This is the very happy Calvin with his new ELMO tent and some building tools from a building set from my family in Singapore.   Thank You everyone!  You have made Calvin very happy!

He was at child care today and he told me he had a great day there.  By the way, he announced to everyone there that today is his birthday! He even showed his friends the 2 birthday cards that he has received.  The carers told me so when I arrived to fetch him. I could only smile.

We had a family dinner at a nearby Italian cafe restaurant.  There was no cake as I was saving it for Saturday when he celebrate his birthday at a park with his friends. He was kind of  disappointed, but I managed to appease him with the new toys. Phew.

Check out his outfit.  He was wearing a shirt!  He chose it himself as he said he wanted to dress like his pa pa.

Mr Athan has no idea today is his brother’s birthday. He’s too young.  But, this little fellow sure knows how to join in the  fun.  He wanted to have everythig that his brother has.  He sat in the tent and refused to come out!  He even wanted to drink his bedtime milk in the tent!  His father was *encouraging* it as he was in the tent with the boy too — well, only his head was in the tent as he was too big! *sigh*

I have to add that Athan played up at the restaurant.  He refused to eat his food properly and was throwing tantrums all the time.  It was quite stressful for us to handle him and have dinner at the same time. Calvin was oblivious to all the tantrums and was eating beautifully.  I sure hope Mr Athan will behave better and enjoy the party at the park on Saturday.

The other day our next door neighbour came over with her daughters and gave us several silk worms. Apparently, they keep the worms as *pets*.  How interesting.  They thought Calvin and Athan might be interested to see how the worms grow and build a cocoon of silk and eventually become a moth. Calvin would appreciate it as he loves the children classic “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle.  We hope to help him follow the growth of the worms and link it to the book.

Of course the boys were excited about the worms.  Those white looking *sticks* in the picture on the left are the worms.  The father immediately took out a shoe box, laid some newspaper at the bottom and plucked some mulberry leaves from the tree at the back for the worms.  Everyday, the boys will watch the silk worms eat the leaves and they even say good night to them! Athan espeically loves to touch them. Yikes!

Looks like we will be getting some silk very soon!  How cool is that?

Not too long ago, our very nice neighbours gave us some basil seeds.  The lady is from an Italian family and so her cooks lots of pasta and she makes her own sauce — the authentic Italian way.  She tells us that she uses basil in her sauce and that’s what gives the sauce the nice flavour.  She’s got a pot of basil in her backyard which she grows from seeds.  We must have sounded very enthusiastic about growing basil and trying her recipe when we were at her home.  She came over the next day and gave us the seeds!

Robin planted the seeds in a pot and now we can see new sprouts shooting out!  Well, I just hope they are not weeds!

Last Sunday, our very nice and kind neighbours invited us to their home for lunch after church.  The lady, Delia cooked spaghetti marinara and the sauce was so yummy.  She even made cream puffs for desert.  I was so impressed. We had very good conversations too, about kids, cooking, realestate, work exercise etc etc.  There’s so much to talk about.

The boys had a lot of fun at their home.  They were very comfortable. The girls (older one is 12, and the younger one is 9) entertained the boys with lots of toys and they were really gentle with Calvin and Athan. Calvin even stayed on at their home after we left — we had to put Athan down for his afternoon nap. Apparently, after we left, the girls continued to play Lego blocks with Calvin, read 2 books with  him and walked around their backyard.  Of course the boy was happy — he had so much attention!

We are indeed grateful and thankful to have good neighbours.  Thank God.

This boy is turning 4 at the end of this month and he knows it.  He has been telling people around him that his birthday is coming!

I can see that he is looking forward to his birthday and I know that he wants a party.  He likes the idea of having his friends around him, receiving presents and eating his cake. He has already told me the friends that he wants to invite and what cake he wants and where he wants his party to be.  He wants a mango cake.  Actually, I expected him to choose strawberry cake since he loves to eat strawberries.  Anyway, mango cake it shall be. He wants to have his party at a park with playground that has a  slide. :)  He sure knows what he wants! As for presents, he changes his mind all the time.  His wish list range from big sand pit to Lightning McQueen to lollipop!

Truth be told, I have been slack in organising his birthday party.  Robin is busy as usual, so I am pretty much left on my own to organise.  Well, I better get my act together soon because there’s a lot to do.  I am quite excited and happy that Calvin is turning 4, but at the same time I feel a little sad that he is detaching from me more and more. It is a mixed feeling.  Oh well, he is growing up fast and so I better enjoy him when he is still young.

Today has been a hot and humid day.  We are in the midst of spring at the moment and it should not be this hot (33 deg C) at this time of the year.  Climate change.  Anyhow, what do we do on a day like that?  To the beach, of course!

Robin came back from work and announced that we were going to the beach!  The boys were excited at the mention of the word “beach”.  I was not keen to go, frankly speaking.  Why?  Because my hayfever symptoms were really bad today.  The sneezing and runny nose and itchy eyes has made me exhausted at the end of the day. I had a little headache too.  All I wanted was to do nothing! Nonetheless, I went with the gang as I did not want to be left alone at home when they were having all the fun at the beach.

We had a dip in the sea and the water was so cool.  Calvin was like me, afraid of cold.  He was quite wary of the waves as well although he did enjoy the swim.  Athan enjoyed the water a lot.  He did not seem to mind the cold even though he was shivering and he did not mind the waves at all.  He was quietly enjoying the swim and playing with his dad.

I felt more relaxed after the swim.  The headache was gone, but the sneezing and itchy eyes persisted.  The rest of the gang was happy.  The boys were chatty in the car on the way home. We were trying to teach Athan say “bar-ney” and the little boy kept saying “ney” and then he went on to say “gor gor - ney” (gor gor refers to Calvin), “pa pa- ney”, “ma ma - ney” BUT not “bar-ney”!  He really has made us laughed.

By the way, “barney” is a purple dinosaur character in a children’s show.  We were teaching Athan to say “barney” because Calvin wanted to watch the show before we left for the beach and Athan was trying to second his brother’s request but could not say “barney” properly.

On the mornings that I have to go to work, Calvin and I will always get into the following conversation:

Calvin: Where are we going today?

Me: You are going to rascals (day care) and I am going to work.

Calvin: Ok. Papa will bring me to rascals and ma ma will bring me home.

Me: Yeah. Will you have a good day?

Calvin: Yes. wo bu hui ku de, wo hui hen guai (I won’t cry, I will be very good).

He sends me to the door and has to be the one to close the door behind me.  He wants to shout “bye mummy!” and hear me reply “bye Calvin!” from outside the door.  He will repeat 3 times and finally, he will tell me “ma ma, ni bu yao ku ha!” (mum, you don’t cry,ok!) To which I always reply “wo bu hui ku de!” (I won’t cry!).  What a beautiful start to my day.

On occasional mornings, Calvin can get a little clingy and he is a little reluctant to let me go to work.  On such a day, the conversation usually go like this:

Calvin: Where are we going today?

Me: You are going to rascals and I am going to work.

Calvin: No, I don’t want you to go to work! I don’t want to go to rascals!

Me: I have to go to work.

Calvin: I follow you to work.

Me: You can’t.

Calvin: start to whine….

Me: I have to go to work so that I have money to buy toys for you!

Calvin: Ok! ni kuai dian qu zuo gong, hen chi le! (you hurry get to work, it’s late!) Bye ma ma!

 I might have done *bad* thing here, saying things that I will regret later, but desperate situation (when I am late) calls for desperate measures!

 Some mornings after breakfast, Calvin starts to think of his dinner!  Here’s a *cute* conversation:

Calvin: Ma ma, what are we having for dinner?

Me: Teriyaki chicken and vegetables and rice.

Calvin: Huh? Wei shen me ni mei you xi na ke ji? (why you did not wash the chicken?)

 …… I was lost for a moment, until I understood what he was talking about.  See, when I told him teriyaki chicken, all he could register was “yaki” and to him it was “yucky”! Funny.

Both boys loves their baths. They love to play with water. They especially love it when their father takes his bath together with them.   I usually leave them alone to bond at such times. It is a break for me!

Everything is good until it is time to get out of the bath.  Mr Athan will scream and protest to make himself loud and clear that he wants to remain in the tub.  Robin is usually very firm with him and remove him from the tub very decisively — unlike me — I always give 5 minutes extra. :)  Dressing this little guy is also a challenge when he screams like mad.  He will eventually stop on his own and guess what?  After all that crying he says to me “ku ah, di di ku ah” (cry, athan cry).

Calvin is still on school holidays this week and so he is home today, and I get to spend time with him.

Early in the morning, we had breakfast at our backyard and the boys could not wait to get into the sandpit, especially Athan!  I was reluctant to let him get in the pit so early in the morning as I didn’t want to clean him up just yet.  Well, in the end I gave in.

Both boys rushed to get into the sandpit and were pouring sand on themselves!  I was horrified, but they were so happy!  Robin said “let them play!”  At least then we could eat in peace.  After the sandpit, the boys wanted to kick ball and I had to play with them.  We ran around the yard and we ended up running after each other.  Athan loved it and could not stop laughing.  Calvin ran himself silly.  We were, or rather I was so tired afterwards.  Then Calvin took a container and began to pick mulberries.  Athan followed.  They were full of energy and went on from one activity to another without stopping.  The mulberry tree is full of ripe mulberries at the moment and Calvin really had a good time picking and eating the berries.  Then, the boys went to look for bugs and insects and ran after butterflies.  I just wanted to sit down and have a break!

After about an hour at the yard, we went into the house and guess what?  Someone suggested going out for a walk!  I was hoping that they would sit down and play with blocks. No chance.  So we went for a walk around the neighbourhood.  These days Athan prefers to walk than sitting in his stroller.  He likes to walk and stop to look at the flowers and insects crawling on the ground.  He is just so curious at the moment.  Calvin, is also curious but he is also interested in the cars that pass by.  He likes to point out the car to me and tell me to be careful and tell me the colour and ask me  where it is going …… so as you can see, our walk is a very leisure one.  We had a good long walk and by the time we get home, the boys were sweaty and began to show sign of getting tired. Finally.  Both boys had a really good nap after lunch and a bath.

When they woke up from their nap, Calvin asked to go to the library.   So we went.  I read 5 books with Calvin while Athan entertained himself with the toys and the books.  Calvin and I have an agreement — that if he wants to go to the library, he has to read books first before playing with the toys.  In fact, he was the one who said he would read 5 books with me.

We arrived home about the same time as Robin. The boys were so happy to see their father and both wanted to be carried at the same time.  The father always obliged.  We had dinner and spent a bit of time together before the boys went to bed.  It has been a tiring day for me, but I enjoyed it.  We did not do much, really, but for me, being able to spend a day like this with my boys is a real blessing.  I thank God for that.

The 2 boys are having cough and cold at the moment.  Calvin caught the bug first.

Calvin coped with the symptoms quite well.  He did not seem to mind the cold and could eat and sleep like normal.  Athan had it quite bad. His nose was very runny since yesterday and he started to cough today.  He even had a low grade fever.  I have been wiping his nose throughout the day.  The area around his upper lip and nostrils is so sore now.  Poor boy.  He seemed to have stomach wind too!  Sigh.  So you can imagine how uncomfortable he has been.  He has been cranky and clingy all day.  Believe it or not, he was stuck on my hip all day and did not want his father to touch him!  So, what they say is right — that kids look for their mums when they are sick.

I believe I would have been less tired and have more patience for the boys today if my hayfever did not play up.  I had it quite bad today.  I had itchy nose, throat and ears! I sneezed a lot and my nose is runny too.  The symptoms are really annoying and draining.  Plus having to deal with the cranky Mr Athan, I almost could not take it.  Thank God for His grace and for the well-behaved Calvin.  I am so glad the boys are in bed now! I hope they will sleep through tonight.

I came back to an empty home today.  Well, I found all my boys at the backyard and I wondered what they were up to.

Well, the father has put the 2 boys at the sandpit — the one that Calvin used to play in when he was young.  The little sandpit is really running out of space now.  The boys seemed to be having fun and getting along.

While the father was busy putting in new plants and a bird bath at an empty spot at the yard.  It looked really pretty after everything was done.  I was impressed.

We bought the native plants at Kings Park last week and they are supposed to be bird attracting natives (mainly kangaroo paws).  So hopefully, we will be seeing birds visiting our new bird bath soon.

I got a call from Robin at work this morning asking me where I put the tube of “bonjela”.  Immediately, I knew someone was in trouble and it had to do with the mouth!  After some probing I found out that Mr Athan had fallen off the couch after drinking his milk!  He fell face down and his teeth had hit his lower lip and his lip was swollen and there was some bleeding.  The boy must have screamed his lungs out.  I was worried, but the husband assured me that the boy was fine, just sore and sorry. *sigh* When I got home and saw the swell, I felt so sorry for Athan as it was really bad.  However, the boy did not seem too distress by it and he was still as happy.   He did whinged a bit at dinner time when something sting his lip. He could still eat and suck his thumb to go to bed (that was a relieve!).  I hope he will be OK soon.

Just about a week ago, Athan fell from a couch too.  That was at a relative’s home.  I was not there.  Robin was sitting with Athan on the couch and somehow the father became busy with fixing something and forgot that Athan was next to him.  Then  without warning, the boy fell and hit his head against the corner of the coffee table!  There was a bump on his head and a lot of crying.  I received a call from Robin at work and got so worried as falling down and  injuring the head in toddlers could be serious.  I quickly rung the clinic and asked for advice.  They said that if Athan became drowsy or  listless or if he vomitted, then he has to be seen by a doctor ASAP. He was still alert and eating well after all the crying, according to Robin.  Thank God.

About 2 weeks ago, Calvin somehow managed to get a *bead* up into his nostril at his day care centre.  Robin had sent him there only for about 30 minutes and he received a call from the centre informing him that Calvin was very upset and he should go over.  Robin went over immediately and found a very upset Calvin.  He had a bead looking object up in his nose and he refused to let the carers remove it!  He wanted to go home. Robin managed to calm the boy down and managed to locate the bead in his nose.  It was  quite far in, he said.  He borrowed a pair of tweezer from the carers and gingerly moved it in to take the bead out. That was such relieve!  If Robin could not remove it then I think Calvin would end  up in the clinic or the children’s hospital.  Thank God.  The boy was good as new afterwards.  When I asked him later how the bead got into his nose, he told me that he found the object in the sandpit and he wanted to take a closer look at it.  While he was looking, he decided to smell it too and I guess he sniffed a little to hard and like a mini vacuum, the bead got sucked into his nose!  *sigh*

Robin warned me that such accidents will happen more as we have boys! So, I have to be prepared.