Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

I don’t know about yours, but my mobile phone (Nokia E63) doesn’t produce good quality photos.

I mean, they’re very grainy, and the overall colour is just … dull.

[Which explains why I almost always go out and about with my Canon Powershot S90 with me]

They’re still useful to have as my ’emergency camera and video camera’ though!

Anyway.

I was backing up my camera phone photos earlier today when I saw these shots.

And I just thought of sharing them with you today.

Random precious family moments.

[Colours have been enhanced, but none were cropped]

Top Left: Big biker, small biker.

Top Right: Night time buddies.

Bottom Left: Rollerblading to the market.

Bottom Right: Vai while on an international call with grandma (Yes, he’s upside down on our sofa, HANDSFREE, with our cordless phone strategically placed on his ear!)

…

Ah, you see.

Photos are still precious regardless of the quality, because they capture THE moment.

(Though of course, having a mobile phone that captures good quality shots will be BETTER, heh)

Well, sort of.

You see, Anya lost her first baby tooth close to two months ago, and I was just SO glad that it fell out on its own! (read: without MY intervention)

The thing is, her second wobbly tooth (top front) gave us a completely different situation.

One Monday, it got VERY loose.

BUT, this little tooth kept on hanging on, all the way till Friday!

I mean, it was very VERY wobbly!

…

Anya chickened out this time round somehow.

She REFUSED to use the tooth (let alone use it to bite a fishball or an apple!)

AND, she REFUSED to brush her top front teeth! (for fear of pain and blood!)

The worse thing was, I started seeing food bits getting stuck in between her gum and that loose tooth!

NOT GOOD.

So for the sake of her gum’s health, I gave her three options and a deadline.

Push the tooth out herself with her tongue, or pull it out herself by that Friday night.

OR, Mommy would have to pull it for her!

And you know what.

In the end, we went with option number three!

(I was VERY reluctant, but I managed to maintain my cool in front of the kid!)

…

Anyway. It all happened in a split second.

I was so proud, haha.

And let’s just say, ice cubes (before and after) and a clean towel (instead of holding onto the tooth with your bare hand) REALLY helped!

A lot.

[At 9.5 weeks pregnant]

The other day I had a message from a male reader, and this was what he wrote:

I really am happy that men are unable to ‘give birth’ =)

Having said that the least I could do is appreciate how to care for my wifey when she does become pregnant.

I was wondering if you could share what your hubby could have done or could do to make the pregnancy more enjoyable – he must have done a good job as you are willing to score a ‘turkey’ or a ‘hat-trick’ together’

…

I thought that was an interesting question!

And I just thought of sharing my replies with you.

Personally, I think it’s what a husband does in general for the family (and for the wife) that can make her feel more comfortable (ready) about having a child (or two, or three), ie. not just when she’s pregnant.

I ‘know’ my husband has always been a supportive partner, who’s willing to help out with housework, with looking after the kids when I have to be busy with other works / commitments.

Throughout our 9 years together as a married couple, I’ve seen how he does his best to provide for the family, without ‘neglecting’ us. I mean, many men work hard and clock in super long hours at work, and thus he leaves the family with minimal time, all the time. With my hubby, even when he has to work for long hours at times, he’d make sure he spends time with me and with the kids whenever he’s with us.

And, when I was and AM pregnant, I can see how he tolerates my taste buds too =)

He doesn’t complain when I can’t cook. And when we need to go out to eat, he lets me choose and decide where we’ll go (because right now, I’m still at a phase where I’m very picky with what I can eat), eg. if eating a mini pot noodle for lunch is what I can tolerate that day, then we’ll look for a hawker centre where they sell it =)

Anyway, my hubby is not perfect. But, I can see he tries his best. And for the fact that we’ll be at it together when there’s another child in the family, I’m simply grateful. It’s something I appreciate a lot.

…

Just wondering, what can YOUR husband do to make pregnancy better for you?

We did this activity together today!

Anya drew ‘something’ on her own first (just an outline) on a piece of drawing paper, using her crayons.

And as requested by Vai, I drew a picture of ‘Doc Hudson’ (a character from the movie ‘Cars’), using a white crayon (yes, white crayon on white paper!)

[Btw, every time I have to draw something for the kids, I HAVE TO refer to a picture, because my imagination is just bad, heh. So I referred to Vai’s little puzzle to draw Doc Hudson]

Then I prepared the watercolour (one colour a time) on a palette.

First, we had blue (for the sky), then we had green (for the lower part of the drawing, ie. the ‘grass area’).

I got both kids to decide and agree on the first 2 colours (the top and lower part of the drawing).

This way, I didn’t have to prepare too many colours, AND most importantly, they learned to work together, to share the colour palettes, while at the same time maintain their own individual work (ie. Vai and his car, and, Anya and her drawing of a girl and a little house).

And this is what I love about using crayons AND watercolour, the crayons STAND OUT!

The kids can draw OVER the crayons, but the crayon lines will still be there! (which is the reason why I used a white crayon to draw the outline of Doc Hudson)

And here they are, and their paintings!

Do have a go and have fun with the little ones yeah!

Here’s news!

We were featured today, on Today Newspaper!

*BIG SMILE*

What a nice start to the month of November!

The article is about the kinds of activities you can do with your kids while you’re at home.

And frankly, I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the article.

Because, I thought I’d probably be quoted just once or twice. Totally didn’t expect to see ‘just us and what we do’ in the article!

*Thanks Zafirah for the interview and the nice write-up!*

Anyway.

Here’s a WARM welcome to those who are visiting my blog for the first time! The different categories are on the right sidebar, and you’re most welcome to browse around!

And.

I’ve uploaded the large version of the scanned article!

(Click on the two images below to have a read!)

Happy reading!

The first time I knew about how kindergartens in Singapore hold a rather elaborate graduation concerts was back in 2004, when I was engaged to plan, choreograph and produce a K2 graduation concert that involved its nursery, K1 and K2 students.

Anya went along to my meetings with school officials and rehearsals at the time, and she was only a few months old.

…

It was 6pm, and I’ve just checked my post box when I saw a nice ray of afternoon sunlight and the shadows from our block’s ‘laundry bamboo poles’!

Could not NOT take a shot of it.

With Vai and his little paper aeroplane in his hand.

We’ve all heard a lot about how we parents tend to be very ‘on’ when we had our FIRST baby.

We recorded every single thing. We took photos. We read books and registered ourselves on baby websites to get weekly updates on baby’s development, etc.

Then, when baby no. 2 came, we’re somehow … a bit more relaxed.

And, we’re generally even more relaxed when it’s baby no. 3.

I guess, with more than one child to handle, we naturally are busier and have less time to do stuff, compared to when we only had one child?

[I shared about ‘Things about having two kids‘ some three years ago, when Vai was less than a year old. Click the link to read the post!]

Anyway.

I tell myself that with baby no. 3, things will naturally be different, BUT I should still do some of the things that I did when I was pregnant with Anya and Vai.

You know, just so that baby no. 3 doesn’t ‘lose out’ much.

Like, I just edited my babycenter.com account and added baby no. 3. Which means, I’ll be getting my weekly updates! *Yay*

And, I’ve also created a week-by-week pregnancy journal page for baby no. 3. Something like what I made for Anya and Vai when they were still in my tummy.

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I’ll be updating baby no. 3 pregnancy journal every week.

Just click on the link to view the page and follow how things go till the day we say HELLO to baby!