Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

A few quick updates on our little guy.

He now walks a lot. Still sort of wobbles a bit. When he stumbles, he’s now more likely to stand and walk again too.

He starts to show that he understands quite a lot of what we say to him.

[Understanding what we ask him to do unfortunately doesn’t always mean obeying them though]

He observes and copies what his sister does.

This includes standing at the edge of our bed and throwing himself down onto his mattress below! (And just last week, his rather heavy body landed on my face while I was napping on his bed! Got myself a little cut on the lip from his acrobatic jump!)

He likes books. Flipping through the pages and observing the pictures. He can sit at one place with his kids’ books for a very long time.

He likes to once in a while stop his walk and just lie on the floor. At home. At shopping centres. At the library. By the poolside. Anywhere, really.

During mealtimes, he (nearly always) needs to be engaged in something. Like having a toy, a book, anything, for him to fiddle, open, fold, press and bang. And he’d ask for these ‘objects’ to be changed every so often when he loses interest in them.

He’s still breastfed about 2-4 times and he drinks a total of about 250ml of formula a day.

Getting him to drink formula milk (since the very beginning) continues to be challenging for me. He refuses to suck the bottle or keep still. So, until today I need to:

– ‘squirt’ (read: press the bottle’s teat) to get the milk into his mouth. And when he swallows, I’d then squirt some more. And so on.

– constantly engage him in something so he keeps still. I usually sling him on and walk around my home, getting him to see the light switch, door knob, cloth hangers, fridge magnets, basically anything that’s placed rather high, so that when he’s interested in them, I have a few precious seconds to feed him the milk.

And so just in case you’re wondering, … yes it’s been like that EVERY single time I give him the bottle. I’ve tried straw cups, those with spouts, etc.

Nothing works. This is the only approach that works quite well so far. And frankly, it’s physically and mentally tiring for me.

All and all I have to say, caring for Vai hasn’t been that easy.

And when I have no choice but sleep for less than 5 hours the night before, when there are deadlines to meet, an older sister’s tantrum to handle and a baby boy who’s just spit out his milk / food all over the floor, I really feel like I’m about to lose my mind.

Ah.

I’m thankful though that such a moment doesn’t happen all the time (read: 24 hours a day).

And I’m glad and relieved to see how God’s been giving me the much needed strength to go through each day, lifting me up when I’m feeling down and discouraged, reminding me of the special privilege and roles I have as a parent to my kids.

Yes. During these past thirteen months, I’ve been given real lessons on life, patience, perseverance and self-control (to name a few!)

And it hasn’t been easy for me.

It’s been quite tough. Yet rewarding and satisfying at the same time.

I really don’t know what’s the thing between Vai and our gate.

He. Just. Loves. To. Hop. On. It.

And for the past few weeks, on a DAILY basis, he not only climbs all the way up and down again – by himself, with me standing near him – he also leans all the way back until he sees his world completely upside-down.

At times, he’d be leaning back and holding onto the metal grill with just ONE hand.

*gasp*

And Mommy misses a heartbeat whenever he does it (though she acts cool on the outside!)

Ah. I guess he picks this up from his sister, who btw does it as well! (Anya only started doing this when she’s around two-and-a-half years old though!)

OR. Perhaps it’s his way of telling me how interested he is in joining the cirque du soleil team.

Who knows.

Look a bit closer and you’d notice the ‘bump’ at the corner of his lower lip.

While playing with his friends last sunday, he sort of tripped, fell forward and knocked his face onto the toy kitchen set in front of him.

I first thought it’s just a bump on the forehead or something, but when I carried him and saw the blood pooling inside his mouth a few seconds after it happened, I did honestly cringe a bit.

And it’s his second one in three weeks.

He cried for a few seconds and was okay afterwards. Didn’t bring any oral antiseptic gel with me at the time though (I really should, next time), and so I wiped his mouth with some Pigeon antiseptic wipes instead.

Oh well.

I guess I do have to get myself prepared for more of such incidents.

Especially when this second child of mine is simply SO much more active than the first.

We cleared a couple of our old computer boxes from the storeroom over the weekend. And since they’re just sitting there in our living room waiting to be brought down to the recycling bin, the thought of making something out of them crossed my mind.

And so we made a little ‘farmhouse’ today.

What we used:

> computer keyboard box (as the ‘farm area’ and the ‘roof’)
> styrofoam (as the ‘tree’)
> light bulb box (as the ‘house’)
> watercolour, brush
> cutter, glue, crayons, scotch tapes
I cut out the top bit of the keyboard box and Anya coloured the base with green so that the farm area is covered with ‘grass’.

I detached the glued side of the light bulb box, put the box back on (this time round it’s inside out) and taped the detached side together.

Anya then glued the rectangular side and placed it on the ‘grass’.

She then painted the farmhouse blue (forgot to ask her why she chose blue for a FARM-house)

Using the leftover carton (from the keyboard box), I cut out a longish rectangular shape, folded it into two and used it as the ‘roof’ (we taped it to the blue house with scotch tapes).

As for the tree, I cut the computer box’s styrofoam and shaped it like a simple christmas tree. Anya then coloured it green and brown with her crayons and glued the tree next to the house.

And since Vai was given some farm animals for his first birthday, we used those and placed them all around the house!

And there you have it!

A … rather-cluttered-and-small-spaced … farmhouse.

[Errr… compared to the farmhouse, the animals are a bit too big, huh. Looks more like a mouse house getting ambushed by the farm animals. Hehe.]

Well anyway. I kept that thought to myself.

And Anya … well she didn’t seem bothered by the size at all.

PS: During our crafting session, Vai got himself busy inside one the boxes.

And Anya (of course) happily joined him afterwards.

Ah. Kids somehow can entertain themselves with the simplest things.

>> When we focus on a particular thing too much (be it a problem in our career or family. Anything.), it will actually have a ‘blinding’ affect on us, making us unable to see all other things (which usually are not any less important than our main concern).

We (unconsciously) neglect all others, because we are so absorbed by what we think and feel is the most important issue.

If we allow ourselves to continue to be in such a situation, it’d be something like staring at the sun. We’ll be blinded by it.

>> People come and people go. But if we’re still living in this world, it’s because we still have tasks to complete. Things that we need to do for others.

Note: The above was extracted from Rev. Billy Kristanto’s sermon today

Straight after the wedding we’re off to Johor Baru (JB), Malaysia for some go kart fun! (we’re eyeing on the yummy food there too of course! Heh.)

We tried out the one in Singapore last month (Kart World Singapore). That was fun.

BUT, once we’ve checked out the one in JB (Permas Go-Kart Circuit), it’s SO much better.

The circuit there is bigger. The go kart is somewhat faster, I think. Hehe. AND most importantly, the rate is cheaper by half too.

[Singapore rate: S$40 per 10 mins. JB rate: RM35 per 10 mins, which works out to be S$16 only]

Anyway.

I personally enjoyed it a lot! It felt so refreshing! And I think everyone else had a blast too!

[which was great because I think every one of us needs a little change once in a while so that we can get back to our daily routine with a bit of extra energy afterwards]

Oh. To top it all off, we had such yummy dinner for half the price (cause we’re paying in Malaysian ringgit).

It was all so worth it!

Another beautiful wedding to attend today.

Our friends, Adrian and Marselyn, had their wedding service held at CHIJMES and it was just so nice.

The kids got all dressed up too.

Anyone who pays a quick visit to my blog will easily find lots of photos of Vai, carried by me, in a blue ‘Moms in Mind‘ sling.

And so I thought if I were to feature someone for my very first ‘Interviewed!’ post, then I guess it should be Sam, the founder of Moms in Mind.

[As I mentioned last month, once in a while I’ll be interviewing someone and posting it here on my blog. A great way to find out other parents’ views and ideas on certain parenting topics, I think!]

She’s a Mom and a businesswoman who’s also very into music (she plays the violin and performs at concerts too).

She started her business some eight years ago from home and she’s since been featured in the media, and won awards, the latest being the ‘Spirit of Enterprise’ Award last year.

And oh, she has a blog too!

To read more about the business and its humble beginning, click here.

1) When did you start your business and how did you juggle your time between work and family?

I started this business when our littlest was born. I worked around the family’s schedule, managing by having a plan of what I wanted to achieve each day. Little goals.

The children sat on my lap in front of the computer, went with me to select fabric and other accessories and also to factories for discussions. They also helped with packing and unpacking, learning about tabling, quantity, colours along the way.

They were all so young then: newborn, 2.5 years old and 5 years old.

2) How long did you breastfeed your kids and what ‘visible’ benefits do you think your children get from it?

Sarah – 1 month
Daniel- 2.5 years
Timothy- 3.5 years

The most visible benefit is their tolerance to allergies.

Daniel only had his very first case of nappy rash at 2 years when his breastfeeding was reduced significantly due to me being pregnant with my third one. Sarah who was breastfed for such a short time battles with eczema unlike her 2 younger brothers.

The two boys have perfectly aligned teeth from breastfeeding directly for an extended period. Breastfeeding directly helps form the oral capacity and allows adult teeth to grow in in their right places. No crowding (unless perhaps the child has been a pacifier-sucker or a thumb-sucker, which does tend to interfere with the natural process of oral development).

3) Any practical tips you can share when it comes to spending ‘quality time’ with your kids?

I don’t quite believe in quality time. Nothing beats quantity in understanding your children.

As I send them to school, as I go through schoolwork with them and their music practices, I am working with them and that sort of co-ordination cannot beat cramming all your mothering into a set space of time each day. It may not always be fun but it gels. Of course, when work is done, we do chill out in our own way. Rollerblading’s a fave, so is going to the movies!

I’m a left-brained person, so organisation is very very crucial to me. That, and lots of prayer and an understanding and supportive husband!

…

You know, sometimes when I feel like I have so much on my plate and am struggling to juggle and balance everything, I think of other people whose plate seems to be even fuller than mine. And somehow I feel better *smile*

I guess knowing that there are others who are in similar situations (who perhaps are even busier!) somehow … helps.

It keeps us going and motivated.

PS: You’re most welcome to share your views on this post (or my blog in general) and drop me an email.