Archive for December, 2009

Happy New Year Everyone!

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

 

The Teo family would like to wish family and friends a Happy New Year! Thanks for your friendship, support and encouragement to us for the past years. May God bless you all richly in the year to come.

Blessed Christmas.

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

Our Christmas was spent with my family in Singapore.  We had a lovely time catching up and eating all the good food. The boys were happiest, of course, with so many presents and cousins to play with. They had a blast! Hope that, you too, had a lovely time with your family and friends over Christmas.  God bless.

Long Silence.

Friday, December 11th, 2009

The husband’s machine broke down recently while he was rushing to complete some work … very unfortunate.  However, thank God that he can use my machine.  This just means that I have less time on my machine and on this space.  Given that we will be away for a little while for our annual holiday, this space not be updated for a long time.  I will be back next year.  Have a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!

Bitten.

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

The other day when I went to pick Athan up at his day care, I was told the boy was bitten by another boy. When I heard the news, I honestly thought I heard Mr A has bitten a child at the centre! Confession…. I was relieved when I was told again that Athan was bitten, and not the *bite-r*.  Why did I feel this way? Well, this boy has always been feisty and judging from the way he fights with his brother at home, it is likely that he will bite someone when provoked, rather than the other way around.  Anyway. Apparently, Athan did nothing at all. This boy just took his arm and decided to bite him (wrist area) when they were all sitting on the mat.  Athan did not cry and so I suppose the bite was only superficial although it has left a mark.  The staff applied cold pack on the bitten area immediately and the parents on both sides were informed. Case closed.

I do remember Calvin was bitten at day care before when he was younger as well.  Biting is a very common thing amongst young children.  They do that when frustrated or upset and can’t express their own emotions.  Thank God that both boys has no such tendency but the way they express themselves is through crying or tantrum or hitting each other!  Kids…..

I am guilty of not writing much about Mr A, especially on his growth and devlopment.  Well, second child syndrome — is what this is called!  OK, here’s a quick update on our dear Mr A.  He has been going to day care twice a week since beginning of the year.  There was a time when he was happy to be left with the carers etc.  Somehow, for the past few weeks, he has been crying again when left with the carers at the centre.  It is the same with grandma as well.  He simply needs to cry for a few minutes when separated from me or the father.  Fortunately, the boy always stop after a few minutes and is happy whenever we pick him up.  So I guess it is separation anxiety or a phase that he is going through.  Hope this will soon pass. We have also started toilet training with him.  It started well, I have to say.  He can tell us when he needs to do his #2 and he usually is quite good sitting on the toilet.  However, when the crying at daycare started, the toilet training went downhill ….. not going anywhere at all!  So I decided to stop and start again later.  No point rushing him through it and get stressed out.

He is turning 3 next March!  So quick.  I just can’t stop treating him like a baby sometimes …. :)  Robin always tell me not to treat him like a baby else he will climb all over me.  he is right.  The boy absolutely knows how to press my buttons and get away with things.  He thinks he is a big boy though … always telling me and others he is a *big* boy. And then he will ask me “why am I a big boy?” 🙂 Cute.

Athan is a very bubbly child.  On a given day, he is always happy and chatty and he likes to talk to himself when he plays.  On his own, he can be kept busy with cooking set toys and blocks.  I can get on with my chores without a problem.  He seldom bothers me if he knows where I am in the house.  If he is paying with the cooking set, he will make tea and cook lunch for me! How nice. He is also quite patient, he can wait for me in the car while I unload bags of groceries into the house before taking him out of the car.  I appreciate that, I have to say.

He plays well with Calvin most days now.  Of course there are days when they fight like cats and dogs, but I have to say they are much better now as compared to earlier days.  Athan can still be quite destructive as in he will destroy his brother’s creation (blocks) without hesitation!  This will set Calvin screaming away.  I think he likes the reaction. He also enjoys playing at the backyard with Calvin.  Both of them have numerous games and things to do at the backyard.  They also enjoys watching their favourite dvd together.  Their recent favourite is Wall-E.  They have watched it many many times and still loves it.

Come next school term, Mr A will be at a local 3-yr-old kindy class for once a week!  How exciting.  It is a short class — only 2.5 hours.  However, I think it will be a good introduction for him to a school system and will get him ready for school in 2011 when he turns 4!  Calvin benefited from the 3-yr-old kindy and I think Athan will to.  We’ll see.

Athan continues to be a picky eater.  He is a good eater, but only with food that is familiar to him.  He is not very adventurous with food and seldom tries any new food without a big protest. He loves his rice – very very chinese.  He eats vegetables too, especially broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. He loves noodles too and soup.  Only recently has he shown interest in pasta.  He used to dislike it when he was younger, especially the sauce.  Lately however, he has been eating pasta and the sauce without protest.  That’s an improvement.

We are all very blessed to have Athan in our family.  He has brought much joy and laughter into our home.  We thank God for him.  Here’s a dose of Athan for you:

 

 

More Backyard Fun.

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

The other day when we got home after school, Calvin went straight to the backyard. Why?  His dad and brother were out there talking to a neighbour.  Anyway, when Athan saw his brother, he was very happy and excited and the boys wanted to play immediately.  Well, the weather was nice and rather than staying indoors (and probably ended up watching TV), I just let the boys ran wild in the yard.

Truth be told, we haven’t got many outdoor toys or games etc to entertain the boys.  However, these 2 monkeys can always devise their own games and get the most fun out of it.  Having said that, one thing that we do have for each boy is a bike for Calvin (thanks to Miss Alison who has  generously loan Calvin the bike while she is away for the year) and a little red “radio flyer” car for Mr A. The boys enjoy riding on them — in fact, Mr C has improved his cycling skills a lot after lots of practice on the bike. :)  Mr A loves to chase after his brother in his little read car which he has to run with his legs.  :)  Below is a couple of pictures of the boys :

 

Calvin happily riding on the bike, stopping to let me take a photo of him.

 

Athan riding his little red car and making sound effects. 🙂

Honestly, I’d rather be at the backyard with the boys than to stay indoors and let them watch TV.  They tend to ask for TV after a short play, especially when I am working on some chores or cooking.  We’ve got to kick that habit.  And so, we are trying our best to encourage the boys to play at the backyard when the weather is good. I think the boys prefer to be outside too.  What more, I get a chance to read my book and have a cup of tea! That’s nice.

On Christmas Star Craft.

Friday, December 4th, 2009

Last night I asked Calvin whether he wanted to make some Christmas stars for his kindy teachers as Christmas presents.He has 3 teachers (1 main teacher and 2 teacher assistants). He said yes and immediately wanted to start work even though it was nearly bed time for him.  I just let him, thinking that he was going to make only one.  But, it turned out that he wanted to make all three!  At one stage, seeing that he was going slower and slower with the gluing of glitters, I offered my help. And this is what I get …

Me: Do you need my help Calvin?

Calvin: No! Because you always put the wrong one on!

Me: Speechless….

Well, this boy really has a mind of own when it comes to gluing the glitters — following a particular pattern — one gem stone, one heart and one star. He was particular about the size of the stones too — there were small, medium and large sizes to choose from.  Only he knew which size to put where.  He just won’t budge. See, I just stuck anything that I thought fit on the star, and this really annoyed the boy.  In the end, I just let him do the gluing all by himself no matter how long it took.  Afterall, he was making gifts for his teachers! Impressed with his patience and persistence, I have to say. 🙂