a stretch, DON'T HAVE A BABY. Get a hamster.

Just before I gave birth, a good friend told me, "Sleep as much as you can now." "Bah!" I thought. And I continued reading until 1am, watching midnight movies, surfing the internet at midnight... tsk tsk... sheer folly! In the wise words of my grandmother, "Can sleep, don't want to sleep. Silly girl."

Since DN's birth (1 yr, 2 mths & 10 days ago), I have had less than 10 nights of uninterrupted sleep. You don't know just how much I miss sleeping like a normal human being, from 11pm to 7am.

This is what DN's sleeping pattern looks like now...

8.30 pm --> Sleep.
10.30 pm --> Fuss. Pacifier has fallen out.
12.30 am --> Cry. Needs to nurse before can fall asleep.
4.30 am --> Cry. Needs to nurse before can fall asleep.
7.00am --> Wake up!

Because there are chores to complete and sometimes marking, I don't usually sleep until I've nursed DN at 12.30am. Then I wake up at 4.30am to nurse him one more time and then I'm up for the day at 7.00am. It's been like this for over a year and I can now pass off as China's national animal quite easily.

I am so not suited for this.

When I was young, my mother used to say that earthquakes cannot wake me up!
In secondary school, I used to sleep until 1pm on weekends!
Sometimes when DN cries, I manage to convince myself that it's a dream (or nightmare actually) and go back to sleep!

I don't know why it's happening to me. I'm a good person! I am kind to animals (squashing ants doesn't count right?) , I donate to the Community Chest monthly (running away from the donation-tin-wielding students along Orchard Road doesn't count right?) and I keep the house clean without a helper (washing the curtains only before Chinese New Year is okay right?).

We tried the cry-it-out method, but I gave up after 2 nights. It wasn't that we couldn't sleep through DN's crying, because we did. Like babies! Wait, I want to know who coined that so I can hammer the bugger. I think he meant baby SLOTHS. I just couldn't go through with the cry-it-out method and let DN cry for hours because I just felt sooo guilty.

We tried tiring him out during the day. Sometimes it worked, most times it didn't.

Many have suggested tanking him up on formula milk but DN cannot drink normal FM because he's allergic to cow's & goat's milk. He can only drink soya-based FM and he hates that. So he's still on 100% breastmilk which is easier to digest. That's probably why he gets hungry so quickly.

It's tiring being DN's "Meals-on-Wheels"!

SMILE!

We had breakfast at the NUS canteen at the Botanic Gardens last weekend. (cheap, good and empty!) DN was a good little one and sat in the highchair, eating his bread while PF had Nasi Lemak and I had kaya toast and eggs.

During breakfast, we found out that he understood what "smile!" meant and can now smile on cue! Yippee, no more pictures of a grumpy baby. I think.

We wanted to stroll around the Jacob Ballas Children's Garden after breakfast but couldn't because the carpenter was on his way to our place to finish up the doors. (we're renovating)


This is what his face looks like when you say "Smile Der Nen!" LOL.











DN : "I'm so thrilled there's bread on my cheek!"












His smiles only last for a few seconds. Wasn't quick enough here.










He started squirming and struggled to get out of the highchair when he spotted some mynahs behind him. He loves to chase after hopping birds.


EWWW.

We were seated outside, next to a row of shrubs AND THESE MILLIPEDES!!!

I am 14 months old!

DN turned 14 months old yesterday and bringing him out is getting easier and easier. PF finished work early so we decided to have dinner at Shimbashi Soba at Paragon. I brought DN's porridge out in a thermos and we reached the restaurant at about 6.30pm. Perfect timing! While waiting for our food (Cold Soba & Salmon Sashimi for PF; Soba in Soup with Seaweed & Mushroom Tempura for me), I fed DN his porridge.

He sat nicely in the high chair and flirted with all the waitresses. Great! (It kept him occupied while I ate.) When he was done with his porridge, he started eyeing my noodles, and going "MUM-MUM-MUM-MUM" at the top of his voice. Really. People were giving us funny looks.


Here he is, "beo-ing" my noodles and signing "please".













We always ask him if he has anymore in his mouth before we feed him more food. And he obliges with a big "ahhhhh..."!





Hey! There's still a little bit of noodle left!













We went to ELC (Early Learning Centre) after dinner (thanks for the idea, Ling!) because they have lotsa toys out for kids to play with. DN gravitated towards the household equipment. (Should I be worried???) Here he is, walking backwards (his new trick) with the vacuum cleaner.

Happy Halloween!

Who says you need a costume for Halloween?


DN as Casper the Friendly Ghost













DN as the murderer in "Scream"












The resemblance is uncanny!












DN as Quasimodo (note the upturned lip)












DN as ... as... himself!!!

What's the sign for...?

Fish? Dog? More? Bye-bye? Papa? Sleep? Milk? Banana? Star? Please? Eat? Wash hands? "I love you"? Watching "The Wheels Of The Bus" for the umpteenth time?

(Yes, there's a sign for that! DN created it - waving his hands in circles like, er, the wheels on the bus... it's really a no-brainer!)

To date, that's the list of signs he has learnt. The very first sign he picked up was "banana". Not "Mum" or "Dad", but the sign for a yellow fruit favoured by monkeys.

And to date, the only word he will say is "mum-mum". Not "mum-mum-MOTHER" but "mum-mum-FOOD".

Can you see the trend? It's quite clear what his priorities are. And it's not me or PF! That's gratitude for you, humph. -_-

But teaching him signing has turned out to be a good move because DN is able to communicate with us with those basic, but vital, signs. He can tell us when he wants more food (his favourite sign... go figure!), he signs "please" whenever he wants something (I'm mighty pleased he picked that up), he lets us know when he's tired ("sleep") and when he wants milk. (which is a somewhat embarrassing sign when you're out in public - you open and close your fist, like milking a cow)

The Signing Time DVDs teach American Sign Language and most of the signs are very logical and common sense. For example, to sign "fish", you mimic the movement of a fish in water. "Dog" is patting the side of your thigh, like you would when calling a dog. To sign "banana", you raise your left index finger and with your right index finger, you stroke it down your left. It looks like you're peeling a banana!

Some signs are just weird. "Father" is opening your right hand and tapping your forehead with your thumb. "Mother" is doing the same, but this time tapping your chin with your thumb. DN learnt how to sign "Papa" but refuses to sign "Mummy". Humph.

There are so many more signs we want to teach DN --> thank you, mummy, cat, cracker, mummy, water, drink, bread, mummy, ouch, sorry, shoes, grandpa, grandma, bird and of course, mummy.

Thanks again, Carla, for passing us the 1st 2 Signing Time DVDs! ;)

How domestic!

We have a little Mrs Doubtfire (minus the cross-dressing) at home. Yup yup! DN loves...

• sweeping the floor
• wiping the floor with whatever cloth / tissue he can find
  

DN found the magic-wipe sweeper the other day and refused to let go of it. It became his third arm. -_- "Humph! Fine! Since you want it so much, you might as well do some housework!"

So PF shortened the sweeper, put a wiper sheet on, gave it to DN and off he went, like a little Mrs Doubtfire on speed. Woah Nelly!

He managed to pick up quite a bit of dirt too. Not bad, haha! But I must have a word with him about skipping the corners. Tsk tsk, tardy!

He also likes to wipe things. If he finds a piece of tissue paper or cloth, he'll squat down and start wiping the floor, or walk around and find a table/parent to wipe.

Next up : Training him to bathe the the dog and do the laundry.

How do you spell "narcissistic"? (Part II)

Here are 16 more photos! ;)