I had a little chat with one of Calvin’s kindy teacher this morning. I just wanted to find out how my boy was doing at kindy. Her response was very positive and encouraging. She assured me that Calvin listens in class and is capable of following instructions and he participates in the activities well. Also, he does play with the other children, but not all the time. She meant to say Calvin does play alone sometimes and he will eventually join the other children — which is very normal for his age group. I was relieved to hear that. Then, she paused. I knew something negative was coming. She said “Calvin has high aspiration for himself”. When I heard that, I just stood there and looked at her waiting for her to explain. She mentioned a few things and then I knew exactly what she was trying to tell me. Her “high aspiration” is what we call “easily frustrated” at home! See, Calvin gets frustrated with himself and he gets upset when he is not able to do a task expected or asked of him. It is the case of he knows in his mind exactly what he wants to do, but is unable to produce the result. For example, when he is asked to draw a picture of a boy, we can see that he tries to draw the face etc and then he struggles and refuses to continue. He rather points to a picture of a boy and demands help to complete the picture. If he gets no help, then he scribbles all over the picture and might even throw the pen he is holding. So, the teachers have picked that behaviour up and you know what? They are so positive about it (while we are so negative!). I asked how they handled Calvin when such situation arose and she told me that they usually broke down the task into little tasks that Calvin can achieve. And, the boy responded really well to this method. So, if he has to draw a picture of a boy, the teacher will first get him to draw a face, then the eyes, then the ears etc till he completes the picture by himself. Yup, they stay with him the whole time! I was so impressed.

You know, I was so glad to know that Calvin’s teachers genuinely want to help him and teach him. Thank God for that. I should also learn to be positive just like the teachers. Positive parenting, it is called.

I was listening to “Focus on the family” again on my way home from work. Today’s topic was on making time for our children. The host went on to say that many parents have the tendency to say “wait”, or “later” or “not now” when their kids want their attention. This is especially so when the parents are doing something at the time. The problem with delaying the response, especially with older children is that we, as parents can miss out an important opportunity to communicate with them. If we keep delaying our response, then our children may never want to come to us when they have problems or if they want to share their happiness with us. And so, the advice given to parents was that we should put in an effort to make our children feel that they are important to us and that they can come to us whenever they need. In doing so, we have to learn to put down whatever we might be doing, and listen to our children.

I find that a good reminder as I am very fast to say “wait” or “not now” to Calvin or Athan when they call for my attention. I have a lot to learn.

This is what Calvin said to me this morning as I was leaving the house for work: “ma ma, ni qu zhuo gong, bu yao ku huh! yao hen guai, ok? have a great day, don’t worry. see you next week! ma ma, wo qu rascal, wo bu hui ku de, wo hen guai! bye!” How sweet.

Translation: “ma ma, you go to work, don’t cry huh! have to be good(obedient), ok? have a great day, don’t worry. see you next week! ma ma, I go to rascal (his day care), I won’t cry, I am very good (obedient)! bye!”

Guess where he learn all that from?

This is my boys getting ready to *dance* to their favourite song — Life As a Highway by Rascal Flatts. Very entertaining to watch, and I am happy to see them so happy!

It has been a rather cool day today. It rained too. We were stuck indoors most of the time until later in the afternoon when the rain finally stopped and we could see a little of the sun peeking through the thick dark clouds.

Calvin was dying to play outside and at his repeated requests, I took him (Athan was still sleeping) out to the front of the house and told him we were not going anywhere far. He was happy just to be able to go out! Boys.

Then I took the pair of shears that was nearby and began cutting back the over-grown lilly pilly plants that were along our driveway. I have been annoyed at the over-grown branches as they brushed against my car whenever I reverse out. Calvin got really interested at what I was doing and wanted to help. So I got him to pick up the clippings and stack them at the verge. He was excited and was running up and down the driveway with the clippings. He did well, I have to say. He listened and followed my instructions and most importantly, he did not get onto the road. He had so much fun. And, we were such great team!

This little boy is finally feeling better, much better, I should say. Well, at least he is eating more and his tummy is not accumulating wind afterwards (before, his tummy gets really windy after every meal). And, he can be left alone for a while to play by himself or with his brother. And, he is babbling and smiling again! This is such a relief for me! Thank God. He is still coughing though, but it does not seem to upset him too much. I hope the cough will go away soon.

Right now, Athan is in the habit of going out for walks. He would point to my key and nudge me towards the door. Why? Well, because we took him out for numerous walks last week when he was ill. That was the only way we could settle the very cranky boy. When he was out, he was quiet. He was happy to sit in his stroller and be pushed along. The good thing is, I get to exercise. However, we have to break this habit very soon, and help him to get back to his normal activities. Kids ….. *sigh*

Mr Athan is still not well. His vomiting has stopped and so has the runny poo. But, unfortunately his tummy is still windy and he could not eat his usual diet yet. On top of that, (unfortunately) he has also developed a chesty cough. My poor little guy. No wonder he is still cranky and needs to be carried around all the time. My arm is so sore from all the carrying, and with Calvin needing my attention as well, I have to say I am at my limits ….. I am going to shout if Calvin whines again or if Athan cries again …. it was really hard. Thank God for His grace for me for the past few days. I managed to keep my emotions under control and managed to attend to the boys without much drama. I am also glad that Calvin was able to accept that his little brother is not well and needs more attention than usual. He is quite a sensitive boy, I have to say.

We were invited to our good friends’ place for dinner last night, and that was a really good break for Robin and me. For several hours, I forgot my troubles at home and I have truly enjoyed the great company and food. Thanks guys!

Please pray that Athan will get well soon.

Mr Athan is not well. He threw up after every meal at grandma’s yesterday. He threw up on me again when we got home. Seems like gastro to me. *sigh*

He cried non-stop when he woke up this morning, and so I decided to take the day off work today to look after him. I could not bear to leave him in this state. His tummy seems to be very windy and I think it has made him very uncomfortable.

I could not leave him alone for one minute. He is stuck on my hip for the whole day! I hope he will get well soon. I miss his cheerful self.

Just a quick post to wish everyone a happy mother’s day tomorrow, especially if you are a mum!

I thank God for giving me the chance to become a mother to 2 beautiful and wonderful boys. He has indeed taught me many important life lessons ever since I have become a mother. I pray that I can keep growing in faith and be the mum God wants me to be for my boys.

Calvin surprised me with some gifts that he made in school yesterday (a mug with his footprint on it and a picture of him on a paper plate), and today, my dear husband surprised me with flowers and one of my favourite shows on dvd. Thank you guys! I feel so blessed. Here’s a picture of my gifts:

Calvin made this card for his grandma for Mother’s day at our little art session this afternoon. He is into stamping and hand printing of late, and so the card is full of prints and stamps. He will present this card to his grandma tomorrow when she comes to our home for dinner. I hope she likes it!

This little man is now 14 months old. He is in no hurry to walk! He shows very little interest in wanting to stand without support. We usually have to let go of his hand when he uses us as his support, and in this way, he actually can stand alone for quite a while before his bum reaches the floor. He still enjoys cruising with support of furniture to reach his destination, but for most of the time, he crawls. And he can crawl really fast. We shall see when he will surprise us with his first step. Calvin was about 15 months when he started taking his first steps. My mum told me, I was a late walker — I learnt to talk first. So, there you go…. maybe Athan has inherited my genes.

He babbles a lot more these days, and at some point, I think his babbling sounds quite musical! He can babble non-stop in the car on the way home from grandma’s. It’s a good 15 - 20 minutes ride. He is imitating our speech, and can say simple words after us, especially the last syllabus of the word. He can now call Robin “pa pa” just like Calvin does.

He has a soft spot for stuffed toys, in particular teddy bears and puppies. When he sees a stuffed toy lying on the floor, he will go pick it up, give it a cuddle and kiss it. So cute. He likes to have a stuffed toy to go to bed with him too. When he sees his favourite puppy at the corner of his cot, he will go towards it, and with one hand holding on to the toy, and the other (thumb) in his mouth, he goes to sleep without a sound. Yup, he sucks his thumb to go to sleep.

He has a feisty side too. He now knows to pull his brother’s hair when Calvin snatched his toy from his hand. Robin was the first to witness this act and he was so amused that Athan was capable of doing that to his brother. Why not? Afterall, he is already 14 months and well into toddlerhood. The problem with the second child in the family is that we tend to forget his age and treat him like a baby or think of him as a baby. He is in need of and ready for discipline. On another occasion, I saw this little boy pushed his brother, when Calvin tried to blocked him from reaching his toy cars. Of course his efforts were futile as he was not strong enough. We can definitely see his little personality emerging. Truth be told, Robin has given him time-outs but he did not seem to understand the concept. Needs more practice.

He still has 2 naps a day although I have to be quick to add that some days the afternoon nap is non-existent, especially when his morning nap lasts for 2 hours. I reckon he is on his way to one nap a day. The next couple of months will be tricky as we try to help him to adjust to one nap. We’ll have to push his morning nap a bit later each day and watch his tired signs and work from there. He has been sleeping really well at night for the past few months. Thank God for that. We are definitely enjoying the good night’s sleep too.

He loves his father. Whenever Robin appears in the room that he is in, he automatically reaches out both arms to his father as an indication of a cuddle. Robin never refuse that request! And, because Robin takes care of him every Monday, they spend a lot of time together. These 2 has good bonding, I say.

We continue to thank God for Athan, and for bringing him into our family. He has brought us much joy and blessings.

Athan has now caught Calvin’s cold bug. He is having a very runny nose and a little bit of a cough. He had a bad night 2 nights ago due to his stuffy nose. He was violently pushing my hand away when I tried to drop some fess drops into his little nose. Poor boy. I hope he will get well soon.