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....