family day

an’s school organized a family day last fri, 26 may. he’s in the small class where they introduce mandarin to the kids before they start their formal mandarin schooling years. it was also report card day. he was assessed in mandarin, english, bm, maths & moral. tsk tsk tsk! can’t believe they start so young!

so the program for that day was…
1. friendly parent-child art competition between classes
2. assessment papers & report card given back to parents
3. lil gifts presented to all students
4. speech by the school principal
5. light refreshments
6. prize presentation for winners

like always, we made a fire truck for the parent-child activity. there were 4 categories to choose from & i chose to construct something out of recycled items. i brought a shoe box, 4 yellow buttons for the lights, blue paper for the windscreen & we cut out the rest from recycled paper – tyres & a ladder. we painted the box red & the tyres black. it was fun! i was back in school doing all the things i missed! we got our hands dirty & an had a streak of black paint on his thigh but it was all worth it!

i met his friends too. so cute! they wanted me to take their pictures & then look at it on the camera afterwards. one lil fellow waved at me while he was queuing up for food. cheeky but cute!

i became a kid again! what bliss!

world cup fever

we brought lil han to the barber recently & had his hair shortened to half a cm. ah kong wasn’t in favour of the haircut as he prefers han’s fine, baby hair. by cutting his hair this short helps thicken his new grown hair in the traditional sense. i believe it to be so as he has more hair growing now. we did the same to big bro an when he was lil but he was never fond of having a haircut til he was 3. he’d put up a massive fuss & we’d all be stressed out at the end of it. on the contrary, lil bro han doesn’t mind at all :o)

i reckon han looks sporty & rugged, like a mini soccer player, all ready for the heat & excitement of the coming world cup!

spelling bee

an has mastered his alphabets & numbers 1-10 about 2 months back. i’m sure lots of kids are more advanced at the age of 4 but i’m just so proud of his achievement. he can also spell the numbers 1-10 & some of his fav words like fire truck, lorry, car, bus, van, boat, etc. he can’t read as yet but can dictate his fav books by heart. if i happened to skip a passage, he’ll say, “mommy, you forgot to read this part.”

i buy books based on his interest & i’ve noticed that he’s keener to spell & understand the words in those books. he glows when he recognises certain words or when he’s “reading” the story to me.

he knows his colours & shapes as well. one day he was reciting all the shapes to me & then it came to “rhombus.” i asked him what’s “rhombus”. he used both his thumbs & forefingers to form a diamond shape & said, “it’s a diamond shape.”

kids pick up fast these days!

helpful an

ah kong was doing a bit of work in his lil garden the other day & an wanted to assist him. an was then given a pair of gardening scissors to help cut the weeds. he trimmed them with intense concentration & of great importance. bottomline was he enjoyed himself thoroughly.

fantastic four

10 may 2006 @ 9.45am, big bro an turned F O U R. how time flies! i remembered being pushed into the delivery room after 6 hours of tedious contractions & 5cm more to go before he can pop, then having to wait in pain for another 2 awful hours before he really popped. phew!

he’s the lil man in my life, not forgetting my other “littler” man! he taught me a lot of things before han came along, & so i’m grateful to him for the challenges we overcame together.

an taught me…
PATIENCE
to listen more & speak less
to loosen up
to have a bigger heart
to be a better mommy

on the fun side, an taught me…
to wrestle
the names of cars, trucks, big machines, etc, on the road & work site
the names of insects
to be a more creative & imaginative mommy

2 days before his birthday, he wasn’t well (consistent fever & tummy ache). doc said it was just “wind” & gave him a bottle of syrup to take. but on his birthday he was still hot all over & tummy wasn’t too great. referred to a cousin doc, she suspected it to be viral fever, told me to monitor him & if fever & pain persist, to come see her.

we ordered pizzas & also a scrummy choc fudge cake from coffee bean, his fav foods. he was indeed hungry given that he hadn’t been eating well. he took in a slice of pizza but it didn’t stay in his tummy very long. poor an! despite not being in the best of health, he smiled generously for the camera, blew his candles & cut the cake! bravo my child!

time out

i need to get away from work for a bit. it becomes demanding during the festive months. great for a career in a&p, but not too great for the boys. some days big bro an tells me flatly not to go to work especially on public hols when he’s off from school. he wants me to play with him or read to him. sigh!

anyway, the 2 brothers slept next to each other last night, resembling 2 peas in a pod (but of course one much bigger than the other but nonetheless stuck together like siamese twins). SO CUTE! i was tempted to take a pic of them but didn’t want to switch on the lights & in the process wake them up. i normally stay in the middle so that an won’t accidentally kick lil bro han as he “wiggles” a lot in his sleep. but last night he insisted on sleeping close to han & lil bro didn’t mind at all. so i left them in that manner & both fell asleep till dawn. surprisingly an didn’t budge from that position the whole time.

i’m taking leave this weekend to be with my truckers again. if only i’m patient enough to teach (tried & tested but still no passion). figured i don’t have the blood for teaching like my parents (too bad)! skipped a generation i suppose! teaching, i think would be a great profession for most mommies. i remember we’d all go on trips during the school hols cos both dad & mom are having hols as well. what fun it was then!