So we asked for permission to go in for a while but when we were at the door, he didn't wanted to go in and started crying again. "I scared scared..." he told me and I didn't really know what he was scared of.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Liverpool's Youngest Star, Ace Chua!
So we asked for permission to go in for a while but when we were at the door, he didn't wanted to go in and started crying again. "I scared scared..." he told me and I didn't really know what he was scared of.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
TV Addict
When I was very much younger, I was every bit as much of a TV addict as I am now :) I loved watching TV so much that during my night feed for milk, I would often time the speed I am drinking my milk to the timing of the show. I would time it such that the very last drop would go into my mouth.. just as Crocodile Tears started playing in the background.. which signified the end of the show..
I think that was the exact position that I was in when I was drinking milk while I enjoyed my TV:) hahaha
When I was pregnant, despite lots of well meaning advices from friends to:
- Stay away from TV or your fetus will have lots of garbage in their sub conscious mind
- Stay away from horror movies or shows which have relatively negative themes like violence, death, etc
I went ahead and watch LOTS OF DRAMAs with lots of gore, sad stories and rubbish...
After which when Ace was born, I felt soooooooooooooooooooooo guilty for being a bad mum.
I think when you have children, they don't just inherit your genes but also your hobbies and habits as well...So I think.. Ace was a born TV addict...
Previous Post: I So Fast!
Friday, November 28, 2008
I So Fast!
Now that he is capable of doing things like change, wear his shoes etc, he wants to do them himself.. and very often at his own speed.
The more you hurry him, it seems, the slower he will get.
And yet, he insists that you are not to help him.
The one that really gets on my nerves is packing his toys.
Now that he goes to school, he is trained and understands a need to pack up after he finishes with a game and I make it a point that he keeps the last game he plays before he gets to play the new game.
But leh, it gets on my nerves that the more you hurry him, the longer he takes. Add that to the fact that he likes to throw all the toys from the box all over the floor... something that makes your house look like it has just been through world war 3 or something... it aint very good for this mummy's patience.
Not only that, as he packs up.. with every single toy he picks up, he would play with it for another 5-10 min and he ends up taking 2 hours to pack the toys back when he could have done it within 3 min!
Sometimes when I have time, I let him be. After all, I understand he is exploring...
When I dun have the time, I would hurry him and end up making him SLOWER! I don't know if he is doing it to annoy me or what but experts tell me that hurrying our kid gives them more expectations and anxiety so it adds up to a viscious cycle and makes them slower...
But now I am clever. When he is slow.. I will start to pack the toys and tell him, "I am so fast.. I am so fast.. " And then I pack and pack and when I am done, I tell him, "I am so fast, I win!"
After a few times, I notice this is a much better way to motivate him to speed up because the moment I tell him, "I am so fast!" he starts to pick up speed and repeats "I am so fast!"
And most importantly, this is applicable not only to packing toys, putting on shoes, wearing his clothes and is even applicable to when he is walking too slowly... ;)
Previous Post: I Am Born!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
I Am Born!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
I Don't Like You
For example, if he is in a bad mood, if you do not give in to him, if you irritate him or if you make him angry or upset, he will say to you, "I don't want you. I don't like you!"
When he says that to Waipo or Waigong.. I will ask him... "Are you sure you don't want Waipo.. she loves you so much you know.. she takes care of you, she bathes you.. she buys jelly and biscuits for you.. she buys you toys and clothes, she tells you stories and do so many things for you.. are you sure you dun want Waipo?"
After a pause and he thinks things through, he would tell me, "I want Waipo..." And after that, he would be willing to apologize for his tantrum.
Now, the true challenge comes when the I-dun-like-"YOU" target is actually me. Somehow when that target is ME, it is not so easy to keep a cool and calm attitude and not react without emotion...
Sometimes when I can handle it better, I tell him, "But I want you and love you leh!" And then I hug him and tell him I am sorry I made him upset...
Sometimes when I can't, I automatically resort to guilt and threats. "Don't want me ah.. ok, bye bye..."
And then I ignore him.
And then after a while, he comes to me. "Mama, I want to eat biscuits..."
"But you don't want me right? Then you dun talk to me..."
And then he cries and says, "I want you, I want you..." And then with a smile hanging at the corner of my lips. I hug him with satisfaction. "See, he wants me!" goes this voice in my head.
Now that I think back, I find this sort of reaction and thinking silly and even childish... But I am no saint...and my teacher, Chuck, says that people who are called Angels are called so because they want to hide the 'devil' in them... hahaha...
But I guess writing and blogging about this makes me more aware of this ego reaction.. so I resolve to resolve the issue with love instead of fear and threats in future :)
Anyway, I read that most kids do go thru this phase, ESPECIALLY when they are secure. (Woohoo, Ace is secure!)
Young kids have to feel safe enough with their caregiver to test out how to express negative feelings, as well as positive feelings.
The child therapist who wrote that says she worries more about kids who don't express any anger or sadness!
Anyway, she suggested clarifying and guessing why they are angry.. (Are you mad that I won't let you eat the cookie?) and remind them that it's normal to feel angry and it is ok to tell others that you are angry.. but it is not ok to act out the anger by physically hitting, kicking or biting.
She says this will give us a chance to teach children a bigger "feelings vocabulary" and soon, our kids will be able to explain most of the time why they are angry or sad...
If we validate their feelings & fix the problem if possible. This will lead to a huge decrease in tantrums and to them expressing more positive feelings too. ;)
I learnt a good lesson here.. did you?
Previous Post: I Want To POOP!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
I Want To POOP!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Weddings Are Fun
Everyone says he must have picked this up from Daddy and will turn out to be a great cassanova when he grows up.. hahaha ;)
Previous Post: You Fold Your Clothes, I Fold Mine
Sunday, November 23, 2008
You Fold Your Clothes, I Fold Mine
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Shake Your Bom Bom
Friday, November 21, 2008
Because I love you
And Ace turned around and asked me, "Mummy, why you laugh?"
I told him I was not laughing. I was just making the "Ha Ha Ha" sound...
And then he thought to himself for a while and then he started to laugh out loud. "Hahaha!"
"Ace, why are you laughing?" I asked him.
"Because... because I love you lor!" he said...
I was so happy.. until I realized he could be mimicking this ad...
Nevertheless, I am STILL happy :) hahaha...
And about a week later, Daddy decided to bring him to East Coast to play soccer. He told me then that he wants to wear his liverpool outfit to play soccer. "Ace wear liverpool, daddy wear liverpool. Mummy wear liverpool."
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Polite Ace
While going through his drawer, he found this pair of pants with a Snoopy design on it. He loved it and wanted to wear it even though it was still a tad too big for him.
Max bathed him and helped him change into his new clothes and then when I saw it, I told him that he is very handsome.
"Mama, 水买给我的?" he pointed to his pants.
I told him that Joven Gor Gor bought it for him when he went to Hong Kong a long time ago.
"Mama, can I say thank you to Joven gor gor?" he asked me.
"Of course you can. So how will you say thank you to him?"
"Thank you Joven gor gor, I love you!"
Wah... my son very polite leh!
Previous Post: Mummy, You Wake Up
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Mummy, You Wake Up
And because me and Daddy don't like it when people suddenly wake us, we have a variety of ways to wake Ace up gently...
First we will off the fan so that the room is a little bit warm.. and then we will draw the curtains so that more light falls into the room.. then I will gently shake him and tell him, "Ace, wake up, time to go to school.."
Sometimes I will kiss him on the cheek and sometimes daddy will rub his palm over Ace's face.
Sometimes I just tease him. "起来了,太阳晒到屁股了!"
Well, Ace has his own way of waking me up as well....
Yesterday, I was taking a power nap before going for my next appt. My son came into the room to wake me to go off to the next appt.
"Mama, 起来了..." and he started to pull my hand. "快点起来换衣服。你看,我换衣服了。我“哇! 美美”了,你快点起来换衣服我“哇! 美美”你。你看我换衣服帅帅了。" (Mama, wake up, come change out of your clothes. You see, I have already changed into my going out clothes and am "wah.. so pretty" now. You wake up quick and change into your going out clothes and I can "wah.. so pretty" you... see, I am so handsome now..)
And then he proceeded to pull my feet till they touched the ground and pull my hand till I finally sat up on bed.
Today, Ace woke up at 7plus and because he already pooped, even though I was darn tired, I had no choice but to wake up and bath him and because he was already awake, I didn't dare to go back to bed lest he starts to do strange things in the house...
When Max woke up, I was so happy cos now he can take over and I can go catch up on my sleep again.
But after napping for about half an hour, my son came into my room and pulled my hand. "Mama, wake up already. Don't sleep already, come out and watch tv with me. Mama.. quick, you wake up.. you see.. there is light coming out from the sky already..."
Did he mean "the sun is up"? Hahahaha...
PS: I wrote this like some time ago.. recent developments in Ace's sleep pattern.. he has taken to being grumpy in the morning when we try to wake him. Grumpy initially but he will still in the end break out into laughter after some tickling...
One of our favourite games is "Tickle Mummy/Ace, see whether he will wake up or not.." I played this with him that day and the next two days, he would wake and come to me to tickle me to wake me up.
But the most POWER thing that happened was yesterday, Ace wanted to sleep in and wake up later. I told him he had to wake up to go to school. "Which school are we going?"He asked.
"Kinderland lor." I told him. And then he rolled himself into a ball and told me. "I don't want to go to school..." And when his daddy asked him why, he said, "*cough* I am not feeling well, I cannot go to school because I am sick..."
3.5 years old????????????????????????????????
Previous post: Hungry BoyTuesday, November 18, 2008
Hungry Boy
Monday, November 17, 2008
Copycat!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Ace's New Shoe
- Touching his shoe
- Helping him to put on his socks
- Helping him to put on his shoes
- Helping him to take off his shoes
When we were going home, Yeye and Nainai asked him to wear the shoe home but he did not want to. "Don't make dirty..." he said.
In the end, on the next day, he also buay tahan must wear the shoe. So he wore this pair of shoes to his Trio centre. Usually when he goes to his right brain training lessons, he wants ME to help him put on his shoes and take off his shoes for him. But that day, he wanted to do everything himself.. socks included.
Then when Popo brought him home, the whole afternoon, he was just wearing the socks and the shoes, taking it off, wearing the shoes, taking them off, wearing the shoes, taking them off.. you get the idea lah..
So by sunday, when we brought him to Nick and Steff's wedding, he was already well versed in wearing his shoes and managed to put on his shoes in a jiffy:)
Clever boy, Ace!
Previous Post: Kiao Kar
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Kiao Kar
Friday, November 14, 2008
Sensual Ace
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Daddy Is Home
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
You Go Diamond!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Ace Can Poop In Toilet Bowl!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Gentleman Ace
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Kukabara Ace
Since two months ago, I already knew that Ace would be dancing to the song of Kukabara... But maybe because I had high expectations after watching their many years of amazing performances in school, or maybe it is because Ace is prone to doing free style when it comes to dancing, I din quite understand why Ace would always jump up and down when I ask him to dance the kukabara dance for me...
Saturday, November 08, 2008
I Like To Eat Rice
Everytime you ask him what he wants to eat, his answer is always noodles! Everytime you want him to eat by himself.. it has better be something he likes.. like NOODLES...
I do not know if it is because of influence in school because they eat rice quite often for lunch or is it because he just got tired of eating noodles... but recently, he seems to have a change in taste...
Whenever we ask him what does he want to eat for dinner, he always says, "RICE!"
I would verify and ask him if he wants noodles and he says, "No, I don't want to eat noodles. I want to eat rice. Big big rice..."
I asked him then, "Why do you like to eat rice?"
"Because I am happy..." he says.
So now, we often go out and order toufu, mushrooms and vege with rice and the beautiful part is that he is finally willing to feed himself when eating rice and he does a pretty good job too if you give him a bowl and a spoon...
If you go one step furthur and ask him what sort of rice he likes, he would say, "Chicken Rice!"
I think it is partially because he was taught "Our Favourite Foods" in school and among all the photos pasted in school, the only one he has eaten before (because it has a vegeterian version) is Chicken Rice. So he says his favourite is chicken rice..
But i think it could also be because the past two times he ate chicken rice, he was fortunate enough to come across VERY SUPER DUPER YUMMY chicken rice... (It was so good Ah Yee had to eat two portions of it despite having concerns about her growing waistline.)
Anyway, I am most happy tat he is ready to feed himself! Phew! School rocks!
Previous Post: Michael Bang My Toys
Friday, November 07, 2008
Michael Bang My Toys
Other than his lessons, he always plays with his friends and he always plays with the same few friends whom he mentions by name... Michael Phua, Yam Yam (That's Huang Ziyang.. and teachers call him Yang Yang.. but Ace cannot pronounce that and always calls him Yam Yam.. hahaha), Xu Ai, Gregory...
And they always play with what Ace calls "The Farm House..."
If not, they will play the "Bang Toys Game".
"Michael Phua bang my toys lor...."
"And then, what happens after that?" I ask him.
"And then I bang Michael's toys..."
Sometimes he changes the names to other names but it is always a case of you bang my toys and I bang my toys and then some narration of what happens after that. Either someone gets angry.. or they find it is so funny.. or they just rebuild it again...
I told him that if he does not want others to bang his toys, he has to tell them to stop, not do the same thing to them. But I suspect that to kids of this age, they just feel it is good fun to bang each other's toys and no one is really upset at each other. They really just find it very funny and fun to see the toys toppling.
After a month of the same replies though, I am really curious to find out if he really does the same thing everyday or if he gives the same answer because he is unable to express any thing else...
So one day, I asked his teacher, Teacher Toh, about it...
She told me that they have two sets of toys they love most. One is the animal farm house which has alot of animals... the other one is sort of like a lego set where they would build things and topple each other's creations for fun.... you see, they build it because the meant to topple it after it is built!
No wonder he keeps giving the same answer. He really loves these two games and has been playing them everyday! :)
This explains his really violent behaviour and why his lego toys at home are thrown around... sigh... I hope he gets out of this phase FAST!
Previous Post: Why You Follow Me?!
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Why You Follow Me?!
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Where's My Clock?
"How come he put this in huh? When he put this in? This box was at the top of the cupboard, how come he has access to it ah?" Zhen Popo ask me.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Ace's School Concert
See his concert pics HERE. (Click to go to my multiply)
As usual, our super star has very big face... his loyal supporters were mostly there...
There is YEYE.. who was overseas and reached home early in the morning, whom despite being groggy still beat the morning traffic to be there...
There is Gong Gong whose favourite hobby is to laze at home or cook... overcame the sleeping bug and came to watch him perform..
There is Daddy who returned from thousands of miles away just in time to watch him perform..
There is Ganma Evon.. who flew in all the way from KL just to watch him dance...
There is Ganma Karen who is super busy and usually so busy we dun even have time to meet for dinner.. well, she specially took half a day leave just to come and watch him perform despite going early to the office to settle some things...
That is Shu Shu who is having exams but still woke up early, reached early to come and watch Ace perform..
And then, there is of cos ME! Hahahaha.. his most loyal supporter..
After watching him, I know why he jumps around when I ask him to dance his Kukabara dance for me and now I know why he tells me his teacher made his hair stand stand...:)
Previous Post: I Got No Pants To Wear
Monday, November 03, 2008
I Got No Pants To Wear
But you know lah, children grows in phases and now that he is approaching three and a half, he is no longer interested to slowly fold clothes for you...
The other day, he was walking around the house in his pajamas set of T-shirt and long pants and suddenly, he walked into Waipo's room and close the door and became quiet for a long while...
"Go and see what mischieve he is up to.. dunno why he closed the door..." said Waipo to Waigong..
So Waigong went in and saw that Ace wearing a pair of shorts.
"Oi, why are you here and why did you close the door?" Waigong asked Ace.
"I don't want to wear long pants. I want to wear shorts." Ace replied as he neatly folded his long pants and PUTS THEM IN HIS CLOTHES DRAWER!
Wah, so clever ah! Now he change also MUST close the door.. hahaha...
"Aiyoh, this one is dirty already. Cannot put there...." So Waigong took it out and put it in one corner of the living room so that Popo can put it in the laundry basket later.
But before we knew it, he picked up the long pants and folded it neatly and put it back into the drawer. The best part is that when we took out the pants, it was really very nicely folded lor. He din like fold half half like we usually do for children's long pants.. he actually folded it seam to seam.. kind of like how it looks like when you send your pants to the laundry for ironing... I swear no one taught him how to learn that and I really dunno how and where he learnt it...
So when Waipo told me about this story when I reached home, I asked Ace why he folded his smelly pants and put it into the cupboard.
"Wait I got no pants to wear lor.." he said. Turned out that there were no more long pants in the drawer as they were all hanging on the clothes line... he thought he had no more long pants left and did not want to be pant-less for the night and so he folded the pants and put them in.. so that he will at least have one pair of pants to wear that night..
Hahahaha!
I think children have the strangest logic :) Nevertheless, I think Ace is well prepared and well trained... in this contigency planning aspect.. he probably takes after Daddy.. Mummy will wait till the night then see how.. hahaha;)
Previous Post: Oi! You Move Leh!