Athan turned 3 on Monday. It was 3 years ago when he was born. If you asked me what I remembered of that day, it would be that my baby was very loud! The way he cried, the deafening screaming from a tiny little baby (only 3kg) was just both amazing and overwhelming for me, a second-time mum. Nevertheless, I was very very thankful for the safe and smooth delivery as well as the healthy baby. Three years on, the boy still has his trademark loud voice (I would like to think he has a set of very healthy lungs :)).

How did we celebrate Athan’s birthday?  Well, I have to admit I have been very slack.:( I thought of throwing a party for him, but at his age, he really does not know much about birthday parties. I think he will appreciate it better when he is a little older. I shall endeavour to organise a birthday bash for him next year, God willing. Instead, the husband and I decided to have a dinner at a restaurant with some church friends whose children play well with Athan. One of the families even invited us to  their home for cake after the dinner so that the kids could play.  We were so thankful and blessed.  I told R afterward that it is very important to have good church family. He agreed.

And so, after dinner we went to our friend’s home and the children went “wild”. Athan was very very excited.  He seemed to know the night was all about him. 🙂 He was given some presents and his favourite was the helicopter that made sound when he pressed a button. I have to say he was much more interested in his new toy than his cake!

Happy 3rd birthday Athan! Notice the helicopter in his hand?

Athan loves eating cake, so does Calvin. Both have inherited the sweet tooth from the father, I think.

Athan smiling for photo shoot between mouthfuls of cake. He is very happy. 🙂

Mr C also received a little gift from our very kind friends. How thoughtful is that? I was so touched by their gesture. Calvin received a little “Toy Story” electronic hand held game which he loved. Here’s the happy boys:

 Two very happy boys dressed in the same red shirt. 🙂

While the kids played, the adults chatted amongst themselves. Somehow, I ended up with the mums talking about our favourite topic — kids! The night went quickly and before we knew it, it was time to go. It was hard to get the kids to the door! They were having so much fun. It was so great to see the kids play well together.  We hope and pray that they will grow up together in the church and become friends when they grow up.

A quick update on Athan. He is picking up English really quickly at day care as well as his 3-yr-old kindy class.  His pronounciation is still not quite exact but we can understand him.  Mandarin is still his main language. He loves to talk and asks questions. The other day we had this conversation:

Athan: Mum, I am stress!

Me: (shocked) Why?

Athan: Because, because, because (trying to find a reason because he doesn’t know what “stress” is!:)) “gor gor” (big brother) don’t give me the car ……

Me: LOL!

He has picked up the “stress” word from me for sure.

I am happy to report that Mr A has stopped crying when left to his carers at his day care.  He has been crying all the time when left at day care since we returned from our trip couple of months ago.   Thank God.  I am also happy to report that his toilet training is going really well. He only wears nappy at nap time and bedtime at the moment.  I think I am more anxious than him when we are out of the house.  I almost want to put on a pair of nappy pants for him just in case …. but this will not help him learn and so I have decided to stop myself from doing that. So far he only has a couple of accidents, mainly because he left it too late. Well, this is all part of learning.

He is also doing well at his 3-yr-old kindy.  He tends to be clingy to me when I drop him off, but he quickly attaches himself to the teacher when I leave.  The teachers are great, I have to say. He is always happy when I pick him up after school.

When it comes to playing with his brother, Athan can be an angel.  The boys can play very nicely together, however, from time to time, Mr A can also be unreasonable, snatching toys and destroying his brother’s creation. This makes Calvin really upset and he will always come complaining to me. What do I do? Well, I have to discipline Mr A as well as try to teach them to reconcile with each other.  I think this is important.

Athan is playful. He loves to jump on his father and have a wrestle. He loves to sit on his father’s back for a ride. He loves playing aeroplanes with his brother…….

I love his cuddles in the morning and at night. I love how he comes to me for a cuddle when he is tired (even though he disagrees with himself :)). I love how he always come sit on my lap at story time before bed. I love being close to him. To me, he is still my baby! 🙂

We thank God for Athan, and as this little boy continues to grow, we pray that his knowledge of God will continue to grow too.

Note: All photos in this post are taken by our friend.

The other evening, we brought the boys to a nearby football field for some exercise.  Before we unbuckled him from his car seat, we reminded (more like warned) Mr A about the “no carry” policy when at the field — for some reason, this boy has a tendency of wanting to be carried. He gave us a big nod.It was all good.

We stood in a circle in the middle of the field, the four of us, with the intention of kicking the ball to each other.  Athan, being the Mr A that he is, defied all the rules, running after the ball every time it was being kicked to someone and hand-passing it to each one of us in turn.  I felt tired for him, but he was happy to be running. No kidding. Calvin and the father ended up playing a game whereby they had to run and kick the ball from goal post to goal post.  That was exhausting, well, at least to me. But the boy wanted more! I stopped. And when they got tired of kicking ball, the father wanted to get on with his kicking and punching (part of his martial arts training) exercises. I took over the boys.

All they wanted to do was to run — again! One of them wanted to be “Astro Boy” while  the other wanted to be “Iron Man” that could fly like an aeroplane — guess who wanted to be what?

Mr A stretched his arms out in front of himself and “whhhooooooo”, he was off flying like Astro Boy while Mr C lifted his arms out by his side like an aeroplane and pretended to be the flying Iron Man. They were having a race. They won’t let me off the hook — they wanted me to be “Bumble-Bee”(from the toy known as transformers, and I was supposed be the girl-bumblebee! LOL!). Well, being the good sport that I am (ahem), of course I obliged to their request.  We had a race. Numerous races in fact, till I *begged* them to take a rest. 🙂

The boys really have boundless of energy that I am so envious of.  I felt old. I really did. My fitness level has definitely dropped over the years due to the lack of exercise. I would love to have loads of energy so that I am able to run with the boys and enjoy the time with them.  Got to build up my stamina, I told myself.  For a start, I am thinking I should go to the field more often with the boys and run after them. 🙂

By the way, Mr A did not asked to be carried, not even once, when we were on the field. 🙂