We finally made it to somewhere other than the Science Centre. Heh. And I think it was somewhat interesting for Jayden to see the animals he had previously only seen in books come to live. Whilst babyK was somewhat bored to death and dying in the heat. This picture sums it up — K’s bored stiff while J is again distracted by something else that passed his way.

Yes, the zoo. Finally…!

Two adult Zooper Saver tickets please!

Was very tempted to rent this (or the electric sccoters!) but decided against it. Thankfully, else I’d have ended up carrying a sleeping K midway through the visit.

One of them obligatory shots

I did say she wasn’t too happy…

The fun stuff!

I don’t quite remember the zoo having such a BIG children’s play area. But it is there right now. A reasonably large waterplay area, playgrounds and team building stations (flying fox, suspension bridge…) kept Jayden occupied for a chunk of time. The majority are actually better suited (and targeted at) older kids but he had fun nonetheless.

Random J speaks…

On seeing the lion poster. We asked what it was.
C.A.T CAT!
(technically, he’s not wrong!)

At the tiger enclosure… He started singing…

So the June holidays have since rolled around and we are busy dealing with two boisterous children at a go. Thankfully Singapore isn’t all that boring for the kids and there are other options besides the shopping malls (though their aircon comfort makes them hard to beat).

After learning about Children’s Season at the museums last year, I have been meaning to visit. Was far too heavy with babyK in utero last year to even think of venturing out so we tried again this year. We made a stop at SAM@8Q and spent a delightful afternoon out.

And we are hoping to hit the National Museum next. Or maybe a second round at the Art Garden.

*It actually felt like the (unofficial) bring your kids to the museum day as we bumped into friends at the museum!

And brownies to end off the fun day

In a bid to keep him occupied, we have all sorts of odd activities for him to do. The latest is colouring. He is still not very adept at holding the pen(cils) and has a long long way to go. But it does get him seated. Most of the time anyway.

The sheet in the picture is a printable from Brittany Soucy. They are rather nice and well, better for older children. I was tired of doing ABCs!

** The boy came down with gastric flu over the weekend past. And boy, am I glad that the weekend of pee, poop and fever is over. On a sidenote, he is semi-toilet trained whereby he typically does not use the diaper when at home. Only when out or overnight. We had cajoled him to use his potty before the Hong Kong trip and oddly enough, he did.

Except it ‘backfired‘ on us where we had to work our way through 3-5 layers of clothing to get him ready to *ahem* pee in the cold spell that struck whilst we were in Hong Kong.

Baby Kathlene went for her 3 month paed visit and came away with her second dose of 3 different. She let out her usual blood curling yell when the needle went in and didn’t let up till a while later. Not quite the trooper but still a survivor. She did get warm after but not high enough to be classified as a fever or warrant medication. She did, however become wary of anyone pulling her pants off. She semi-freaked out during diaper changes for the day… starting from the moment we touched her pants… Hmm.

But other than that, all’s well. She’s growing well. Tipping the scales at 5.6kg and measuring 61cm. Numbers her brother only reached in his 4th month. So erhmm, yay?

Jayden has never been one for toys. Instead he goes for the weirdest objects. With the birth of Kathlene, we sometimes think he sees her as a huge toy. Just for him. His sister tries to tolerate him when he is in that ’state of mind(set)’ but when things get a little too much to bear, she lets out a bloodcurling yell indicating we better rescue her pronto, lest she throws a major fit.

This little one has her moods. When she is in a good mood, she joins me in the workroom as I craft new accessories. She sits in her baby rocker and coos away. Occasionally she demands a ‘rock’ and together, we’d pass the time quite pleasantly. She coos, I talk. A little tete-a-tete.

We spend mornings together. With grandma asleep and daddy out to work. She loves the interaction after her 6am *groan* feed. She typically gets all wide-eyed, eager to make the most of the day, oblivious to my eye-bags and incessant pleas for her to nap a bit more and spare this night owl. We spend the time lazing in bed, talking and smiling. Sometimes taking photos because she is all alert right now. And after everything’s done, some tummytime to exercise her muscles. By 11, she gets tired and then she nurses before a midday nap.

Which is just about time to go care for her older brother. No rest. Just a continuous stream of activities. Jayden eats quite ‘continuously’. He’s a snacker in my opinion. Not quite the sort who eats one full meal and lasts till the next, but the kind that nibbles endlessly such that it is a mindless blur of food. His day is peppered with random requests for food amidst his tricycle riding. Oh, he is getting quite the pro at navigating that tricycle. Even with the obstacle course we have in our crowded living room. Occasionally he gets to bring the tricycle down to the void deck to paddle away… and he spews out his commands to himself, “turn right!” “parking…” “go behind and pick up toys”. Amusing to some extent. Not when it occurs too frequently.

Both are growing in their own rights. And at their own pace. Kathlene is no longer the wee thing that popped out some 10 weeks ago. Jayden is turning into the pre-schooler that has left babyhood behind. Sometimes you think that time passes too fast. Amidst all the diaper changes, temper tantrums, disciplining, these two have found time to grow. However did they do that?

… and never see the floor so dirty!

We took the plunge and went cold turkey with Jayden this past week. He’s been using the bottle for the longest time even though he can drink from a cup relatively well. He however, as with everything else he does, segments milk bottle for erhmm, milk and the cup for plain water. So he kicked up a fuss when the cup was introduced for everything fluids.

He went on a mini-milk strike for the first day or two but we notice his food intake is finally climbing! He is down from his usual milk guzzling aka drink-parents-out-of-house-and-home state of 4-6 feeds a day to 2-3, and chugging noodles, cornflakes, raisins, eggs and pizza! Gee… maybe we should have gone cold turkey sooner.

And oddly enough, this helps us set a routine with him. After his last cuppa for the day, he actually requests to brush his teeth and change up for the night. He then troops in his room, bolsters in hand and switches on the aircon. He climbs up the bed and asks for songs and tapping till he is out for the night.

Funny kiddo I have here. He sets his own routine. Many eons ago we did that, established a good routine and he went to slosh it out. But now he’s back. Crossing fingers that the appetite will continue to be good though!

So erhmm, after 2 years 3 months, the boy is suddenly back on solids. Some anyway. We’re hoping that he’d keep up and start eating more solids. Over the last week or so, he’s started up on cereals, biscuits, potatoes and rice. That’s a phenomenal increase for Jayden if you ask me. So we are hoping it’d keep up.

And hey, if you shoot for the stars, even if you don’t make it there, you’d still get pretty high too right? Right?

Oh, that’s him eating his Honey Stars whilst the rest of us had pasta at Pasta Mania. The nice wait staff brought an additional set of cutlery for Jayden, and a lil key chain toy. But somehow I don’t think he expected Jayden to be eating… honey stars.

Not that we went anywhere. Life just happened.

Was quite amused by the news feature of the youngest member of Mensa. At age 2, she has an impressive IQ of 156, just 4 points below that of Albert Einstein. She started talking at 5 months and walking at 8 and… at the risk of being labeled ’sour grapes’, I’d just say I think I’d die if Jayden started walking and talking so early.

That said, I think it is awfully fun observing the things he CAN do. Nevermind the IQ tests. At a couple of days shy of turning 27 months… he does…

1. counting! : in English, till 5 accurately. He won’t count for you per se. He counts properly when no one is looking (heh)
2. keep his toys : every night, before heading off to bed, he’d keep everything in their proper place. He does it himself, with a little directing. But most of the time, on his own accord. And it all fits nicely!
3. reporting : if he’s out with the gramps and we aren’t along, he’d come back and ‘report’ on what happened. Especially so if he got a beating. (haha)
4. ‘English oral, describe what is happening in the picture’ : he loves to look at pictures… particularly of himself. And then he’d describe what he sees; ie “Jayden carrying bag”, “Jayden at grandma’s home” or “Jayden sleeping!”. This sorta thing.
5. tell you what he wants : he’d dictate which shows he wants to watch. From his collection of vcds, he’d specifically tell which disc he wants. Either by speech or bringing it direct to you and stuffing it in your face. Demanding.
6. pack his bag : everytime we are headed out, he’d look for his own bag and pack it. He’d insist on carrying it too. Nevermind if it is just for the short trip down to the vehicle where he has to take it off and be strapped into the car seat. He’d remember again at the end of the journey and insist on having it back on his back. He’d also take care to pack for the trip. Depending on where we are headed, he’d pack a different item.
7. have a very sociable personality : hugs and kisses and lots of interaction. However given the current scare over Influenza A outbreak, we are likely to be postponing sending him to daycare after all.

Offhand, that’s about it. It doesn’t mean that we are having an easy peasy life with him, cursing cruising through his toddler years. He still has his issues. Especially with food. He’s getting more and more mischievous (he keeps pushing the bar on this one!) and you really gotta watch him lest he gets himself into some kind of weird scrap.

Ah well.

At an age of discovering new territories to conquer, Jayden has overcome another Everest. Yes, I know it was bound to happen sooner or later but one can always wish it was later. Unfortunately not ‘later’ enough for us.

After months of climbing atop his IKEA children’s table (I’m beginning to think it is a staple, much like the “Will work for milk” tees), he finally discovered that it grants him enough height to climb the child safety gate AND reach door knobs. For the longest time, he has ‘just’ been using the table to grant access to cupboards that are too high for his small frame to reach.

As if the havoc he wrecked with my rings wasn’t bad enough. He now sits happily, perched on the door of the safety gate. So much for thinking that using the double lock would hold him off a bit longer. Now I wonder whether he’d happily open the safety gate when baby 2 (is born and) gets old enough to crawl.

Regarding the room doors… we might have to lock the study room now. Bleahz. But for now, I’m confiscating the table! Or should I drill them to the ground? Hmm.

** yes, above picture has nothing to do with the entry except show how mischievous said child can get.

If you have met up with us recently (ok, anytime from when Jayden turned 6 months old), you’d have heard us lament that he is on a liquid diet. Anything liquid, he is likely to down. The slightest solid, and he’d spit it out like vermin. It seemed abnormal to us until we thumbed through New Toddler Taming by Dr Christopher Green. Heh.

He wrote :-

Many toddlers see food as a bit of a joke (bingo!) : Toddlers find food an interesting plaything and refuse to take it very seriously. This is a pain to the parent committed to delivering them a perfectly balanced diet. / … Go off their food : This is common around their first birthday and a proper eating pattern may not return for anything up to a year. Some will only tolerate a narrow, unimaginative diet. Some eat main meals; others were born to be snackers.

I laughed big time when I read it. Ah, that does sound like Jayden. So perhaps he is ‘normal’ afterall.

The book is a hillarious read and does make for some astute reflections. It is one of those tongue-in-cheek, at your level sorta book that does not talk down to you whilst providing you new insights / suggestions in taming the toddler.

It is not Supernanny but it is a great read!

And oh, the picture above? That’s Jayden eating his bao. His style of course. Minus the outer skin, minus the filling. Essentially, he is eating… bread.