Hort Park

On the weekend ,we made a trip again to Hort Park, a park which is perfect hangout for families .We strolled down the Floral Walk lined with blooming flowers,appreciate all the natural surroundings.

Shi Xu was fascinated by the hairy caterpillars crawling around ,we tried to walk carefully to make sure we did not step on the caterpillars crawling on the ground . Apart from that , We also spotted some huge and beautiful butterflies flying around the flowers and some funny plants .


The weather was getting scorching , we strolled the remaining bits of the park and headed home .

**Shi Xu @29 months


Christmas is a very special time of the year.I love Christmas because Christmas come with presents !^_^
We went to zoo (as Shi Xu requested ) in late afternoon and had our Christmas dinner at Sembawang shopping centre .

At night ,we celebrated our Christmas night with the glow of our Christmas tree ,pressies and yummy log cake .

This is the pressie from us - Scooter ! Shi Xu loves it to bits !
I have one "extra " gift for him , a personalize T-shirt printed with Shi Xu's birthday . I like this RED color "Christmas attire" , Red is the ruling color for Christmas. It stands for happiness, joy, and love. Isn't it nice ?

Merry Christmas !!

** Shi Xu @ 29 months

We will be celebrating Winter solstice festival(冬至)at my in law place .Winter solstice festival usually falls between 21 and 23 in solar calender,when sunshine is weakest and daylight is shortest (it means this is the longest night of the year! ) .This year the festival falls on 22 Dec 2009 .

It is said to be the Chinese Thanksgiving of the Chinese Calendar,I was told by my in law that it is widely celebrated as an event that is more important than the Chinese New Year at China and Korea .


Mother in law had prepared the dough to make the gluninous rice ball for tomorrow .The Children ( Shi Xu and his cousins ) got excited as they had the chance to play with the coloured dough.

I pinched off the dough into smaller bits and guided Shi Xu how do roll the dough in between his palms and rolled them into balls. Shi Xu always rolled the dough into a long strand like a snake (but he said that is catipillar ) .To be more creative , we made pyramid ,ring with diamond ,mashmallow ,snow man etc(just for fun ) . Everyone did enjoy this fun activity .We looked more like playing Playdoh than making the glutinous rice ball . Haha....

Winter solstice festival is a very beautiful tradition where family members get together to have a meal. The roundness of the rice balls signifies a wholesome, complete family as well.

Happy Winter Solstice festival !



**Shi Xu @ 29 months

In celebration of 150th anniversary , Singapore Botanic Garden invites schools,embassies, companies, and community organisations to decorate 150 christmas trees planted at botanic garden.

The 150 christmas trees that lined the walkway look decent ,it stretches from the Visitor Centre to the Bandstand.We did not managed to take photo with all the christmas trees ,thus we only choose some catching our fancy then we headed on down to Symphony Lake , where outdoor concerts are always held there ,a peaceful yet tranquil lake .





The Lotus flowers are blooming beautifully in the pond .Shi Xu spotted some red dragonflies flying around the lotus and show them to me ,unfortunately i failed to snap a shot for them . When Shi Xu looked back the lotus photos , he asked me where the dragonflies were . I bet he was a bit dissapointed that i fail to grab a shot for him .



**Shi Xu @ 29 months

One year ago , we paid a visit to Jacob Ballas Children Garden . After one year , we were here again . That is not much changes in the garden .But Shi Xu has changed to be less adventurous.He was not in the mood to play in the garden today .Last time when he was 16 months , he has no fear of crossing the suspension bridge,but today he has fear of it and requested daddy to carry him crossing the suspension bridge .
Today he show no interest to play at the tree house , Magic of Photosynthesis and water play as well .It just full of lazy bone in him ! We only went for A-MAZE-ing play to experience different twists and turns .

The garden actually has different type of plant species ,it comes alive as a living Classroom.i introduced some plant species to Shi Xu and let him discovered the other plants .I just wanted to let him explore and have fun with them .

After a short stroll in the garden ,we headed off to botanic garden .

** Shi Xu @29 months

Christmas is around the corner(in fact it is just few days away!) .We decide to do some christmas craft during this festive season .I got some idea from internet and it is very simple to make a reindeer .most importantly , it has a deeper meaning than just mere craft work as it uses childrent's footprints and handprints .I bet it sure will give us some fun when we look back in future and laugh at how tiny his hands and feet used to be .

Here is what we did :
-I put Shi Xu's hands firmly on colour paper then we drew the outline togather ,we used these handprints for the reindeer's ears .
-trace one of his feet on other colour paper for reindeer's face .
-then we cut out the handprints and footprints and paste them on a A4 size white card.
-to finish off , we drew the eyes,nose and mouth .
-we also drew some star and cut it out and added in as decoration .

We were happy with our first product ,Shi Xu involved in all the steps with our help and had some fun .We were having a wonderful bonding time to do this craft togather .

Merry Christmas ,every one !

**Shi Xu @ 29 months

A few months back , Shi Xu only managed to pledge about 60% of chinese version national pledge .Now he is able to FULLY recite the pledge

我们是新加坡公民,
誓愿不分种族、言语、宗教,
团结一致,
建设公正平等的民主社会,
并为实现国家之幸福、繁荣与进步,
共同努力。




And this is his school song and "patially " national song .



He makes us gleaming with pride.

**Shi Xu @ 28.5 months

Holiday Mood

I am forced to cancel my long leave during the Xmas and year end season for the projectSS.However I have other holiday plan cooking ..hehe .. We have just booked our family of 3 (yes , Shi Xu has equal share of the fun too ) to Hong Kong from 23 Jan ~ 28 Jan 2010 .

We definately will visit Disneyland ( that is our highlight in our trip ) , daddy is busy planning our itinerary now . I am very looking forward to our upcoming trip ,so is little Shi Xu . He has been telling others he is going to Hong Kong .

Guess it's time to quickly get packing for warmer clothing if we gonna fly in one month's time . ^_^

**Shi Xu @ 29 months

We went to botanic garden this morning .i still remember Shi Xu was just 8 months old in our last visit ,and we still need to carry him .How time flies !Now he can run , jump and ride his own bicycle .

The sun wasn't too harsh today ,we enjoy our leisure stroll within the garden and immerse in the lush greenery , get some fresh air, and enjoy the life as it should be.

** Shi Xu @ 28.5 months

It was a special day , Shi Xu got to perform in his first school mini concert! I just couldn't wait to see him perform and wonder how things would turn out on that day.

My mood today was a thrilling roller coaster ride .Daddy was away for business trip . My mission was to video down our little one's performance .

The teacher took the children out to the stage . All the PG1 students seem like unexpectedly became open to a larger group.All of them were stunned and didn't know what they should do when they stand in front of the audience,so was Shi Xu ,he looked uncomfortable ,occationally waving his hand (he seem like wanted to perform but remain hesitant on doing so as no one performed at that time ).Non of his classmate perform when the music was playing .Some of them cried , some of them just stand still , some even not knowing where to stand . They just stand on the stage till the music was over .Haha..

I would like to share the video here .Turn on your speaker and enjoy his school mini concert (he was at the first from left ,kept moving his hand ).Hehe ...


At night , when left only 2 of us at home , Shi Xu got the mood to host his personal concert .He made me chuckle with delight and he enjoy the 100% attention i gave .
I am proudly present his "personal mini concert" here









**Shi Xu @ 28.5 months

Christmas is around the corner ,how time flies!! It is time to put up our christmas tree again.It make me relive our old day of celebrating our every christmas with this tree for the pass 4 years !

2005 - we bought our very first christmas tree and decorated our new house EXCITEDLY!
2006 - I was pregnant ,we decorated the tree togather (3 of us ! Shi Xu was still in my worm of course )
2007 - Shi Xu was 5 months old , we hosted a very first christmas party in our home with the decent christmas tree and LOADs of presents ! I definately miss that party.
2008 - Shi Xu down with Influenze A virus and just discharged from hospital ,so we just had a small celebration at home with our christmas tree .
2009 - This year Shi Xu can't wait to decorate the christmas tree by himself !He was more than thrilled to decorate it with bits and pieces,we have snow flakes , stars , angels, lights,christmas balls, presents etc .He likes santa clause , reindeer , christmas tree , christmas ball,jingle bell,christmas song ,presents ....every items you can name in christmas season . I think i could hardly find a kid who doesn't like christmas , isn't it ?

Meanwhile , i am busy sourcing for a special and meaningful presents for my love .It can be tough to find a perfect Christmas gift,however ,i have idea in my mind now hehe ...

**Shi Xu @ 28 months

Hari Haji fell on Friday , it was a long weekend . We had planned to go back to KL as my sister just delivered a baby girl .However we got to scrapped our idea due to daddy's passport is going to expire .So we got to spend our long weekend in singapore.

We headed off to East Coast in the morning ,cycling at the East Coast park ,playing the sand and collecting the shells .With the cool light breeze by the beach, the calm blue sea and the warm sands,we spent a lazy day at the shore .

**Shi Xu @ 28 months

Thumbs up!

Having our Sakura buffet @ Admiralty Park.
What made the father and son thumbs up happily? Were they impressed by the yummy food ? No!It certainly not .

In fact ,Shi Xu thumb up to his COLD soft drink and ice cream !With these food around , we can enjoy our dinner in peace (what a bad parents :P) .His face beaming with joy and happiness while he was drinking and eating all up to his heart's content (i still controlled and made sure he didn't go beyond my limit) .You could always hear "very good!" when he thumbs up to his favourite food . The savory sweetness definitely light up his day.Ice cream and soft drink truly can make the world go round .hehe ...

** Shi Xu @ 28 months

I bought a Samsung Camera in sample staff sales .The cameras and MP3 sold like hot cake !!Within 5~10 minutes time , all the sets are gone . Luckily i still managed to grasp one ->Samsung IT100 ,a 12-megapixel compact camera with HD movie capture ( this is the features impress me ).

With a 5x optical zoom, and 28mm wide angle lens(i love this feature too) , the IT100 also boasts a 3-inch TFT LCD screen, dual image stabilisation and high sensitivity up to ISO 3200 for shots in low light.

What feature i like the most ? It was "children" scene mode .With this features i am still able to snap a clear picture for my little Shi Xu while he is jumping ,running or moving around ( It is indeed an uphill task to keep him stay still to let you snap a nice photo ) .These photo were taken while he was jumping on the bed ! he was getting excited when we "doll him up" with funny costume ( The "hat" he was wearing was his pyjamas pant:P ) .I still able to see his toes and fingers clearly though he was jumping while i snapped the photo ,not like my previous Canon Ixus , the toes and fingers and even his face will all look blur if he jump or move around .

Anyway , i would say “money well spent “ ,it was just $140 afterwall (in staff sample sale) hehe .... I am not professional in photo shooting , with all these features , it is pretty enough for me .
**Shi Xu @ 28 months

IT gadget boy

Admittedly , children are becoming more tech-savvy nowadays because they are the generation born into a digital world.Without a doubt,they are digital content natives,seamlessly navigating digital sources of media without missing a step.

Just like big kids , my little Shi Xu is using my Mp3 player to watch his "little lamb" animation video .His eyes beamed when he watching his animation video .Technology devices are always never fail to occupy him for a couple of minutes.

**Shi Xu @ 27.75 months

Last weekend Shi Xu down with fever , cough and cold again .Haiz .. After sending him to childcare , the chances of him catching bugs are higher ,we average visit our PD once per month!!

As usual when he is sick , Shi Xu was neither crancky nor groucy ,he would be just on food strike (food strike again!!) due to his poor appetite .I could hardly feed him any food and drinks .Admittedly , i am a very impatient and hot-tempered person ,I lost my temper and scolded him when he refused to eat ,and I didn't bother him with just shutting up my mouth .

When we were about going out for dinner , Shi Xu said in soft tone "Can not make mummy angry ".Upon hearing this , my heart melt instantly and i went towards him to give him a tight hug.I was too touched that i could hardly speak a single word .On the other hands, i felt very sorry to him that i had blown my top to him though he behaved well but just refused to eat because he was sick ( sickness will cause poor appetite ,I know that! but i just lost my control and outburst my anger ) .I regretted badly i did such silly thing on him . I should look after him when he was sick ,I should coax him to eat , I should shower him with more love ,I should not lose my temper with him . Now he still need to humour me and bear with me and even said "sorry" to me . Yes , indeed , i feel very bad .

I should control my emotion and don't let it take over my actions and words next time . Shi Xu ,mummy should be the one who say "sorry " to you ,you are such a lovely and sensible boy , mummy love you !

In the journey of parenting , I am , of course , still learning to be a good mummy ....

**Shi Xu @ 27.5 months

Like father like son . This improper posture of study truly resembles his daddy .I always emphasize to sit up straight on chair while study but seem like my words are not convincing enough .

The scene does look fun to me though . ^_^

** Shi Xu @ 27.5 months

Betta fish (Siammese fighting fish ) was added in our pet list after the guppies and cricket died . We got it from QianHu again and they cost $3 each only.

The red color Betta was chosen by Shi Xu while the blue one was chosen by daddy .so here they go and have their own pet to manage ( Let see how many days the fishes can survive this time hehe ... ) .The fishes can occupy the father and son for hours,they enjoy seeing the Betta from time to time .

I wonder what's after the Betta fish ?Tortoise would probably be the choice because of its long longevity haha ...So next time if you see the tortoise in our tank ,you will know what had happen to their Betta fishes ^_^.

**Shi Xu @ 27.5 months

How timely this was , we got to catch a cricket in front of our house just after the fishes died . The cricket , made its way to our tank ...We never leave our tank be empty anyway .hehe ...

The next day morning , before we left our house to work and school, Shi Xu bid good bye to his 2nd pet " good bye cricket , see you later ! "

More and more pets coming to our list , sure does keep us all busy .


** the next day evening our cricket died also . I wonder why all little creatures can't survive for 24 hours under our management .haha ...

**Shi Xu @27 months

We made a trip to QianHu(仟湖 )fish farm last Saturday .There are so many types of tropical fishes there .My little boy was very excited looking into each fish tank and running around.

Qian Hu provides fish spa service and "longkang" fishing in its Agro education centre . Longkang fishing is something different which use small fish net to scoop the fish from the fish pond instead of using fishing rod .Longkang fishing is not free , it cost SGD5 per pax for 30 mins .It comes with a small fishing net and mini fish tank.The good thing is you can keep the fish tank and fishes that you manage to catch afterwards.

We had lots of fun with our first "longkang "fishing at Qian Hu .Shi Xu was busy scooping here and there though he failed to catch one .He is thrilled to no end with his fishing adventure there .


Finally we managed to catch around 15 guppies and they naturally became Shi Xu's first pets . He loves to see the fishes eating and swimming in his mini fish tank.He intensely engrossed in seeing the fishes swimming in the tank at ANYTIME,after his shower , before and after his nap,before and after his dinner ... . He just love them to bits .

It was too bad that they all died after one day (*sob sob*) ,perhap the PH of the water is not suitable for them . nonetheless , what matters most is the experience for the kid.

Qian Hu is definitely a place worth revisiting next time .Shi Xu is asking when is our next trip now . ^_^

How do get there :
Closest MRT station: Choa Chu Kang
Bus Service: free shuttle bus service available on Sat, Sun and public holiday from Choa Chu Kang and Boon Lay MRT stations.
Taxi: from Choa Chu Kang station, around S$8, 10 mins
Opening hours: 9.00am – 6.00pm (Monday to Thursday)
9.00am – 7.00pm (Friday to Sunday and public holidays)


**Shi xu @ 27 months

Sometimes Shi Xu will blurt out some words which not supposed to be spoken out from a 2 years old toddlers .That is funny !

Shi Xu:" Accident! Car car OVERTURN . 死了!"
He knows the consequences of an car accident .
Accident happen->car overturn->passenger die .Whew!

He used his finger to made a shape like flute and told me that "mummy ! You see! INSTRUMENT !" ( he was telling me that he was making a musical instrument)and he held a CD on his hand and pat it and told me that "Tambourine !" (he told me that he was playing tambourine)

I was watching <<学警雄心>>Hong Kong drama and that had one scene the police from Police Academy were marching through the field ,he looked so excited and told us "Marching!"

Shi Xu can differentiate "spill " and "splash " very well . Shame to say that daddy and i fail to do so .when were asked , we would also say "the water(in his bottle) splash out "(sorry for our poor English,hehe..)
However , Shi Xu can differentiate them very well .When Shi Xu enjoys his shower time and has his water play , he will say "splashing" while he splashing the water. however , when he is drinking water and he will remind himself don't "spill" out .

"Accident,overturn , die ,instrument ,marching ,tamborine,spill vs splash "the words that come out of his mouth truly set me in awe .



Shi Xu @ 27 months

Finger play

Shi Xu has been enjoying finger play since last 2 months . He has lots of fun making different type of shapes like triangle , square , oval by his fingers .And he was delighted with the Incy Wincy spider finger play as well.

Since last month , he started doing more complicated finger play .He hold up his fingers in the shape of a gun by lifting up the thumb and point out his index finger and say to us "Gun!shoot you !, "Bang!died already“ ,"Police!Bang!" and sometimes we will just join in his pretend play by saying"Arrgh" and pretend is dead .

And recently , he like to use his "body language" to comment when he finds something is good .like as usual he only says "hmm, very good! ",now he also thumbs up by uprighting his thumb(sometimes he still fails to upright only the thumb but most of the time he can do that)

Now he is practising to make the V sign (victory hand gesture ) .He has great fun in his finger play .

**Shi Xu @ 27 months

Singlish

Children will use the language they are exposed to and familiar with. If family members,friends and teachers use Singlish, he will likely pick up the rhythm and speech patterns that make up Singlish .

Shi Xu is one of the example . He has learnt to speak singlish . I have no idea he picks up from us or the teachers in school . Anyway I do feel that we should start our children off on the right path and teach them to speak proper English at this young age. We have to be more mindful of language now .

Here are some of his singlish
Shi Xu :"Where is my handphone leh ?"
Shi Xu :"be careful ah !"
Shi Xu :" Dont move ah ! "
Shi Xu :"Wait ah ! "

**Shi Xu @ 27 months

I loves to buy educational products for Shi Xu and I always brighten up and thinking how he would love this and that and can’t wait to show it to him. This math counting set caught my eye when i was shopping at Novena Square in MPH book fair 2 weeks ago.

This colorful set of 30 counting puzzle cards provides children with an excellent introduction to mathematics and the concepts of number recognition and counting . Each card features the number of pictures that are associated with the matching number. Simply match the number to correct quantity of objects to complete the puzzle. The puzzles are self correcting as no two puzzle cuts are the same.

Shi Xu love this matching set .Everynight he will clamor of playing this . He doesn't know to do counting yet(because i don't teach him counting as i intend to teach him quantity recognitation - PERCEIVE real quantity instantly without counting,that is part of right brain training )

Shi Xu can match the puzzle perfectly although he doesn't do counting and yet to have quantity recognition.We just directly tell him the quantity(eg: i would say "5 wagons!"), then he will pick the correct numeral to match with it . He can renognize the numeral 1-10 so far .

I hope one day my effort will pay off , he can have quantity recognisation that will make Mathematics interesting and easy to learn .

**shi Xu @ 27 months

Finally I have time to upload my last month loots from malaysia :
a) Robin audio story book - Let's read more !

These are the fairy tales come with colourful illustration .It gives live sound to all existing text and images .when the ipen contact the page number,it will read the story for that page .You can simply point at the text in the book to listen the correct pronounciation read aloud as well .It doenn't stop here ,the characters in the story can even "come live"(with sound )when Ipen touch on them . Children can read the books independantly with little supervision and this can arouse their interest in reading .Robin and Ipen are available at any Popular book store .

I bought it without hesitation despite it stated for children 4 years old and above . I just use it as a media to read story book for Shi Xu ,I do not expect he can read the words at this moment . I am happy that I dont need to read the story book by myself anymore, Ipen will do for me :P

So far Shi Xu only interested on certain stories like "The three billy goats gruff " and "The ugly duckling " . When the story's character speaks ,he likes to mimic them .This is good for his pronunciation and reading .I certainly hope he can cultivate a lifetime reading habit from them .

Last week daddy was down with high fever followed by severe joint and muscle pain .We all suspected it was Dengue fever as his syntom pretty much similar with it except he did not have rash,nausea and vomiting .

on 3rd day , his fever was subsided ,however he still had severe joint and muscle pain ,it was so painful that he even unable to hands up to wear his clothes and squeueze toothpaste !He even had difficulty to walk due to his joint pain .

Daddy headed to hospital for blood test and the report shown was not Dengue . This made us even more worry as we had no idea what disease it was .He had to admit to hospital for observation .

Doctor still unable to dianose by doing a series of testing and scaning on various part of his body including brain,lung ,etc .No medication was given except let him getting plenty of bed rest , drinking lots of fluid and he was on drips for few days .Various of testing still were done daily to make sure his condition did not get worse.

After few days of dripping , his condition was getting better . Thanks God he could skip the lumbar puncture (initiall doctor had proposed to do this spinal test if he couldn't recover within few days ) .

Doctor discharged him after 4 days and concluded is Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) .He was advised to rest at home for another one week.Actually this was first time we know about this disease . We did some study on this disease .
GBS is relatively rare , it only happen in 1 or 2 people per 100,000.It is an autoimmune disorder affecting the peripheral nervous system, usually triggered by an acute infectious process .It is frequently severe and usually exhibits as an ascending paralysis noted by weakness in the legs that spreads to the upper limbs and the face along with complete loss of deep tendon reflexes.Here are more information about GBS .

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/gbs/gbs.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/guillain-barre-syndrome/DS00413
http://www.neurologychannel.com/guillain/index.shtml

As toddler is not allowed to visit patient in hospital .My poor little Shi Xu , he has missed his daddy so much when his daddy was hospitalized .Nevertheles ,I have no qualms in admitting that he had behaved very well during that period . He did not fussed and grouched at all .When he was taken care by his grandmother ,he knew to tell his grandmother that "爸爸 not feeling well " , " mummy goes hospital " and he patiently wait for his daddy coming back from hospital .

Let wish daddy has a speedy recovery !


**Shi Xu @27 months

An annoying cockroach visited our house on last Sunday .Not to mention , we wouldn't let it leave our house alive !hehe ...

When daddy was busy hitting the annoying bug ,our little Shi Xu blurted out "Mummy , 不要怕!“ , “cockroach 死了“. Guess what is my response ?Needless to say ,he touched me to the CORE !I suddently realized that my little baby has grown up to be a brave little boy , he knows to protect his mummy now .

**Shi Xu @ 26.5 months

It was a small celebration of Mid-autumm festival at Cherie Heart Little Angels own premises on last Friday .The evening started off with small delightful party .They specially invited their cook-Aunty Nancy to present mooncake making to parents and the children.Children were given a chance to involve in the making as well .It gave a good opportunity for us to appreciate our chinese culture .

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa My little chef is presenting his culinary skill

The highlight was the parent children games .parent were bind folded and was asked to find out their own kid among the children .Both parent and children have their great time and enjoy in the party .

Last but not least, before we bade farewell to one another,all of us walked around the neighbourhood with colourful ,decorated and musical lanterns !

**Shi Xu @ 26.5 months

Terrible TWO still going on. . When Shi Xu throw his tantrum ,he intends to beat us when we say "NO " to him .I will explain to him the consequences of his actions , sometimes he unwillingly succumb to me .

Shi Xu : "I beat mummy (?)" ( trying to ask"permission " if he can do that )
Shi Xu : "I beat 爸爸 (?)"
Mummy : "Shi Xu can not beat mummy , can not beat 爸爸 ,can not beat people ,we will feel pain if you beat us ,ok ?"
Shi Xu :" I beat zoo animals . "
Mummy : ...........

He has his mind of his own , mummy only mention that can not beat people but not animals.
hmm .. well , i should tell him can not beat ANYONE includes animals . Seem like i should use word wisely from now on .

**Shi Xu @ 26.5 months

We usually have our "indoor " breakfast in either Swenson,Hong Kong cafe , Han's during our weekend .Today daddy came out with a good suggestion of taking breakfast in Sembawang park .

We headed to Sembawang Park with our Mac breakfast .It's therapeutic to take in the greens and morning breeze in the park .We had our wonderful first breakfast in the park .

We took a leisure stroll after a full breakfast , it was great to hide away from the hustle and bustle of city life and indulge in an oasis of greenery and tranquility .


Sometimes a little "difference" does add a little spice to life, doesn’t it?

**Shi Xu @26.5 months

It rained on mooncake festival this year .It was wet and still dizzling after dinner .The kids(Shi Xu and his cousins )got their lanterns and candles ready ,went to grandmother downstair and had their delightful time playing lanterns and candles despite the drizzle.


How did adults celebrate their mooncake festival ? well ,we bought 9 big premium durian -猫山王 and ate them all up to our heart’s content !They were fleshy and taste fantasticly delicious !*Yummy yummy*.

Burp! I was too full and my stomach was no more room to put in the mooncake .
(Dont ask me why we ate durian in Mid Autum Festival but not mooncake , we just crave for that :P)

Anyway , HAPPY MOONCAKE FESTIVAL! *burp*

**Shi Xu @ 26.5 months

1st october is children day . This year would be different as Shi Xu would have a chance to celebrate with his friends in school .We prepared some goodies for him to exchange with his little friends ( we just bought some candies , chocolate , titbits ,etc , all are junk food !hehe ..)

Children are allowed to wear party clothes to school during children day . When i changed the clothes for Shi Xu , he was puzzled why i did not put on the uniform for him . I told him as today was children day ,he would be going to school for the children day celebration PARTY! He lit up when he heard of this . **I doubt he understand the meaning of children day **

Tomorrow we will take half day off to celebrate the belated children day with him .
HAPPY CHILDREN DAY !!

**Shi Xu @ 26.5 months

Good Manners

Shi Xu gradually understand and establishes some good manners .The kudos goes to Cherie Heart . (and of course daddy and me *wink wink *)

a) Shi Xu:"everybody clean up !clean up!" ( he will help to clean up when we or he finish our food )

b) I have a bad habit of putting my finger on my lips sometimes , one day when Shi Xu saw me did that
Shi Xu:"Dont put your finger on your mouth "

c) He will greet everyone before start having his lunch .
Shi Xu :" 老师吃, 小朋友吃, 大家一起吃!"
And he always wait patiently for everyone get ready before he starts tucking in .

d) He knows to throw rubbish into the bin instead of the floor ( sometimes he purposely do the opposite ,grin at me and ask me if he can throw on the floor )

e) He has good sense of safety , he will remind us to buck up for him when we forget to belt him up **what a reckless parents**

Some manners he will do as well when we ask him to do so
a) Greet us good morning when he wake up
b) Give a bear hug and bid goodbye to everone before leaving grandmother house
c) Wash hand before taking his food
d) Keep his toy neatly after use . ( sometimes he refuses to do that ,he still need more training on this )
e) Say good night to us when we put him to the bed .
f) Say "I love you " . (This always gives me the warmest feeling )
The list goes on ...

**Shi Xu @26 months

Were were invited to attend an informal parent teacher conference (PTC) by Cherie Heart.The purpose of this is mainly to update parents about their children's development progress.
Shi Xu , mummy would like to share with you the comment from your teachers .

Teacher Naizirah ( form teacher ) :

Shi Xu is excellent in his language and cognitive development . He is able to express himself emotionally . He is able to speak in more complete sentences whilst others at his age might have fewer words and speak less. He is a fast learner ,intelligent and independent boy .He can remember what teacher had taught him .

He is not so good in physical development .He scares of falling down when he stand at high place and he has water phobia . He cries whenever teacher bathe him .
** i have suggested teachers do not directly shower on his face ** .

Shi Xu is well trained in potty training , he knows to signal teacher whenever he wants to pass urine .However pass motion still need more training on it .

Teacher Xu( chinese teacher) :
Shi Xu sets a good example to his peer. He is such an independant boy , he can take care of himself . The deepest impression to teacher Xu is whenever the school bus come to fetch him , he will pull his school bag , get his water bottle , all his belonging and walk to the bus .He refuses any help and insists on doing on his own . Recently there has one boy who same age with him also learn from him .he is his peer's role model now .

Shi Xu doing well in his language development ,he is able to recite 2/3 of national pledge .This is amazing speed in speech development at his young tender year . She commented that even some of her K1 student still unable to recite the national pledge as the pledge is using some abtruse words.Shi Xu also able to read after teacher when teacher reads the story book .
On the other hand , his limited attention span and diet have significantly improved .

Shi Xu used to be the center of focus in his school, teachers love him due to his face always beam with joy and happiness.But recently there has some new children just join in , so teachers always have to take care of these new kiddos ,Shi Xu feels that he is out of favour of teachers ,hence he will whine occasionally to get some attention . He is expressing his jealousy !!** I can't imagine what happen if i have 2nd baby :P**

After the session , Shi Xu was so proud to show me his works which teacher paste on the wall , he was happy to show me his peer's work as well . I was wondering how he diffentiate them (as 10 same set of works which done by different children paste on the wall all look same to me except the names are different ) .

Overall , i am glad with his progress with Cherie Heart , i am looking forward to the next PTC .

**Shi Xu @ 26 months

It is never too early to start introducing the concept of saving.The earlier you start it , over time the principles will sink in. It takes constant reinforcement.

I am always out of idea when do get it start . After Cherie Heart PTC , we were invited to do some charity donation and we got a pinky ,sweet heart piggy bank as a gift . Thus i think now is good time to introduce the concept of saving .

We give him some coins and let him put into his first piggy bank . We let him know that it is wise to save for his future .We always need to save for rainy day .Now we save our money in this little piggy bank , next time we can use this money to buy toys ,books ,etc .

This is the basic concept i introduce to him so far . Next time i will introduce more like the value of money ,basic counting coins, money management and talk with him about how much things cost when he run his errands at food stall or supermarket ,etc .

**Shi Xu @ 26 months

Kitchen play

I came across this cute kitchen toy set when i went back to KL .It is a free gift from Enfa brand formula .Those cut fruit and vegs are damm cool .It has velcro in the centre, so you can actually slice through the fruits and vegs complete with the crisp sound! Shi Xu likes it to core !
I ask for this set from my sister .Shi Xu enjoys playing with them .

What tackled us most was when he has difficulty to cut the vegetables/fruits ,he got frustrated and hence he went into the room and came out with a long sword!!He was thinking to use "long knife " to cut his food!He made us couldn't suppress a soft chuckle about this .
His tricks always never fail to amuse us indeed .
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaLittle chef is in making ...........




**Shi Xu @26 months

How fast time flied , today was last day of 3rd semester in LNT . Teachers were busy writing their comment to their students .Here we go ..

"Shi Xu can concerntrate very well in class! He is excellent in open focus (eye exercise ) and enjoys singing song in class .
Fantastic work ,Shi Xu ! "
From : Teacher Deon (English teacher )

"Shi Xu has shown great improvement .He can now speak a lot of chinese words .He enjoys songs and does well for IQ games .Good job ! "
From : Chinese teacher


"Shi Xu is able to read after me for the japanese words , and he does well in his photograpic memory game " ** I wonder why he likes to give me wrong answer when i play with him at home **
From : Japanese teacher .

**Shi Xu @ 26 months

Last month we had a historic pledge in singapore 44th birthday . That time Shi Xu still unable to recite the pledge , he was only able to present the posture of pledge when he participated . After 1 month ,he is able to recite the National Pledge !!Last week he recited the pledge in English and followed by manderin , lastly sang his Cherie Heart school song .(Like what he usually does during his school assembly time )

He made my eyes pop and sent me in a state of shock!Daddy even felt shame of himself as he doesn't know National Pledge has Chinese translation !

我们是新加坡公民,
誓愿不分种族、言语、宗教
团结一致,
建设公正平等的民主社会
并为实现国家之幸福、繁荣与进步,
共同努力。

**Presenting the posture of pledge ,Shi Xu was able to recite the pledge (the words in blue color above )
( Mummy was using handphone to record Shi Xu's pledge as a sound clip ,thus that is not a video file , i add in the photo in this audio file )


I was deeply impressed that he can recite the National Pledge at his tender years despite he only recite the first few lines of the pledge .
Shi Xu , mummy and daddy are really proud of you !

**Shi Xu @ 25.75 months

Shi Xu starts understanding some basic concept , eg : concept of time , days of the week and basic traffic rules .

I have been teaching Shi Xu the concept of time . I show him events that he will relate such as time to go to school, breakfast time , lunch time , dinner time , sleeping time ,playtime etc . I am sure he still not really grasp the concept of the time but his concept does gradually become clearer . For instance , he knows to tell me "10 o'clock ,Shi Xu study " ( i told him 10am he should study at classroom at cherie heart ) , and when i say 6 o'clock , he knows to answer me " dinner at Ah Ma (his grandmother ) house " (he take his dinner at my MIL house at 6 o'clock in the evening ) .

I start teaching Shi XU some basic traffic rules.Recently evertime when we come to traffic light , you can see him lights up to tell us " traffic light!(but he pronounses as "fancy light!") red colour stop , green colour go !" He has so much delighted to show us every traffic light and the rule he knows .

For the days of the week, he knows his daddy has lesson on monday and tuesday .And he knows other days like friday , but so far we dont mark any particular event for the days , so i think he still does not have a full picture yet.

Shi Xu has very good IQ . He is able to answer correctly for most of the IQ questions conduct in LNT lessons. However , his memory is not so good , he always gives me the wrong answer when i play the memory games with him .

Shi Xu can recognise and name out most of the characters now , but some characters still confuse him like W,U and V .

How time has gone by ,my baby has grown up as a little boy .He is growing at such an amazing pace.

Sunshine boy

He is cheerful , he is happy , he is lively.Yes! He is such a sunshine boy !
He is upbeat about almost everything . His smile is adorable and infectious .

** If the photo complete with a backdrop of white sandy beach ,it would be perfect ^_^**

**Shi Xu @25.75 months

we were learning day of the week ......

Mummy: Monday ! (Hope Shi Xu will read after me )
Shi Xu : Tuesday ! ( wow !amazed that the litte boy know Tuesday is after Monday )
Mummy : Wednesday ! ( thought Shi Xu will give me the answer of "Thursday ")
Shi Xu : Friday !
haha .. so fast he skip to Friday .

Shi Xu : Monday , Tuesday , 爸爸 study .
The little boy still know which day 爸爸 has his master course lesson ..He truly deserves the applause.


Shi Xu @ 25.75 months

Ah Meng is a female orangutan which belonged to an endangered species and was smuggled from Indonesia but was later given a home at the Singapore Zoo . She passed away last year due to its old age . Nowaday , we only have chance to take photo with Ah Meng's monument

Shi Xu said Ah Meng is chimpanzee .Does Ah Meng's monument look like chimpanzee?what do you think ? In fact , chimpanzee , ape ,monkey,orang utan , gorrila all look same to me , i just call them as "monkey " ^_^

**Shi Xu @25.75 months

Aqua-phobia

Today we decided to go to Zoo's Rainforest KidzWorld, the latest kids attraction in the zoo . There has a very big waterplay features, and we thought Shi Xu would have his great time there . But we were wrong ...

when we reached there ,it was so crowded as it was in the weekend and was school holiday!There was like a madhouse ,a lot of kids running around at the water playground ,and the highlight was the gigantic bucket of water which would poured over every 4 mins . The kids enjoy splashed by it .Out of our expectation , our little Shi Xu was scared ,he has fear of water !

" I dont want !" ," I dont want !", " scared! scared !"Shi Xu cried and said when daddy carried him running around the water playground and splashed by the water . ( he was like koala bear "hanging" on daddy as he was scared . Apparently he was not ready for the water play .

I remember a few months back, when i brought him to the water playground at the rooftop of Sembawang Shopping centre , he was so excited and couldn't wait to play in water playground .He almost took off his clothes when he was running towards to the water playground (but was stopped by me as i did not bring along his extra clothes to change ) .Today he shift his excitement to fear of water in a couple of months ?this really puzzled me .Perhap my fear of water has passed along genetically to him ?Or he afraid of the BIG crowd?(the kids running around MADLY ).Or he has fear of the gigantic bucket of water ?(it really made a very BIG splash and i also scared it to dealth! :P) . Once home ,Tuckered-out Shi Xu took a nap. My little poor boy , he still mumbled " Dont want !Dont want ! " in his dream . But On the very next minute ,when he wake up, he told me " I do not scare ".What my little cute boy .

How can i overcome his fear of water ?I hope he can enjoy thoroughly his water play .

**Shi Xu @25.75 months

Last Sunday after LNT lesson , we went to coffee club to have our dinner . I have ordered a slipper lobster linguini .This spaghetti is slightly spicy but Shi Xu cound't wait to try . He has grown to be more adventurous to spicy food .

Shi Xu : i want spaghetti ..
Mummy : This spaghetti is "la la " (spicy ) , Shi Xu can not eat
Shi Xu : i want !

Since he was so adament to try ,i just let him had a small bite,with the hope that he would give up his idea after taste it .Showing my " sinister smile ", i was waiting for him to say "No " to me . To my much surprise ,after he tasted it ,
Shi Xu : hmm ... nice ! very~~ good ! I want spaghetti..
He should wonder what on earth is this that taste soooo darn good and mummy never let him try before . I think Shi Xu love of spice to the fact that I myself ate a lot of spicy food while I was pregnant.

We shared the spaghetti happily and Shi Xu was certainly enjoy the spicy food . By the time we almost finished , i just noticed that the area around his mouth turned red !Initially i was thinking if he allergy to spicy food ,but he was still enjoy his food and never complain he was itchy or so . Anyway we dont worry too much as he is not allergy to any food so far . Luckily the red patches was gone when the peppery taste cool down .

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaThe area around his mouth turned red as ezcema

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHe said he was making hamburgar


**Shi Xu @25.5 months

last sunday we planned to shop at Ikea at tampinese . When we passby Sengkang , the awesome scenes of kiteSs soaring in the sky attracted us .It brought us to a big field near to the Sengkang LRT station .

The sky full of kites add excitement to us.Yes! we coudn't wait to fly kite again. ( we have just bought our 2nd kites and put it in our car , so we can fly kite at ANYTIME ANYWHERE ).We have forgot about our shopping plan totally.We just do exactly what we feel like.cool!

Since our fail attempt at West Coast park , we are unwillingly succumbed to our failure .This time we hope we could get some decent elevation .When a nice breeze kicked up,daddy left his kite to the air ,he kept running hoping that his kite would fly at least to a certain height .but his kite dropped down when he stopped running !His mission was fail.

And i repeated his failure as well ! My little poor Shi Xu , he kept begging " kite ! kite" he was begging for his turn to fly .but the parents were so busy trying to fly up the kite and just asked Shi Xu to wait and wait and wait ......

unfortunately , our kite broken again before Shi Xu had chance to fly . So we let Shi Xu flied the broken kite by our "own method" again (Shi Xu held the string winders and run , mummy held the broken kite up and ran after him )

I was wondering if Shi Xu has chance to fly his kite if our kite not broken ?haha ..
Initially we want o soar our kite in the sky to keep little Shi Xu enthralled but now who is the person who thrilled when come to fly kite ? parents or Shi Xu ? well , the answer is clear .Hehe ...

** no photo attached as mummy and daddy were toooo busy running around to fly up the kite that no time to take photo.^o^



** Shi Xu @25.5 months

when we entered our house in late evening ,it was so dark as i had not turn on the lights yet
Shi Xu :So many 暗暗。 (he means so dark )

Shi Xu likes to play water gun when we bathe him . He put his water gun inside the pail which full of water
Shi Xu : gun swimming .
**fainted , can gun swim ?**

Our stand fan fell down to floor and made a big sound
Shi Xu : fan cry cry ..
**will fan feel pain and cry when fall down ?**

Today , Shi Xu told me
Shi Xu : mummy , 我要一个小朋友 .
what does he means ? does he mean he wants a younger sibling ?

for no reason , Shi Xu find funny to hear me speak cantonese to him , when i speak cantonese to him ,
Shi Xu : (smirk) I dont want !
mummy ignored him and continue the cantonese conversation .
Shi Xu : (smirk again)关掉 mummy .
He was trying to "turn off " mummy . He thought i am radio or TV ? *fainted *

Spending moments with little Shi Xu is like entering into another realm.He never fail to bring on a smile and add sunshine to our everyday .

**Shi Xu @ 25.5 months

Umpteen time we say we want to have a wonderful kite day . Today we finally made it done .

In the early morning , we headed to West Coast park with so much delight and excitement .It's therapeutic to take in the greens, morning breeze and fly kite under the sun and by the sea .Shi Xu was definitely amazed that he get to fly a kite.

Daddy and I can't fly kite for nuts .Just within FIVE minutes ,our kite got stuck in tree and its frames was broken when we tried to remove the kite from the tree branches!Daddy tried to use the string to join the dowel rod ,but our kite was not precisely proportioned anymore ,it kept spinning out of control when we left the kite to the air .

After few fail attempts ,we "invented " our very own method to fly our broken kite .Shi Xu held the string winders and run , mummy held the broken kite up and ran after him . We just tried to made us feel like our kite soaring in the sky . haha ...what a hilarious yet heartwarming scene .

**Shi Xu @ 25 months

笑话X则

Shi Xu pointed at a bird which was flying in the sky
Shi Xu : Bird bird!
Mummy: o Ya , bird bird !
Shi Xu : 还有一个!
He puzzled me , where is the other bird ?i only saw one bird flying in the sky ??!..
Mummy : Where ?
Shi Xu :还有一个! ( pointed at his "bird bird" )
Mummy burst into laugh ..


Mummy was trying to show Shi Xu what is canal when we was passing by a canal at our downstair .
Mummy : This is canal .
Shi Xu :(wave his little hands ) can not !
I was wondering why can not ?
Mummy : canal !
Shi Xu : can not ! ( wave his hands again )
Pause for few sec , i just realized that he misheard "canal " as "can not " haha ..


I tried to tie my hair up due to the recent hot weather
Shi Xu :姐姐!
muahaha .... do i look young when i tie my hair up ?
Mummy : 姐姐 ??
Shi Xu :姐姐 mummy!
He gives me a few minutes of excitement. It’s such a lovely day .^ ^


**Shi Xu @ 25 months

Recently Shi Xu tends to show tones of curiosity in the anticipation of playing musical instruments .

When he sees his cousins playing recorder , he begs to have a try . When he sees people playing violin , he tends to imitate .Last week , when he went to See Hua (Shi Xu's cousin ) birthday party , he was enthralled to the piano .He is eager to play the piano .We let him sat on the piano chair and played .He didn't bang or hit the keys , but he played gently .Moving his fingers on the piano and churning out "random" tunes made him excited and had a great fun too .He just looked like a little pianist when he was playing the piano.



I should consider to enroll him in Kindermusik class .Kindermusic is a better choice to give him a solid background in music and prepare him for an instrument.


**Shi Xu @ 25 months

Little bits

Shi Xu never fails to amuse us with his funny tricks and actions ,he call


a) palm tree as coconut tree ( well , in fact they look alike )

b) tent as mushroom
(the semi-circular bivouac tents on the grass @ East Coast look like mushroom growing on the grassland ?)

c) Imitate tiger roars but looks like sleepy tiger yawning .


d) he blurt out " Surprise!!" when there was a silence in the car , the former silence atmosphere broke into contagious laughter,he SURPRISED us indeed .haha ...how the little know "surprise"?

e) Recently we try to wean Shi Xu off the pacifier ,we tell him that his pacifer has lizard and worm ,so he can not take it , but his reply was " lizard!? ..Emb!..nice ! " (he sound like he swallow it in one gulp ) .Needles to say , our trick was fail .

f) Last week we saw an accident on the road when we were on the way home , i explained to Shi Xu what was happening .
Shi Xu : "Accident ...bomb!(he made the sound effect )...car car "fall down" (over turn ) le ...
When he reached home , he made his car over turn and replayed the accident .haha ..

g)This morning when we passed by a shop which selling musical instrument , we asked Shi Xu if he want to play violin ,Shi Xu instantly made a violin posture.He was not placing the violin(virtually ) on his left shoulder but on his elbow part,and he was happily acting like he is playing the violin (on elbow part ) .haha ..he is unbeatable cute .

h)Daddy just had his hair trim in the evening while Shi Xu and I had our lesson in LNT . I did not notice he had trim his hair (*sotong wife* ) ,but to my surprice , Shi Xu noticed it and told me ..
Shi Xu : 爸爸 cut hair..
Daddy : 爸爸 handsome ?
Shi Xu: 时旭 handsome ..
Daddy : Mummy pretty ?
Shi Xu : Mummy pretty ..
Daddy never give up , with the hope that Shi Xu would say daddy handsome after his hair cut .
Daddy : 爸爸 handsome ?
Shi Xu: 时旭 handsome ..( Still think that he is more handsome than his daddy.haha.. )
Daddy : .......

**Shi Xu @ 25 months

 
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