Ill!!!

Last week had been very hard on the Mrs. Luke came down with a fever on Monday and only recovered from it on Wednesday. During the first night his temperature reached as high as 39 degrees. Instead of sponging him the Mrs put him in the bathtub and left him soaked in there playing with some toys for 15 minutes. It worked and the temperature never reached that high again. Needless to say we had to wake up regularly to check his temperature throughout the next two nights.

The Mrs took leave the whole 3 days to take care of him. This was the first time that she had to care for a sick baby all on her own. Our kids had the usual cough and running nose here and there, now and then but never this ‘serious’.

We’re all lucky in that Isaac only really fell ill after he turned 1 and even then he was no where near half as cranky as Luke. He will just have his medication and sleep with the occasional waking up in the middle of the night crying. It was all manageable. As for Hayley she is only having the occasional running nose but that’s about it (knock on wood).

Luke refused to be put down when he was ill this time. He demanded to be carried almost all the time. Even when he was being carried he will be cranky at times too. So in order not to disturb Isaac and Hayley we sent them along with Ani to my parents’ place as usual and the Mrs stayed at home to care for Luke alone. As for me, I had to attend an international conference so I was not able to help out for all 3 days until the evenings when I'm back.

Even though Luke was sleepy he simply refused to be put down on his bed for naps. The Mrs had to carry him in her arms and let him sleep on her chest. All this while she was not able to get up and do anything. Luckily for her she had her iPhone next to her to she was able to catch up on the news, visit Facebook and serve the internet.

Coincidentally there were a number of Cantonese serial DVDs at home so she was able to catch up with those while Luke lay on her chest sleeping. She even had to skip lunch in order not to wake him up. Between going hungry and having to carry a crying and cranky baby for another few hours, the choice is obvious.

Through this experience the Mrs may have to rethink about being a stay-at-home mum. I honestly believe she now has another level of new found respect for all you SAHM. It is really not easy caring for a sick child. Some of you SAHM even have to take care of your sick child together with a healthy one all by yourself. That to me is a truly remarkable feat. I have not tried it but judging from the exhausted look on the Mrs’s face each evening I don’t think I will be too eager to volunteer my service anytime soon.

I know I have been lagging in posting new pictures of the children so here they are. I have also posted more on my Facebook photo album. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Frustration!!!

Isaac has just completed his first term of his weekly enrichment class. I am proud to say that within the few weeks of attending he is already mimicking the Zoo-phonics action. He is able to do or at least attempt to do about 98% of the action. The only one he has not really caught on is for Umber Umbrella Bird. He even finishes with the “and we all wake up” action after Zeke Zebra.

We are reciting this with him on a daily basis not because we want him to top the class but because he truly enjoys it. He will always smile when doing the action.

These days he has even improved further by making the sounds for Catina Cat, Kayo Kangaroo and Pee Wee Penguin.

Since he is enjoying himself so much hence we thought of getting the actual Zoo-phonics material so he can try and do the matching watch the CD as well. Now comes the frustrating part.

I’m sure most of you readers know that one cannot get the Zoo-phonics training material unless you enroll your kids with the Zoo-phonics school or Growing Up Gifted. I wasn’t convinced for it does not make sense not to sell a product that you have so I called up and the answer I got was ambiguous. First the lady asked if Isaac is attending any of the 2 schools and when I said no she told me they only sell to those students who are. Then she went on to say that I may have to buy the Deluxe set but she is unable to tell me the difference in these 2 sets and also the price. All she wanted me to do was email her director and wait for him to reply. It was been weeks now and nothing.

The Mrs knows I do not take such poor service kindly so she volunteered to call and follow up instead. This time it seems they’re more apologetic and said someone will definitely call her after 2 days but it has been a further 2 days and yet still nothing.

This led me to write an email to feedback to the main Zoo-phonics office in the States. Besides expressing my frustration I am also looking if I can buy the material from either their office or anywhere else that is close to Singapore.

There are 2 things that I do not agree with here. Firstly, why should a company that developed a good and proven training material limit its use to only students of certain schools? I would think as an Educator they should look at the broader picture. I am not asking them to give it away free or sell it cheaper or even the same price. A better business model would be for us to buy it at a higher price if our kids are not enrolled in their school.

The second thing that I have issue with is who on earth runs a business and do not respond to their prospective clients’ emails, enquires and feedback? I am not sure if this Singapore office is a franchise or a distributor for the main one from the States but whichever it is I am definitely not impressed. Perhaps from my email they know that I only wanted to buy the material hence they ignore me. Maybe if I write to the same person but this time expressing my interest in enrolling my 3 kids as well as my niece in their school he might reply within a heart beat.

This whole “not selling to children who are not our students” thing is silly because in case Mr Businessman does not realize I can always borrow the flash cards from friends and family to photocopy and laminate them. I believe I can also burn a copy of the CD for Isaac. I am trying to do the proper thing here by buying original when almost the entire basic set can be duplicated and yet these people are making it so much harder. In all honesty it is really much easier and cheaper to duplicate it on my own.

Alternatively I can get my friends who are sending their kids to the “preferred” school to help me buy a set. This way it is perfectly legal and it is very simple to carry out too. Surely they can’t be this anal and refuse to sell a second set to one of their student right?

I am not sure if the email to the head office will yield any result but it is certainly a good way to vent my frustration. I will surely keep you posted on the outcome. In the meantime please buy original.

On a lighter note, below is the video of Isaac mimicking a rhyme that was taught in class. He has only did it twice and at weeks apart but it has left enough an impression. Enjoy!

10th!!

How time flies and this time I am not referring to my kids growing up. I am actually talking about being married for 10 whole years!!

19th Sept 2009 marked the 10th year that the Mrs and I exchanged our vows at The Lawn at Raffles Hotel which by the way is no longer there. That’s one thing that our love has outlasted.

We marked the occasion by shopping and getting drunk in Hong Kong. This trip was not planned for this occasion actually. If we were to plan then surely we would have headed to a country further away to mark this little milestone. This Hong Kong trip was actually postponed twice. It was meant to be a little getaway last year but just before we were to depart we found out that we were pregnant with the twins. Hence we postponed it till a few months later as Dr N was not comfortable with us flying so early into the pregnancy. Not sure if you read or remembered but the Mrs had this major bleeding issue and had to be hospitalized? Well, this happened to be around the time that we were supposed to head to Hong Kong after our initial postponement. I was at a lost then with everything that was going on hence dates were really the last thing on my mind. However I was told by the airline that I have to give them a date there and then in order to activate the postponement so the Mrs just asked me to postpone it to a year later.

We were the only ones going initially but in the end my bro, Mike and his wife decided to come along. For them it was a last minute thing too and they had no idea that we will be spending our anniversary there. The Mrs doesn’t like attention hence she insisted that we just spend it like any normal day.

The last time I was in Hong Kong must have been at least 2 years ago and I noticed that they have really done well in the language department. With the influx of Chinese tourists they have brushed up their Mandarin really well. Not only do we hear the service staff speak Mandarin in retail shops, we also heard the waiters try in the eateries normally patronized by the locals. Their command of English has also improved by leaps and bounds. This, I believed is all down to practice and a funny encounter at their airport highlights this. This guy, presumably the Manager at the Popeyes Chicken & Biscuit stall insisted on replying to me in English even though I spoke to him in Cantonese. After a few exchanges I gave up and spoke to him in English. Looking back now I should have stuck to Cantonese and it would have made a very interesting conversation for those behind me.

For those of you who noticed, yes I caved! After having 3 days of nothing but Chinese food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, I really craved for other variety so when we were at the airport having our dinner, the choice was really obvious! We came back at different time and airline so imagine my surprise when I learned that Mike had the same thing too at the airport.

Although the trip was only for 4 days but it was already rather long for us. The Mrs really dislikes inconveniencing others so to leave our 3 kids with my parents was really uncomfortable for her. Especially when they are all babies and this being the first time, no one knows how they will react. Naturally phone calls were made to check on things on a daily basis (twice a day).

When we found out that all 3 babies did not sleep well the first night they were at their grandparents place, it sort of ruin the trip for the Mrs. She felt so apologetic towards my parents and Ani for they did not get much sleep at all. Thankfully they got better with the second and third nights.

The first night for us was rather interesting for upon touching down we met up with them and headed to Macau, a promise to Mike. We were there from about midnight and did not return to our hotel till about 6 the next morning. We were about S$200 poorer while my bro won around S$1,500.

The rest of the time we were just behaving like the commercial for visiting Hong Kong because we were really shopping and eating the entire trip. Every once in a while us guys will normally asked to stop and sit down for a cuppa or some light snacks or desserts.

We went to Lan Kwai Fong for some drinks on our last night. Within the 3 hours we were there my bro and I had the following:

1) 1 x Jello shot

2) A huge glass of Hoegaarden beer

3) 1 x Tequila Sunrise cocktail

4) 1 x Sex on the beach cocktail

5) 2 x Tequila Sunrise shot

6) 1 x Sex on the beach shot

7) 1 x Kamikazes shot

8) 1 x Zombie shot

9) 1 x Bourbon Coke

It had been a very long time since I had this much alcohol and thankfully I did not “merlion” and had no hangover the next morning. We managed to meet up bright and early for breakfast and then continued with our shopping before parting.

From this little experience I learned something interesting. Before departing we were just wondering which kid we will miss most and I thought I will miss Isaac the most since he is the most interactive one now. I am happy to announce that at the end of the trip we miss all 3 kids equal for their various reasons. The Mrs was watching their videos on her iPhone on the way to the airport and on the plane.

I believe it will be a few more years before we will embark on another trip without the kids. Then again it might be even longer for us to go on holiday with the kids due to the cost involved. Hahahaha

Improved!!

It didn’t feel like it was that long ago when the Mrs and I were still wondering which school to send Isaac for his enrichment class. By now Isaac has already finished half the term already.

Last Sunday marked the fifth week that he was at this class and he has certainly made a lot of progress since. Although he has not really spoken yet but he is certainly enjoying the songs and story telling and his vocabulary has also increased. However I believe the area that he has most improved on is his sociability.

I remembered our Isaac was all teary-eyed when we were there for the first time for the trial class. He was so afraid that he would cling on to either of us tightly and wherever we went he would follow. He would not sit on the mat but instead on our laps. When the teachers tried to engage him he would turn to face us immediately and cry a little.

We went for another couple of trial classes before committing on this current one. When we officially started his first lesson with this school, although a little more experienced with the concept of attending a class for songs and games, he was still a little weary. He still required a little time to get used to the environment before settling down. Luckily for us we noticed that he likes a particular toy amongst all the others that were laid out before each class starts. He has always like wheels. Be it on an actual bicycle or toy cars, he likes to spin them. So happened that there is a toy truck at this school and it acted like a comfort toy for him. He will sit on our laps and spin the wheels while quietly observe the going-ons in the classroom.

I remembered he was always going for the door during the first two lessons. He would try and open it to let himself out of the class. It is with good reason why there is a little device on the door knob that will prevent any child from opening the door. The fact that it is in place probably means Isaac is not the first child that had wanted to escape and skip class. During the first two classes, Isaac will always aim for the door while waiting for the other kids to arrive.

By the 3rd class Isaac is participating more already and he smiles at the teachers more often too although he still sat pretty much close to us. He also helped with putting all the toys in the box before each class starts and when the teachers start singing “Toys away. Toys away. Time to put the toys away.”

On the 4th lesson he has decided that he is a big boy now and is probably the Master of the room for he will get up and walk to the middle of the class and smile cheekily at the teachers. When he got restless he will get up and round behind all the kids and parents in circles. Sometimes he will make the center of the mat his official resting place too for he will just lie down there and watch the teachers.

Last Sunday, his fifth class, he starts to warm up to his classmates for he will voluntarily wave at them when they arrive. In the past he always gets up to head for the exit and we have to run after him to sit him back down. These days we still have to run after him and get him to sit down but for a different reason altogether. I did not want him to be too disruptive in class by standing right in front and blocking the other kids from seeing the story books.

When the class ends while he used to be one of the first to head for the door, these days he prefers to stay behind and give his teachers the hugs, the high-fives and the blowing of kisses. He seems to really enjoy himself for he even headed back to the classrooms after I put on his shoes for him.

We are glad that he is enjoying himself so much that even though the classes are held during his usual morning nap time he has never been cranky. Oh, in case you are wondering the arrangement we have is the Mrs and I will take turn (alternate week) to be with him in class. We figured this is the best because it will allow us time to play and bond with him.

Isaac's first master piece. Opening bid at S$1,000.00. Anyone?

This piece of art was painted with real jam. Opening bid at S$500.00.

At the time of posting I only have pictures of these 2 pieces of work by Isaac. I'll be posting a couple more once I find the photos so do come back to place your bids.

Paranoid??

So last Friday was an interesting one for the Mrs and I. Both of us took leave to enjoy a long weekend. She was clearing her leave while her boss was out of town but mainly it was to allow us the time to run a very important errand.

The very important errand was to visit Isaac’s nursery again for I am still not convinced that he is suitable to join them in January next year. For those of you that are new to this blog I touched on this months ago when we were deciding on which nursery to send Isaac to comes January (click here to read). Basically because Isaac is a December baby I feel that he is too young to join nursery when he supposedly turned 3 in January. Then there is also the issue of him going home in a school bus. I cannot imagine my young Isaac at the tender age of 2 having to board the school bus and come home without any known family members with him. Honestly the thought still scares me a little now. I imagine him being helpless and lost as I am typing here.

So a call was made to the school in advance to arrange just in case we miss the bus. After speaking to the person-in-charge I began to see myself as a big time paranoid parent. She actually told me that she has never had such a request from a parent before. To go down and observe how the kids finish their classes and how they will be gathered and led to the school bus. I find that hard to believe honestly. Surely I cannot be the only parent on the entire island that is not comfortable with the idea of having his 2 year old go home in the school bus without a parent around right? When told of this the Mrs naturally had a good laugh.

Upon arriving on Friday we had a little conversation with the person-in-charge again since the classes were still going on. She tried reassuring me that even if Isaac is a December baby, not potty trained and plus the fact that he is not really speaking yet he is still going to be fine in class. In fact a few of the teachers even commented that Isaac seems a little tall for his age. Although this was not the first time I have heard this remark but I still see Isaac as being about the same height as those his age.

Anyway we were told that there will be an orientation come November where the Principal will address all the new parents and we will also get to meet all the teachers. We also learned that one of us is allowed to attend the first 3 days of the class with Isaac. I guess this is to help introduce him to the new environment. Guess it will be a little like the enrichment class that we are attending with Isaac each Sunday. I will touch on that in my next post.

Not long after the kids were all dismissed from class and based on my observation I have to say they are very organized but I couldn’t help but to wonder if any child had gone “missing” before because they are all about the same size and all of them in the same uniform. These kids were led by their teachers from the classrooms holding hands all the way to the area where the parents waited patiently. No child was running around on his / her own. They were all walking along hands in hands. Naturally the Kindergarden kids were a lot noisier for they have a lot to say to their classmates before they next meet on Monday.

For those that were going home by the school buses, they were led to a room where there will be 6 queues for the 6 different buses. The teachers will accompany them there until the number is right and both the bus driver and his assistant are there to collect them. What happen next is there will be a rope with rubber rings in the middle and these kids are to hold onto the rubber rings and led out with the bus driver in front and the assistant at the other end. They will then be led down the stairs to the bus bay at the carpark where they will be helped up the bus. The assistant will make sure that they will put on their seat belts before moving off.

While everything seems to be in order and well organized I have to say the parent in me is still a little worried. I actually have this plan to secretly hide and observe how Isaac will fair being led by complete strangers to the bus on the fourth day of school. I’m sure he will cry his eyes out on the first day he has to go home on his own and I know for a fact I will be there waiting to receive him when the school bus pulls up at my dad’s place.

Having said the above I must admit that when we asked the teachers to point out the nursery 1 babies to us, all of them looked confident and independent. It seems a few of them are only 2 weeks new in the school environment. I guess it will not be as bad as I had imagine but one thing’s for sure and that is January will be more unnerving for me than Isaac I’m sure.

Punishment

It might be a little too early to discuss punishment now since Isaac is only coming to 20 months old. Hence this is not really about him. What brought about this topic was an episode that we witnessed during one of our dinners at Vivo City.

Those of you who read this blog will probably know that due to the space Vivo is probably one of our favourite haunt these days. We usually like to go to the Asian Kitchen at the basement for dinner and we always reserve the table just outside the restaurant so that we have more space for the high chair and prams.

Anyway it was during one of our usual dinners there that this happened. Just when we were about done a family of 4 came and sat behind us. It was a pair of parents, a grandmother and a young girl that cannot be more than 6 or 7 years old.

When we got up to leave both Ani and I witnessed the mother pinning the girl's hand down on the table while hammering it with a tumbler. The mother hit her for about 5 or 6 times and all the while the girl was wailing. I could see that her hand was all red from the torture. I believe if the mum were to be the one at the receiving end she too will be crying let alone her poor child. Frankly I do not know what the little girl did to deserve such severe punishment but then again I do not think any child would have done anything to deserve such treatment. It was so bad that although the Mrs heard the commotion she dared not turn around to look.

Maybe some of you will feel that it is probably easy for me to blog here and criticise them but even though I am close to losing my patience with my 3 kids sometimes, I know for a fact that I will not resort to such punishment. I believe for a parent to mete out such punishment the problem will mostly lie with the adult rather than the child. Perhaps the adult need to learn some anger management.

Having said that I am actually the type that believe in "spare the rod and spoil the child" philosophy but this does not mean that I will bring a cane along wherever we go. By the way we have actually seen parents bringing canes out with them in shopping malls before. I do not believe the Western way of only grounding the child and not spanking them at all will work although I have not decided on how I’ll discipline my kids yet.

Another incident we saw was just as dramatic if not more. We were driving along Commonwealth Ave West when we saw a car stopped outside one of the main gates outside the Singapore Polytechnic. Next thing we saw was the driver, presumably the father, came out and open the rear passenger door and took out a bag, some books and other stuffs and started hurling them over the gate. There was a little girl crying and trying to stop him. Getting very concerned the Mrs asked me to go around and swing by again and if things looked to be out of hand she was all ready to call the police. When we came back there was another car stopped behind the original one and a man was seen trying to calm the driver down while the mum and the girl tried to retrieve the bag and stuffs. This man definitely needs help and I hope for his family's sake he is seeking treatment.

I heard on radio once that the Flying Dutchman does not believe in the good cop bad cop routine because both parents should be able to dish out the punishment there and then when the child misbehaved instead of having to wait till the disciplinarian comes back from work. By then the impact would not have been the same. I tend to agree with that. However at this point in time I do not think I am capable of punishing Isaac for all his naughty little habits. I can't help but smile back whenever he flashes his cheeky look. The Mrs is much better in this department. She will definitely have to be the bad cop for now.

I keep hearing about the Terrible Twos and Isaac is months away from turning two so maybe I should start getting help on the kind of punishment that a 2 year old can comprehend. These days if Isaac does not get his way he will cry and lie on the floor but thankfully he has not done so in public. Super Nanny will recommend me to identify a corner in the house as a punishment corner where the child cannot move out of for a give period of time but I honestly don't think Isaac will understand that yet.

So all you experienced parents, how do you punish your 2 year old and ensure that they understand what they are punished for at the same time?

Late!

In case some of you get creative and ahead of yourselves, NO this is not what you think. It is not about that kind of “late” and we are expecting again! God, no!

I guess it is due to the way we announced our pregnancies to our close friends, always over group dinner, these days whenever we meet up for dinner and when I told them I have something to say, they will usually go “Pregnant again hah?!” The best part is they say it with such enthusiasm the people next table could have easily mistaken it as our first. Each time we will have to tell them a big ‘NO!’ and reaffirm that we are not trying already but I guess hearing it is not good enough. So here it is guys, in writing.

“We wanted 3 and we have 3 so we’re DONE!! The factory is closed!!”

Anyway back to my original post.

This is something that I wanted to blog about since before we even have the twins which makes the title even more apt.

I actually took pride that I was almost never late for anything besides work but that is a complete different thing altogether. As a matter of fact I used to be early on most occasions because I really dislike having to wait for people who practice rubber time. This was until I attended a sales seminar and the trainer said that being early is also a form of poor time management as we should be on time and not waste precious minutes waiting. Since then I always try to be on time, not too early and never late.

This all changed after we had Isaac. I am not sure if this only applies to us or maybe some of you parents share the same sentiment. Somehow after we have a child we are always late for all gatherings.

It is not like we have gotten lazier or fatter or simply cannot be bothered. We actually plan and time and make it a point to leave by a certain time so that we will not be late but sadly we fail each time.

When there was only Isaac we had to pack his bag and fill it with diapers, change of clothes, milk, water (both normal and hot), biscuits, toys, tissue, wet wipes and God knows what. Even when we had the bags packed the night before we still find ourselves rushing to clean and change him before dashing out the door to the car hoping that I can make up lost time with my driving.

Now that we have 3 kids, you can only imagine the kind of mad rush that we have to go through each time. We have told so many people that going out these days is a really big project. Whatever we had to pack for Isaac, we have to triple it now. Most of the time we have to go out with 2 bags of the kids stuffs. I have to clarify that the Mrs and Ani will usually organize things way before but it is still hard to leave at the designated time due to the children sleeping. As much as possible we try not to wake them up so most of the time we waited impatiently.

The moment they’re up, it’s different roles for each of us. We will have to take turn to change ourselves as well as change all the babies. Whoever is ready will have to carry the babies and make last minute check before we dash out of the door. On the way to the venue we will be busy texting our friends to apologise.

With 3 babies sleeping at different time of the day it is quite challenging to even go out at all. Having said that, we still managed to go out for a total of about 6 hours with all 3 babies in tow. This happened after one of Isaac’s trial enrichment class on a particular weekend. By the time we got home both adults and babies are exhausted.

I will blog about the trial classes that we have attended after Isaac has started his actual enrichment class. In the meantime below are some of the most recent pictures of our babies!

The big boy that Isaac is now!

Although big boy now but he still has his infamous cheeky smile!!

Doesn't Luke look like Isaac?

The 3 little pigs! Actually more like a pig and 2 oxes!

Notice how happy Isaac is with his siblings?

The helpers that truly adore them!

The Mrs and our babies!!!

Our first ever family portrait!