Almost 3

In just less than 30 days, my boy will turn 3. Every time of this year, I am reminded that I am a mother to a child. From the times when he could only cry to communicate, coo and smile at my silly actions, trying to get on his feet and now to little young man who will often tell me that I nag too much at him. -_- Yes, he is no longer the defenceless infant.

I will certainly miss the times where I could cradle him in my arms effortlessly. Now, 14kg could only last a short moment before my arms ache and shiver - and sometimes I wonder why it never developed into muscles.

I will also reminisce on the times where Jayden looked at me as if I belong to his entire world. Now, he can play independantly or hang out with someone else.

For now, I am cherishing the moments where he showers me with endless kisses and hugs, saying "I love you Mummy". I am pretty sure those 3 words will vanish as he grows up.

Just last week, the Oct 07 mummies religiously celebrated the kids 3rd birthday @ Modestos Vivo. It is interesting to see that alot has upgraded to a mother of two. Whilst I still have alot of catch up to do.

1st Oct bash @ YCK Grassroots

Happy Birthday to all the Oct 07 babies! Not sure how long this will sustain. But I'd like to see the kids grow up together and have a laugh at themselves. Wouldn't it be nice? :)

Sep is a month for shows

In a span of 2 weeks, we have brought our little man to the Barney Space mis-adventure Adventure show and Voyage de La Vie.

It was more of a promise to Jayden as we have missed the show previous year. So far, we have brought him to watch Thomas, Hi-5 and some other children recital plays. And to our amazement disappointment, Barney show was the least entertaining - at least to the adults. Even Jayden said so himself. So I guess this will be the last we see of the purple dinosaur *HALLELUJAH*!!! :D

Complimentary from my mom, we were treated to the highest accolades show in Singapore. Thinking that the boy will be amused by the fireworks and baffling acts, we were pretty happy to bring Jayden along for his first 'circus' act - until the timid boy literally covered his eyes with both hands throughout the entire cast. It looked more like a painful ordeal to him than anything entertaining. SO GLAD THAT IT'S COMPLIMENTARY and not a waste of money. Still, I preferred the Cirque de Soliel anytime than this.

So what will be our next show? Little man has requested for Toy Story to come to town lately. Oh man. What a tough choice to fulfil.

Man in the house

Sometimes I often wonder if we play conflicting roles in the house.

Dylan does most of the chores as the neurotic man believes that the different colored towels in the house is for specific purposes. And I conveniently had problems remembering them so the only task he has entrust to me is to fold the clothes. Easy peasy.

I, on the other hand, prefer fixing things up - fixing the computer, a new desk, except fixing dinner. Bought a new desk for Jayden from Ikea. We reckoned that it's time we have a decent place for the boy to read his books and pretend he's doing some homework.

It's been a few weeks and nothing has been done so far. The boy has successfully scribbled his book with permanent ink making it very un-readable now. -_-

Toilet training

There was a time, I used to think that weaning off the pacifier was something unattainable, considering Jayden's addiction to it. But HE DID it.

There was a time, I used to think that it will take ages to toilet train Jayden. But HE DID it - at least for day time.

So lately, I have been toying with the idea of training the son to be diaper free at night despite not being able to keep his diaper dry throughout. I hate to think that one day he will outgrow his diaper size and that I would have to upgrade to adult diapers. And probably by then, it would be harder to train.

I finally understood the meaning of "半夜3点叫人起来撒尿" I think there must be some co-relations to diaper training.

For the past 2 nights, I have been diligently waking up the boy to get him to go the toilet. The idea is to induce the understanding to him that if you feel the urgency, you must wake up and go to the toilet. Hopefully he gets it. For now, Jayden has successfully slept throughout the night without any bed wettings. So proud of him! :D

Once this is accomplished, I have another difficult task of weaning the diaper off while poo-ing.

Flat

Other than the size of my boobs, I encountered a flat tyre early last week during my SAHM stint.

It could have been a small issue where I can simply change the tyre myself. BUT BUT BUT,

1. Tyre exploded in the middle of CTE and the car was in lane 1


2. Son was sitting beside me giving the "What's that sound?" look


3. I literally stopped the car at lane 1 and came out to check out the flat tyre, never mind the tons of cars whizzing pass!


4. Called tow company and was told they can only arrive 1 hour later! Muster courage to drive to road shoulder


5. EMAS LTA emerged from nowwhere and offered to help change tyre - I'm SAVED


6. Found out Dylan left the spare tyre AT HOME *kua kua kua* and the fella was still in reservist!!!


7. EMAS then suggest to tow the car to nearest carpark


8. Called Liv to help bring Jayden home, he was getting restless under the hot sun


9. EMAS then realized our car is 4WD so need a special tow truck - waiting game continues!


10. Finally towed to AMK ave 5 carpark

A very busted tyre

Check out the 4 punctured holes!!

I had the shock of my life when Dylan changed the tyre. The inner wheel had 4 punctured holes, it was like someone deliberately stabbed 4 times on the tyre! It still remains a mystery as what could have caused it.

The entire ordeal left me speechless. Firstly, I acted like a frantic lunatic when it happened - could have been escalated due to having son in the car. His safety is my priority! Secondly, we were stranded in the middle of the expressway and didn't know what to do. I didn't know EMAS had such service, and it's FREE! I stored their number almost immediately.

Mental note: Must learn to act calm in emergencies.

School hunting

I used to thank my lucky stars that I have the support of my in-laws to help babysit my child.

Jayden gets to attend a 3-hour school on weekdays and have his proper lunch & nap in the comforts of a familiar environment. At the same time, it also minimize the exposure of unnecessary diseases such as HFMD.

I thought I could put my heart at ease at least until the boy goes to elementary school. But alas, my luck ran out earlier than I could have expected.

Things changed 360 degrees the moment my BIL's wife gave birth in Adelaide. At first, it was just a simple 'going over to visit them' kind of arrangement. But the dis-organized irresponsible parents had to drop the ball on us 2 days after birth by saying that nobody can do confinement for the poor poor wife (I said poor cause they acted like very pitiful)

And so the MIL have to fly over pronto for 5 weeks which leaves the Singapore home here in a mess - Dylan was in reservist, I was due to fly to Perth for business trip for a week and there was nobody to take care of Jayden!!

Of course, when the well-being of my son is at stake, I will turn into an enraged mother rather than a sympathetic one. We all have our selfish sides so surely, my son comes first. Then again, all these displeasure and discontent could have easily been resolved if PLANNING was made in ADVANCE. I really don't appreciate last minute bombs!

Unfortunately, the damage was done. The FIL took over the baby-sitting for Jayden, the MIL's sister came over to cook the son's lunch and the rest of the adults in the house settled for ta-pao food. I had to accept the arrangement - as long as my son still eats home cooked food, I am happy.

With all the inconveniences going on, I decided that this was the last straw. I have been putting the idea of sending Jayden to childcare at the back of my head. I did consider sending the boy when he turns 4 and that we have settled our new home next year, in addition to him having better immunity by then. But life just don't go as what you plan for sometimes.

In a span of 2 days, I have scouted and rang 29 childcare centres. (I am not kidding. I even have it on an excel spreadsheet) As expected, all centres were fully booked and on long waiting list. Finding a school for kids these days is a torture!

Finally, one of the Oct mummy recommended me Agape Little Uni @ Serangoon. I was apprehensive about selecting childcares as I would prefer someone I know has/is attending the same school.

Dropped by the school and fell in love with it instantly. The place was spacious, facilities were CLEAN, the kind of place I can put my heart at ease for my child to sleep in. I have visited one childcare in private housing before and the cleaniness of the building was atrocious. Can you imagine letting your child sleeping on its floor??!

Back to Agape. The school fees left a lump in my throat. $1.8k for initial deposit - there goes one bag :(

Unperturbed, I decided to bring the son to visit the center himself. He must at least like the school to be in it right?

We brough Jayden to the center. The boy, as usual, was shy in the beginning. But it didn't took him long to get used to the environment. He played the drums on their performing stage, played doh, mixed colors and even spread nutella and sprinkles on a cookie.

And then we asked the ultimate question: "Do you like this school, baby?"

The boy shouted excitedly: "Mummy! I like this school! I want to study here!"

I don't know if it's a moment of over-zealous joy but that was the deciding factor. We signed up on the spot.

Jayden will attend his new school in Dec when his current school term ends. We hope it will be a smooth transition for the boy. *cross fingers*

And for now I can put my heart at ease again.

Days of the life of a SAHM

.... .... Temporary SAHM (Stay-At-Home-Mom) that is. The MIL had to go over to Adelaide and take over the task of infant sitting for my SIL's newborn - on a VERY LAST MINUTE NOTICE. I shall grief about that later.

I was actually quite excited about this 8-day bonding time with the son - planning some REAL activities for the boy.

Day 1: Sent the boy to school. Indulged on a heavy breakfast - never mind the calories for now. It's only Day 1.

Picked the son from school. Had lunch at Jack's Place and spent the rest of the day/night home.

Day 2: Decided to quarantine the child at home for 2 days due to the high rate of HFMD cases in school. Plucked up courage to bring the terror out ALONE to meet the Oct mummies for lunch. It wasn't so bad after all. :)

After lunch, decided to go for a hair treatment while son takes his nap. Wrong move. Son woke up 45 mins later and me with dripping wet hair. He used to sleep for hours!

Day 3: Ok. We need to get some serious activities done! Wrapped the teacher's day presents and got Jayden to 'write' and decorate the cards. He chose the colors himself. :)

Day 4: Brought Jayden to visit his maternal grandmother at her workplace. Everyone treated the boy like he was a celebrity - giving out balloons, chocolates, sweets. They are now hidden in some corner of the fridge hopefully forgotten by the kid.

Day 5: I declare myself child-care day free. Went for medical health screening and Dylan took over the nanny job.

Day 6: I am almost approaching the end of my SAHM stint and I realized I have not done anything productive with the son yet! *gasp* What happened to flash cards? Tracing letters? Doddling art?!

Jayden mentioned today that he wants to go to the beach for sandplay. Let's see if I ever fulfil his wish. And I have 2 more days to remedy myself. Bleh.