First Experience: Shooting!

Mommy and Caden were selected to shoot for Singapore Scouts Organization advertisement.

[When we did the audition for this about a week ago, the person asked me if I am interested in joining Caden – if he gets selected – to do the shooting as he would react much better with me, other than a stranger]

So here we were at Henderson Waves Bridge. And was make it even more meaningful is that, the security guard said that we were the first person to do a shooting there…. Yes there were some photographers but not shooting.

Caden was calm and nice towards the 2 hours shooting. I was so happy!! The most important thing for me is that, Caden enjoy his whole time there.

It was hot at 2 pm but the (maybe) because we were so high up, the breeze was so nice.

Basically what we have to do was walking around the specific part of the bridge and enjoy the scenery together and suddenly it was raining, so I have to open up my white umbrella and continue enjoying the scenery.

It was a very interesting experience for us. I now kind of know what shooting is like. We have with us the director, the make up artist (who was doing my face and my hair and patting my face when there was sweat on my face --- this was so cool… I feel like I was a big movie star), the lighting people, the one who is handling Caden and my outfit, etc -- basically, a full crew.

They even cover our head with a big board (cos it was so hott!) while we were waiting for the director to say “ACTION”, then we could rest when he said “CUT”. Hehe… just like in movies….

20 Months

So….he is turning 20 months old today!

He is able to talk now A LOT! But he most of the time, he could only say the last sound of every word. Example, “basah” (wet) = “sah” , “tissue” = “sue” , “panda” = “da” , “piano” = “no”

Besides “MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY!!”, his second favorite word is NO!

Mommy: “Caden want to eat?”
Caden: "NO”
Mommy: “Caden want to sleep?”
Caden: “NO NO NO!”
Mommy: “Let’s wash your hands!”
Caden: “NO!”
Mommy: “Caden want to play?”
Caden: “NO!” (but he goes straight to his toys)
Mommy: “Caden want to swim?”
Caden: “NO!” (this is a total lie, he loves to swim)

*sigh*

Well, at least he is speaking now! I should be glad, I think he is a little behind in this, but I can see that he will grow up to be a very talkative and expressive kid.

I took him to Fidgets today, a new indoor playground located at Turf City. It’s a good place to play for rainy and unexpected weather like this few days. It was huge, big and clean. Caden loves it. He ran everywhere inside and fell asleep soon after we reach home.

But the thing that I don’t like about this place is, the corridor outside the playground is very dirty!! The lift to go up and down is the same lift as the lift to carry rubbish. And the smell of it + the smell of cigarettes …oh my gosh, it’s indescribable!

We should take escalator the next time we come here. Although it’s farther but at least not as smelly as the lift!

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PS: We went back to our home today! It's all fixed now! Thanks GOD!

First Experience: at a Car Wash

I brought him to a Car Wash place today. Almost all the time when I do this, Caden would be soundly asleep at home, after school.

Now, since he is on holiday and has so much extra time, I took him here for his first experience at a Car Wash.

He looked curious when the car was being wash down by the water, covered with soap (in pictures) and then being wiped down after that!

sort of a vacation...

Ok! So the Air-Con problem turns out to be a very serious problem --- it comes from the source of the circuit and it affects a few units at our condo. Though they are trying to fix the problem ASAP, they said that they are able to fix it on Monday.

So we checked in into hotel on Monday late-afternoon for the sake of Caden. Since he is very active and the weather has been SUPER HOT, he has been perspiring so much!! I am sure he would not able to have a good night sleep in this kind of weather.

Worst is, by Tuesday, they turn off all our electricity for almost the whole day; I couldn’t even call out using our land line, as the electricity has been cut off.

We checked in into Goodwood Park Hotel for 1 day and then Hilton for another day.

[PS: don’t ever stay at Goodwood Park hotel!! Hilton was much much better in terms of everything; the room, the service, etc, and cost $50 less]

We mostly sleep at the hotel only at night, nap times I brought him out to sleep at Malls; Takashimaya and I-Setan. Although his nap times are much short in time, it’s easier for him to sleep in his stroller while I walked around the mall rather than at a new environment at the hotel.

Although we stay at hotel, other than sleeping and bathing (as we have no heater for the water), pretty much we still do everything at home. So we have to come back and forth all the time! It was so tiring for suster and I.

From this, I learn that, Caden is not rejecting his stroller anymore. In fact, if it is his nap time, he will fall asleep quite fast, provided we walk around all the time.

I should bring his stroller everywhere now! He is getting too big and too heavy to be carried around all the time.

@ National Museum

A lot of things happenings at National Museum today! So many people and so many activities -- and quite a few of them are free.

Caden had fun exploring. The one thing that catch his attention the most is the red color moving chandelier (far right photo) in the museum lobby.

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It's so nice to be out from home today, as our Air-con has not been cool (read: no Air-con) since yesterday morning. Not too sure why, but an Air-con repair man will come this afternoon. I am hoping they will be done before the end of the day.

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Sleeping (afternoon nap or at night) without Air-con was very difficult for us, especially in this super hot weather.

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I took Caden to Takashimaya after the museum, thinking that it's better to sleep for a while in an air conditioned place, rather than struggling to sleep at home. As he was so tired from the excitement in the museum, Caden was able to sleep at the mall, for the first time, in his stroller, only a few minutes after he finished his milk.

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Though it last only for 45 minutes, I am so happy that at least he has some sleep and I know he would appreciate this better -- compared to: I forced him to sleep at home (with no Air-con) for longer hours. I think it's impossible!!

Happy Birthday to daddy...

We didn't go somewhere special today. Just the regular thing that we do every Sundays, Church!

But I want us to have a celebration for birthdays -- not matter how small the celebration will be.

So, here we were, at home, singing "Happy Birthday to daddy" (Caden was excitedly pointing at daddy all the time), blowing the candle and cutting the cake together.

Happy birthday daddy! Hope you will love us even more for the years to come!

Lego

I went to Takashimaya yesterday and bought some character Lego for Caden (not just the colorful blocks -- he has those already). In this pictures, he was playing with some animal from the Zoo.

Of course Caden didn't built the whole Zoo building, daddy did. But I can see that he enjoys it more with the Zebras, Crocodile, Monkey, Car/truck Lego on hand.

I even think of buying some more of it. I think Lego are good in developing patience, imagination, creativity, and most of all concentration!! Yup, Caden definately need to love the Lego.

Last day of Term 2 - Mandarin Class

helmet

I have been trying to tell Caden to wear his helmet every time he is on his bike. But it was always a struggle, until a few days ago. He suddenly agreed to use it.

I am so happy that my effort of showing him pictures of people who use bikes with helmet (of course not the ones that are not!!), and showing him the children downstairs or at the park who are wearing helmet while biking --- are actually works!!

I truly believe kids just need some explanation of things, just like adults! ^_^

Singapore Scout Organization

Not sure why Singapore Scout Organization need Caden for their advertisement. Anyway, we were here today at 4pm for their audition.

This one, unlike the first one, Caden had done a good job!

PS: this is our third audition and none of it give him a job so far. hehe...

up close and personal with Kangaroos

Caden even tried the container which the brought the Kangaroos to Singapore from Australia. hehe...

Family outing

It is very hard to have a family (outdoor) outing for us. First, Paul has to travel everyday from Monday to Friday, that most of the time he spends in Singapore, he would prefer it to be at home. Second, Paul is not an outdoor guy at all, he hates the sun.

A typical weekends for us are, lunch on Saturdays (in a mall) and Church on Sundays.

But since Paul is going to be in Singapore for this week (only!), and since today is a Vesak Day holiday, we agreed to go out somewhere, outdoor, as a family. *I was so happy*

So we went early from home, at 8am. I thought looking for parking would be very hard later on in the day and also, it’s going to be so hot closer to the afternoon.

We arrived at about 8.30am, and it was packed already! Lots of people were camping throughout the weekends and the early rising people had arrived hours earlier. But we still managed to find parking quite fast and the beach was pretty much empty.

Caden played with the waves for the first time. He was scared at first but soon fascinated with the low tide and high tide water that kept brushing his legs and thigh area.

He played with the sand, too. I thought he is going to get annoyed by the texture of the sand on his feet and hands. But apparently, he was not!! He seemed to enjoy his sand play time today!

[He has changed so much about touching and feeling things that seems dirty and uncomfortable. He was not even wanted to try to touch finger paint at school, or he would scream for us to wipe his hand because there was one tiny rice on his palm.]

Then we rent bikes! – one big one for me and one small one for Caden. Well, he couldn’t really pedal the bike yet. We are still in the process of teaching him. I can see that he understand my instructions that he is suppose to push the pedal forward but somehow, he still couldn’t give the right instructions to his legs yet. I know it will take some time, and I will give all the time that he needs.

Last but not least, Paul and I are hungry! So we went for breakfast at McDonalds. I bought a Big Breakfast meal for Paul and pancake Happy Meal for Caden, but instead, he asked for the Big Breakfast egg. And he ate almost the entire portion!

We went home at around 10.30am. Just in time to reach home for Caden’s nap (after a clean nice warm bath of course).

Hm…I think we should do this more often…but not sure if Paul will agree about this…

hei!!!

"Someone was trying to get my royal crown away!!!"

--- At Sunday School birthday party ---

I was trying to get a good family photo...

.... when I found out that Caden had pup (again!).

Not sure why since Caden just born, he will pup a lot of times everyday. I think he pup about 10 times or more when he was just born and gradually decrease. But even now, at 19.5 months, he will sometimes pump 3-4 times a day.

I had been trying to potty trained him, but it was not successful. In about 4 hours of wearing the big boy underwear, we have to change him about 8-10 times. He pee a couple of times. I think he was surprise that there was liquid flowing down his legs that he stopped the pee for a moment. Therefor, after we changed him, he continue doing his business. ^_^

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We brought him to pee or pup every 10-15 minutes and told him to tell us if he want to pee or pup uncountably, but accidents still happen. And he didn't seem to bother with the wetness on the underwear -- it was still difficult to bring him to his bedroom to change him, he still insisted to continue on what he was doing.

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I talked with a few friends regarding it and they said, Caden is not ready yet. The fact that I have to change him that many times and he is not really feel the wetness on the underwear, show signs of not readiness. They said, the time will come, and I will know it.

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So, as for now, we postponed the potty training and will try to train him again when he is closer to two.

swim dates

We had a few friends coming over today for swimming! A Happy and HOT day at the same time. Caden and I were definately tanner after the swim, we were under direct sunlight for more than 2 hours!

a BIG boy with his own decision...

Caden: "I am a big boy, mom! I can choose my own shoes!!"

Yup! that's what Caden has been doing this past few days. He didn't really care on what shirt or pants he would wear, but he would get annoyed if he didn't get the shoes that he think it's suitable for that day -- even if the color is not a match.

In the photo: he insisted to wear crocs to school. [He was saying "cocs, cocs..."]

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In this case, the color is quite a match but I don't really let Caden wear crocs unless we are going to swim or do water play somewhere. I heard, crocs is not really good for the development of children's feet -- so I try to limit him wearing crocs as much as possible.

I think it's good to let our children have their own decision. I don't want Caden to grow up to be an indecisive person, especially since he is going to be the head of his own family.

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So, I always try to let him choose his own shoes and when I thought it is not the right one, I tried to explain it to him, but when he insisted, I let him wear what he wants.

Caden posing in front of Toys R Us, one level below his school.

sunshine...

I am glad that the weather is in our side for the past few days. It's been so HOT but it's a good weather for swimming. I intended to teach Caden his underwater skill again. He is able to dip his head into the water, but not swimming underwater yet.

[He was able to swim about 2 meters distance underwater, with me holding his armpit of course, or else, he would fall deep into the pool. hehe...]

Today, for a start, I taught him with a shorter distance, and will gradually increasing the length in the future (depending how often we swim).

I am happy that he is now willingly following my instructions to jump into the pool without any help -- a push from suster. He used to hesitate to jump in just a few weeks ago. There was fear in his eyes and body gestures. I gave him lots of encouragement and make him confident that I will be there to catch him. And now, I would just need to say to him to jump in, and he would do just that! Sometimes, he even asked for more...!! *happy mommy*

us in pink again...

I am happy that in the end I decided to put Caden in the mandarin class. I remember that I was quite reluctant about it and wonder if Caden need the exposure in such young age. But now, I can tell that he learn quite a lot from the two times a week mandarin classes that he enjoys so much.

He knows that grapes is pu tao and apple is ping quo, etc. I just hope that this classes give him a good head start when the mandarin is really use in preschool.

Although he still not fluent in speaking, he now able to follow a few simple words. Just like in the photos above, each child is called to actually stand (or sit on the teacher's lap) in front of the class and say, "Good Morning, friends. My name is Caden." and for the older ones, they are suppose to say more, such as, "I am wearing a yellow t-shirt today."

This week is a great improvement for Caden. Usually he would just keep quiet and smile while standing in front of the class, but today, he can say almost all words loudly, without hesitation, one by one. So the teacher would say, "good" (in Chinese of course), and Caden would follow, etc.

As Caden is the youngest one in the class (almost all are 2 years old and above), all the mommies and aunties were smiling and cheering for him afterwards. Of couse, nothing would compare the big smile on mommy's face! ^_^

It's clean up time! All of us have to help to clean up the toys in respective box (trucks in one box, books in the other ones, etc). Then we have to help to bring it to the rack as well, while we sing the clean up songs of course.

Mozart Exhibition

We went to Mozart exhibition at National Museum today. I will have to give thumbs up for those people who came out with the idea. It was very educational, very interesting and children would definitely enjoy it.

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Caden, who actually was a little too young for it even enjoyed his stay there. We tried out the old-fashion car that Mozart used to ride on, tried out old-fashion pen (that we have to dip into the ink before we write on the paper... and oh...they have paper blotter, just in case there was too much ink on the paper... very interesting...)

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He tried on Mozart's bed. It was huge, but it has lots of cockroach, ants and other bugs drawings all over it. Our tour-guide of the day told us that, people who lived in the 1700 hated taking a bath, (and I think they are lazy to wash their huge and fancy clothes as well). Oh..I found one article on the wall that said that the wig that they used also full of bugs in it. Ihhh..... *shaking head!!* How can they live like that?

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Caden also tried Mozart's food, Mozart's toilet (and he seemed like it), even tried to make Mozart's tooth paste himself. Too bad he was not willing to put on old-fashion costume and wig. It would be very funny to see him in it.

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On this exhibition, not only Caden was learning, I learn a lot, too. My conclusion on this trip is, I have to be grateful to be born in this century where hygiene is very much emphasis. ^_^

Disney Cafe

We tried out Disney Cafe (or rather they called it Disney Naturally) at Anchorpoint today. We came at 4pm. It was a very nice first impression. They have mickey shaped chair, mickey shaped computer monitor, and mickey shaped pizza, and lot of disney stuffs, but too bad they don't have mickey shaped ballon to go along with. The cafe was decorated in an interesting way, quite spacious and cozy.

Caden was eating his dinner very well with his eyes hooked on the big screen TV which was showing a disney movie called "Enchanted." He was also enjoying himself playing (or rather, destroying) with a similar computer like the one we have at home (complete with the mouse and the keyboard) which I never let him to play with.

At almost 5pm, it became more crowded. A few kids started playing soccer with the ballons which made a lot of them burst out and producing very loud and shocking sounds. It was really annoying. Not to mention the contant crying of babies, the not so friendly servers, and the very over-priced food items (it cost me $4 for a small bottle of Evian mineral water -- it almost freaked me out!)

hm...I don't think I will come by here again anytime soon.

Pink week...

It's Pink week at Julia Gabriel. So we are supposed to wear something pink. And because today was the last day of our Monday class (since next monday is Vesak day), we had a small party and we were supposed to bring food that has pink color, too.

Caden has been showing his emotions quite often this days. He will hugs his teachers when he arrived and before he left from school. Only occasionally when he is very tired, he would insist that I should carry him instead.

He loves to interact with his teachers, too. Telling them very excitedly his stories, complete with hand actions and jumping up and down sometimes. Too bad that only mom would understand what Caden is actually saying, but teachers are nice enough to show lots of interest in it.

[Yes, Caden is still baby talking quiet a lot. I am not worried about it, though, cos' I can see that soon I will be begging that he would keep his mouth close even for 1 second. ^_^]

Caden's second art and craft for the day. [There are always 2 art and craft per class]

Caden now has responding very well with touching paints, glue, crayon, markers, and other sticky stuff that would make his hands dirty. He used to be very annoyed by it, but now, he always seen to be in his own world when it comes to art and craft. (read: we are not allowed to help!)

Hand-washing is very important nowadays, especially since HFMD is not subsides yet! I miss those days where we can freely play (anywhere) without always cautions of getting viral infections afterwards.

PS: More photos of us in pink this week, will be uploaded!! ^_^

Mother's Day

There was a small celebration at the Sunday School. All the Sunday School children were supposed to be singing in front of the whole congregation and gave a token of appreciation to their mothers afterwards.

Being the youngest (read: the shortest as well) to perform that day, Caden was told to stand at the very front. But being the youngest also means, he is not able to sing yet and are not embarrased to move around here and there throughout the whole five minute performance.

[He was yawning, saying thank you -- using sign language, looking at his friends, and ran to me -- who was only 4 feet away -- and back]

oh well... ^_^

But, I enjoyed looking at him perform. He didn't seem to be scared of the whole new situations. He was actually the first child to be walking down the aisle alone (with a few gentle pushes from his Sunday School teacher).

It would be great if he will be as brave as now when he is older, too.

*Wishing all mommies out there, "A very happy Mother's day!"

Second Audition

We went to our second audition today. Overall, Caden did a great job!!! I am so proud of him. He cooperated with me and the lady who did the audition; he smiled, played with me (so that the lady could get a good shoot of him), hugged me, and kissed me, too.

Maybe because this audition has a much better venue than our first one. First of all, the room was cooler and cozier, the person who did the audition was a lady (compared to a man last time), and Caden was just in his good mood.

[That's how children are. We never knew their reactions towards anything, unless we go through it]

At the end of the audition, they told me that they want to auditioned me, too. I was so surprised and excited at the same time because if ever Caden get selected, we are going to do this together.

They said, children are best when they do this with people that they know. Well, of course I know that, it's just I wasn't expecting to be auditioned on such a short notice. I was told to stand at the camera and say a few sentences, and they also took my profile -- the whole body (I have to face forward, left side, and right side -- just like in the movie when you are about to go into jail. hehe...)

Anyway, we'll be waiting for their response, probably next week. Although I thought Caden had done a great job, I am sure there are other talented kids out there who are more suitable for the advertisement.

We'll see...

PS: I am so new to this that I forgot to ask what diaper brand is the audition for and when are they going to let us know, if ever we get selected. hehe...

Dentist

I read somewhere (not only once) that it's good to make a habit from young to start going to the dentist, so that they won't be so scared when the doctor has to start cleaning their teeth.

Here we were at Smile Inc. in Forum Mall this afternoon.

[Picture: Caden was waiting for his name to be called]

I was very surprise when I found out that the doctor has a TV on top of the ceiling (the idea is for the patients to enjoy a movie while the doctor is doing something to our teeth). He asked me to lay down with Caden, turn a cartoon movie for him and asked Caden to open up his mouth.

and..

of course it didn't work! Caden would not fall into that trap!! He is way too clever for it! ^_^

Anyway, the doctor managed to glance at his teeth for a few seconds. He said the gums are a bit red -- maybe he is teething or it was from the previous gum infection. But overall, teeth look very healthy.

The doctor told me to brush Caden's teeth as often as possible -- "... after every meal is the best", he said.

I was laughing when he said that. I am actually having a hard time telling Caden (and my nanny, whom I know is often brushing Caden's teeth for once a day only, despite of my effort telling her to brush it twice ) to brush his teeth twice a day.

I also told the doctor that since Caden knew how to grip a toothbrush, he would not let us brush it for him. But as the doctor suspected, young kids, would only play with the toothbrush, bite it, lick it, etc... other than really brushing.

Caden would immediately stop brushing his teeth when we try to help him. [We have tried this a lot of time]

Then, the doctor gave us some useful tips for mom's whose kids are very independent in brushing their teeth, such as, to watch their diet. As much as possible, give sweeter stuffs (this include fruits that taste sweet) first, then followed by the main course. The idea is to wash down the sugar from holding between the teeth which can cause plaque.

Milk, yogurt and cheese are actually okay. Very interesting! I thought yogurt are sweet stuff. But the doctor said, it's not as bad as fruits and is considered okay.

He told me to come again when Caden is 2 years old. hm...I wonder if he remembers that he ever went to a dentist before by then. It was a very short meeting. 10 minutes at the most. hehe...

oh no...

....has it arrived much earlier than it suppose to be?? *panic*

big family in the zoo

3 kids. 1 mommy. 3 nannies. 2 strollers. 1 buggy. 3 diaper bags.

Back to school

After 3 days absent from school last week, it’s time to be back to school.

I know a lot of parents has actually keep their children at home for the time being due to the scary rising of HFMD cases – close to 10,000 child had been effected now.

But Caden loves his school so much and he is a very active boy who could not stay at home for too long (just like mommy!!). We will get bored easily if our days filled with staying at home and play with the same thing all over again.

When Caden was in my womb, he already went to New York, Las Vegas, Jakarta (from USA), Austin (Texas) and not to mention the shopping that the two of us did almost everyday. When he was only two months old, I took him to his first long flight from Austin, Texas to Jakarta, Indonesia. It took us 36 hours for the whole journey. By he is 4 months old, he had travel by air Singapore to Jakarta twice.

So…I feel I will torture him by not bringing him out somewhere. I always try to dig my head to find new and fun places that I could take Caden with and school is one of them.

Although I am afraid of the outbreaks, I do hope Caden would not experience one of those. I am very particular with him sharing food and would ask him to wash his hands more frequently than before. Furthermore, I will be inside the classroom with him so I could watch his every move and could prevent him from, for example, putting toys into his mouth.

Other than that, I believe that life still goes on. We just have to do as much as we can to prevent the disease to get into us (like hand washing).

PS: There were one case in Caden’s Mandarin class last Friday and luckily he was absent due to the flu. But we are still planning to go in to the class on Wednesday.

at Church...

We went to Church without daddy today. He has to work -- even though Sunday... ck ck ck ...*mommy shakes her head!!*

It's the first Sunday of the week so the children are suppose to go to join the adults first until just before story time.

Today was the first time I let Caden joining us with the adults, usually I just let Caden play in Sunday School while waiting for the other kids to be back. But for some reason, today, I was curious to see his reaction in the Church and I think he may be old enough to be introduced to Church - not just Sunday School.

He was extremely quiet in throughout the 15 minutes worship (big picture). He sat on my lap, and I carried him when I have to stand up to sing songs.

Then we continue our worship at the Sunday School. Since Daddy was not around, I decided to accompany Caden at Sunday School and see how well he behave in it.

He was behaving quite well today. He listened to the story of the day, sang songs with dancing, and prayed, too.

Update: Daddy comes home at 3am on Monday!!! ck ck ck...*mommy shakes her head again*

Clarke Quay

We meet up with a long lost friend of Daddy from Austin, Texas at Clarke Quay. We forgot to take picture of all of us, but I managed to get a picture with their 2nd daughter, Emily.

On the last photo, Caden was actually trying to say, "Where is the boat, mommy?" As boats was going back and forth, he was attentively looking at them, until they were out of his sight. I think, I should take him to a boat ride sometimes.

JWT Gym

Trying out a new gym class on a Saturday morning ... just for fun...
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Caden wasn't feeling at home compare to The Little Gym which he has been attending since he was 4 months old.

Paint Paint Paint...

I was thinking of going swimming, but the weather was so hot at 3.30pm. So while we wait for the sun ease itself, we shall do some painting... ^_^

Those who love me...

A workshop at the National Museum

We went to a workshop that was held by the National Museum. Although I know Caden was having so much fun at the workshop, I was a bit dissapointed. It looks like the museum have not prepare themselves well for it.

It started late (maybe also because of the HFMD outbreaks that a lot of people decided not to turn up), the venue was dull (I was especting with some decorations and interesting stuffs to play with), and they only use corn starch and food coloring for the activity (read: I can also do it at home).

I was almost shocked when I know that the corn starch was the only activity that they have for that day. It was so short and yet we paid $25 for it. And how can they expect kids to play with that thing only for close to one hour? They would soon be bored. I trully thing they should have other activity besides it.

A friends kids came along and since their mom is pregnant (and due soon), I take them out with us. So today, there are 7 of us -- 3 kids, 3 nannies and myself. hehe....