Bilingual Bunny and Monolingual Mummy

I'm so sorry my posts have been so sporadic and unpredictable. I'm just so uninspired, AND uninspiring myself. Ugh. Add the fact that I'm ballooning at such an embarrassing rate (people think I'm going to give birth next month, ack) and have started to waddle like a duck (but it's just SO comfortable!) and you get a very disgruntled, grumpy and pregnant duck-woman. I'm SO not embracing my pregnant body! :p

Anyhows, DN has been saying the darnest things these past few days, I just MUST share them. You know how people always tell you, "Yeah, sure you will enjoy it when they first start to talk, but soon you just want them to shut up!"

Oooh, I don't!

I lurvelurvelurve talking to DN and I lurvelurvelurve hearing all the funny things he says. You'll all be proud to know that he's turning out to be quite the bilingual bunny and is putting his monolingual mommy to utter shame. DN speaks to PF and I in English and to his paternal grandparents and PF's sister exclusively in Mandarin. My baby can code-switch! Hee hee hee! Just the other day, he was conversing with his aunt in the car and I overheard him saying this, "改天我要去爸爸的 office." I almost mounted the kerb. 改天??? Alamak, I only know 今天 and 明天 and I still get my 后天 and 前天 mixed up!

So a few days later, I decided to show him one up and told him, "DN! 小心!" I can't remember what he was doing - climbing up a chair? Drinking from my Bodum glass (ack!)? Anyway, the little bugger laughed at me! He actually said, "小心! 小心! Hahahahaha...!" I don't believe it. The cheek!

So yeah, monolingual mommy is feeling very embarrassed... and yet proud at the same time. It's a funny feeling. *sigh*

So... what kind of mouse are you?

Is it a bad thing if your son replies "go shopping centre" or "go supermarket" if you ask him what he wants to do? Hmm... I'm not sure. On the one hand, at least I know he'll be able to navigate though the concrete jungle next time (threatening to cancel credit cards to get another free year of subscription, modifying the Wii to play pirated games, cheating when plucking car park coupons...), but on the other hand, to not have the experience of catching fish in drains or climbing a tree must be quite a sad thing don't you think?

So yes, DN is definitely a city mouse, not a country mouse. And it's our fault of course. We just don't expose him to nature enough. And with the weather threatening to fry us silly, it's not like I'm going to start traipsing around Sungei Buloh anytime soon.

Our most recent (and valiant) attempt was 2 weekends ago when we brought DN to West Coast Park for some hotcakes, cycling and sand play with Reubern and Sophie. We brought DN's tricycle along and phwoarh! That really tested his non-existent sharing ability together with my patience. -_- If anyone has any tips on how to get an almost 3 year old to share, I'm all ears.

So except for the "This is mineminemine!" raving and ranting, all of us city mice had a good time in the "pseudo" country. At the sand pit, DN just leapt right in, dug his feet and hands into the sand and was basically just loving it as his mommy tottered after him with tissue to wipe sand off his face (futile, don't know why I bothered... sand and children go together like peanut butter and jam). I really had to bite my tongue from saying, "Argh! Don't touch your hair!" or "Eep! Don't pick that up!" or "Aiyah! Don't kick the sand into your eyes!" and of course, "You stink! Let's go home now!"

Sigh... I'm the real city mouse.

But city mouse or not, I'm glad we brought DN there because he had a swell time, smelly or not. We've been back once since that last trip and we're going again this weekend. :D

Bessie

Did you have nicknames for your baby during pregnancy?

PF and I called DN "pups" (and we still do sometimes) because he was born in the year of the dog.

When we found out about #2, we toyed with "buttercup" and "bessie" (cow mah!). Personally, I prefer "buttercup". Gives you an image of a peaceful cow chewing cud in the meadow and swishing her tail eh? But saying it is such a mouthful. So "bessie" it was. Anyway, isn't "buttercup" the name of some Malaysian brand of butter?

Anyway, I must say, for Bessie, I've been really really good. I have only bought ONE THING for her so far. I'm quite impressed with myself because oh my, the things you can buy for girls! Hair clips, hair bands, petticoats, tights, dresses (oh, the dresses!)... etc. Shopping for boys is really boring. So boring that I only bought 6 months' worth of onesies when I was 6 months pregnant with DN. Like I said, *yawn* boring. It was more interesting picking the colour of his stroller.

Surprisingly, I've managed to keep myself in check for Bessie and only bought this pair of shoes from Pediped. Gasp! Am I growing up???

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. :)