Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Bringing along two kids everywhere I go, especially when my hubby’s not coming along can be physically (and at times, mentally) rather tiring.

But then again, catching up with friends and meeting new ones have always been refreshing for me. And so I guess that’s why I’d still choose to go out and about WITH the two kids.

And the tiring bit? Well, I don’t think about it much. It’s part and parcel of being a Mom anyway. Hm I guess it’s like … you’d sure get wet when you go for a swim?

Anyway.

We had a nice lunch gathering with other moms and their kids today.

We went to Spageddies at Tanglin Mall and the place was spacious! They have enough high chairs for the little ones and the place is bigger than the Paragon branch (which is an important factor to consider if you’re coming with little kids and prams).

The fact that we were there for lunch on a weekday of course helped too! The place is packed in the weekends, said the staff.

They have kids menu and they give out drawing paper and crayons! Their set lunch menu was quite nice too.

Anya had some Macaroni and cheese. My spaghetti and mushrooms set lunch was yummy. And Vai ate quite well too.

Hmm. I have to say he ate a little bit ‘too well’ today though, because he also bit parts of his crayons, munched on the paper and some bits of crumbs he happened to find under our chair!

Obviously Anya is SO much happier and more relaxed when she’s NOT in front of the crowd!

[Photo by Jusanto]

As our little guy’s mealtime journey continues, Vai now has started using his little plastic fork.

And obviously it all has not been that easy.

He concentrates. He figures out how to hold the fork. He coordinates his eyes, fingers and hand. He pokes and once it’s ‘stuck’ on it, he then learns to put it into his mouth.

This (apparently) keeps him occupied for quite some time. Which is great for me too because while he learns and feeds himself, I get a bit of extra time to prepare everyone’s meals and feed him with ‘lesser’ fuss too.

Excellento!

PS: Lately, while waiting for me to get his food ready, I let him feed himself with stuff like steamed carrot pieces too. I put his food in a small plastic bowl, but after some time, everything usually ends up everywhere else BUT the bowl.

Oh well.

As much as I’d love to do lesser wiping and mopping, nobody says a baby’s self-feeding journey will be a ‘clean and neat’ one.

>> We should learn to avoid fussing over ‘little’ things and focus more on ‘bigger’ things instead.

>> We should know what things that are rightfully ours and what things that belong to others. We should also learn to treat what belongs to others with proper care (and with respect to the owner).

Like when we use other people’s stuff, do we always bear in mind that it doesn’t belong to us and thus, need our extra care until it’s returned to the rightful owner? Often, intentionally or unintentionally, we … forget.

>> Something that’s offered ‘free’ to us doesn’t always mean we ‘HAVE TO’ take it. At times, depending on the occasion and a particular circumstance, we may need to politely decline the offer. Of course, it doesn’t mean that we have to always reject ‘all’ offers too.

Ah, I do realise that sometimes things are not always just black or white.

And so I guess we just need to continually ask for God’s wisdom so that we can ‘see’ with better understanding of the things that happen in our life, so that we can react to each situation accordingly. And with the right approach.

Anya’s been so excited about this flower girl thing. She kept on asking when she can start wearing her white leggings, and if she could bring along the flower basket to the supermarket!

Then the big day finally arrived.

And since Wilson’s gone out earlier to cover the wedding itself, a friend came over and helped me get the kids ready (Thanks Jo!)

I actually wanted to ‘do up’ Anya’s hair, but then again I knew I had to be realistic (since they usually wake up at the same time as they’re supposed to be leaving home today!)

And so I went with the natural look. NO make-up (much better this way I think, since she’s only three!). And I braided Anya’s hair the night before so she could have some ‘curls’ in the morning.

The curls looked great for the first hour or two. But by the time she walked down the aisle, she’s left with just 10% of it. Oh well.

Now. The big moment.

She stood next to Andersen who’s the page boy of the day. And when all eyes in the room were set on them, she … froze.

The music played, Anya took three steps forward, turned around, gave me an “I’m so scared’ look, and refused to walk any further.

And in my mind I was like, no no no no no … please don’t do this now.

The page boy kept on walking. The music played. Everyone was smiling at us. Anya’s feet seemed to have gotten heavier by a tonne and I know she’s going to walk ONLY if I walk down with her too.

And.

So I did.

It’s like getting married the second time (minus all the bridal feeling!)

Frankly I was mad at Anya for backing out in the last minute (and for making ME walk down the aisle too!) Though I didn’t scold or yell at her afterwards, I did seriously speak to her about it once we’re out of the room. Anya definitely knew how unhappy I was.

But then Wilson did remind me afterwards how I shouldn’t ‘condemn’ (or blame) her for what’s happened. She’s afterall still a kid who unintentionally felt too overwhelmed by the crowd and attention.

That perhaps I was the one who’s overly anxious about the whole thing. *sigh* And I know he’s right (and I’m grateful he mentioned this to me).

Ah. What can I say.

I guess I’ll be remembered by everyone as the ‘Flower Aunty’ of the year!

Oh anyway.

Here’s Vai … doing the ‘I’ve finally taken my shoes off and I’m exhausted’ look (when 70% of the guests have left the lunch reception room).

… before the BIG day tomorrow!

[Yup, I’ll be a flower girl! For the very first time!]

These past few days our little guy has been taking more and more walking steps, learning to maintain his balance, and getting up and moving forward (after a fall or a tumble).

He does see us encouraging and cheering him on a lot, but still it must’ve been a challenging developmental phase for him.

Anyway, keep it up li’l guy!