Finally Feeling the Rewards

I had not blogged here for AGES..........life with Sam had felt so mundane recently I couldn't bring myself to write abt him after facing him day in day out day in day out day in day out!!!!

Just 3 nights ago I had felt depressed with having to do the same bedtime ritual - get him to keep his toys, sit on the toilet bowl, clean up after his poop, brush his teeth without playing with water, change into his pyjamas, read to him, lie in the dark next to him till he falls asleep - night after night after night with no way out and no life of my own!!

But tonight something happened to make me feel that all my sacrifices ARE going somewhere, as some of my colleagues sincerely reassure me: Sam sang to me a song that I've read/sang to him as part of the bedtime ritual! And he did it without any prompting, just out of the blue, when I was changing him into his pyjamas!

It was "5 Little Ducks", and though Sam's pronouciation is atrocious, the tune is off, he missed out whole sentences, and didn't even start with the correct number, I'm still very proud of him!!!!



I had not even realised Sam could now indicate numbers easily on his right hand!

Oh, I'm so glad that all these nightly efforts to read to him are paying off in some way, even if his recognition of the alphabet is still way off. At least he's remembering something!

This is probably the kind of bonding in Sam's early years that my colleagues had reassured me would last till adulthood...............at least now I don't feel like I've been wasting my time & effort & sacrificing my nightlife for nothing!!!

Christmas in Changi Airport T3

Since Sam's childcare centre was closed yesterday & today while the teachers prepare for the new school year, I decided to bring Sam to explore Changi's T3 today. Partly cos I've never been to the new terminal before & hubby wasn't keen to go. Partly also cos of the various X'mas stuff that's going on in T3, so this seems like a good time to go explore.

Sam was excited on the way to the airport. Asked me when the train stopped at every single MRT station if that was our stop! I'm surprised at my own good temper for not blowing up after the 45 min trip!

Once in the airport Sam went wild. After all, it's not often there's a non-crowded 'shopping centre' with such a large compound for him to run & push the pram around. Soon into T3 we found the bouncing castle, but Sam was only interested in the small playground next to it.

Had lunch in the 3Top area, where Sam interestedly watched the planes land & taxi along. After which he commented: "This place good for Sam." which I took it to mean he likes the airport. ;)

He was surprisingly well behaved (as in, only whined once) when I asked him to leave the toy shop, even if it was after his naptime. I wonder if it was because I had let him played to his heart's content earlier, or because I was the only one with him & thus he knew his tantrums won't help.

Only when we were leaving the airport did we manage to catch the Musical Ball in action. Sam loved the music coming from it - sat down at the steps & listened quietly while munching his biscuit (left pic). So when the performance was over he was calmly told me he wants to wait for the music to come again (right pic). Since the next performance would be half hour later & we were WAY past his nap time, I didn't agree.



But I managed to get 2 sweets from the treats that the Musical Ball sprewed out, & Sam was satisfied to move on to sit in the train. He fell asleep in the train as I expected, but woke after we got off, so tonight I'll have to put him to bed a trifle earlier.

All in all, an enjoyable trip to the airport for both of us!

Sam Taking the Bus

Today got Sam to board the bus by himself, ie. he held my hand as we went up the bus, then paid for his own fare with his Child EZ-link card, and chose his own seat. He was excited by his new-found independence, I was relieved not having to carry him + 3 bags up a bus, and even got to shop for his Thomas card holder! ;)

Dressing Up & Funny Faces

Another overdued post: Sam during a family dinner on 11 Oct 2009, got it into his head to wear my shawl & necklace, then began posing for my camera with plenty of funny faces!

Sam's Cauliflower

Yes, haven't felt like being a good mummy for a long, long while.

Here's a back-dated posting I told myself I mustn't forget:

An enrichment school at Safra Jurong has this poster, which one day - 6 Nov 09 according to my photo - Sam pointed to and told me seriously: "cauliflower"

I can only say that I was doubly glad my Sam had finally showed some kind of imagination that did NOT involve cars!

Sam as Hairy Potter

Obviously with my long absence from this blog I haven't been in a mothering mood. But this is too funny, a must-share - a Harry Potter spoof made on 9 Oct 2009 as part of Funky Friday's activities, starring my very own Sam as male 'lead':

http://www.mediafire.com/?xmmmmaz2mwm

Kudos to Teacher Drizzle for coming up with the movie, after the children decided Sam looked like Harry Potter with his toy spectacles.

My 1st Evening Out

This evening was the 1st time in 3 years I got to spend the evening out, without Sam. In order to make it for my company's Social Nite - Tiger Brewery tour, followed by food & free-flow beer - hubby had agreed to try to make it back home earlier. In-laws also agreed to help fetch Sam from school & feed him dinner. I had planned to be back home by 8:30pm latest, so that I could put Sam to bed for the night. So everything seems well planned & easy, right???

I didn't realise I had been unconsciously stressed out. Last night, I actually had a nightmare: dreamt that Sam caught stomach flu again........my right arm was holding Sam over the bathroom basin, where he was vomitting into, my left cradling the phone, informing the office I couldn't make it for the brewery tour after all.

Isn't it pathetic that I can't even go out to enjoy myself in peace?????? The nightmare had left a bad taste in my mouth: I spent my day checking my hp in case the school called to ask me to bring Sam home for whatever kind of emergency my imagination could come up with.

Still, I'm so glad I did manage to go. It was irritating to have to wolf down 10 finger food sized sandwiches & down half a mug of beer in 20 min, so that I could go off without a hungry stomach, but it was nice to be able to go for the tour & enjoy the company of fellow colleagues. They're such a fun bunch. I can't wait for the Malacca holiday.........assuming Sam would stay healthy, of course!

Sam's 1st Field Trip - To the Zoo

Sam had his 1st school field trip on Friday. Teacher Drizzle had planned the trip for the children to see the polar bears & sun bears she's been teaching in her class, and the trip on 25th Sept 2009 involved many parents/grandparents/caregivers. I was pleasantly surprised to find the teacher had prepared a detailed itinerary:


There was also a mini workbook for the children to complete over the weekend, to emphasie the trip to the kids, I guess. I still couldn't manage to get Sam to colour in the pictures of the bears, he kept wanting to draw on the back of the pieces of paper instead!

But the trip turned out quite smoothly, for Sam & me at least. Sam was being quite a good boy, staying close to me most of the time. He had a whale of a time at break time (while waiting for the Splash Safari show to start), eating jelly & biscuits shared by fellow classmates & their friendly parents, ignoring the healthy sandwiches & apple juice the teachers prepared:

Lunchtime was at the KFC in the Kids Rainforest. I let Sam indulge in a scoop of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, cos I was so hot by that time & needed the treat myself! ;P Since he had been quite well behaved, I also allowed him my fries, which he finished together with the Popcorn Chicken that was part of his Chicky Meal.

The bears, the reason for the trip, weren't particularly exciting for Sam that day, who found the stingrays in the Fragile Forest more exciting, goodness knows why. But frankly, I myself also found the Fragile Forest more interesting that day, seeing clearly in daylight bats & sloths feeding, and monitor lizards moving actively & scaring the ducks. Sam saw only 2 butterflies, the purpose for the trip to the Fragile Forest, near the exit.

Sam managed to stay awake on the bus on the way back to school, having a lot of fun playing with Megan, a very cute little girl. That was also when I discovered Teacher Drizzle had introduced the song "Nobody" by the Korean group Wondergirls to the class, and Sam could actually jiggle (I wouldn't call his moves 'dance') to the music!!

Photos taken by Teacher Drizzle during the trip: http://www.slide.com/r/Ki7L-8ii4D8zjR--1AQCRqYm0Tct9uTM?previous_view=lt_embedded_url.

Conversation On the Toilet Bowl

Was trying to encourage Sam to poop on the toilet bowl, and somehow the conversation ended up like this:

Me: "erh-eeeerrrrmmmm"

Sam: "poo-poo inside."

Hubby: "Yes, so must erh-erm the poo-poo out."

Sam: "poo-poo sleeping." (complete with hand-on-ear gesture, head tilted to one side.)

*Me broke up in laughter. Hubby impressed with Sam's 1st original thought.*

Hubby: "what if poo-poo wake up later when Sam is sleeping???!!!"

*Sam laughed sheepishly.*


Anyway, the usual promise reward of a sweet resulted in yet another successful toilet training attempt.

Over-Controlling Mum?

I got a shock yesterday when I went to pick up Sam from childcare & found him munching on - of all things - a prawn cracker. I was so stunned, I didn't dare ask the teacher why Sam was eating such an unhealthy snack. I was afraid I would have sounded too harsh & unreasonable, and should that offering be from a parent, instead of the teacher, it would have been rather embarassing.

So by this morning when I'm able to blog about this topic sensibly, I was thinking more along the lines of "am I being too paranoid?" instead of "how to stop my son from eating unhealthy foods?". After all, I'm an avid snacker myself. Though only God knows the lengths I've gone to to prevent my son seeing me eat potato chips, chocolates & potato chips.

So why on earth should I try stopping my son from eating all the 'interesting' foods???? I might as well enjoy sharing the snacks with him, right, just as my own mother does with me. The thing is, my mummy didn't start fighting with me over bags of potato chips till I was in adulthood, earning sufficiently to support our eating habits.

Sam is only 3 years old, and usually refuses to eat vegetables & fruits. I've a hard enough time trying to get him eat balanced meals so that I won't have to resort to popping more health supplements into him (already he's eating Vit C tablets). I don't want to affect his appetite with all these junk foods. Already I'm compromising by reducing his dinner portions (by 2 spoonfuls) so that he could eat his fav biscuits or ice cream as a reward for completing the meal.

And for that matter, surely there're healthier snacks than prawn crackers????? I'm not even talking about raisins (believe me I've tried, but Sam just spat out the raisins after giving them a good chew), or similarly healthy snacks all the magazines I read agree to be good for children. I'm talking about snacks with some kind of nutrients inside them: flavoured breakfast cereals such as CoCo-Crunch, chocolate-flavoured oatmeal balls (from Quaker), Hi-iron/calcium biscuits, candy laced with vit C & made with fruit juices. With such choices in the market, why do people like my in-laws still want to buy gummies with nothing in them except sugar & artificial flavourings??????

Am I being too uptight over a minor matter??????????

Sam at the Hairdresser's

This is a back-dated posting. Was clearing the photos in my handphone & realised I haven't posted this.

Brought Sam to the barber's at my mum's place on 1 Sept 09, when his childcare centre was closed for the Teacher's Day holiday. Turned out plenty of parents had the same idea too, cos the cheap hairdresser (S$3.80 per haircut) had a long queue. So we went along to his 1st hairdresser.

My mum actually want to wait, cos it's more expensive there. But at $6, it's dirt cheap considering what the shop at Pioneer Mall wants to charge me - $20 - when they couldn't even get Sam seated on the chair! And Sam had steadfastedly refused to even enter the EC House ($10) at Jurong Point........

Anyway, Sam spent his waiting time (there was one other customer before us) taking photos with my camera phone, and the results are so pretty I've posted them here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=109816&id=682608180&l=509a7fa178

And Sam was such a good boy that day, sitting still throughout the haircut. So I had no need of the extra set of clothes I brought for both of us! The barber rewarded him with a lollipop before I could stop him, and Sam polished off the sweet before we even reached home.

Hopefully all his future trips would be this good........

Short Trip to Botanical Gardens

Brought Sam to the Singapore Botanical Gardens for the 2nd time yesterday afternoon. Lucky the sun wasn't too hot. Thought Sam would enjoy feeding the swans & fishes, and he sure did!!!!


Basically, he not only fed the swans all the bread we brought for the trip (2 slices), he also ransacked the diaper bag & fed the hungry birds his own biscuits! I had to stop him from feeding the cup of cereals I prepared for him as a snack, despite his moans & cries of disappointment.

It was a good thing I did so too, cos he was ravenous after all the excitement, and finished the entire cup of peanut butter & chocolate cereal balls. Turns out the tap of the child-sized basin in the toilet was loose enough for Sam to press himself, and I had to stop him from pressing the tap just for the fun of it! And the water cooler tap was easy for him to press too (unlike the new one in MacRitchie Reservoir), so Sam drank a LOT of water from there:


We didn't do much else at the park. Tried to get Sam to enjoy nature by touching the low tree branch of the Heritage Tree (that's featured on our 5-dollar note), but he wasn't interested. Couldn't even get him to sit on the branch long enough for a photo shoot - he was afraid he'll fall down!

Sam in School - Sept 09 (updated)

I've been trying to think of a sensible way to showcase the photographs the teachers took of Sam (& fellow classmates) in school. And this is about the best I can come up with at this time.

So I'll post 1 every month containing all the links to photos taken by his teachers during school hours, then I'll put up the link to this post in the "Photos Galore" in the sidebar. The downside to this method is I'll end up updating the same post several times a month (if I'm hardworking & update every time I get the email from his teachers), and hence the post will be re-posted several times a month. But I can't think of a better way, so here it goes..............


11th Sept 09: http://www.slide.com/r/KFaXHVR67T-15q7tFEcN0YuR0mxTjxoA?previous_view=lt_embedded_url and http://www.slide.com/r/Tsx4eNqi3T-U_ZMeeh-x4Rlt9fY_ofv4?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original (巧克力水果串)

10th Sept 2009 : http://www.slide.com/r/E2_J1CA_4D9ETHsRMXiEKDqTWQfh6jJz?previous_view=lt_embedded_url (indoor play)

9th Sept 2009 : http://www.slide.com/r/kqIQ9nRp1T_6TeY0PNPi59Pg95sWBp5B?previous_view=lt_embedded_url (outdoor walk)

8th Sept 2009 : http://www.slide.com/r/Ult4DQ_l0z-_IHNfSPj-kf44QvNy6WlO?previous_view=lt_embedded_url (water play, bubble play)

7th Sept 2009 : http://www.slide.com/r/VOUymVYF4j-Y8gzKkp1vXl5p2-iEkd1c?previous_view=lt_embedded_url (bubble play)

Week of 11 Sept 09 : http://www.slide.com/r/7lnNBkUk5D9WJWgyWE9jraLbaDEItBPH?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original (巧克力水果串，坐火车)


4th Sept 09: http://www.slide.com/r/jp1GJvgD6z_JBJNwVpVA0Q628x1V6J7R?previous_view=lt_embedded_url (sandbox play, cookie-making)

3rd Sept 09: http://www.slide.com/r/2PkjNrrctj_UhHbKyH9225-vdiAqrp7A?previous_view=lt_embedded_url (sponging teddy bear, tricycle play, bubble play, Darrien's birthday)

2nd Sept 09: http://www.slide.com/r/8EVtjUFS5j_GCNLL8sfZYVWyB8HwJRhy?previous_view=lt_embedded_url (Kids Amaze play)

A Funeral Wake

Maternal grandmother passed away on Wed night. Today was the funeral wake. And it was so bloody difficult to feel sad properly when half of me was constantly worried about Sam shrieking in the middle of the funeral. Why can't the boy keep still for an instant???? If I had known he was going to be so difficult I wouldn't have brought him along on Sat night. Then maybe he wouldn't be overtired and be easier to control this morning. Men are so useless when it comes to babysitting, can't even keep the little bugger from running around in the funeral.

CCC Closed!

Turns out that Sam's childcare centre would be closed today, cos as many as 28 students and 5 teachers are down with stomach flu!!!!!! So they're closing for disinfection. So Sam can't go to school today after all.................I was still contemplating yesterday night on letting go in the afternoon for the cookie baking. Well, that's totally out to the question now.

Furthermore, I now would have to bring Sam back to the doctor for a follow-up, to obtain a certificate stating Sam is fit for returning to school, cos of the spread of the stomach flu in the CCC. Sigh!!! I do dislike going to the family clinic, cos there's always a risk of infection there. Oh well, what to do???

Am getting sick & tired of facing Sam at home. Luckily I had a store of library books from last week's visit, and had just found a new Korean drama - style - to watch, so am managing to amuse myself when Sam is napping.

Still, Sam is getting ridiculously rude to his grandparents when he spends so much time at home. I'm really at a loss of how to get him to learn good manners. After facing him for the past 2 days I'm now just trying to spend as much time away from him as possible. If I have to play cars with him again I'll probably blow up again! Can't wait for tomorrow to go shopping with hubby!!!!!

Sam Down Again - Stomach Flu This Time

I knew life's too good to be true. After my post on Tuesday, Sam vomited when I went to fetch him from the childcare centre that very evening.

By 7 pm, just after the doctor diagnosed him with stomach flu, Sam threw up again for the 4th time. By this time it was pure fluid.......whatever water he had drank for the past half hour, plus some bile, I'm pretty sure. He's already emptied his system of his lunch, which I could tell from the wholesome grains of rice & barley, that he barely chewed through his meal that day. So I guess that got him susceptible to whatever caused the stomach flu.

Anyway, doctor gave him 3 days of MC, plus medicine for vomiting, wind, and diarrhea, which I requested for, just in case. Sam threw up again at 8pm, which got me worried, cos I thought the suppository the doc gave was supposed to stop the vomiting. Again I prepared my bags in case I had to get Sam to the A&E for dehydration.

Fortunately, Sam stopped vomiting in the night, even though he didn't sleep well, complaining frequently of stomachache and had started running a temperature of 38degC. By morning I was pretty sure the 'stomachache' was partly due to his hunger, cos he actually asked to eat biscuits.

Though he soon dosed off at 10 am, a mere 2 hrs after he got up, he was soon up & bouncing by the afternoon. He got hold of the stickers given by the doctor the evening before, and instead of sticking them somewhere else, placed them on his tummy, then proudly displayed his creation to me & the camera!

After a 2.5 hrs nap at 3pm, he woke up asking for food. I took that to be a good sign. He finished a whole bowl of noodle soup for dinner!

Well, this morning he polished off 3/4 slices of bread & 1.5 pcs of biscuits, in 2 batches. He seemed quite his usual self. I'm now wondering how I can tahan facing him at home tomorrow, and if he seems so okay, if I should send him to school tomorrow..........

Sam Finally Sits on Musical Train

Finally, Sam is no longer afraid to sit on a moving musical car. Or in this case, the Thomas & Friends train. Definitely a milestone to be recorded, this having occurred on 22nd August 2009, in Jurong Point's new wing on Basement 1.

Updates

Realised I haven't updated this blog for some time. Well, the fact is, I didn't really wanna be a mother for the past few weeks, so was definitely not in the mood to talk about my son anywhere. :P

What happened was, barely one week after Sam recovered from HFMD, he came down with flu, this time, with a sudden onset of fever of 39degC. Both his Dr Ong & I agreed Tamiflu wasn't necessary, so Sam just got the normal course of antibiotics, but his fever took several days to subside.

At one point, his fever refused to come down even after taking Paracetemol. I got so worried, I cancelled my assignment at the last minute & actually packed my bags in case we had to rush Sam down to the hospital in the middle of the night.

Fortunately that wasn't necessary. And Sam's fever finally stayed away on the 4th day of the antibiotics course. And he recovered just in time for our holiday to KL...........it was a close call, we were contemplating cancelling the holiday, in fact.

Anyway, last week Sam made it back to school for the entire week without falling sick. I've been dosing him with Vit C & herbal teas.........if by next week he's still strong & healthy, he would have passed a milestone, ie. 2 weeks in school without falling ill. So me keeping my fingers crossed..........

Sam's Cleared!

Yes! Sam is cleared of HFMD and can go to school tomorrow!!!! Hip hip hoorah!!!!!!!

Me have been planning what to do tomorrow since yesterday. Can't wait for Sam to go to childcare tomorrow, then I'll be free to go eat my fav pork cutlet at Tonkichi in Ngee Ann City, buy hubby's fav tomato bread, and perhaps visit the new Ion!

Ah! It's been a torturous week............esp. last Thurs night when Sam's fever peaked just below 39 degC, and Friday when his whole mouth was painful from the ulcers & couldn't eat and needed to be persuaded to drink his milk.

I'm only grateful this time he caught a mild strain, and thus didn't have full blown ulcers on his hands, feet & diaper area, just a few red spots. Oh, please don't ever let Sam catch HFMD again!!!!

Things Sam are Afraid Of

I never quite understand why Sam is afraid of certain things.

Initially was the green monster in the toilet. I dunno where on earth he got this idea, but it was bloody difficult to convince him to shower in those days.

Then he would insist on closing the windows when we're wiping him at night, cos of the cockroaches that would fly in if the windows are open. No, we've never had cockroaches flying in through the bedroom window yet.

Recently he got this crazy fear of the Mona Lisa. No, I'm not joking. He's already recognized the Mona Lisa from his Little Einsteins TV shows, and for some strange reason he's got scared of it. Now he refused to watch that particular episode, and he's forced us to turn our Magic Cube (souvenir from Paris, shows various famous artwork in the Louvre on different sides of the cube) around so that the picture of the Mona Lisa wouldn't be visible.

Then surprisingly, when we saw a TV advert yesterday night regarding the Da Vinci exhibition in the Science Centre, he willingly wanted to go and see the 'big' Mona Lisa. Now I wonder how long this mood of his will last, and if we should pay to bring him to go see the exhibition.............