Water Play

All the kiddos at DN's school (from pre-nursery to K2) take turns to enjoy water play one day a week. It's nothing really fancy, just two portable pools filled with soap and water, but the kids LOVE it. Everybody looks forward to water play day. So last year, when water play was put on hold indefinitely because of H1N1, it was a bit of a letdown.

But 2010 is here (and it looks like H1N1 is also here to stay) and water play is back. So every Tuesday, I drop DN off in school in his swim tee and board shorts. And last Tuesday, in his goggles too. He put them on at home and insisted on wearing them all the way to school!

The goggles "blinded" him. I honestly don't know how he managed to walk to the car because they were fogging up so bad and puffing his eyes up because they were a little tight. But he still insisted on wearing them until he reached school.

Oh kayyy. Whatever rocks your boat eh?

ps : Have you joined February's raffle yet?

SNGS Fundraiser

I guess this post is really for SNGS old girls, but read on anyway if you're not because this post contains the phrases "banana milk", "lucky draw" and "white worms". And they're all connected. You got to read on to find out how!

I was in SNGS for 11 years, from pre-primary all the way to sec four. Yes! Pre-primary! In those days, some schools took students in at pre-primary (or kindergarten 2) instead of at primary one and SNGS was one of them. When I think "pre-primary", I always remember the uniform.

  Check out those pockets! So retro!

I loved it because it was SO comfy. And because we were virtuous little convent girls, we wore bloomers. Yes, puffy little blue bloomers under our dresses. I hated them things though and would rip them right off the minute I got home. God skipped me when he handed out poise and decorum.

Su Ling from Pupsik actually found the old school uniform tailor! Who still had a bunch of that original checked, blue fabric!! Who agreed to make a whole batch of them for sale!!!

So, if you're an ex-SNGS girl, go get one for your daughter / niece / friend's daughter / fun because there are limited pieces of these for sale and all proceeds go to the school's rebuilding fund. Just click on the button below to order.

When I think "pre-primary", I also remember our old school at Victoria Street, where CHIJMES now is, and that we shared the campus with CHIJ. I was there from pre-primary until primary two. I can still remember the school hall with its wooden floors and two big murals on both sides of the stage. I think one of them was a picture of two convent girls playing badminton. I remember the tiny canteen with wooden benches and twenty cent noodle soup. I remember the string of haunted toilets at the back, with one cubicle that was ALWAYS shut. And I remember giving that toilet a wide berth because it had to be the most haunted right? They locked it for our safety! (Why do I remember all these things and forget that DN has water play every Tuesday and forget to pack his swim gear? Argh!)

I also remember playing in the school field, holding hands and going to the toilet as a class, taking naps during school time on raffia mats and getting a tetrapak of milk every day. We got four flavours - chocolate (woot!), plain (eew), strawberry (double eew) and banana (HURL!). Every day was like a lucky draw - which flavour were we going to get that day? And because it was UHT milk, our milk was always served at room temperature. Now I can deal with chocolate milk at room temperature, but banana??? *shiver shiver*

Even Funny Bee, who now drinks like a litre of milk a day, couldn't deal with the banana milk. In sec four (I think), she admitted to me that she used to hide her tetrapak of banana milk in the bin where the raffia mats were always stored. One day, the teacher found the little stash which had started to smell a little funky. Funny Bee did what any other six year old would have done. Nothing. And I just found out from another friend that she used to leave her banana milk in her bag for days, until there were white worms.

Looks like I wasn't the only one who didn't get the poise and decorum hand-outs!

Well, no points for guessing which school DS will be attending. I know she'll have her own basket of poignant memories like I do. Sigh... if only I could sneak DN in somehow!

It's MY birthday! Not yours!

DN's actual birthday (2 Sept) was also a school day and because it's his SPECIAL day, I insisted on celebrating with him in school even though I was 4 days into confinement. It wasn't easy getting out of the house, trust me. Thank goodness there was not a cloud in the sky. If it were raining, that would be the end of my escapade (or escape?) because the rain here is absolutely lethal for postpartum mothers.

You didn't know?

Uh-huh. Just a drop on your skin and you will MELT, because, as all of us SHOULD know, our rain is different from the rain in other ang moh countries. That's why we have to serve confinement and they don't. You see, our rain contains cyanide, hydrochloric acid, the Nipah virus, sour milk and a flesh-eating bacteria that favours mothers who have just given birth because they are exceptionally weak, 'windy' and thus, tasty.

Betcha didn't know that.

So it didn't rain, I was safe from the rain-borne Nipah virus and wasn't going to morph into a crazy pig. Yay!

Anyway.

We wished DN a happy birthday that morning and in the car on the way to school, he told PF, "It's not Carina's birthday. It's not Daniel's birthday. It's MY birthday today!" After PF told me that, I was glad I was as stubborn as a mule by insisting on going out during confinement.

We had a really simple celebration in DN's school. We brought a dairy-free chocolate cake and some cookies for his classmates. No goodie bags for anyone because that was the school rule. A pretty good one too, I might add. Goodie bags were banned because the children would ask, "Where's my goodie bag?" when parents did NOT provide them.

We got there just before tea time and the teachers had already hung the birthday bunting in the classroom. All we did was take the cake out of the box and pop the candle on. Then DN had his birthday song moment. :)


Here's DN cutting his cake. (Can you see my greasy confinement hair???)


Happy Birthday DN!

Making Mooncakes

DN made mooncakes in school last week. He was SO pleased to bring them home and share them with everyone. Except mei mei because, according to DN, "She has no teeth!" His teacher sent me this picture.

He made red bean paste mooncakes. They were really quite nice!

Hope you had a great evening admiring the moon and the lady (or rabbit?) on it. :)

Tut tut!

We usually get emails from DN's school informing us about stuff - what DN should wear on Racial Harmony Day, when is class photo taking, how to be vigilant because of H1N1... boring stuff like that. Then one day, I got this in my mailbox!

HEE HEE HEE! :D

Now for the embarrassing bit. This was the email that accompanied that photo.

"Hi Mummy,
The teachers would like to say 'thank you' for the swiss rolls."

*blush blush* Yesssss... I have been bribing DN's teachers with treats! His first week of school, I dropped off some doughnuts. (I mean, I have to thank them for helping him settle into school right??) Two weeks later, I went over with some steamed paos for tea. (You know, just to check how he was doing in school that day. It's important!!) And last week, I dropped off some Polar Swiss Rolls... for no particular reason really! I was on my way back to the office from a meeting and since I would be passing his school, I thought, "Why not?"

Yeah yeah, so I'm a shameless hussy. But at least I'm honest about it, and now I have a nice picture of my son to boot!

A Breakthrough?

Last week was a bad week in school for DN. He had just gone back to school after a week and a half of staying at home, recuperating from a phlegmy cough. It was BAD. Getting back into the school groove I mean. Even getting him to put his uniform on was a struggle - me running waddling around the house after him as he's moaning and groaning away, "I don't want to go to school!" Drop-offs were worse. Ugh.

So imagine my surprise when there were no theatrics when I dropped him this morning. No crying, no weeping, no complaining. He just let go of my hand and walked through the gate into the playground. He even said "bye"!

By jove, I think we've got it!

Dear Mrs Ong...

Oooh, it's really strange being called that! But it's time I got used to it because it's been 6 years since we got married after all. LOL.

I'm bringing this up because DN brought home his communication book last week. It's a book for us to communicate with his teachers in school. When he brought it home, DN was so proud of his HANDiwork (hur hur!) he showed it off to everyone and explained to us how he did it. It's the first thing he's brought home from school and I'm so proud of it too! As a mother, if he had brought home a scrap of torn paper with some senseless doodle on it and claimed it to be a bus, I would probably still worship the poop that came out of his butt and thought my son the next Monet.

Ahhh... such is a mother's love (and blind biasedness!).


Anyway, part of the first note from his teacher read:

"Dear Mr and Mrs Ong (ack!),
DN is able to adapt in our centre after a week's experiences. (awright!) He plays with his friends and he is able to express his basic needs. However, (uh-oh...) he didn't approach his teacher when he needed to pass urine during morning outdoor play and in the classroom before naptime."

I replied with a word of thanks to the teachers for helping him settle in and asked a few questions:

1. Is DN generally happy in/with school?
2. Is he eating (and drinking) well at meal times?
3. Does he listen well to instructions?

(part of) Her reply:

"Hi Mrs Ong (ack!),
DN was able to go to the toilet in the classroom this morning, except (uh-oh) during outdoor activity this morning. For meal times, he'll eat more or finish the food when we feed him (that means he won't if he self-feeds!). He is able to follow simple instructions and he is very helpful towards his friends and teachers (awww...!)."

I guess my little bub is settling in. :)

Another thing I have been paranoid about is how he's playing with his other little friends. I am just so worried that he will start shoving and snatching. Survival of the fittest eh? But the teacher's feedback is that he does none of these things. Am I relieved or what!!! I don't mind if DN is not the brightest bulb in the pack, but I do want him to grow up polite, well-mannered, with the right morals and be a person who's sensitive to people and animals above all things. What's the point of being a Harvard scholar when you can't even say "thank you" to the auntie that cleans your table at the hawker centre?

Hmm...

Okay, I'll be really honest. I want him to be that Harvard scholar who ALSO says "thank you" to the auntie at the hawker centre. Haha!

Mornings Are The Worst

The first thing DN said to me when he woke up this morning was, "I don't want to go to school!" Ahhhhh. :( For the past week, every morning contains pretty much the following:

• DN running away from me and his school uniform
• DN wailing that he wants to stay at home
• DN insisting that I don't go to work
• DN refusing to wear his shoes or walk out of the house

Because of him, my list is pretty much the same actually.

• Me not wanting to go to work.
• Me not wanting to put his uniform on because the bugger runs quite fast!
• Me wanting to stay home and watch Bob The Builder with him because it's just easier you know?

Sigh.

In school, it's the koala syndrome I have to deal with, something I know other moms out there can relate to. DN develops this amazing velcro ability to just "stiiiiick" to my neck / leg / arm / other convenient body part, and can be quite difficult to remove. So he's usually peeled off me (wailing of course) by a teacher and I have to harden my resolve, wave bye, say I'll come back later and just chabot!

What else can you do right?

So I've decided to really go ahead with that scrapbook idea. I took some pictures of his school and the fun stuff they do there, and have been looking through them with DN in the mornings. It does help a little bit (and I stress LITTLE) and he does get a little happy (I'm not even using the word "excited" here) pointing out his shoe rack, his cubby hole, his bag, the sand toys, etc... so I'm hoping the scrapbook will help.

The Breakfast Area

The Menu Board

The (erm) Garden

The Garden Patch

The Sand Pit

The Rides (his fav pic)

The Water Play Area

DN's Classroom

The classroom now looks so *bleah* compared to all the outdoor shots!

The Bub Having His Temperature Taken

The Fake Smile (they had hard boiled eggs for breakfast one morning last week)

Day 2, 3 + 4

Ever been sabo-ed big time by a 3-year old before? Well, it's quite a humbling experience. -_- Halfway through Day 2, I thought I'd take a quick peek into DN's classroom (I was actually reading in the school office) just to see how he was doing. I couldn't see him, so I tip-toed a little higher. Then I saw Ethel, one of his classmates. And she saw me. And I waved at her because I didn't think it was possible to be sabo-ed by a 3-year old.

"DN! Your mummy!"

I think I made this face :O before my dulled reflexes actually worked and I ducked down. As I was "ducking down", I could see DN's head whip towards the window. He must have JUST seen my head disappear because a few seconds later, his little face appeared grinning at the door.

"Mummy! Come in! Sit here! Come in! Come in!"

"Wah," I thought to myself. "Ethel sabo! I'm going to tell her parents later!" (Her mom's my colleague and ex-roommate.)

It went pear shape after that and I had to sit in with DN for the next half an hour before he let me go. Crying of course. Did I learn my lesson? Hell no.

On Day 3, DN was actually on his own for 6 hours at a stretch - 10.30am to 4.30pm. During that time, I managed to finish my book (in the school office) and meet PF for a nice lunch. Things were going so well, (i.e. no calls from the teacher to come in and settle a manic DN) I thought there was no harm in taking a quick peek before zipping out to meet my colleague for a bit. Like I said, I didn't learn my lesson. Just as I slowly peeked into the classroom, DN chose that exact moment to look towards the window. I made this face again :O.

And it went downhill from there. In the end, I had to take him out of school early because my colleague was waiting for me. No way was DN going to let me out of his sight!

On Day 4, I finally came to terms with my separation anxiety and just dropped DN off in the morning and picked him up at 5.30pm. It wasn't all smooth sailing of course and there was some koala-clinging and crying, so I think overall, it has been a little tough on the little guy. But he's managing.

So because I wasn't really around on Day 2, 3 and 4, I have no pictures to show except these - personalised stickers from www.stuckonyou.biz for his uniform and belongings, hee! I'm such a slacker mom right, I only ordered the stickers a week before he was to start school and they arrived a week after he started. :p So much for getting him hyped up about school huh?

I roped DN in when I was placing the order and asked him to choose a picture for his stickers. His first choice was a peace sign *roll eyes* and then he chose a princess *slap forehead*. Of course, I had to make an executive decision and step in and choose for him "advise" him about his choices. So I only showed him the icons of vehicles and made him choose from there. HAHA! He didn't choose my first choice (the rocket ship) but said he wanted a train. Eeek! The train was so ugly! So I tried to manipulate my son's choice made another executive decision and asked him, "What about this DN? It's Scoop!" So he finally chose the excavator all on his own! I quickly placed the order before he pointed at (heaven forbid) the Singapore flag icon or (hurl!) a heart icon.

I know. I am so full of crap. But you got to give me some credit for letting him stick the stickers on himself. I was THIS CLOSE to ripping them off after he slept and doing it again. I think you can guess which ones I stuck on and which ones DN stuck on. If you had a crooked label to look at from now on, and a label with a peace sign next to your son's name, which would you choose?

I rest my case.

I wish I had done what Jovann's mummy did for him before his first day because the school scrapbook is a really good idea. Hmm... maybe I'll still do it. It might get him more excited about school. Yeah, I think I will!

First Day of School

Is it that wrong to feel guilty leaving your child in childcare and wanting to steal him out of there and keep him at home for the rest of his life? Ooops. My mom joked that my separation anxiety was worse than DN's. Haha, mom.

As a parent, I'm allowed to hang around the centre for the child's first 3 days of school. Honestly, I really didn't know what to do. I knew hanging around him like a leach probably wouldn't help him transition into school life, but I also didn't want to throw him into the deep end straight away.

On the morning of Day 1, I sat in a little, but away in a corner of the classroom. He did cry some and was always looking out for me, but it was okayyy... not great, but alright. During free play, I took a quick picture and quietly backed out of the classroom. He likes trains. :)

He had a mini-meltdown when it was shower time. Just REFUSED to let the aunty shower him, so I had to do it. Strike 1 against mommy. :P It was lunch after shower time and they had spaghetti with minced chicken, carrots and broccoli. I know this looks really bad, like DN just threw back up into his bowl, but it's really the combination of pink table, green bowl and horrible lighting!

Er... *sheepish*... yes, I was sitting next to him as I took this picture. Ooops. And I had to step in and feed him some because he just eats so slowwwly. Double oops. Strike 2! But he ate most of it, so I'm quite relieved about that.

It was apples for dessert and DN asked for seconds. I think Miss Elsie panchang him because it was his first day. He got an extra half a slice. I was like, "Hah? DN can eat a whole apple at home!" Of course he wasn't satisfied, haha.

Er yes... we are Hokkiens!!!!! Can't you tell? ;)

I'm Still Here!

Just wanted to leave a quick note to say, yes, I am alive and yes, I'm still here. I know I ought to be flogged for being such a terrible blogger (i.e. shamelessly and guiltlessly carrying on reading other blogs as I ignore my own) but so much has been happening, it's not funny.

1. Coming down with the flu... TWICE (ugh)
2. Wrapping up 2 projects, 1 with a children's performance at the end :)
3. Starting a new project
4. TRYING to get started on my journal articles, which are due in less than a month's time :(
   
5. Hosting my lecturer from the UK
6. House hunting (double triple MAJOR ugh!)
7. Packing up and moving house
8. Starting DN in school/childcare
   
9. Growing a baby
   

Yup yup, you read right, DN is going to get a little sister in ... da-da-da-daanggg... early September. Yikes. That's only 4+ months away, and I have to finish my dissertation by then too! Why do I make life impossible for myself, I want to know. I might as well stab myself in the foot. It's probably less painful. -___-"

On the DN front, here are some updates.

Toilet Training

He has conquered toilet training! Whoopee! It was SO quick and painless, it felt like someone was hiding behind the wings, waiting to jump out at me and say, "Gotcha! You're not getting off that easily, ha! DN, pee on mommy's leg!" But honestly, it was SO easy, I actually feel bad gloating about it. Er, okay, maybe not, ha ha!

I was so scared of potty training, I literally didn't want to start. One (brave) day, I decided to just give it a shot. And in my panicky state, I brought DN to the potty every half an hour. In 2-3 days, both of us got used to the routine and within a week, he was telling us when he wanted to pee and poo. After 2 weeks, PF and I even tried going out diaper-less, and it was FINE! I really wanted to give myself an Oscar / Golden Globe / Nobel Peace Prize / President's Scholarship. Er... but we haven't done it since. (Okay okay, take the statue back!) We've been doing lots of house-hunting, so to tell people, "Er, sorry, can my son use your toilet please? He really needs to poop." just doesn't cut it. So unless we're going to a nice(ish) mall, he still has his diaper on when we're out. (Okay, take the scholarship back too!)

Attack of the Cheese

DN had a "major" allergy attack a couple of days ago because of his parents' lack of judgement and bad junk food habit. You see, my favourite chips are tortilla chips and I just lurve the Doritos Ranch Chips. Now, when you think "ranch" you think "cowboys, horses, stirrups, chaps and yee-ha" right? You don't think "cheese" right? Yeah, so we allowed DN to have some quite a bit of ranch chips and in 5 minutes, his mouth turned all red and soon after, his eyes started turning red and puffy too. The poor guy kept rubbing his eyes and we knew it was an allergic reaction and the culprit was the chips! I quickly gave him his anti-allergy medicine. This time it took longer than usual to settle down but thankfully it did in the end and DN looked normal again. Phew. The only good thing that came out of this is, he doesn't bug us for those chips anymore!

Starting Childcare / School

Because of Bessie's impending arrival (will explain why we've nicknamed the baby such soon), PF and I decided to start DN in school. We know that when she arrives, all hell will break loose and soon, we will start looking like what the cat spat out and dragged in. We figured it would help if DN wasn't around so that we can devote all our time to Bessie and make sure we don't put diaper cream on her hair in a sleepy stupor for example. It might also help DN deal with any jealousy because he won't be around to see us fussing over the new baby. Well, we'll see if it works.

Anyway, today was DN's first day in school and it went "alright" I guess. It wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't a total disaster either. Alright. So-so. Okay. Can lah! I'm allowed to sit in / hang around for 3 days in total so I'll blog more about this later this week. Stay tuned. :)

What a morning!

Two Fridays ago, both PF and I took the day off. When you're a parent, taking a day off is not taking a day off. Unless the toddler is at his grandmother's of course.

At 7am, DN becomes bionic baby and can hear the dust rolling in the corner of our bedroom - the slightest sound and he's up. It's like his eyes pop open and he sits up like someone has released the spring in his back. BOING!

And he bounces (literally) out of bed and starts abusing terrorising rousing his parents. You see, DN will not stand for sleeping parents. He goes, "Mama! Mama! Papa! Papa! Up! Up! UPPPPP!" over and over and over. If verbal abuse doesn't work, he resorts to abuse of the physical sort. He will sit on our bellies and bounce. Doesn't work? He tries to lift our snoring heads up and shout "UP!" at the same time.

The poor guy. It's a gargantuan task really. The slug force is strong in us.

He definitely doesn't get the early bird gene from PF or myself because we have the comatose-until-12-noon gene. (My mom used to wake me up for school by pinching my legs. For 10 minutes!) So I don't know where he gets this trait from. Sometimes I wonder if the hospital switched babies when I wasn't looking and put a firecracker in my baby's cot.

Back to that Friday. After finally dragging my sorry butt out of bed, I lumbered downstairs like Babar the Elephant and set about making breakfast for the excitable toddler. After breakfast, I looked at the clock and went, "!!??!". It's only 8.15am! What am I going to do next with the excitable toddler?

Ah-ha! Now's a good time to finally use that activity pack Julia Gabriel gave us when class was cancelled one week because of the HFMD outbreak. So I stripped the toddler to his diaper and plonked him in his high chair, trembling with excitement just watching me get everything ready.

He loved it!

In the pack are "ingredients" for fried rice. The bag of yellow glue is "oil", the white crepe paper is "rice", the green stickers are "peas" and the paper plate is the "wok".

I helped DN with the peas but he "fried" the rest of the dish himself.
Looking mighty pleased with his oily fried rice. This dish definitely won't get the Healthy Choice sticker.



After adding the prawns and egg, it's time to throw in the rice.

After a few grains, DN got fed up and just dumped the whole container of rice into the wok!


No gloves in the kitchen. Tsk tsk tsk.

The finished dish. :D

DN was having so much fun, I decided to let him continue painting with the glue on rough paper I found in the house.















Time check : 9.00am! Only??!

DN and I go upstairs on the pretext of getting a diaper, but really to make some noise to wake PF up. Success! The father slug wakes up and we decide to troop off to Katong for breakfast.

PF orders a Pi Pa Kao canned drink, much to my amazement. The can is damn retro man. Tradition in a can!



It's Sarawak Laksa for PF...
... Chin Mee Chin cupcakes for me :)...

... and chai tow kuay for all of us.

DN : "What?! I have to share?"


















What a great breakfast! Food was good, weather was actually balmy and DN was his same amusing self, endearing the other kopi tiam diners to him. He kept smiling at this man sitting at the next table. I thought he was being friendly... until I saw the roti prata on the man's plate. He's beo-ing* the roti prata!

Since we were in the East, we drove over to the beach for a little walk.

The weather was really nice that day, and because it was a weekday, it was empty. :)


We found twigs and started drawing in the sand. I found a crab hole (this sounds so wrong, but for the life of me, I can't think of the proper name for it!) and showed it to DN. He probably understood 2% of my explanation of why crabs dig holes in the sand and where they go when the tide comes in.

I don't think I even understood myself.

Last Day of School

This is post is so overdue, it's not funny. I'm so sorry, but I've been knocked out by the flu and swamped with stuff at work. Pooh.

I haven't "announced" this on the blog, but PF and I signed DN up for a weekly playgroup class at Julia Gabriel for 1 term (10 weeks). Because they follow the regular school term, 24 May was also the "last day of school" for DN.

Aiyoh. I felt like a proud mama hen, with my plume of feathers all plumped up and glossy and my ego swelling to dangerous proportions, threatening to burst out of the room. I looked like my son had just found the cure to cancer.

*cluck*cluck*

Never mind that all DN has done these past 10 weeks is wander around the room while the teacher is talking, gaze longingly out the window at the outdoor playground (again, while the teacher is talking) and stain my jeans red with the water pistol filled with red paint which he was supposed to aim at the mahjong paper, not his mother.

Sorry, where was I? Ah yes, the cure for cancer. If I felt this way on the last day of ONE term of PLAYGROUP, I think I'm going to collapse when he graduates from University.

*cluck*clu..*

So anyway, we had a little party to celebrate the last day of term. Hmm... actually "celebrate" is not really a good term because DN really enjoyed those sessions. It's too bad that it's over. I can understand why the teachers are celebrating though!

The 2nd last week of school, we were told to bring a little something for the party. I decided to bite off more than I could chew make konnyaku jelly. You know the saying - "a woman's place is in the kitchen"? Well, mine's definitely not there. I had to throw half the jellies away because the culinary dunce in me decided to substitue half of the water with the leftover fruit cocktail syrup. Sadly, the "but they're both liquids!" argument holds no water.

The said / sad jellies.


DN got his face painted, but wouldn't keep still. See the crooked whiskers?

There is always an art and craft activity during these playgroup session. This week's activity was creating a fruit punch for the potluck.


During art and craft, we always let DN do his own thing instead of guiding his hand to paint within the lines or to paint the sun yellow.














There was a second activity that day. The kiddos got to watch bubbles being made - baking soda and vinegar.



DN receiving his certificate, heh heh.



















*cluck!*cluck!*