Family of Tohs

Chinese New Year 2012

2012-01-30T22:10:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year to you all!

This Chinese New Year falls in January, which is earlier than the usual February. It feels like we had just celebrated Christmas and New Year, and now it's Chinese New Year!

I finally had the chance to use the little cheongsam I bought 2 years ago! Long story why I bought a little girl cheongsam even though I didn't have any girls at that time. But the little cheongsam fits Charlotte perfectly now! I am so happy. =)

Blessed Christmas

2011-12-26T07:34:00.000-08:00

Blessed Christmas to you! This year, we celebrated Christmas with one new addition to our family, our cute baby Charlotte who just turned 3 months old.

Here are some of the pictures we took on Christmas Eve morning.

Charlotte's Birth Story

2011-10-12T09:23:00.000-07:00

Now, where do I begin to tell the birth story of our little girl, Charlotte?

Let's start with my first pregnancy, shall we? The name Charlotte, which means "feminine", was a name I wanted for my baby when I know that I was pregnant with my first child. 5 years and 2 boys later, Charlotte was born.

As some of you may know, our second child, Luke, was born at our home. We didn't make it to the hospital in time. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful unplanned home birth.

For Charlotte's birth, we made it to the hospital in time but it might well have been a MBS (Marina Bay Sands) birth had we procrastinated in going to the hospital. You see, we were having a 1 night stay at MBS together with the boys' lovely godparents, Desmond and Susan before they left for the UK.

Here are some pictures taken at MBS the day before Charlotte was born.

:: Boys and their god-parents at the sky park pool ::

:: In our hotel room, enjoying a club sandwich ::

At 1.30 a.m, while the boys and my hubby were deep in their sleep in the hotel room, my water bag burst. I never had the experience of my water bag burst for my previous 2 pregnancies. So when I felt a "pop" and "a river runs through it" sensation down under, I said to myself "Gee, did my water bag just burst?". I woke my hubby up and said to him, "Darling, errr.... I think my water bag just burst." He said "Ok, let's go to the hospital now".

Thankfully, the boys' godparents were staying just a few rooms away, so we ringed them to come over to babysit our boys in our room. With our boys still deep in their sleep and oblivious to the fact that they will soon meet their much-anticipated-little-sister, we took our hospital bag and headed for Thomson Medical Centre.

The birth of Charlotte is rather different from my other 2 boys. My water bag had burst with no contractions whatsoever. In fact, besides the fact that I was leaking water from under, it really didn't feel like I was going into labour at all! I even googled on my iPad to check if I should head for the hospital immediately or wait a bit before contractions start. But having a record of not making to the hospital in time, Hubby and I figured it would be prudent to go to the hospital to have a check immediately.

At 2.40 a.m, we arrived at Thomson Medical Centre. The contractions were so mild they did not even register on the monitor. Since baby's heart beat was normal and I had indicated in my birth plan that I didn't want to be strapped to a monitor, they removed the monitoring and let me try and catch some sleep in the waiting room of the labour ward.

It was nice that my gynae happened to be in hospital at that unearthly hour doing an emergency c-caesarean and she popped by to say hi. It is always nice and reassuring to see my kind gynae (Dr Joycelyn Wong). Here's a picture of my gynae taken when Luke was born.

:: My kind gynae - Dr Joycelyn Wong ::

(Photo taken when Luke was born)

Seeing that there was no action, Hubby left me in the hospital and went back to MBS to be with the boys. I tried to catch some sleep but couldn't. You see, I was keeping track of the interval between each contraction and was getting quite frustrated that the contractions were still rather mild and about 10-20 mins apart. For medical reasons, my gynae had recommended that I be induced if labour didn't progress 12 hours after my water bag burst. But I really don't want to be induced and so I was hoping that I would go into labour naturally before the 12-hour deadline.

At 7.30 am, Hubby returned to the hospital after packing up our belongings at MBS and sending Luke (my 2-year-old boy) home, while Matt (my 4-year-old boy) stayed with his godparents at MBS. Hubby even managed to have Bah Kut Teh (the famous one at Balestier Road) for breakfast before coming.

By the time Hubby returned to the hospital, I was already transferred from the waiting room to the delivery room. However, the contractions were still very mild, so there we were, just the 2 of us in the delivery room, happily taking photos, trying out the reclining chair and sending out text messages to our family and friends.

At 8.30 am, my kind gynae came to check on me again. I was only about 5 cm dilated and contractions were not very well established. She said she will check back on me at 1.30 pm and we will decided then if I am to be induced.

Soon after my gynae left, I started feeling stronger contractions and the urge to go to the toilet. Every time I feel the contractions, Hubby and I would joke that I should try to attain "inner peace" (like in KungFu Panda 2).

At about 9 am, I wasn't in the mood for jokes any more. The contractions were so strong that I felt the urge to push my baby out. The not-so-kind nurse attending to me in my delivery room insisted on doing another vaginal examination to check my dilation before calling my gynae. Being the ever-so-squeamish-about-vaginal-exam girl, I said "I don't want another vaginal exam, just call my gynae." But, the nurse persisted and said she need to do another vaginal exam so that she can call my gynae to come earlier. Feeling really exasperated by the inflexibility of the nurse, I screamed with whatever breath I had while in the middle of a contraction "I DON'T WANT. I DON'T WANT. I DON'T WAAAAANT...." (Ok, so I didn't attain inner peace after all).

I am not sure it was my screaming or that the nurse finally got the idea that my baby was going to come out, she called my gynae to the delivery room. Thankfully, my gynae's office is in the same hospital, just 1 floor above the delivery room. When my gynae came, I was in so much pain that I could no longer open my eyes to see her. But hearing her voice was such a reassuring thing for me. Within 2 pushes, my little baby girl, Charlotte was born into this world at 9.29 am and Hubby cut her umbilical cord.

Here are the many things I am thankful to God regarding the birth of Charlotte:

1) Baby Charlotte is a healthy 3.01 kg baby even though she came out early at 38 weeks.

2) My water bag had burst prior to the start of any regular contractions, forcing us to go to the hospital immediately. Otherwise, baby Charlotte might really had been born in MBS.

3) The boys' lovely godparents were with us at MBS when the fiasco happened and could help us babysit our boys.

4) I had no tear from this birth and hence no need for any stitches. Helps so much in the healing process!

Charlotte's Birth Announcement

2011-10-03T08:03:00.000-07:00

Our Family of Tohs has grown by another 10 tiny toes!

We are overjoyed to announce the birth of our baby girl, Baby Charlotte Toh Shi Ya (杜诗雅）

It took a while for us to make this official birth announcement because we took a while to decide on her chinese name! Hubby gave her the Chinese name, 诗雅 which means poetic, elegant and graceful. Her English name Charlotte (pronounced as shar-let) means feminine.

She was born on 23 Sept 2011 (Friday) at 9.29 am at Thomson Medical Centre. (yes, we made it to the hospital this time!) She weighs 3.01 kg at birth and measures 49 cm in length.

3rd Trimester

2011-09-09T21:34:00.000-07:00

I am now in my 3rd trimester. 36 weeks to be exact, 1 more month before EDD of Baby no. 3! =)

This pregnancy has been such a beautiful experience. This baby moves a lot. Sometimes, the baby's kicks are so vigorous that hubby and I would joke that baby is having a disco party inside my tummy. Baby likes to move most often at night when I am about to sleep but also moves during the day when I am driving or reading a book to my boys.

The fact that this might be my last pregnancy makes me treasure the experience even more. Sometimes I think of the 18 or more years ahead of raising each child to adulthood and only a mere 9 months is spent having the child inside my womb, makes this pregnancy even more special.

I marvel at the thought of God causing a new life to be created inside my womb and causing the baby to grow and be nourished day-by-day until the day the baby is ready for the outside world. Such the power of our Creator God. And to be able to experience the mystery of pregnancy and childbirth is a gift from God indeed.

Sleeping Training Luke

2011-09-01T03:25:00.000-07:00

The past week, I have been sleep-training Luke (2.5 years old) to say goodnight to me while he is still awake so that I can leave the room and he can sleep on his own. Luke shares the bedroom with his older brother Matthew (4.5 years old) and they both go to bed at the same time. After story time, it's lights-off and mummy stays in the room for 5 minutes before the boys have to say goodnight to mummy.

As expected, there has been much drama from the little 2-year-old when I leave the room. On some nights, Luke would negotiate with me to stay longer ("Mummy, I don't want 5 minutes. I want so many minutes") and ask me why he has to say goodnight ("Mummy, I don't want to say goodnight. Why I need to sleep by myself?") just to stall time and make me stay longer in his room. On other nights, when it was time for me to leave the room, Luke would cry and scream and make a big fiasco.

But quite unexpectedly, the whole sleep-training process has brought about a closer bond between the 2 brothers. On 1 occasion, after I left the room with Luke still crying, Luke turned to his brother and said between his sobs "Matt Matt, you know why I cry? Because Mummy don't want to pat pat me to sleep anymore". And you know what Matt said to his little brother? He said "It's ok, I am here. Don't cry, just close your eyes and sleep". I thought it was really sweet of Matt and I felt Matt has matured a little as a big brother in the process.

:: While the sleeping training happens at night, these 2 photos were taken during their afternoon naps hence they were not in their pajamas. ::

Letter J (and other toddler activities)

2011-06-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

:: Luke is 2 years and 3 months old ::

Luke and I are progressing steadily through the letters of the alphabet. Since my last post on Letter C for caterpillar, we have done Letter D, E, F, G, H, I and this week we did Letter J.

The first activity we did was something I thought of on the spot. I wrote a few upper and lower case Letter J on a piece of A4 paper and I offered 1 do-a-dot marker to Luke. I asked him to dot the Letter J on the paper using the marker and say out the name of the letter. It was a really easy and quick activity to prepare and it was an activity which Luke enjoyed. The novelty of the new markers definitely helped capture Luke's attention in this activity.

I also let Luke try the glue stick for the first time. I cut out small pieces of coloured tissue paper and wrote the Letter J (upper and lower case) on a piece of paper. Then I showed him how to use the glue stick to apply some glue on the tissue paper before sticking it onto the Letter J.

I didn't realise how much fine-motor coordination is required for this task until I see Luke tried to hold down a small piece of tissue paper and apply the glue at the same time. Definitely a good practice for the fine-motor skills but a little too challenging for Luke at the moment. After a while, I figured that it was easier and more achievable for Luke to apply the glue onto the Letter J and stick the tissue paper on instead.

We also did some threading practice using pipe cleaners and coloured beads. Luke really enjoyed this activity today and I could see the great sense of achievement on his face when he finished threading.

We also used soya beans for some activities today. The first activity was to put soya bean into a container with small compartments. This activity is to practice picking and putting down small objects. First, I asked him to put 1 soya bean in each compartment, then I asked him to put 2 soya bean in each compartment. This was to incorporate a little counting practice while he played with the soya bean.

While he was doing that, I had another idea. I took out my Post-It pad and wrote 1 number on each Post-It from 1-3. Then I drew a corresponding number of small circles (roughly the size of a soya bean) on Post-It and pasted a piece of double sided tape over the small circles so that it could stick the soya bean. Then I counted together with Luke and asked him to stick the soya bean on the small circles.

Do-a-Dot Markers

2011-06-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

I have been looking to buy Do-A-Dot Markers for my little ones for a very long time. Although I know it is available online from several US sites including Amazon, the cost of shipping it to Singapore just did not justify the purchase. Finally, I found a local (Singapore) online shop which sells Do-A-Dot Markers. Hurray!

I was delighted when my Do-a-Dot Markers package arrived on Monday! I had ordered the set of 4 markers from My Special Kid for $20.50 + $1.50 (postage). The service provided by this online shop is very prompt and I would recommend this shop to you.

These markers are an excellent addition to our home art supplies. One thing I like about these markers is that there is no setup time needed. No cups, no brushes, just take them out from the box and offer it to your little one.

It has a round sponge tip applicator (much like a glue stick) which makes coloured round dots when pressed on the paper. But the best part of this product is that it is NON-SPILL! Despite being shaken vigorously, the paint did not drip out from the marker! (Trust me on that cos my little ones tested it out with "great and forceful" enthusiasm). Also, I like that the markers are fat and chunky, good for little hands. And it has a twist off cap which even my 2 year old can manage on his own.

There are some pictures of my little ones using the Do-a-Dot Markers.

There are many websites to print activities/templates for your little ones to use the markers on. Check out this useful website which had consolidated these activity templates for you! =)

Universal Studios Singapore

2011-06-08T22:42:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, on a public holiday (Vesak Day), we brought the boys to Universal Studios Singapore (USS) at Resorts World Sentosa. Hubby had a pair of free tickets to the USS which was expiring soon and we wanted to give the boys a special treat for their birthdays which had just past.

One of the first rides we took was the Madagascar carousel with characters from the Madagascar movie. Matt enjoyed it very much whilst Luke was rather hesitant. Much to our surprise, the queue for the ride was only a 5 mins wait! So we took this ride twice.

Here's a picture of the 3 boys in my life. =)

The next ride we took was the SHREK 4-D Adventure. Because I am pregnant, Luke and I took the stationary seats while Hubby and Matt took the movable seats. It was the first time my 2 boys were in a "cinema setting". They both found it exciting to put on the special 3-D glasses. Luke especially enjoyed this ride while Matt was a little scared by the movements on the seat. The wait for this ride was also quite manageable (abt 15 mins).

Before we break for lunch, we took the Magic Portion Spin in the Far Far Away land. It was a ferris wheel for children. Not very impressive, but the children enjoyed anyways.

We had our lunch at a restaurant called Goldilocks in the Far Far Away Land. They served special 7-spice chicken. We didn't find the food very satisfying, I think KFC would be more satisfying in comparison.

After lunch, we went to The Lost World and Matt took the Dino-Soarin ride with Hubby while I waited with Lukie who was asleep in his stroller by then. After the ride, the weather was turning very hot and it was the boys' nap time. We decided to head home to wash up and take a nap. It's nice that our home is only a 15 mins drive from Sentosa. =)

After a shower and a nap, we went back to Sentosa feeling so much more refreshed. We had our dinner at a Chinese Restaurant (Baits) just outside the USS. This time the food is much better. =)

After dinner, we went back to the Universal Studios It was about 7.30 pm, and by this time, the waiting time for most rides was very short. We took 2 more rides: Accelerator at the Sci-Fi City and Treasure Hunters at Ancient Egypt (where Matthew drove us all on a desert jeep through an abandoned Egyptian excavation site.)

We bought Universal Studios T-shirts for the 2 boys and managed to catch the breathtaking fireworks display at 9 pm. It was the boys' first time watching a live fireworks display and they really enjoyed it.

We had a good day at the USS. I thought we did quite well taking a grand total of 6 rides given that our boys are still quite young (2 n 4 years old) and I am expecting. =)

C is for Caterpillar

2011-05-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

The letter of the week is C. We did a simple craft sticking pom-poms on the Letter C and the caterpillar.

Things you need for this activity:

Pom-poms
Double sided tape
Scissors
Paper
Marker to draw the outline of the Letter C and the picture of a caterpillar

We used double-sided tape to stick the pom-poms to the paper. Luke practiced his fine motor skill by using the scissors to cut the double-sided tape and removing the backing of the tape. He didn't really enjoy this activity and kept asking me to let him watch TV.

When Matt returned from school that day, he saw the completed craft hanging at the window and he said "Mummy, you did Letter C with Lukie today? I want to do it too!". So I promised him that we would do some Letter C craft together later in the day.

Things you need for this activity:

Scissors
Construction Paper
Marker to draw the outline of the Letter C

I decided to keep it simple by drawing the outline of the Letter C on a piece of construction paper and inviting the boys to cut it out with a pair of scissors. They were both very interested in this simple activity. Luke still needs me to help to maneuver the paper while he holds the scissors to cut the paper. But he is definitely very proud when he cut out the letter C.

We also did an impromptu scavenger hunt for items beginning with the Letter C and put them in their toy wagon.

Matt's 4th and Luke'2 2nd Birthday Bashes

2011-05-26T00:40:00.001-07:00

My 2 boys' birthdays are about 2 weeks apart.

Luke (29 Mar 2009) ; Matthew (15 April 2007)

In that 2 weeks, we had 5 birthday celebrations for them!

Here are some photos of the birthday bashes.

Luke's Actual Day Celebration At Home

We had planned to bring Luke to the zoo on his actual day birthday but he had fever on that day. So we had a simple birthday celebration with him at home. But as you can see, Luke is happy and excited to celebrate his special day.

Combined Birthday Celebration #1 with Cousins (paternal)

On the weekend of Luke's birthday, we had my hubby's immediate family members over to celebrate the boys birthdays. The boys specially requested for a chocolate cake. =P They had a swell time with their cousins.

Matt's Actual Day Celebration in School

Matt's actual day birthday fell on a Friday (a school day), so we brought a cake and some goodie bags to his preschool (Kay Poh Road Baptist Kindergarten) to celebrate with him in class. I think it was fun for Matt and his classmates were thrilled too.

Matt's Actual Day Celebration at Home

That night, we had our regular church bible study group meet at our home and they bought Matt a birthday cake. So we celebrated his birthday again at home. =)

Combined Birthday Celebration #2 with Cousins (maternal)

That weekend, we invited my immediate family members to our place for dinner and we celebrated the boys' birthdays again, of course! =P

B is for Ball

2011-05-05T01:52:00.000-07:00

I just started Letter of the Week with Luke in the past month. Having tried letter of the week with Matt, I decided that this time round, I will be more relaxed and try to let Luke take the lead in terms of what type of activities interest him. I also decided that I will devise craft/activities which do not require too much preparation work on my part so as not to stress myself up. =)

Here's what you need for this activity:

Poster Paint
Small ball (plastic or rubber)
Paper

We have already done some Letter A stuff for the past 2 weeks and last week we did Letter B. I drew the outline of big letter B and small letter B on a piece of drawing paper. Sat Luke down on his highchair, poured some poster paint in a plastic plate and gave him a ball to stamp paint on the letter B. He seemed to really enjoy the activity.

He enjoyed it so much he asked for another colour and experimented with paint brush this time.

And when he saw the ice cream stick in the craft box, he asked to use it too!

Lukie Turns 2!

2011-04-25T01:16:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to blog much lately because this pregnancy (like my previous 2 pregnancies) has been plagued by morning sickness and migraines. =(

But, 1 month ago, my younger boy Lukie turned two! My heart swells with thankfulness to God to see how fine this little boy of mine has grown.

The past 1 year for Lukie has been an amazing journey of growth and milestones. One which he literally "walked out" of babyhood into toddlerhood. And boy, there is no turning back. Now he loves to run and is full of joy, humour and curiosity for life.

I tried to find a few photos of Lukie which represented the past year for him. And had found numerous photos of him and his older brother Matthew instead. In many ways, that represents life for little Lukie.

He was born into a family with a brother (2 years older) whose love and affection for his younger brother had grown and deepened over the past 2 years.

And having been born into a family whose parents had gone through 2 years of parenting their firstborn, Lukie is definitely on the receiving end of a more relaxed style of parenting.

Luke is an affectionate little boy. He often tells me "I love mommy" / "I love everybody". And he would put his hand around my neck really tight to hug me.

Being a stay-at-home-mom, I really treasure the one-to-one time I can have with Luke in the morning when Matthew is in preschool. We like to go out of the house to explore the "nature" around our house. Like looking at ants and poking the mimosa plant to "put them to sleep".

Luke loves to pat the dogs in our neighbourhood and just spend time playing at the playground.

Luke totally stunned Hubby n I when he started stringing words together to form sentences at Age 1.5. One of Luke's first sentence we always remembered is "No, I didn't".

I know exactly where he learnt that phrase from.=) Whenever we questioned Matt "Did you pinch your Brother?" Matt would say "No, I didn't". Lukie must have picked up the phrase from his older brother! =)

Luke knows that I love to hear him say "No, I didn't" because I think it sounds so cute when the phrase comes out from the mouth a 1.5 year-old. Sometimes at bedtime, he would say the phrase just to make me laugh. And he doesn't just say it, he adds cute drama to the phrase by pouting his lips and saying it with a funny voice. Oh, he is my cute little boy.

It's been a full year for my little baby who is now my little boy.

Below are excerpts of the funny things said by Lukie which I would like to remember as the years pass by.

Mommy: "Do u love mommy?"
Luke: "Yes"
Mommy: "How much?"
Luke : "1 Dollar"

Sometimes when I am felling sad or angry, Lukie would come up to me and say
"Mommy, I buy you sweets".
Aww... this little boy really melts my heart sometimes.

Luke came to me one morning and said,
"This morning, I get along with Matt Matt. I didn't snatch his toy."

Once Luke lifted up his T-shirt and asked me to talk to "his baby".
(my boys like to lift up my T-shirt and talk to Baby no. 3 in my tummy)
But, in that particular incident, Lukie tried to talk to "his baby" by bending his head close to his own belly. At first, when he couldn't do it, he said to me "Must sit down first" (referring to himself). Then, he sat down and tried again to talk to "his baby" but soon realised that he can't put his mouth on his belly even when he is sitting down. What a moment of revelation for him. =D

Lukie has a good sense of humour. Sometimes, he would call me "Mommy" and when I answer him "Yes?" he would make the sound "domp" just to 'trick' me and make me laugh.

Baby No. 3

2011-04-01T01:06:00.001-07:00

We are happy to announce that our family is expecting our Baby No. 3!

EDD: 7 Oct 2011.

Here's the first ultrasound scan of our littlest one at Week 8.

At Week 8, Baby only measured 1.8 cm (the size of a kidney bean!)

We are excited to 'see' Baby in the ultrasound and 'hear' Baby's heartbeat. Makes the pregnancy more real and concrete.

Can you believe that at Week 8, Baby already has tiny little limbs?

I marvel at the wonders of God's amazing creation - that He should form a new life inside my womb.

Here's our little Baby no. 3 at Week 12. Baby is now 5.6 cm! (the size of a lime)

It's hard to describe the joy when we 'saw' baby again in our second visit to the gynae. Especially for me, who is very skinny and not showing any baby bump yet, it is so reassuring and a such relief when I saw Baby MOVING in the ultrasound! Yes, Baby actually moves when I laugh!

We can even see Baby's little hand! =) So cute and so beautifully formed by our awesome God.

Baby is saying 'hi' to mummy and daddy. =)

Singapore Underwater World

2011-03-09T23:59:00.000-08:00

Few weeks ago, on a late Saturday morning, the weather was too hot to head for the park, so we brought the boys to the Singapore Underwater World (at Sentosa). It's really a great place to visit on a hot day cos it is air-conditioned! =)

The boys enjoyed putting their hands into the fish tank to let the fish 'kiss' their hands.

There was also a big tank full of stingrays where you can put your hand in to touch the stingrays as they swim pass. I thought it was pretty scary but Matthew was rather thrilled by the experience.

The boys saw jelly fish...

and sharks (which looked like they were all asleep)...

and humongous fish (which looked even bigger than Luke)

They enjoyed watching the marine creatures in the underwater tunnel ...
... but being boys, they most enjoyed the travellator and climbing the railing

It was a bonus to catch the fur seal show. There is also a pink dolphin show which is quite good when we went there the last time.

Overall, it was a fantastic outing. Weeks after the trip, Luke is still saying to me randomly "Mummy, remember we saw sharks at the Underwater World?". Makes it all worthwhile. =)

Chinese New Year 2011

2011-02-16T23:26:00.001-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year to you! In keeping with our family tradition, we took a family photo on the first day of the Chinese New Year.

Matt was down with flu this New Year season and we had to bring him to see a doctor on the first day of the Chinese New Year. Thankfully, there was a clinic which was opened although we had to pay a little more than usual. Also, thankfully we managed to visit the boys' grandparents and great-grandparents despite Matt's flu. Ah... such is the life of parents with young children. They fall sick every now and then and it doesn't matter if it is new year or not.

This year, I bought the boys' and my own new year clothes from the Chinatown in Singapore. It was a delight to find a good range of traditional Chinese clothing at a pretty affordable price. Around $15-20 for the children's clothes and around $40 for my Qipao. I believe the stores in Chinatown stock up on the traditional Chinese clothing during the period leading up to the Chinese New Year due to the increase in demand. I suppose, during the other times of the year, the demand for traditional Chinese clothing would come mostly from the tourists rather than the locals.

:: Cheeky Lukie is 1 year and 11 months old ::

:: Matthew is 3 years and 10 months old ::

Happy Birthday, Hubby!

2011-01-29T22:21:00.000-08:00

On 17 Jan 2011, we celebrated my hubby's 39th birthday. His special request for his birthday was to have his wife's home-baked quiche for dinner! It was the most delightful and flattering request a wife can get from her hubby.

With 2 young children, it was nice to celebrate birthdays in the comfort of our own home. And it was such a joy to see my hubby and 2 boys enjoying the quiche which I had baked.

:: Here's Matt and Hubby enjoying the quiche ::

:: Here's Lukie way of saying "nice!" ::

The boys were especially thrilled when it was time to light the candles and sing the birthday song for Pa Pa. They even added their favourite strawberry Pocky sticks on Pa Pa's cake. (Can you see them on the birthday cake after we had removed the candles?) The boys were so cute. =)

I asked hubby how he felt on his 39th birthday. His reply: "I feel blessed and happy for the family which God had given me. I never imagined that I will have a wife and 2 cute boys."

Well, I have the same feeling of gratitude and joy. Especially for this man whom God had brought into my life and is now my hubby. He has been my friend for 15 years and my hubby for 5 years! And it's has been a beautiful journey being his friend and wife.

Luke picking up pom poms

2011-01-18T11:55:00.000-08:00

This morning I brought out the pom poms and a small pair of tongs for Luke to play. This is a montessori activity for the little ones to practice their grip.

What a delight to see Luke enjoying this activity. He was really focussing hard to transfer the pom poms from one bowl to another. Every time he had completed the task, he would say "again" and do it all over again. =)

I bought the pom poms and tongs almost 2 years ago when Matthew was about Luke's age (21 months). If you are living in Singapore and would like to buy them for your little ones, you can find them at Daiso for $2.

First Post 2011

2011-01-13T02:39:00.001-08:00

Here's my first post in 2011 with a little family photo taken in Melecca during the December school holiday. Matthew is 3 1/2 years old and Luke is 21 months.

Will post more updates on our family soon. =) Hubby is away this week for work and Luke is feeling unwell.

First Concert

2010-12-20T12:00:00.000-08:00

On 13 Nov, just before school closed for the year, Matthew performed in his first concert!

It was for his school (Kay Poh Road Baptist Kindergarten) Year-End Concert. His pre-nursery class put up a Malay dance and Matthew was a Malay fisherman dressed in the traditional malay costume, Baju Melayu. =)

Like all moms, I think my boy looked really cute in his costume. And I am definitely the one who was more excited than him about the concert. =) Somehow, seeing my firstborn child performing on stage before a crowd brought about a great sense of pride and emotion in me.

I am thankful God provided us with this wonderful preschool for Matthew in the past year. Both his English and Chinese teachers were great, they were passionate and loving in teaching the little ones in their class. Although it's a small preschool, our family had been touched by the mission and heart of the school to serve the little ones and their parents.

A Little Pasta Fun

2010-11-10T07:16:00.000-08:00

Luke is 19 months.

Here's a video clip of Luke putting dried pasta into the little hole on the cereal box, taking them out from the box and doing it all over again.

The background sound you hear is from his brother, whom Luke affectionately calls "Matt Matt".

Isn't it lovely to see how the little play-things we create for our little ones can bring much joy and entertainment even though it is so simple?

This idea is taken from one of my favourite blog called 1+1+1=1 Tot Tray. It's a blog by a Christian mom, Charissa who homeschools her 3 children in America. In her blog, you can also find a long list of other blogs who participate in Tot School. I find some of these blogs so inspiring and I often find great ideas for activities to do with my preschooler and toddler at home. =)

Buggy Board

2010-11-01T01:26:00.000-07:00

Recently we bought a Lascal Buggy Board from Mothercare (HarbourFront). And I have been finding it very useful when I bring the 2 boys out-and-about by myself.

Matthew really enjoys standing on the buggy board while I push the stroller. That keeps him away from the busy traffic and makes it easier for me to manage the 2 boys during our outings.

One of the things which I like about this buggy board is that you can easily detach it from the stroller when you are not using it. That makes for easy storage. When you need to use it, you can just click the buggy board to the stroller and off you go.

We had contemplated buying a double stroller for our 2 boys but there is just not enough storage space in our house for another stroller. With the Lascal Buggy Board, we can move our 2 boys around without needing to buy another stroller. What a useful product! =)

Tiong Bahru Park

2010-10-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

Yeah! The haze is finally clearing up and blue skies have returned once again. Yesterday, after our afternoon nap, we headed to Tiong Bahru Park (15 mins walk from our home) for some outdoor sand play.

It was a perfect day. Not too hot and it didn't rain. =) The boys and I enjoyed being outdoor once again after being cooped up at home for the past 2 weeks due to the haze.

Here's Luke secretly scooping sand into his brother's shoes when he left them unattended.

I could hear Luke saying to himself "scoop sand in Matt Matt's shoe". I had to contain my laughter as I snap these shots of my little mischievous Luke.

Every now and then, Luke would look up to check if his brother is aware of his little prank.

Before returning back to his work of piling more sand in his brother's shoes.

When Matt returned to find his shoes filled with sand, he took it all in good spirits. He just commented, "Wow, so much sand". Emptying the sand out from his shoes, he put them on again and ran off to the playground.

Indoor Sandbox

2010-10-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

Lately, with the terrible haze, boys and I have been avoiding outdoor play. As a result, our 'indoor sandbox' has been a great hit.

Instead of sand, I put about 2kg of uncooked rice in a wide base container. The boys enjoyed scooping and pouring the rice with various types of scoops and spoons. They experimented using a funnel to pour rice into empty milk bottle and pretended to make milk for each other. They discovered that little plastic bottle caps can be a great "plate" for their rice and would offer the "food" to mommy for "food tasting". =)

One of the plus point about using rice is that you can use it again and again. If it gets dusty and dirty after repeated play, you can give it a quick wash and lay it out on a tray to sun-dry. Make sure that the rice is completely dry before storing it again. It's also a good idea to store the rice in an air-tight container when the kids are not playing with it.

What fun activities do you do with your little ones at home when the weather keeps you indoor?

Making Egg Tarts

2010-10-19T07:44:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I last baked egg tarts. In my memory, that was before my children came along.

Last Friday, someone in my Community Group offered to prepare dinner (I usually prepare dinner for about 15 people in my CG every Friday) and so I had some time to make dessert instead. I decided to make something which I have tried many years ago... Egg Tarts!

It was nice that I could involve my older boy (3 1/2 years old) in the process. He helped to pour the egg custard into the crust. It was an excellent pouring practice for him and it made him feel great being "Mother's Happy Helper'.

Here's the tried and tested recipe which I used. The ingredients are surprising simple and readily available. It's a little tedious lining the pastry into the egg tart mould but the end product is delicious.

Crust

340g Flour
115 g Butter
115 g Margarine
70g Icing Sugar
1/2 Egg

Add margarine, butter and icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Mix fo 5-7 mins at low speed
Add the egg into mixture and mix for another 2 mins at low speed
Fold in the flour and blend well. Cover the dough with a cling wrap and keep in the fridge till firm
Remove the dough from fridge and line the pastry into the egg tart mould

Egg Custard

115g Water
40g Sugar
35ml Milk
1 1/2 Egg

Using a hand whisk, dissolve the sugar into the water. Blend in milk, egg and mix well.
Pour the custard into the egg tart mould.
Preheat oven to 220 deg cel, bake for 20 mins till the custard has set and the crust golden brown

小小的梦想 Little Dream

2010-10-18T00:28:00.000-07:00

One day after his school, my older boy was singing 爱你...爱你...爱你...爱你. Surprised that my boy is singing a mandarin song, I probed to find out more. "Did you learn this song in school today?" "Was it 耶酥爱你？”

The next day, when I sent him to school in the morning. I said "Oh oh... we are late today. Think you missed your Mari Kita (the National Anthem)". He ran ahead of me into the assembly hall and said excitedly, "They are still singing 爱你爱你”.

True enough, when I peeked into the assembly hall, the little children and their teachers were all singing the 爱你...爱你 song together with hand actions. Very cool.

Later, I found out from his school teacher the song is called 最深爱的主. The song is taken from a Christian CD for children titled 小小的梦想 (Little Dream) and is produced by Stream of Praise Music Ministries (赞美之泉).

The next day I purchased it from the SKS bookstore. I really liked it and would highly recommend it. It comes with a music CD and a DVD. The music CD contains 10 very nicely worded songs, sung mostly by children. The DVD has 3 sections :

Besides the very well worded and meaningful lyrics, most songs have a very catchy tune and tempo, which the kids can dance along or use their shakers/tambourines as they listen .

There are also several songs which are very melodious. Like the 小小的梦想 song，which made me tear when I heard my boy "perform" at his school (Kay Poh Road Baptist Kindergarten) Open House in August 2010.

Add this CD & DVD to your child's music collection and I am sure you and your child will enjoy learning the songs and praising God in Mandarin!

Luke's Cute Smile

2010-10-06T07:43:00.000-07:00

Lately, Luke has developed a very cute way of smiling. Whenever I ask him to smile, he would squint both his eyes and smile.

His cute little smile never fails to make me laugh.

Lunch Time with my 2 boys

2010-10-06T07:01:00.000-07:00

Lunch time with my 2 boys can be so funny sometimes. Here's a clip of my 2 boys having pasta for lunch. Luke has already finished his lunch earlier and is now eyeing on his brother's bowl of pasta.

Luke loves to eat and especially likes pasta. Sometimes Luke would grab food from his brother's bowl or even the crumbs on his brother's tray to eat! Matt on the other hand, is often not very interested in his food and hence is more than happy to let his younger help him finish his meal. =)

What good 'partnership' between the 2 brothers, wouldn't you say?

Luke's First Year Collage

2010-09-21T07:03:00.000-07:00

Here's Luke's First Year Collage which I have been working on for the past few months since Luke turned one. (I know, that was almost 6 months ago! It's amazing how little time I have for myself since becoming a SAHM) The collage is a collection of Luke's photos taken from 0-1 year old. There were gazillion photos taken of Luke in his first year and it was really hard to choose just 16 photos for the collage. =P

I did a similar one for my older boy Matthew when he turned one. I got the collage printed at a printing company for about $20 and framed it up using an IKEA 50x50 cm RIBBA white frame.

Unlike Matthew's collage which I did using GIMP (a freeware), Luke's collage was done using Photoshop CS4. (Photoshop rocks!) Photoshop allowed me to do cool stuff like writing in a circle. While working on this collage, I found some very good Photoshop resources on the web, like this cool tutorial on how to write in circle.

Holiday in Phuket

2010-07-29T00:20:00.000-07:00

In June, our family took a holiday to Phuket together with my hubby's sister's family (with 2 young kids) and my mother-in-law. It was a very happy and memorable holiday.

We stayed at a 3-bedroom villa at Outrigger Phuket. It's a fantastic villa, very spacious and luxurious and quite affordable too. The villa comes with a garage that can fit the 2 cars which we rented, a fully equipped kitchen which we used to cook a few meals for the kids, our own little swimming pool. The beds are super comfortable and there's a lovely bath tub in the master bedroom where I took a very relaxing warm bath. It even has a washing machine! It's an excellent accommodation for family with kids if you are planning to rent a car.

I think we all want to go back there again!

:: View of villa at Outrigger ::

:: The little ones enjoying a big bowl of cereal with milk in our villa ::

:: Hubby swimming with the boys in our villa's swimming pool ::

:: Here's a group photo taken by my hubby ::

:: And a nice little family photo! ::

:: Here's Luke and I under the shade of our big umbrella

:: At Phuket airport when it's time to go home ::

Thankful

2010-07-05T07:17:00.000-07:00

One night as I walked past my boys' room, I saw a scene which made me smile and feel so thankful in my heart to be a mom. It was a scene of Matthew holding his little brother's hand when they are asleep.

::Phuket::

Wow! It's been 2 months since my last post. I took a break from blogging cos we were fighting the flu bug for a couple of weeks, then we went for our church camp in Batam followed by a really enjoyable family holiday in Phuket. But mostly, it's because I have been struggling a lot being a first time parent to a 3 year-old child.

Issues like my boy's aggression towards others (pinching, biting, scratching, hitting), him ignoring me when I call him, asserting his independence by refusing to follow my instructions (refuse to wash his hand after using the toilet, refuse to remove his diaper after his nap etc), his rudeness when I discipline him, really make me feel helpless, angry and plain lousy about myself as a mom.

I had taken some steps to get out of the vicious cycle of losing my temper and feeling lousy. Speaking to other moms for clever ideas on how to handle difficult situations with kids, reading parenting books ("Momfidence" by Paula Spencer and "Parenting with Love and Logic" by Foster Cline and Jim Fay - both highly recommended !) and most importantly, praying with my husband for our kids and for myself.

Well, God is good. He knows my struggle and how much I needed encouragement in this motherhood journey. Here are some of God-sent miracles I get to witness in my 2 boys in the past 2 months.

Luke's Everyday Miracles:

Luke took his first steps at 15 months! It's with mixed feelings as I witness my baby Luke stepped into toddlerhood. I think I will miss his Olympic gold medalist crawling speed as he maneuver his way from one corner of the house to the next at the drop of the hat. I love to see the thrill and excitement in his eyes when he discovered that he can stand on his own and when he realized that he can now walk on his own just like most of the people around him! Seeing the smile on his face as he crossed over this major milestone of his life is truly priceless.

Matthew's Everyday Miracles:

My 3-year-old boy, Matthew asked me one night, "Mommy, why did Jesus die on the cross?".

We have been reading the bible story of the Passover - how God spared the Israelite's firstborns from the plague of death because of the blood of lamb smeared over the doorpost. First, Matt was struck by the whole concept of "firstborn" when I explained to him that he is our firstborn child.

Then, when he asked me why did Jesus die on the cross, I tried to explain to him using the

Passover story we read earlier. I told him, "Just like the lamb had to be killed in order for the firstborn child to be saved, in the same way, Jesus had to die so that we can be saved. If the lamb was not killed, then the firstborns will die. If Jesus did not die on the cross, then we will not be saved from our sins"

Recently, Matt has been trying to grasp the concept of man-made and God-made. He knows that God made him, made this world and everything on this world. But then....

Matt: "Mommy, did God made books?"

Mom: "No, God did not make books. Man made books"

Matt: "God made swimming pool?"

Mom: "No, God did not make swimming pool. But God made the ocean which is many times bigger than the swimming pool"

It's cool to be around to answer his questions as he discovers the world around him.

Matt singing National Anthem

2010-05-11T02:31:00.000-07:00

Everyday when I pick Matthew up from his preschool and ask him "What did you learn in school today?", he would tell me, "I sing Mari Kita Rakyat Singapura...." (and he would continue singing the entire National Anthem to me).

In his preschool, they sing the National Anthem the first thing in the morning. The tagline we use every morning to get Matt to hurry up in getting ready for school is "Hurry up Matt, otherwise you will miss the Mari Kita".

His younger brother, Luke is a BIG FAN of his. Here's a clip of Matt singing the National Anthem after lunch one day. Watch Luke's response in the background.

A Yellow School Bus Birthday

2010-04-27T01:41:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, we had a combined birthday celebration for our 2 boys. Matt turned 3 and Luke turned 1. Their birthdays are about 2 weeks apart.

My dear friend, Weliana, baked a yellow school bus birthday cake for the boys. In case you are wondering, apart from the candles, everything was edible! It was a chocolate cake coated with marshmallow fondant. The cake was big hit among the boys and their cousins. And it tasted great! Weliana is currently a student at the culinary school, At-Sunrice. If you are interested in ordering unique custom-made birthday cakes/cupcakes for your little ones, you should definitely contact her.

Here are some photos of the birthday celebration we had at home. It was a simple birthday celebration together with our immediate family members and the boys' cousins. I know the boys were happy just having their cousins around to play with them and it was meaningfully to have my immediate family share and celebrate a milestone in my boys' life.

Blessed 1st Birthday, Luke!

2010-03-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

Dearest Luke,

Today you turned 1 year old! You have brought so much joy and laughter to our family (Papa, Mama and Matthew).

We can still remember how you came into this world so unexpectedly fast that we didn't make it to the hospital. =) It was such a special way to welcome you to our family, in our own home and on our own bed! Pa pa felt especially privileged to 'catch' you with his hands as your were birthed. Mama can still remember the smell and the scene of your beautiful birth. You were so precious and slippery when Papa put you on Mama's tummy, with your umbilica cord still attached while we waited for the paramedics to arrive. Your big brother, Matthew (who was almost 2 years old) just starting to talk, said "Baby" when he first saw you in our room. He was very excited to meet you. We all thanked God for you, a beautiful and precious baby to our family.

You put on weight very fast in the first 3 months of your life. Soon you became a chubby and cute baby. We liked to call you "Cutie" in our family. You used to spit out SO MUCH milk after every feed. It was common to have to change your clothes and our clothes (and the cushion covers and bed sheets) due to the massive amount of milk which came back out from your little tummy. You also had very EXPLOSIVE poop when you were young. And especially explosive while we were in the middle of changing your diaper! Mama had the "special privilege" of being "shot" by your poo poo several times when you were a baby. And once while we were out shopping in the mall! Imagine Mama having her skirt all stained with your poop! Naturally, we had to cut short our shopping trip. Otherwise, you were a really happy and easy baby to take care of. You slept on your own when we put you down for your naps.

As you became more aware of your surrounding, you also grew more easily distracted when you were nursing. Mama had to try very hard to make you drink your milk. Little sounds like the water gushing down the toilet pipes or Matthew play outside the room will make you unlatch from Mama's breast and lose interest in drinking milk. You also weren't very interested in taking your solids. However, you really enjoyed eating Gerber Stars. We used Gerber Stars as 'baits' to get you to open your mouth to eat your solids. You liked the stars so much that 'star' was one of your first words after 'ma ma' and 'pa pa'.

For more than 6 months, your weight was almost stagnant. And that got Mama and Papa concerned. We tried very hard to supplement the breast-feeding with formula milk in a bottle, but you simply refused to drink from bottle! Various attempts to feed you using straw only yield a result of 30-60 ml formula milk each day! But one fine day when you were about 11 months old, you decided that it was time. And overnight, you switched from breast to bottle! Just like that! It was a miracle and we thank God for that. From that point onwards, you love milk and also eat your solids readily. And you put on about 1 kg in the span of 1 month! Indeed God causes all things to grow.

Our baby Luke, you are so loved by everyone in the family. Your big brother, Matthew often smile and tells Mama "I like Lukie" and once he even said that in his sleep! Matthew loves to give you his super affectionate and sometimes choking hugs. Mama and Papa find it irresistible to hug and kiss you cos you are so cute! Sometimes when Mama put you and Matthew down to drink your milk together, you boys will have a race to see who can finish the milk first! And you know, sometimes you even beat Matthew to it!

Now that you are bigger, there are many more fun things that you can do together with Matthew. The latest favourite is sharing a bath together. Mama and Papa is so happy to see you growing up so well and the 2 of you loving and enjoying each other.
You have been such a blessing to our family. We give thanks to God for you in our family. Blessed 1st birthday!

Love,

Mama, Papa and Matthew *

Matthew in hospital

2010-03-20T07:47:00.000-07:00

We are back home today! Matthew was admitted to Thomson Medical Centre (TMC) for Mycoplasma Pneumonia. He was warded for 5 days and we are so happy to be finally home again.

Prior to the hospital stay, Matt caught a cough bug from his best friend in his preschool. For 5 days, he had a bad cough, runny nose and very high fever (reaching up to 40 deg cel). He lost his appetite for milk and food and was growing very weak. On the 5th day, seeing that fever was not coming down, Matt's GP told us to go to KK hospital for a chest X-ray and blood test. We decided to go to TMC instead because Matt was born in TMC and we found the medical staff there generally patient and careful.

The chest x-ray shows cloudiness in both lungs indicating that there was a lung infection. The blood test for mycoplasma bacteria showed Positive. The PD told us that Matt needed to be warded for treatment. He was put on IV antibiotic (Rocephin), oral antibiotic (Zithromax), four hourly nebulizer (Ventolin) and twice daily chest physiotherapthy to pat his back to loosen up the phlegm in his lungs.

During the 5 days hospital stay, my younger boy, Luke stayed with my parents. With all the fiasco over Matt's condition, I only managed to see Luke on 2 occasions when hubby took over the care of Matt in the hospital for a few hours. It was so good to see and play with Luke even though it was only for a short while. Here's a picture of sleeping Luke taken when I zipped from hospital to my parents' place to see him.

Unfortunately, Luke also caught the same bug and is now down with runny nose, chesty cough and mild fever. Brought him to the doctor yesterday and he is put on antibiotic for the same bacterial infection that Matt has. Praying that his condition improve.

Chinese New Year

2010-02-15T23:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese New Year to all of you!

In keeping with the tradition, we took pictures on the first day of the Chinese New Year before set out to visit our family and friends. This year, we have one more addition (Baby Luke) to our family and thus one more variable to control during photo shoot. It's really hard to get both the kids look at the camera and smile at the same time! :)

Matt in New Preschool

2010-02-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

On 1 February 2010, after 3 weeks of illness, Matthew had a new start to school in his new preschool - Kay Poh Road Baptist Kindergarten. Matt and I liked this new school much more than his previous kindergarten.

On the first day of school, Matt got to do some water play (one of his favourite activities!). Here's a short clip of the boy in a big yellow apron helping to clean his school.

Here's a clip of the Matt participating in the action song 'Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes". The exaggerated actions of his teacher is really funny. I can tell that the children is having fun

On his second day of school, Matt got to try out the tricycle-style skateboard which he has been eyeing on since his first day of school.

I am really happy and relieved that Matt is enjoying his new school.

Overall, I am happy and satisfied with his new school because of the following reasons:

Matt is in the morning class (8.30 - 11.30 am). This works out well for us cos hubby can drop Matt at school in the morning on his way to work and I will pick Matt up after school.
The school environment is clean and pleasant. His classroom is spacious, bright and cheery.
I like the fact that there's outdoor play everyday for the children. I think that physical play is so important for Matt's age.
I like the way Matt's teacher help the little ones pick up social skills like sharing, not hitting, taking turns and negotiating. During conflict resolution, she would explain patiently to the child and help him/her understand the reasoning. At Matt's age, learning social skills is such an important skill and it is one of the compelling reasons for sending Matt to a school instead of homeschool him.
The teacher takes into consideration the child's emotions and sense of security. Against the normal practice of letting the parent stay with a new student for the first 3 days of school, Matt's teacher suggested that I be with him the whole week and the following Monday, in order to help Matt be familiarized with the school routine and to feel secure in the school environment and with his teachers. At the end of the 6 days with him, the teacher assessed together with me Matt's readiness to be on his own without mummy. On the first day of school without mummy, Matt cried only for a short while and participated well in the activities for the rest of the day. On the second day of school without mummy, he didn't even cry. Instead, he hugged me and kissed me goodbye and even opened the door to send me off. It's amazing how well Matt has handled the separation and it's an indication to me how happy and secure he feels being in school.
While there is circle time where every child is required to sit down and participate, there is also free play time every day where the children are allowed to choose what they want to do. They can do painting, cutting and pasting, playdoh, puzzle, make-believe kitchen or dressing up. The choice of the child is respected. I like that the teachers do not force every child to be doing the same thing at the same time in order that the teachers have an easier time managing the class. The teachers also encourage and talk to the children individually while they are playing. It's really a very positive and conducive learning environment for the children.
The teachers also incorporate God during their lesson time (in addition to the Christian songs they sing during morning assembly). I sat in one lesson about Family and the chinese teacher taught the children that God gave them families and they sang a song thanking God for that.

It's really a joy to find a school where I can feel assured that my child is receiving the love, care and teachings as I would like to give to him.

False Start to School for Matt

2010-02-02T05:52:00.000-08:00

On 4 January 2010, Matthew started pre-nursery in True Way Presbyterian Church. Mommy was obviously the more excited and enthusiastic one about school than the clueless Matthew. Armed with an SLR camera, a digital video camera and an iphone, she even convinced her husband to be there for their son's first day of school.

The first 3 days of school were orientation, so parents can sit in with their child in class. On the 3rd day, I decided I will say goodbye to Matt after I sent him to his classroom. It was a very dramatic separation where he screamed and clung onto my clothes and refused to let me go. I had to pry open his tight fingers to break lose from him.

After 1 week of school and much deliberation, I decided to withdraw him from the school because of the following reasons.

The school environment is very dusty due to the church extension construction work which was supposed to have completed by end of last year before the school term starts this year. Matthew's class is right next to the construction work and I find it unbearable to even stand outside his classroom to wait for him.
Due to the construction, there is no outdoor play (e.g. playground, sand and water play etc) and most activities are conducted in the music room and their small classroom.
The lunch served to the little ones is not well-balanced. Mostly carbo and little protein, vegetables or fruits.

I must say that I was quite disappointed by the school. When I went to withdraw Matt from school, the school Principal wasn't even interested to know my reasons for withdrawing. She actually asked me to put down 'Personal' in the Reason for Withdrawal section of the withdrawal form. She also wasn't very consistent about the amount that can be refunded.

I felt terrible that I had to change Matt's school. After all, Matt cried for 3 days during the first week of school, I felt as if changing school made his crying in vain. I also wasn't very certain if my reasons for withdrawing him were really important. I even blamed myself for not doing enough research to ensure that the school I enrolled Matt is conducive. I was stressed over finding another preschool that still have vacancies this time of the year and is a pleasant learning environment for Matt.

After 1 week of school, both Matt and Luke had a bout of flu which lasted for 2 weeks and subsequently our whole family had a terrible bout of stomach flu. What an eventful way to start the new year and a false start to school for Matt.

Two Ways to Live for Kids

2010-01-19T07:47:00.000-08:00

I am excited to share a very special moment in Matthew's life.

2 days ago, Matthew (2 years and 8 months old) picked up a gospel tract called "Who will be King?" (2 ways to live for kids) from his bookshelf and asked me to read to him before his bedtime. And I did.

This is a brightly coloured gospel tract with 6 illustrations which will appeal to young child.

1st illustration says "God is the loving king of everything because he made everything".

2nd illustration says "We say 'No' to God and try to be our own king instead. But we make a big mess of God's good world "

Matthew could understand this because he is at the age when he is constantly saying 'No' to mommy. This is what he would typically say to me when I ask him to do/not to do something. "I don't want to listen", I am too young". So when I used the same tone of voice to explain how that's the way which we say 'No' to God. It clicked and he could identify with it.

3rd illustration says "God is the only true king. He won't let people keep on saying 'No' to him. God's punishment is that we are shut out of his kingdom forever"

Matthew didn't really understand the word "kingdom", so I explained that it's God's house. And the punishment is that we can't be in God's house. He could understand the gravity of that punishment because on a few occasions when he was exceptionally rebellious, I said to him "I don't want a disobedient child in this house. If you don't what to listen to mommy, you can leave the house and stand outside".

When I told Matt that God will punish us for saying "No" to him, he looked at the illustration and asked me "Mommy, where's the corner?". I laughed because sometimes I make him stand in a corner as a punishment.

4th illustration says "Because of his love, God sent his Son, Jesus, into the world. Jesus died to take our punishment so that we could be forgiven"

5th illustration says "God brought Jesus back to life again, and made him the king of everything. One day, Jesus will come back.

6 illustration says, "There are 2 ways to live. You can 'No' to God and keep pretending to be your own kind - but God will punish you by shutting out of his good kingdom forever. Or you can say 'Sorry' to God, start living with Jesus as your kind and enjoy being in God's kingdom forever.

When I asked Matthew which way did he want to live. He said he wanted Jesus to be his king.

What a blessing to be the one to share the good news of Jesus Christ with my little boy. I know that God has planted a little seed in his heart that night and I hope to water and care for it over the years to come so that it will grow into a strong tree that is rooted in God's word.

First Christmas

2009-12-30T07:23:00.000-08:00

Blessed Christmas to you from the Family of Tohs!

Amidst the frenzy of Christmas shopping, I thought about the First Christmas when Baby Jesus was born in a stable. It's hard to imagine God's Son was born in such a humble setting. It's even harder to imagine that he would one day die on the cross to wash away our sins. But it had indeed happened and I am thankful to God for doing the unimaginable to save sinners like me.

This Christmas our baby Luke (9 months old) celebrated his first Christmas. It's also the first year we are having a Christmas tree at home. Here are some photos we took on Christmas morning before going to church.

WARNING: Toddler's friendly hug can be a choking hazard for your baby.

Adult supervision required at all times.

Doulos Last Port

2009-12-22T23:09:00.000-08:00

Matthew and I went to visit the Doulos ship at Vivocity.

Doulos had visited port cities around the world to bring literature resources and share the message of God. This is the last port for the 95 years old ship. Because of the overwhelming cost to replace the steel and do other repairs needed for her to continue sailing, OM has decided to end the service. OM has another ship Logos Hope which is still in operation. Do visit it when it comes to Singapore.

Matthew was at first hesitant to board the ship. When I asked him why he didn't want to board the ship, he said "Because I don't have passport"! His response really surprised me and I definitely didn't expect that from my 2 1/2 year old. I had to explain to him that the ship is not going to move and hence we don't need passport to go onboard.

It was with much excitement and also sadness as we boarded the ship. We had to walk up some really steep steps to get on board. I was holding Matt's hand so tightly it had turned white cos I was afraid he might fall down. I did pick up a few good books on the Christmas Story for Matthew. But the highlight for Matt must have been the ice-cream cone he had on board Doulos on the hot Monday morning.

Central Fire Station

2009-12-15T07:47:00.000-08:00

Last month, we brought the boys to the Central Fire Station. The fire stations in Singapore have open house every Saturday morning (9 - 11 am), admission is free.

Matthew has always been excited about heavy vehicles and emergency vehicles on the road and we thought it would be nice to visit a fire station. At the fire station, we sprayed water from the hose, sat on a fire engine and even went up the fire ladder (which was a highlight for us).

At the historical Central Fire Station, there is a small Civil Defence Heritage Gallery with displays of old fire engines used in the past and write-ups on the past major fire events in Singapore. Next to the Gallery is a tiny souvenir shop where we bought a plastic kid-sized fireman helmet for Matt. Very cute.

Holiday at Berjaya Hills

2009-12-05T06:19:00.001-08:00

Last weekend, our family had a fun and happy holiday at Colmar Tropicale, Berjaya Hills, Malaysia.

It took us almost 8 hours to drive there (we made some stops and were stuck in a few traffic jams), but we were greeted with a quaint little French themed resort and a pretty impressive looking castle!

There's a little Rabbit Park nearby where Matthew had great fun patting and feeding the free ranging rabbits.

He even took his first donkey ride there! We were so proud of him cos he rode so confidently on the donkey. After the ride, he told us "I like it. I like riding on the donkey."

Falling Asleep

2009-11-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

When Matthew was a little baby, we tried to sleep-train him by letting him sleep in his own room and not rocking him to sleep. It worked well for the first few months of his life. But when he was able to pull himself to a standing position in his cot and scream through the closed door, all our sleep training began to go down the slippery hill.

So, we ended up letting him roll on our bed (with both of us on either side as railing) to settle himself to sleep. After he had fallen asleep, we would transfer him to his cot. When he outgrew his cot at 1 year old, we moved him to a floor mattress in his own room. We would lie down with him on his mattress until he had fallen asleep and then we would leave the room quietly.

After he turned 2, we tried to sleep train him again. Our hope was that we can say goodnight and leave his room when he was still awake. It didn't go too well cos he would cry and scream when we try to leave the room. In retrospect, I think it had not been a good time to sleep train him cos we just had Luke and he was probably feeling insecure with all the changes in the family.

Recently (when Matt is 2 1/2 years old), he became more ready to fall asleep without us in the room. The first night he did it without us was when he had his little brother's company. Luke usually sleeps in his own cot in our room but that night, Luke was still fussing during Matt's bedtime. So I let Luke roll and eventually fall asleep on Matt's mattress while I read Matt his bedtime stories. When it was Matt's bedtime, I was pleasantly surprised that he laid down next to his sleeping brother and let me leave the room when he was still awake.

It was really heartwarming to see Matt snuggle beside his little brother and eventually fall asleep.

Love that smile

2009-11-03T06:59:00.000-08:00

Luke is 7 months. And he is such an inherently happy baby. Sometimes, I don't even need to be doing much to amuse him, he would just bounce on my lap and give me his bright happy smile.

Recently, he started making the sound "Pa pa pa pa" and "Ma ma ma". He can sit up without support for a while and move forward by a few inches during his tummy time. He likes to eat Baby Bites (baby biscuits) and he can drink from a straw.

It's a joy to be a homemaker and be around to see the joyful smile on my baby's face.

H for Hamster

2009-11-01T22:32:00.000-08:00

One of the things which Matthew looks forward to is our visit to my brother's home.

My brother lives in a condo and we sometimes bring Matt there for a swim. Besides the swim, Matt also really enjoys playing with my brother's pet hamster.

When Matt was first learning to pray at around 2 years old, we would ask him, "Matt, who do you want to pray for tonight?". He would say "Ye ye (grandpa), Nai nai (grandma), Ah Gu (my brother), Ah Gim (my sister-in-law), Caleb gor gor (his cousin)" etc. Then, one night, when we asked him the question, guess what he said? He said "amster" (hamster) and laughed. We laughed too but we did keep the hamster in our prayer.

A few months later, when Matt could speak in sentences, he told me one night "Ma ma, I want (to) bring amster (hamster) home". This was immediately after we read the book, Curious George and The Puppies". In the story, George adopted a puppy from the animal shelter. Honestly, I was totally taken aback by his request. I didn't know how to reply him, so I said "Ok, but you have to ask Ah Gu the next time you visit him".

Here's a craft we did together on the Letter H. I downloaded a hamster colouring sheet from the web and we cut some rubber bands and glued the rubber bands all over the hamster. A very simple craft to do which involves an animal that is close to Matt's heart.

Brotherly Love

2009-10-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

Matthew is 2 1/2 years old and Luke is 1/2 years old.

One of my daily challenge as a mom is to keep Luke safe from his very active big brother. Matt loves to feed Luke but sometimes he pushes the spoon too deep into Luke's mouth. When Luke is sitting on the Bumbo chair, Matt loves to run along and sit on Luke's back! Matt loves to hug Luke but he may use too much strength that it becomes more like strangulation. When Luke is having his tummy time on the mat, Matt loves to jump and hop around his brother. And when Matt kisses Luke, he makes sure that it's the wettest kiss he can give.

But I know that deep down, Matt loves his little brother very much and Luke adores his big brother. I can see it in the way Matt often asks to carry his little brother or have Luke lie next to him when he is drinking his milk, just so that he can touch Luke. When Matt wakes up in the morning, he will go to his brother and say "Good Morning, Lukie!". Sometimes when I am nursing Luke and Matt is singing and running around the house (like he normally does), Luke will unlatch and smile, and then turn his head/eyes to watch his big brother. And I really love to watch how Matt makes Luke laugh with his exaggerated actions and his animated voice.

When I put the 2 boys together to hug each other and to 'play' with each other, I am amazed how Matt is so tolerant of Luke drooling over him and grabbing his hair. And Luke is equally tolerant on Matt pinching his nose and squeezing his hand.

When I see how the 2 brothers enjoy each other's company, I feel a great sense of joy and thankfulness in my heart. I know that it's God answering our prayer that our boys will love one another.

Kite Flying

2009-09-22T01:31:00.000-07:00

Over the long weekend, we went kite flying with Matt's godparents at West Coast Park.

It was a beautiful day and the sky was clear blue. It was Matt's first time in flying kite and he had a lot of fun! To see the excitement and wonder in Matt's eyes as he watches the kite soar into the sky is really one of the joy in our parenting.

It was a good day. Catching up with our old friends (Matt's godparents) and being outdoors with family and friends. I am thankful and feel truly blessed that Matt has people other than his own parents who love and care for him so much.

Luke's First Food

2009-09-15T23:30:00.001-07:00

Luke is 5 1/2 months old and I decided to start him on rice cereal.

It's amazing how time flies, I can still remember vividly holding the slippery little baby in my arms when he was born and now I am weaning him to his first food. Seeing how much he has grown in the past 5 1/2 months (7.3 kg now) drinking only mama's milk, I marvel at how God had formed such a beautiful boy and provided him with the perfect food to grow each day.

When I only had 1 child, weaning was an exciting time for me and I had the 'privilege' of giving that first mouth of semi-solid food to my then-baby Matthew. But with 2 children, weaning is as much an exciting time for my older boy as it is for me. And now, Matthew has the 'privilege' of giving the first mouth of food to his baby brother, Luke.

And of course, teaching Matthew about taking-turns, I had my turn too! :)

Enjoying watercolour

2009-09-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since Matt and I had a happy craft time together. More often than not, I am too concerned about the mess that Matt is creating or too easily frustrated that Matt is not doing things the 'right' way. But today, we had a happy craft time together. Both Matt and Mummy.

I took out a box of Faber-Castell water-colour (in tubes) and let Matt explore this amazing medium. As usual, this toddler has his own way of using water-colour, way too much water in my opinion. He poured generous amount water into the palette, squeezed a lot of paint from the tube, emptied the palette onto the drawing board. The paper was soaked through. I offered him another piece of paper to put on top to soak up the paint.

I have read that we should always focus on the process of creating rather than the end product of a toddler's art. Today, I felt that I understand that a little better when I let Matt explore water-colour painting based on his own creativity. And I was pleasantly surprised that my little toddler's water-colour art turned out to be extraordinarily beautiful (at least in the eyes of his mummy.)

Brothers

2009-09-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

This photo makes me laugh.

One morning, I was trying to capture some photos of the 2 brothers together. Here's Matthew (2 1/2 years old) trying to make his little brother Luke (5 months) pose for mummy.

My funny boys...

Terrible Two

2009-08-31T08:53:00.001-07:00

I haven't been blogging for a while cos I have been feeling so emotionally and physically drained by a difficult and strong-willed toddler. I now know that terrible two is not a myth and that a stubborn toddler can have the ability to invoke such great feeling of anger in an otherwise rational adult.

There are days when I would wake up thinking "I don't think I have the strength and patience to deal with yet another episode of tantrum/whining." Many times I don't even know why my toddler is throwing a tantrum! For example, Matt would wake up from his sleep in the morning or his afternoon nap and he would immediately begin to throw a tantrum. I know that he had enough sleep and he is not feeling cranky because of lack of sleep. So I really cannot comprehend my toddler's behaviour.

Recently I realised that maybe Matt is whining because he doesn't want mummy to spend time with his little brother but he can't fully express himself apart repeatedly saying "I waaaaaaant maaaaaa meeeeee".

Matt's delayed obedience is another big issue which gets on my nerve. It makes simple everyday tasks like changing diaper, putting on clothes after a shower, going for a shower, washing hands, sitting on high chair for a meal, brushing teeth become major event as a result. He would dawdle to obey until the point when I bring out the cane.

Sometimes I wish that my spoken words hold the same power as God, who can speak things into being. But alas, I am a mere mortal. I know that I should exercise authority over my children, but I see the futility of my verbal command over my toddler. E.g. I would say "Matt, come and change your poopy diaper" and there will be no action on his part to come. Recently I tried saying this to him "I am only going to say it once, if you don't obey, I will cane you". This has been somewhat effective. Somewhat because if he sees that I am carrying baby Luke in my arm and does not have the ability to carry out the punishment immediately, he would dawdle until the point when I put Luke down.

It's a tough stage in our parenting. Praying that God would grant me love, wisdom, patience and perseverance to mangle, oops I mean, manage my toddler.

By the way, I am currently reading The New Strong-Willed Child by Dr James Dobson. I need to know that I am not the only mother out there dealing with a strong-willed toddler.

Luke Laughing

2009-08-07T00:48:00.000-07:00

Here's a video clip of Luke laughing out loud at 4 months old. I was talking and playing with him one afternoon and suddenly he was very tickled when I said to him "Mommy's Baby". His laughter is so infectious, it really brightens up my day just to hear him laugh.

K for Kite

2009-08-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a craft which requires a bit more preparation work. Toddlers love to play with stickers. Why not make a kite where your little toddler can paste stickers on?

To do that, you need:

2 straws
Clear plastic sheet (the ones which we use to wrap our books)
Some string
Permanent marker and ruler (to trace out the shape of the kite)
Ribbons (optional)

Cut 1 straw about 1/3 shorter than the other straw. Tie the 2 straws together using the piece of string to form a cross (leave some excess string to tie the plastic sheet later). Put the cross on the clear plastic sheet and trace out the diamond shape of the kite using a ruler and a permanent marker. Cut out the plastic sheet along the permanent marker line. Poke 2 small holes in the plastic sheet where the middle of the cross is. String the excess string through the 2 holes to tie the sheet to the cross. If you wish, you can tie some ribbons on the 3 ends of the kite to make the kite look pretty.

I used coloured circle stickers for this craft cos I wanted the kite to look colourful when completed. Below are some photos of Matt and his friends sticking the little coloured circles onto their kites.

Although it takes some effort to prepare, I think the toddlers quite enjoyed working on this craft.

Egg Carton Caterpillar

2009-07-17T08:01:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I invited my friend D over in the morning so that I can talk to a non-toddler. =) She brought along her 2 boys (2 and 4 years-old). We decided that we should keep our boys occupied with some craft while we chat.

We got the boys to paint an egg carton caterpillar (a craft idea taken from BabyCenter)

To prepare, you need:

Egg carton (Cut out a 5-segment egg carton using a pen-knife)
Pipe cleaner (Twist and glue a pipe cleaner onto the egg carton to make the caterpillar's antennae)
Some poster paint (I used green, yellow and orange)
Wiggly eyes (for the caterpillar's eyes)
Coloured straws (cut into small pieces to decorate the caterpillar)
Glue

We sat the children at the table with their brushes and paint and invited them to paint their little caterpillar. The 2 toddlers needed some encouragement and help from the adults to paint the caterpillar, so there wasn't much opportunity for the 2 mommies to do some serious chatting during the craft time.

When they were all done with the painting, we helped them glue the wiggly eyes to the caterpillar. Earlier in the morning, Matt had cut some coloured straws while waiting for his friends to come. I took out the cut straws for the boys to glue onto their caterpillar to decorate it.

After lunch, we sat the boys down to watch a DVD while the mommies did our serious chatting. Generally, the egg carton caterpillar is a good activity for play groups. And the plus point is that the boys had something to bring home. =)

Paper Plate Ladybird

2009-07-11T07:56:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking of making use of paper plates to do some crafts with Matt. Here's a little paper plate ladybird which we did together. The materials needed are:

2 Paper Plates (1 for the body and the other cut out for the head and wings)
Red colour marker pen (to colour the body and wings)
Black colour marker pen (to colour the head)
2 wiggly eyes
6 black circles cut out from construction paper
Stapler

This is the first time I let Matt use marker pen. The novelty of the marker pen made it an instant hit with Matt. As usual, after colouring on his designated paper plate, my toddler decided that he wants to move on to colouring other surfaces like his fingers, the glass table top etc. In my attempt to let him enjoy exploring the new medium, I let him have the freedom to do that for a while. After that, I distracted him by taking out the glue and the black circles and invited him to glue the circles on the paper plate.

Squeezing glue was another hit with Matt. His over-enthusiasm and generally lack of self-control resulted in a massive blob of glue on the paper plate. Oh well... At least he enjoyed pasting the black circles on the paper plate today.

That was about all that I think my toddler can manage. Or rather, that was about all that I can manage with my toddler. For the remaining steps of the craft, I completed them while Matt was asleep. I coloured the ladybird's head and wings, pasted the wiggly eyes on the head and stapled the head and wings to the body.

When he work up the next morning, I had already hung up the completed ladybird at the window where he can see. And I taught him to say 'ladybird'.

I found the following ladybird rhyme in the A to Z Kids Stuff site. Maybe I will recite it to Matt another day.

Ladybird! Ladybird!

Fly away home.

Your house is on fire.

And your children all gone.

All except one,

And that's Ann,

For she has crept under

The frying pan.

Making Quiche

2009-06-28T08:17:00.001-07:00

Before the kids came along, I used to bake muffins, quiche and egg tarts cos I enjoy making them and my husband enjoys eating them. When the kids came along, I find it a challenge to get enough sleep let alone find time to bake. Recently my husband made a casual comment which motivated me to start baking again. He said "Darling, I miss eating your quiche".

One Saturday morning, with my husband at home to watch over the boys, I decided to make a quiche and involve my toddler boy in some of the steps which I think he can manage. E.g. put ingredients on the weighing machine, use a pastry cutter to mix the flour and butter.

It will definitely slow down the whole process when you bake together with your kid. Especially at Matt's age (2 years 2 months), I find it hard to stop him from eating the butter and being carried away with scooping the flour. But I think it's a great learning opportunity for Matt and I hope to involve Matt more often in my baking.

Here's the mushroom quiche recipe which I always use whenever I make quiche:

450g fresh button mushroom, thinly sliced
3 slices ham, cut into small pieces
3 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoon olive oil
3 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoon parsley (fresh or dried parsley works fine)
3 eggs
250 ml whipping cream
50 ml fresh milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

For the crust:

180 g Flour
6 tablespoons cold butter
3 tablespoons cold margarine

For the crust, use a pastry cutter to cut butter and margarine with the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Gather into a ball, wrap in cling-wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 190 deg cel.
Roll out the dough onto a 9-inch pie dish. Prick the base all over with a fork. Bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown.
Heat the oil in a frying pan. Fry garlic, bacon, ham and mushrooms. Stir in parsley. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
Whisk the eggs, cream and milk together, then stir in the mushrooms, ham and bacon. Sprinkle the cheese in the pre-baked shell and pour the mushroom filling over the top.
Bake until puffed and brown, about 30 mins.

Luke 3 months

2009-06-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

Luke is 3 months old! He now weighs 6.3 kg, about double his birth weight of 3.2 kg. His head support is pretty good now, he can lift up his head during tummy time. He loves to suck his hands, sometimes, both hands at the same time. He can smile and even laugh out loud when we play with him. He has outgrown his Small sized diaper and has progressed on to Medium sized diaper.

It's such a joy to watch him grow up day by day. It makes me marvel at the wonder of God's creation. God had formed such a lovely baby and God causes Luke to grow by His grace and providence. I feel thankful and privileged to be mothering Luke and Matt.

Matt and Luke

2009-06-23T07:25:00.001-07:00

Today, I let Luke wear my favourite olive green bodysuit and took out my camera to snap some pictures of Luke. The bodysuit was a gift from my friend (Jacq) when Matt was a baby.

I took some pictures of Luke in the same pose and outfit as Matt when he was 4 months-old and put the 2 sets of photos side-by-side just for comparison.

I think my 2 boys have rather different looks. What do you think?

Luke's Smile

2009-06-23T06:40:00.001-07:00

My little baby Luke is almost 3 months. Today, I managed to capture his lovely smile. His smile makes my heart soar and I am thankful to be at home to watch him grow. I know that years down the road, I may forget how sweet is his toothless smile and how cute is his chubby face. Glad I captured it on photo for memory sake.

N for Necklace

2009-06-21T06:44:00.001-07:00

This week we used a new material for our craft - coloured straws.

First, we cut the coloured straws into short segments. Matt (2 yrs 2 mths) insisted on using the 'real' scissors instead of his blunt kid's scissors. I let him have a go at the real scissors but supervised him closely. I was pleasantly surprised that he can control the scissors to cut through the straw. We spent a good 15 mins cutting about 10 straws before his lunch.

During his nap, I trimmed the straw segments which Matt has cut so that there are no sharp edges. I put all the coloured segments into a small box. I cut a piece of string and tied a piece of straw segment to one end of the string. This is to prevent the straw segments from falling off from that end. I also taped some masking tape on the other end of the string so that it is easier for Matt to string thru the straw.

When he woke up from his nap, I let him practice stringing the straw segments using the piece of string which I have prepared. I think Matt had fun stringing straws segments although it can create quite a mess when the straws segments start rolling off from the table (aided by a creative toddler who has his own definition of fun) and are being blown to different corners of the living room.

We did straw stringing for a few days in a row. Finally, to wrap up our craft at the end of the week, I cut a short section of the straw necklace and pasted it on piece of A4 paper on which I have written the Letter N and hand-drawn a picture of girl. Coloured straws are inexpensive and they can be used to create fun activities for your little ones.

Encouraging Husband

2009-06-14T23:26:00.001-07:00

Recently I browsed through a bible study material called Entrusted With A Child's Heart and I came across an exercise which ask to list down the top 5 things my husband does to me that encourages me. Here's my list:

Taking care of the boys in the morning so that I can sleep in. Bathing Luke and Matt during my confinement.
Cooking my favourite food and giving me time to eat (I am a slow eater)
Giving me 'air-time' at the end of the day. Taking time to hear me share about my day and air my views and thoughts.
Taking leadership in the spiritual matters of our family.
Letting me pursue my 'dream' of being a stay-at-home-mom. Providing for our family. Telling me that my work at home is important and valuable to him and to God. Encouraging me when I feel discouraged at home. Sharing the load of training and disciplining Matt.

In the same exercise, I am to write down the top 5 things that I believe are the most encouraging things that I can do for my hubby. Here's my list:

Pray for him.
Take care of the household and children so that he doesn't need to worry about it when he is at work.
Ask him about his day and be concerned about his well being. Let him know that I am thinking of him during the day.
Cook his favourite food. Remind him gently to eat wisely and not to over-eat. Consider his dietary restrictions in my meal plans.
Make sure that he gets his time-off (watch TV or read novels) whenever he needs it.

I asked my hubby to think about his list too. Afterwards, we exchanged our list and talked about. I thought it was good exercise to find out how we can be encouraging towards each other.

P for Pasta

2009-05-31T07:59:00.000-07:00

We usually have pasta for lunch. And to add variety to Matt's lunch, I would stock up on different pasta shapes whenever I see them in the supermarket. Today, I decided to do a craft with Matt using all the different pasta shapes we have in our store.

I let Matt squeeze the glue, pick up the little pasta pieces from the plate and stick them on the paper. And as we do this craft, I taught him that P is for Pasta and told him the name for each of the pasta shape.

After the craft, he tells me he wants to eat 'elbow' for lunch. =)

When the glue dried up in the afternoon, we painted our little art work with blue poster paint.

Luke 2 months

2009-05-29T00:33:00.000-07:00

Our baby Luke is 2 months old today.

I never thought that I would fall in love with another baby after having Matt. But Luke made me fall in love all over again. In my heart I know that Luke is a very gentle and easy baby. Most of the time, he lets me swaddle him while he is still awake and he settles to sleep by himself after a while. When Matt and I are playing in the living room, he is happy to be lying on his baby gym and look at the dangling toys above him.

I sometimes wonder why Luke is a much easier baby compared to Matt. Perhaps it's because I have more milk for Luke. Or maybe it's because we are more experienced as 2nd-time parents. But maybe, Luke is just a very good-natured baby.

It's a joy to know that he is feeding and growing well. I know that he has grown bigger cos he has outgrown his newborn clothes and as I carry him to put him down on his cot, his feet will knock on the cot railing.

Some peculiar habits of Luke. When he chokes on my breast milk, he would cough very loudly. Just like an old man. He only poops 1-2 times every week. While it can be quite a 'dangerous' operation to change his poopy diaper, I actually rejoice when Luke finally poops!

Luke is beginning to make sounds and he can sometimes move his hand to his mouth to suck it. Such simple tasks for us but it's a milestone for our little Lukie.

Sometimes I feel that I don't have as much time for Luke as I did for Matt when he was a baby. So, the times when Matt is napping and Luke is awake are special times for me and Lukie. Just the 2 of us. I love to watch him make sounds, move his hand and even occasionally smile. I know why this little boy has captured the heart of his mommy.

M for Mushroom

2009-05-15T01:53:00.000-07:00

Since Matt is currently addicted to eating mushrooms, I thought maybe we could do mushroom printing!

I cut 1 fresh button mushroom into 2 halves and pour some poster paint on a plastic disposable plate (one colour at the time). After letting Matt have a go on mushroom printing, I realised that it is quite difficult for Matt to hold the mushroom cos it smooth and round. So I poke a fork to the mushroom to provide a better grip for Matt's little hand.

I did provide Matt with several pieces of paper to experiment with mushroom printing. Overall, it was quite a fun and easy craft and the completed work looks pretty cool.

During our craft time, Matt opened his mouth and pretended to eat the mushroom. He laughed out loud when I quickly put down my camera and said "Oh, no no... these mushrooms are not for eating". Ha ha.. It's actually quite funny cos he was testing to see my response. Cheeky boy.

SAHM

2009-05-06T09:30:00.001-07:00

6 months ago, I traded a well-paying job to become a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM). While it had always been my childhood dream to be a wife and mom, it wasn't easy to make a decision to quit my job when the time came. I felt that I am giving up a huge sum of money if I quit my job. But God always knows what is best for His children and He works out His perfect plan for us. As it turned out, I didn't have to tender my resignation because I was retrenched. And thank God for the retrenchment because I received a compensation package.

After being a SAHM for 6 months, I realised that being a SAHM is not the most glamourous job. On a typical day, my hair is in a mess, I smell of sour spit-up milk. In 1 hand, I am holding a cane, disciplining my toddler boy to put on his diaper before he pees on his mattress again. In my other hand, I am carrying a baby who is latched-on to my breast.

But I think it's a great privilege to stay at home to take care of my children and home. I get to see the smile on the face of my little ones; when Matt manages to say a new word or discovers a new thing which fascinates his little mind or when Luke falls peacefully to sleep after a satisfying milk feed. I get to be there to comfort my little ones; when Matt's has an in-growing toenail or is frightened by the loud sound of the thunder.

Sometimes, I feel discouraged. There are days when my toddler boy is just so defiant and I have to shout and use the cane on him until I feel so lousy and wonder where is the joy in parenting. Sometimes, I compare my child with the children of working moms. I feel really inferior because my child doesn't seem to be progressing as well in terms of potty training or language skill. And I begin to question myself and the value of me staying at home, perhaps I should be out working and bringing home an income.

But I am learning every day that disciplining a child is a tough job and often we may have to do it again and again until our child learns. But it is job which God has entrusted to the child's parents alone. So, if we are not doing the job of disciplining, then who is? As parents, we have at most the first 18 years of the child's live to train, mould and prepare him so that he may become adults who are useful in God's kingdom.

As a SAHM, I sometimes receive comments like "What a waste to give up your job to stay at home to look after your children." "Maybe when the economy picks up, you can start looking for a job" "Huh? You have a degree and you are not working any more?". I must admit that I am affected by such comments. But, I am beginning to learn that raising godly children are far more important and of greater value than the career/income I forgo. And God is teaching me that He will provide financially to meet our daily needs.

Matt 2 years old

2009-05-06T09:10:00.001-07:00

This is Matt 2 years old. He loves to eat mushroom and drink Chinese soup. He is into small items like coins and keys. His favourite song is the Wheels on the Bus and another version of Wheels on the Bus which we watch often on YouTube. Currently, his favourite books are Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear and The Big Green Pocketbook. He loves to take bus rides, go 'walk walk' in the playground and play with water. He prefers running to walking. He dislikes having his teeth brushed.

Recently, he started to say 2 syllables words like 'Apple' and phrases like 'There you are', 'Put there', 'Mama, eat mum mum'. And he started calling his parents 'Darling' after observing how we call each other.

He has kinda regressed in his potty training lately. Much to the dismay of his mommy, he has been pooping in his diaper instead of the potty. Mommy is trying many ways to motivate him to use the potty e.g. showering him with words of encouragement and bribe him with Yakult every time he poops in the potty.

He loves his little brother (Luke) a lot. He loves to hug, carry and kiss his Di Di. It's a joy to see how much he enjoys having a baby at home.

A New Pupsik Pouch

2009-04-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

Last week, my friend SL who founded Pupsik sent me a new Pupsik Pouch for baby Luke. I was so happy to receive the package in my mailbox! I love the pink and brown coloured stripes and couldn't wait to use it when we brough Luke to the park for a family outing over the weekend.

When Matt was a baby (2 years ago), SL made me a light blue Pupsik Pouch to carry Matt. I had found it so useful and used the pouch all the way till Matt started walking.

Thanks SL for the beautiful and practical gift!

B for Butterfly

2009-04-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

Last week, my ex-colleague HW came to visit me and the boys. She gave Matthew a box of Crayola Finger Paints for his birthday!

Letter of the week was B and I printed a Butterfly colouring page from the web. Just before dinner, I sat Matt down at the table to do some finger painting. Just then, my hubby came back from his work and joined in the craft fun.

Hubby and I both rated the Finger Paints with a high fun-factor. We had never tried finger painting as kids! The smooth texture of the finger paints makes it fun as you blend the vibrant colours with your fingers. But for our 2-year-old toddler boy, he seemed more bothered about getting his fingers dirty than enjoying the fun. Oh well... the Finger Paints scored better with the adults than the kid.

Thanks HW for the fun gift!

Matt's 2nd Birthday

2009-04-16T03:04:00.000-07:00

Last year, Matt had hand-foot-mouth disease on his 1st birthday and we had to cancel one of his birthday celebration. This year, we made it up by having 4 birthday celebrations for his 2nd birthday!

11 April (Sat) : Matt's god-parents came over our home and bought him a Tom and Jerry cake to celebrate.

12 April (Sun) : Matt's Aunt Rebekah (aka Beck the Baker) baked him a LEGO cake with his name on it and we celebrated with his cousins.

15 April (Wed) (Actual birthday) : Hubby took leave in the morning and we brought Matt to MacDonald's at West Coast for breakfast. We wanted to let him play in the park but it rained heavily. Nevertheless, Matt enjoyed the MacDonald's breakfast. In the evening, our family-of-four had a cosy celebration with a Swensen's ice cream cake. Matt really enjoyed the ice cream cake especially the fresh cream. =)

The next day, we still had a lot of the 1 kg ice cream cake left in the freezer, so we told Matt that we will have some cake after his bath. Guess what? After his bath, Matt pushed his IKEA table and chairs to the center of our living room, went into the room to take the camera and wanted us to put candles on the remaining ice cream cake and re-enact the entire candle-blowing-cake-cutting! Which we did! We celebrated his 2-years-and-1-day-old birthday. =)

18 April (Sat) : The final birthday celebration to wrap up the 1-week long event was with Matt's cousins from hubby's family.

Day 12 Luke

2009-04-09T00:05:00.000-07:00

Today is Day 12 of Baby Luke's life.

He was wakeful in the afternoon for more than half an hour and I took the opportunity to take a some pictures of him.

My hubby discovered during diaper change this morning that his umbilical cord stump has fallen off. =)

Luke is still having jaundice and needs to do a heel prick test again next week to make sure that the jaundice level is not on the rise.

A for Apple

2009-04-08T02:36:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, while baby Luke was sun-bathing (for jaundice), I let Matt paint an apple using a sponge roller (I bought the sponge roller from Popular for around $5).

Matt refused to wear his plastic bib today, so he went topless (like his little brother) to do his painting. He enjoyed using the sponge roller for the first time. But I think he enjoyed rolling the paint onto the glass table even more. =) I am glad that our table top is glass, so the paint can clean off easily.

Here are more pictures and the completed painting.

Matthew Gor Gor

2009-04-04T01:15:00.000-07:00

Matthew has become a Gor Gor (Big Brother).

Matt's reaction when he saw first saw his little brother Luke (minutes after he was born at home) was a big smile. He kept pointing to Luke and saying excitedly "Baby... baby..".

My dad was trying to 'entertain' Matt outside the room while I was birthing Luke. But Matt was getting frustrated that he had been left out from all the action. Finally, when Luke was born, my hubby carried Matt into the room to welcome his little brother.

Before Luke's arrival, we prayed that God will prepare Matt's heart to receive his little brother and that he will love and protect his little brother. We also prepared a small gift from Luke to Matt and from Matt to Luke.

Here's the little Cement Mixer and Excavator that Matt chose for Luke and the Bus which Luke 'gave' to Matt. We had the 'gift exchange' in the hospital when Matt came to visit.

Since returning home from the hospital, we can see that Matt is visibly happy and excited about the newest member of our family. He loves his Di Di (Little Brother) Luke and often asks to carry and kiss him. We really thank God for Matt's big heart for his Di Di.

Luke's Birth Story

2009-04-01T23:33:00.000-07:00

I had a Birth Plan and the plan was to have a natural drug-free birth in Thomson Medical Centre (TMC). The birth of Luke was not entirely according to plan but it was much better than the plan. We birthed Luke in the comfort of our own home, on our master bed. My hubby was the 'mid-wife' =)

I woke up at 3.30 am in the morning cos I needed to move my bowels. After moving my bowels, I went back to bed but still having the feeling of wanting to pass motion. I nudged my hubby and told him, "Darling, I am having some contractions but I am not sure if it is because I want to pass motion or it's labour contractions". He replied nonchalantly, "It's ok, we will monitor and see."

At around 4 am, I felt the urge to pass motion again. I went to sit on the toilet bowl for a longer period of time. This time, I did not pass motion. I was looking out for a bloody show which was an indication for my first labour, but there was none.

Around this time, my toddler boy, Matt woke up from his sleep, opened his bedroom door and ours and came into our bedroom. My hubby told him that mummy is having stomach-ache like The Hungry Caterpillar and asked him to stroke and kiss mummy. Matt was very sweet, he kissed me on the lips and tried to pat me with his small hand.

I went back to lie down on my bed and tried to listen to the birth affirmation CD. I was feeling some pain on my back, so I asked my hubby to heat up the rice socks and use it to rub my back. I also SMSed my dad to tell him that I am having contractions and to come over in the morning when he wakes up to watch over Matt. I SMSed instead of call my dad on the phone cos hubby and I were both not expecting Luke to pop within the next few hours.

Somehow, the contraction pains progressed very quickly and before we know it, I was no longer managing each contraction calmly but was screaming and howling. I remembered telling my hubby "Oh no... It's coming again... Urghh...... It's very painful!". And I thought in my heart, when I reach the hospital, I think I am going to ask for epidural." I also started to feel 'vibration' in my hip during contractions. In retrospect, I think Luke was turning from sunny-side up to a face-down position.

Soon, I felt the urge to push! That was when I told my hubby "Darling, listen to me, I don't think I can make it to the hospital, we are going to have the baby at home". My hubby nearly fell off the bed when he heard that and he started to look for TMC emergency no. to call. In the end, he had to check the internet for the no.

It's interesting that when I started to push, the pain was much more manageable and I was actually calm and quiet. In the midst of my pushing, suddenly, my hubby said "Darling, I need to poo poo. I am going to ask Gina (our domestic helper) to come into the room to help you while I go to the toilet. While in the toilet, my hubby called for an ambulance.

Thankfully, by this time, my dad has arrived and could play with Matt while Gina came into our room to help me. She helped me by letting me hold on to her hand and squeezing it real hard at each contraction. After about 5 pushes, Gina called out to my hubby, "Sir, baby is coming". I remembered hearing my hubby tell the emergency personnel on the phone "Sorry, I can't talk to you now cos I can see the baby's head!"

When my hubby saw the baby's head crowning, he told me to put my legs apart. The baby's head came out first and my hubby thought to himself, "Oh no... is baby going to suffocate?" and he prayed out loud "God, help us! God, please help us!". Another push and the baby's shoulder and body popped out of me. The time of Luke's birth was 6.39 am.

My hubby received Baby Luke with his hands and made sure that Luke starts to cry (an indication that he is breathing) before carrying him to me with his cord still attached). He placed him on my tummy and when I first saw Baby Luke, I thank God for such a perfect and cute baby and for blessing us with our 2nd child.

What a great sense of relief I felt when I birthed Baby Luke into this world. I definitely felt that it was a much more comfortable and pleasant birth compared to Matt's birth in the hospital. I guess in the hospital, despite having a birth plan for Matt's birth, the mid-wives will still make unhelpful comments like, "Mummy, don't tense up when you have contractions." "Mummy, stop pushing against the railings", "Mummy, you need to push with your lower body and not with your face" etc etc...

About 25 mins later, the TMC ambulance arrived at our house. The 2 mid-wives who came with the ambulance helped to clamp the baby's cord but didn't want me to birth my placenta at home for fear of complications. So, Baby Luke and I were transported to TMC on the ambulance where my gynae Dr Joycelyn Wong was waiting for me in the labour ward. She gently tug the cord to help birth the placenta and did 2 stitches for the tear while I breast-fed Baby Luke.

Here are some photos taken in the labour ward.
And here's a picture of my 'mid-wife' hubby and hero.

Luke's Birth Announcement

2009-04-01T23:08:00.000-07:00

Family of Tohs has grown by 10 tiny toes!

As we welcome the latest addition to our family, Baby Luke Toh.

Baby Luke Toh Kai Le was birthed into this world on 29 March 2009 6.39 am (Sunday) in the comfort of our own home.

His name Luke means Light and his Chinese name, Kai Le means Joy.

He weighs 3.2 kg at birth.

L for Lemon

2009-03-24T00:10:00.000-07:00

Today, we did lemon printing in the morning. Matthew had a lot of fun. Not from printing lemon, but from squeezing the lemon juice from the lemon. =)

The letter of the week is L and this is the completed lemon print. I pasted the Letter L and a cutout of a lemon after the paint had dried.

Here are some photos of Matthew doing lemon printing.

T for Tree

2009-03-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

Last week, I finally managed to find non-toxic poster paint for kids at the ELC shop in United Square. So, Matt and I sat down to paint a tree and learnt about the letter T.

I wrote the big/small letter T on a piece of A4 paper and drew an outline of a tree. Then I gave Matt some green poster paint on a plastic plate, a small piece of sponge and a small paint brush.

I think he enjoyed using poster paint to create art. Maybe cos it is something new. He was happy to sponge the green paint onto the paper and also to paint using the brush.

After the paint had dried, I pasted a brown trunk to the tree.

Since he had much fun with poster paint, I think we will try vegetable stamping next.

Making Rice Socks for Mummy

2009-03-17T02:09:00.001-07:00

One of the items to be packed into my hospital bag is a pair of rice socks. Rice socks is made by filling a pair of sports socks with uncooked rice and tying a knot at the end to prevent the rice from coming out. To use it, put the rice socks in the microwave for about 1 minute. The hot rice socks was very useful during my last labour to manage my back pains.

Over the weekend, the boys made a pair of rice socks for mummy. Matt was happy to scoop and pour rice into the socks with the help of a funnel. And I thought it was a good learning opportunity for Matt too. I read that learning to scoop and pour rice is one of the Montessori activities for pre-schoolers.
Of course, there was rice all over the floor and cleaning up to be done after that. As usual, Matt insists on helping to sweep. He even cried when we told him, "Ok Matt, enough of sweeping"

Matt the Builder

2009-03-11T03:31:00.001-07:00

One day, while Matt and I were in the toilet (he insists on coming into the toilet with me), Matt suddenly noticed a screw on the toilet bi-fold door. And he got very excited, he turned to me and said "boo". It took a while for me to understand what he was so excited about but I soon understood when my little boy ran out of the toilet and return a while later with his plastic screw-driver. So he was trying to say "screw" but it sounded like "boo" to me. He made me laugh as he tried to screw using his toy screw-driver and said to himself "turn... turn... turn...".

C for Corn

2009-03-11T02:48:00.000-07:00

Today, we learn the letter C and did a craft on Corn. To prepare for this craft, I printed a corn colouring page from this website and gave a hole puncher, 1 piece of yellow paper, glue and a green crayon to Matt.

I encouraged Matt to use the hole puncher to punch out little circles from the piece of yellow paper. Then, we glued the yellow circles onto the corn and coloured the leaves green with the crayon.

Matt does not seem very interested in doing the craft today. I think he was more interested to look out of the window and watch the rain. =)

Anyways, I have been thinking of introducing paint to Matt cos we are both quite tired of using glue and coloured paper for our crafts. But I can't seem to find non-toxic paint for children under 2 years old in Popular, Spotlight and Carrefour.

S for Stars

2009-03-07T06:48:00.001-08:00

This week we are learning the letter 'S'. We did a craft using a star-shaped puncher. To do this craft, I drew the letter 'S' on a piece of A5 yellow paper. Then I let Matthew punch some stars from a piece of blue paper. After that, we pasted the blue stars on the letter 'S'.

Half way through our craft, Matt received a call from his favourite cousin, Rachel. Rachel didn't have school today and called to say 'hi' to Matt.

Here's Matt focusing hard to remove the dried-up glue from his little fingers after our craft time.

My Little Delivery Boy

2009-03-05T21:01:00.001-08:00

Matthew has a small shopping trolley. Every night he uses his shopping trolley to do his assigned household chores - pushing our dirty laundry from our bedroom and putting it into the laundry basket in the kitchen.

He is at an age where he can follow instructions (most of the time at least). I think giving him a simple household chore like this makes him feel important and trains him up to take up responsibilities.

W for Watch

2009-03-05T07:55:00.000-08:00

Last week, the Letter of the Week was "W". I decided to do a craft on "W" cos Matthew insists that "W" is M. Whenever he sees the letter "W", he would say M. It's interesting how my 22-months-old boy looks at words and letters at the moment. I suppose that is why he still holds his books upside down sometimes. =)

To do this craft, I cut out some pictures of watches from a magazine and wrote the letter "W" on a piece of A4 paper. And we just sat down to glue the picture of watches on the A4 paper. Easy Peasy!

Dry Ice

2009-02-27T06:43:00.000-08:00

My sweet hubby, Steven surprised me with an ice cream cake from Swensen's after his work cos he knew that I was having a bad headache today.

The ice cream cake came with some dry ice packed in the box and Steven decided to put the dry ice in a bowl for Matt to play. Matt was totally thrilled by the smoke from the dry ice and his expression as he blow on the dry ice is priceless. Glad we captured it on video. =)

G for Grapes

2009-02-26T07:11:00.000-08:00

This week we are learning the letter G. Grapes is one of Matthew's favourite fruit at the moment, so I decided that we will do a craft on grapes together.

To prepare for the craft, I drew a picture of grapes on a piece of A4 paper. (I used plastic bottle cap to draw the little circles for the grapes). Then I wrote the capital letter G and the small letter g next to the grapes. I also cut out 10 small purple circles, 2 green leaves and 1 small brown stalk. Since I am also trying to familiarize Matthew with numbers, I numbered the 10 purple circles as well as the 10 grapes on the A4 paper.

In the morning, when Matt saw the craft laid out on his red table, he was very excited and immediately he started putting the purple circles on the grapes. So I said to him "Shall we do the craft together?". He nodded his head and said "Ma ma, blu". ("blu" means glue)
I love to watch him concentrate (and even sticks out his tongue) as he glue the purple circles to the grapes.

When our little craft was completed, he walked to the wall (where we had put up his earlier art works) and proudly put up his masterpiece.

"Tao" means House

2009-02-21T08:25:00.000-08:00

My little Matthew is learning to talk. However, he can't pronounce his words very accurately yet. On many occasions, he tries to say something to me but I can't quite figure out what he is trying to tell me.

One such example is "Tao". Matt pointed to his mattress and kept saying "Tao" to me. I didn't know what he meant until one day, I saw my dad playing house with Matt using the floor mattress. Then I realised, "Oh, so Tao means House!".

Ever since that day, Matt and I have had many fun afternoons just building house using our floor mattress. It is amazing how much kids love to play house. It doesn't require any sophisticated equipment to build a house for a kid yet it provides endless fun and laughter to an imaginative toddler.

F is for Fish

2009-02-21T08:00:00.001-08:00

The letter of the week is F. We made a Fish collage together this morning. It's a simple craft to do together. First, I used a marker pen to draw the outline of a fish on a piece of white A4 paper. Then, we used art glue to paste scraps of coloured paper on the fish.

Matthew continues to be intrigued by the art glue. Although at some point, he was quite annoyed to have so much glue stuck on his little fingers, he looked at me and told me "Wash". So I had to bring him to the sink to wash away the dried-up glue before continuing on our little craft project.

He also tried to 'drink' the yellow scraps from the plastic container. As you can see from the photo, a piece of yellow scrap got stuck on his tongue. =P Well... that's all part of doing craft with my little one... most of the time, things don't go exactly accordingly to my plan but I guess the important thing is to enjoy doing it together and we sure did this morning.

Chinese New Year

2009-02-16T00:56:00.001-08:00

This is our second Chinese New Year with Matthew. We started a family tradition last year to take a family photo on the first day of the new year before we set out for new year visitations.

Here's the picture we took last year. It's fun to compare and see how much our little Matthew has changed.

Expecting Luke

2009-02-01T23:51:00.000-08:00

On 2nd Aug 2008, we found out that I am pregnant again. =) It's such a happy news for us and we thank God for the gift of life once again. We took a family photo together to mark this special day.

Over Christmas, many people asked about the gender of the baby. When we told them it's going to be another boy, most seemed a little disappointed and told us, "It's ok, you can try again for a girl". While we would love to have a girl, we are actually very happy and thankful to God for another boy.

I have come to realise that the gift of life is a gift from God. And we don't get to choose the gift; God gives according to what He thinks is best for us.

Being a parent is a great privilege and blessing. Each day, you see your little one grow and learn new things about the world which God has created. And God gives parents the great privilege to be the one to mould and train up the child in the way he should go. Blessings come in big and small ways. Like when your little one learns how to hug you and kiss you. And does little things which make you laugh.

We are looking forward to the arrival of our no. 2. (some time end March 2009) We planned to name him, Luke (which means "Bringer of Light"). In the meantime, we are praying that Matthew will learn to love his little brother and will adjust well to being a Big Brother.

Rainbow Project

2009-01-30T00:36:00.000-08:00

For the past week, Matt and I have been working on our first craft project. It's a rainbow collage using small pieces of coloured scrap paper. First I draw the general shape of a rainbow on a piece of A2 white paper. Then we use craft glue to paste the coloured scrap paper on it. We work on 1 colour of the rainbow every 1-2 days and we talk about the colour as we work on it. Matt is intrigued by the white sticky glue and he laughs when it gets on his fingers. He also smears the white glue on his legs and laughs. He can recognise the green colour now... he calls it "peen".

I didn't think he enjoys doing the craft at first. But early next morning, after we completed our first colour (red), I caught him sitting by the window alone, looking at our rainbow art work and touching the red colour. I thought to myself, "hmm... maybe it's worth trying out this craft afterall".

Usually, I will squeeze the glue and paste the coloured paper. Sometimes Matt will help me squeeze the glue. But most of the time, Matt is happy to play with the glue or the coloured scraps.

Potty Training

2009-01-21T06:14:00.000-08:00

Matt is 21 months now and lately he is making great progress in his potty training. For the past few days, he will say to me "poo poo" when he needs to poo. Then I will ask him, "Do you want to sit on the potty?" and he would nod his head. Sometimes, while sitting on the potty, he will say "pee pee" if he is peeing. After he finish his pooping, he will make a grimace and say "chou chou" (meaning smelly). We used to tell him that his poop is "chou chou" and he needs to let ma ma / pa pa change his diaper, it's amazing how he picks up words like that in the process. He still pees in his diaper nowadays but I am very impressed by his ability to articulate his need to poo and his willingness to use the potty. I am looking forward to the day when he is diaper-free!

Here's a picture of him using the potty at 6 months-old. My parents used to put him on the potty whenever his facial expression shows that he is trying to poo. I suppose it is good to start young and let the child get used to the potty.

Musical Instruments

2009-01-06T18:47:00.000-08:00

I have been looking for some musical instruments for Matt. To my delight, Matt received a set of musical instruments for his Christmas from a church friend. He really enjoys playing with the tamborine and the shaker. The set also comes with a harmonica, which Matt will ask Pa Pa or Ma Ma to blow. When we ask him to try, he would blow the harmonica gently with his mouth and make a high pitch sound by himself. Very funny.

I also did a home-made shaker for him by filling a plastic supplement bottle with some pieces of pasta. I then decorate the bottle with scraps of coloured paper and covered it using thick transparent tape. At first, Matt was more interested in trying to take the decorations from the bottle (much to my dismay) but over the weeks, he does enjoy the shaker more. I also managed to find a wooden castanet (for $2) at Daiso-Vivocity and a plastic tamborine (for $8) at KiddyPalace-Marina Square.

Usually I will encourage him to pick up one of his instruments when a music CD is playing. I also play some simple songs on the keyboard and encourage him to fill in the last words in each line as I sing along. I can see that Matt enjoys moving to the beat of the song and making a joyful noise with the instruments. Here's a picture of Matt having a go on the keyboard.

Bedtime Routine @ 20 months

2008-12-27T11:44:00.001-08:00

At 20 months, here's Matthew's bedtime routine...

Matt gets his last milk feed at 8.30 pm. Mummy and Daddy will lie next to him on a floor mattress while Matt drinks his milk from a bottle. Sometimes we will read to him. It could be a book from his own book collection or a book which we pick up from the library. Currently we are reading a Toddler's Bible, a book we picked up from a green corner for only $4. To my delight, Matt seems to be enjoying the stories and pictures from the Toddler's Bible.

After the milk and story, we will switch off the lights and pray with him. Matt will put his hands together when it's time to pray and say 'Amen' when he hears "In Jesus name we pray..." Usually our prayer will consist of thanksgiving for the day and for Matt's little brother (whom we are expecting in March 2009). We pray that Matt will love his little brother and they will grow up to be close brothers.

After the prayer, Matt will point to the ceiling and ask us to count stars. We will count 1-10 stars slowly. Usually after repeating that for several times, Matt will fall asleep and we will leave his room and let him sleep on his own.

I love to look at Matt as he sleeps. Such a sweet angel. Some peculiar habits which Matt have when he goes to sleep. He dislikes being covered with blanket but he loves to hug mummy really tight as he sleeps (it's almost suffocating for mummy). Often he will lie on either one of us and use our body/arm as his pillow. He will make sure that mummy and daddy are both present when he goes to sleep otherwise he will keep asking for the missing parent. Guess Matt likes a happy family...

Washing French Beans

2008-12-03T08:40:00.001-08:00

I have been finding it difficult to have Matthew eat his solids. He seemed to have lost interest in his regular porridge. So lately, I started introducing chunkier food like pasta and rice. Today I bought some French Beans and decided to add them to the fried pasta which I am preparing for dinner.

I read in a toddler's cookbook that one way to get fussy eater interested in the food is to involve them in the food preparation. So here's my attempt to teach Matt about French Beans and involving him in the washing process. He was really enthusiastic about putting his hands in the basin of water and I was really impressed when he started imitating me as I break the French Beans into smaller pieces.

Here's how the fried pasta with French Beans turned out. And some pictures of Matt eating the pasta using a combination of spoon and his hand (mostly using his hand). I am so happy that he enjoys the pasta tonight. =)

Happy Lunch using Bob-The-Builder Tray

2008-12-02T08:49:00.001-08:00

Today I gave Matt his lunch using a Bob-The-Builder Tray. His entire face lit up when he saw the tray. I cooked fish porridge and a pot of vegetable soup for lunch. While he was picking on the potatoes, corn, celery and carrot on the tray, I fed him his fish porridge. He had a lot of fun and he thoroughly enjoyed the vegetable soup, but look at the mess he created on the floor!

In the afternoon, my mom came by to see Matthew. Matthew has been asking for 'Na Na' (this is how he calls my mom now) for the past few days. Matt was so happy when he saw 'Na Na'. My mom spent the afternoon playing with Matt so that I could catch an afternoon nap. Thank God for my mom. Here are some photos of them playing together.

Matthew is 4 months and 2 weeks old

2007-09-02T06:50:00.000-07:00

Matthew weighs 7.3 kg and is 64 cm long now. That’s a whopping 3 times increase in weight since birth. Recently, he started grabbing his toys and my hands while I am changing his diaper. Today, he grabbed his toes while sitting upright (with some support) He is also learning to turn from his back to his side, on some days, he manages to turn onto his tummy with some help from mummy or daddy. Mathew has also taken a liking to his baby gym cos it allows him to grab the dangling toys.

He still enjoys babbling and mummy is teaching him words starting from the sound which he babbles e.g. he makes the sound “Er” and I will tell him Er is for Elephant, Encyclopedia and Excited…. And daddy (Matt’s Chinese teacher) will tell him Er is for Er3 Xin, Er2 Mei2 Shan1 and Er4 Hu2.

One of the most significant milestone reached at his 4th month is that Matthew is now sleeping through the night! Yeah! He goes to bed at 7 pm (after his 6 pm feed and bath). I wake him up for his last feed at 10.30 pm and he falls back to sleep until about 8 am the next morning. Actually I think he wakes up before 8 am and but he just lay on his cot babbling or looking at his cot mobile or storybook (which tied to the side of his cot). Mummy and daddy wakes up at 8 am, opens his door and greet him in the morning and Matthew will give us a happy smile and start “talking” to us and that always makes mummy and daddy happy to start the day.

A Collage for Grandma

2007-08-25T06:59:00.000-07:00

It's my mum's 61st birthday on 27 Aug 2007. I made a collage of Matthew's photos for her as a birthday gift.

I really thank God for my mum. She came to stay with us during my confinement month and took really good care of Matthew and I and also Steven! I fondly remember her very yummy confinement food. She also wakes up at night to help me feed Matthew EBM so that I can get some rest at night.

Recently, I sprained my wrist and was unable to carry Matthew. Also, the eczema on my finger tips worsen and my thumbs are cracked. So, I went to my mom's place during the day time so that she can help me bathe and carry Matthew while I rest my wrist and avoid water and soap for my fingers.

When I became a mummy myself, I thought a lot about my own mum. I realised she really loves me a lot and has given so much of her life to me. I remember when I was young, I had eczema on almost all my finger tips and toes. My mom would pain-stakingly wrap a small piece of gauze on each of my finger tip and toe at night so that the cream will stay and keep my tips moisturised. Although she didn't have a very happy childhood and she never experienced the love of a mother, she devoted her life to love and to raise me and my other 2 siblings. She was a very prudent stay-at-home mum and sew clothes to supplement the family's income.

I thank God for giving me my mum. =)

Birth Story of Matthew Toh

2007-07-05T08:04:00.001-07:00

Birth Story of Matthew Toh
As told from his mummy’s perspective

To be honest, both of Steven and I were rather surprised that my delivery went drug free. I had a pink show at 4 am on 15 April 2007 (Sunday) and felt contractions at 5-8 mins interval. I wasn’t very sure if this is a true labour since Matthew’s Estimated Due Date is 2 weeks away. So I flipped my “What to expect when you are expecting” book an started reading the chapter on labour.

The contractions were rather manageable at first, so Steven made me a ham and egg sandwich and I ate it on our bed. Steven cooked for himself a plate of instant noodles and offered some to me. Steven also made 2 rice socks for me using all the rice we had at home. He used the hot rice socks to massage my back and it helped much in relieving my contraction pain. He also sprayed lavender water in our bedroom and played the Rainbow Relaxation CD to create a relaxing and comfortable environment for me to labour in.

Soon, it was noon time and both of us were hungry. Since I didn’t want Steven to leave my side to buy lunch from the hawker center downstairs, we decided to pop a frozen pizza into the oven for lunch. I ate the pizza on our bed in-between my contractions, the pizza tasted yummy and I ate half a pizza! By noon time, we both think that it is probably not a false labour, so Steven started packing the remaining items into our hospital bag and also printed out a copy of our birth plan.

By 4 pm, I was changed and we were ready to head for the hospital. But my contractions have become rather intense that I can hardly walk without assistance. Thankfully, my mom came over to our home at that time to check how I was doing. That frees Steven to carry the hospital bag to the car and drive the car from the car park while my mom helped me from our apartment to the void deck. I grabbed a comfortable down pillow with me to hug between my contractions. On the way from my apartment to the lift, I had a contraction and I had to go on my knees.

In the car, I was on my all fours in the back seat and my mom helped to massage my back while Steven drove us to Thomson Medical Centre. During the car ride, Steven gave me an update of our location and how near we are from TMC, which helped me to know that I will be reaching the hospital soon.

When we reached TMC at about 5 pm, Steven helped me to the wheel-chair at the TMC entrance and asked for an assistant to wheel me to the delivery room while he parks the car. The assistant wheeled me to the floor where the delivery suites are (my contractions were very intense by then). Steven was not with me when I reached the delivery suites. The nurse at the delivery suites asked me for my name. In between my contractions, I managed to tell them my name and that I have a birth plan. Since the birth plan was in the hospital bag with my husband, they wheeled me to the room with a water tub first.

Once I reached the deliver room, the nurse helped me to the bed and took off my underwear. She noticed that there are blood stains on my underwear. She asked me what time did I start having a bloody show. She also asked me if I have a doula. I said “no”.

Some time later, Steven arrived at my delivery room. I was SO HAPPY to see him. He handed my birth plan to the nurse, played the Rainbow Relaxation CD, and heated the rice socks in the microwave oven. The nurse started filling up the water tub with warm water and also offered the gym ball and mat for me to labour in.

I tried the gym ball and mat but I found the delivery room too small to labour on the floor. So, Steven helped me back onto the bed when I continued to labour on my side.

Just before my gynae, Joycelyn Wong came to see me at around 6 pm, the nurse checked my cervix and told me that I am 4 cm dilated. I was happy to hear that. When my gynae came I was in too much pain to say hi to her, but I was really happy to see her. Steven asked Joycelyn how long does it usually take for the cervix to dilate to 10 cm, Joycelyn said on average it takes about 1 hour to dilate 1 cm. Steven did a mental calculation and thought to himself, Huijia will probably deliver at midnight.

After my gynae left, I continued to experience contractions (or surges) at regular intervals of 5 mins. The contraction pains were very intense and I had to push my legs against something every time I experience the contractions. Unfortunately, the only thing available for me to push against was the flimsy metal railings by the bed. These railings actually bent about 45 degrees every time I push my legs against them. The nurse kept telling me “Mummy, don’t push against the railings, you are going to break them”. I was thinking in my heart, “I don’t care if the railings break, I am in pain!”

The nurse asked me, “Mummy, do you want to go into the water tub?” By then, I was in quite a lot of pain every time the contractions come and the contractions were coming at very short intervals. So, I didn’t have the strength nor the courage to venture out from my bed to the water tub. Also I was also puking out a mouthful of yucky stuff at every contraction. I think it must have been the half digested pizza which I had for lunch earlier. Poor Steven has to juggle between massaging my back with rice socks, hold the puke bowl, wipe my mouth with tissue after every puke and wipe my face with cold towel. I think he must have wished that he has 4 pairs of hands like an octopus.

At about 7.30 pm, the nurses checked my cervix again and told me that I am fully dilated (10 cm). That means I can start pushing my baby out. I tried the J-breathing which I learnt at the hypno-birthing class, but somehow it doesn’t seem to work. I tried pushing on all fours. Some time between being fully dilated and birthing baby Matthew, I felt something coming out from my vaginal. At first I thought it was my baby, but the nurse told me that it’s my water bag. Interestingly, my water bag was being pushed out intact. It was after several pushes later that my water bag burst. After that, my bed was wet and sticky from the water which kept flowing out at every contraction. It was messy and uncomfortable to labour in.

After about 1 hour of pushing in vain, I asked for the birthing stool. The nurse took the birth-stool from the cabinet and put it next to my bed. Some how the birth-stool looks different from the ones which I saw in the videos during my hypno-birthing class. I asked the nurse to show me how to use it, but she only verbally described to me instead of physically demonstrating to me how to use. Since I could not visualize in my mind how I can use the birth-stool, again I didn’t venture off my bed to try the birth-stool.

After about 2 hours of pushing in vain, my gynae and a midwife came to my delivery room. I was SO HAPPY to see my gynae. Her presence was reassuring as she was someone whom I could trust. She looked at me with her friendly smile and told me that she is going to help me as I push my baby out because my baby’s heart beat was falling and we needed to get him out.

Together with the midwife, my gynae positioned me on my back with my legs spread apart and my hands holding on to my ankles as if I am on a stirrup. My gynae put her fingers through my vaginal and tried to stretch it open. She put a mirror and told me “Look Hwee Kiah, can you see your baby’s hair? Just a few more pushes and you will be able to see your baby”. The mirror helped me see the crown of my baby’s head and that was great motivation for me to push him out. In my mind, I pictured my little baby waiting patiently at the birth canal, waiting to come out. Every time my contractions came, everyone in the room encouraged me to push. The midwife was pushing my tummy with her hands to help push the baby down the birth canal and my gynae was using her fingers to help guide the baby out.

After 3 or 4 pushes, baby Matthew was birthed into this world at 10 pm weighing 2.6 kg and measuring 48 cm in length. His bright eyes were open and he was very alert. Moments later, he started to cry (which is an indication the he is breathing well). He looked at me as I put him to my breast and I said “Hey Matthew, this is your mummy. Welcome to this world, mummy and daddy have been looking forward to seeing you”.