Jamming at His First Piano Recital

My little man recently hit a new milestone in his musical journey when he had his first piano recital.

I realise I've never written about Noey's music lessons though it's been nearly two years since he first started. I started Noey on piano lessons when he turned four because I thought knowing music - being able to read the notes, appreciate nuances in music and just translate music that you hear into tunes on the piano - is one of life's pleasures. That said, I did approach music lessons with some trepidation, because I played for many years and I didn't always enjoy it. I frequently felt like I was spending too much of my time playing exam pieces and not being very good at them! When I was finally done with piano lessons, I didn't touch the piano for a long time. During that period, I didn't miss it.

But by and by, I started playing again, listening to tunes and translating them onto the keyboard, flipping through song books and playing for enjoyment. Believe me, there was a time when I would never have put playing with enjoyment in the same sentence! And I was grateful. That I had the skill to play to entertain myself, and spend some time in private worship. When the kids came along, I was glad I was able to entertain them too. Noey loves to sing and Mei loves to dance, and I enjoy being able to accompany them.

I decided it was worth the hard work and so when Noey turned four, I started looking around for a piano course for him to join. I had intended to enrol him at Yamaha to learn the way I was taught, but was put off by the bad class timings -- either after 7pm on weekdays or smack in the afternoon on Sat. Just as I was scratching my head about it, a friend providentially blogged about her daughter's piano classes. And when I contacted the teacher, I was told - amazingly - that she was going to start a new class that very next week. That's how Noey's come to be with MYC (Music for Young Children). 

Having been at it for a while, I must say that I do like the curriculum. It's fun, rounded, fairly comprehensive as kids music classes go. Noey does enjoy class and because it is parent accompanied, I've been able to learn along with him. It's a group class and he's enjoys the company of his classmates. The mummies have become friends too!

But piano practice, well, that's another matter altogether. I know my Mum totally thinks it's karma as I struggle to get him to practice, considering how she struggled with me too. But seeing how I now do appreciate having the ability to play fuels my motivation to let Noey continue learning and make him practice. Honestly, he isn't bad. He has a certain gift for music. Over the past couple of years he has developed perfect pitch that makes listening and singing tunes in notation effortless for him. I often catch him singing along to tunes, sounding out the notes while playing with Lego, and he's almost never wrong. He also loves transposition and can play songs in a variety of keys by ear. BUT! Only when they are not on the practice list. He could certainly do with more piano practice since his playing is rather average (no beautifully curved hands and weak fingers) and his sight-reading is rather poor. It is really like staring at myself (horror of horrors!). My mother is definitely laughing!

Anyway, back to the recital.

His teacher decided to hold a recital for all her students, which was both exciting and a bit nerve-wrecking at the same time. Well, probably more nerve-wrecking for me than for Noey! Still, I thought it was a great opportunity for all the children to learn a piece that was above their level and to perform before an audience.

The children each learnt a different piece, some solos (like Noey) and some playing duets with their mums. I thought his teacher did a great job picking a variety of different pieces, which were all rather different and interesting. Noey's was Traffic Jam by Kevin Olson, which is a modern piece I initially found rather jarring, since it was supposed to sound like a traffic jam after all! But it grows on you - or me at least!  

Getting dressed up for the occasion was half the fun, though I admittedly didn't think about it and would have sent him up in t-shirt and jeans if his teacher hadn't queried about his outfit a week before the actual event. I had to scramble and send out an SOS to friends asking if anyone had a long-sleeved shirt and long pants which Noey could borrow! Fortunately I have very helpful friends (thanks Jas!) and with a new pair of shoes and a borrowed bow tie from his classmate, he was set.

I felt nervous for him, but if Noey was nervous, he didn't show it. He was fairly calm and when it was his turn to go up, well, he just went up and played his piece! Two actually, since he was also asked to play his piano composition for the MYC annual composition festival. He didn't make any obvious errors and probably only I (and his teacher) could tell when certain parts were not as smooth as they could have been, but all things considered, I think he did good. We were - are - very proud of him.

With Noey done, we could sit back to enjoy the rest of the performances, most of which were really good. Especially the senior students! The husband wondered aloud if Noey would ever be up to that standard. Well, we shall see.

Everyone took a well-deserved, ermm, Carl's Junior treat at the end of it before we called it a day. Definitely a proud parent moment for the record books -- until the next one!

Snapshot of a 3.5 year-old

Mei at 3.5 years...

… loves to sing and dance. She spies a step, and ledge, a platform, and the next minute, she'll be on it, singing and dancing, with actions to boot. Only for an imaginary audience though, for when she sees you watching, she stops. Sometimes she would continue, albeit more self consciously. She also usually refuses when you ask her to perform. But if you catch her in those moments when it when she's totally caught up in her own performance, you're in for a treat of made-up songs and made-up Chinese. Mei can't string a sentence together in Chinese at all (my fault), but it doesn't stop her from trying and making up her own Chinese-sounding words. It always makes me laugh to watch her at it!



… is really Miss Bossypants. She's always trying to dictate the action and tell everyone what to do! She's mostly ignored by her brother when she tries to do this but some of her classmates seem to listen to her. I followed her on a field trip and was rolling my eyes in amusement as she kept calling to her friends to come join her at a different activity, then took over the job while her friend watched.



… is in her Princess phase. This is exemplified by wearing long skirts which she loves to hold out and swish around. And twirl, of course. This dress and 2 others from Fox Kids are among her absolute favourites for this purpose. Her "princess dresses", she calls them.



… has been resisting her nap, but I think it'd be quite some time before she's really able to drop it. She's caught on to the fact that I sometimes head out or do other things while she's asleep and she doesn't want to miss out! So I'm being met with lots of cries of "I'm not tired!" in the afternoon, only to have her inopportunely falling asleep later.



… LOVES fries. They are probably her favourite food, since, you know, sweets are NOT a food group. Yes, she's my second child and gets to enjoy more relaxed food privileges.



… is starting to show an interest in reading. She now points out words on posters and asks me what they say, and I recently came upon her pointing to letters in words and trying to sound them out phonetically. I must admit I haven't done a lot to teach her though we have always had regular reading sessions. She's not the bookworm her brother was so I'm letting her take her time about it. I recently went to attend a phonics course and reading readiness is one thing that was stressed, so I know we are on the right track, letting her set her own pace.



… is extremely independent. She's always been really, but now she is actually able to do a lot on her own. She's always had a strong opinion about her clothes and now I can't stop her because she can take off and put on all her clothes by herself. Buttons, t-shirts, underwear, socks, shoes, she can manage them all on her own, which I think is pretty amazing. That does mean that she would randomly go into the room to change her clothes when she feels like it though and there's not much I can do about it!



… makes the most outrageous requests. Where her brother would never dare to ask for treats (cos he knows I'll say no), she tries her luck for sweets and gummies on a regular basis. At the supermarket, she'll make a bid for treats and winsomely try with her brightest smile and most convincing manner to persuade me that she and Gorgor really need those snacks. Sometimes it's hard to say no to that cute face.



Which brings me to the fact that she...

… is the cutest thing ever. Charming and cheeky, that's our Naomi!

Dressed by stylist Evon Chng at a recent Fox Kids styling event. Mummy here would never have thought to put these pieces together!

The P1 Registration Milestone

I don't think I was quite fully prepared for this milestone of milestones: P1 Registration.

I mean, I was definitely fully prepared where the process was concerned. I read up on the documents required, marked down the relevant date, reminded myself many times not to forget, took out all the necessary documents and set them aside. (I forgot the photocopies but thankfully that was easily rectified at the school bookshop.)

I've been prepared for years, really, having discussed our options many times over with the husband. I was the one who asked him to sign up for his alumni school then practically signed up for him when he wasn't prompt enough with it to my liking. I read up on all the phases so I know them all and the permutations for balloting like the back of my hand. I considered all schools within 1km and 2km of my home, and again when we moved. I asked around and found out what I could about the school we decided on for Noey, even if it was more out of default than a real choice.

On D-Day this Tues, I woke up bright and early, and prepared myself to go down for the morning session to give myself a bit of a buffer just in case we had some issue with our documentation. I woke the husband and we brought Noey along for the ride.

(He spent most of the journey talking about getting $2 for pocket money and all the things he could buy with that. His kindy had arranged a trip to a Primary school for the K2 children  one and clearly the canteen was the big takeaway from the whole experience.)

I was a little taken aback by the number of people in the queue when we got to the school by mid-morning, and we briefly discussed the possibility of a ballot, though I sincerely hoped there was no need for that given that fact that we had NO BACKUP PLAN whatsoever. This was already the earliest possible phase and I didn't expect there to be any prospect of a ballot at all. It was a bit of a nervy wait. Nervy for us, at least. Noey was utterly bored. Guess that's the first and last time I'm bringing a child along for the registration process!

Our hearts were put to rest when we were informed by the admin staff managing the process that the number of alumni members they were expecting to show up for the registration process was less than the number of places available. This count was possible thanks to a very efficient system the alumni had of issuing letters to those intending to register their children for next year's intake. Since there were more places than letters issued, a ballot was not expected. We heaved a quiet sigh of relief.

Barring any totally unseen and catastrophic event, our P1 registration is done and dusted.

I guess that's when it started sinking in. I was prepared. But now, I realise, I'm not really ready. I'm not ready to take my baby out of the nurturing environment of kindy and shove him into the big bad world. How can it be that he's going to P1 already?? I mentioned these to my husband only to have him smile at my sentimentality. "He'll be alright, he'll grow up," he said kindly.

I know he will, even as I know that I will just have to entrust him to God, knowing that He who cares for Noey infinitely more than I do will walk with him down this path. It is an exciting journey. I just have a bit more preparing to do, this time, in my heart and on my knees.

OMy, it's Ice Cream for Petite Travellers!

Remember petite travellers?

Well, at the end of last week we received some great news: petite travellers has been shortlisted as one of 10 finalists for Best New Blog at the Singapore Blog Awards 2014!

The team felt we had to celebrate, but how were 9 busy mums with different schedules and many commitments (and kids) going to celebrate together at short notice? With a virtual party, of course. It was ice-creams all round for all of us.

Our sweet treat was made all the more awesome when others started joining in our #icecreamforpetitetravellers party too! (You can check out all the yummy cones with the hashtag on instagram!)

petite travellers was born out of a desire to provide a repository of useful travel suggestions, itineraries, tips and other recommendations for parents, just like ourselves, who enjoy exploring the world with our kids, and this recognition has been an added bonus. Having been a SAHM for the past 2.5 years (!!!), it's been a while since I've worked with a team, and I'm enjoying it. I guess that's also because the 9 of us are friends first, then collaborators.

A special thank you too, to all of you for have liked the petite travellers Facebook Page, shared, commented on or liked our posts, followed us on instagram, expressed an interest to contribute to our site, and of course, joined our #icecreamforpetitetravellers party! It means a lot that you are excited about what we are doing. If you would like to support petite travellers for the Singapore Blog Awards, do hop over here to cast your vote for us in the Best New Blog category: http://sgblogawards.omy.sg/2014/vote/editors-judges-choice.html. You can vote once a day and voting accounts for 30% of the total score.

But more than voting, I would love it if you read our blog and help us grow petite travellers into a truly useful resource with your suggestions and comments. I know we would love to hear from you. We've only just begun -- do come join us for the ride.

The End of Co-Sleeping

2014 is turning out to be a milestone year. And this is probably the biggest thing to happen this year, thus far:

Ladies and gentlemen, my kids are FINALLY SLEEPING IN THEIR OWN BEDS!!

So yes, now you know our rather embarrassing little secret, which is that right up to the start of this year, we were still co-sleeping with our kids. Actually, scratch that. I was co-sleeping with the kids while my husband gratefully escaped onto the mattress on the floor that was meant for Noey. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't too fussed about the sleeping arrangements. But after being trapped between wriggly children while putting them to sleep and being squeezed out my lovely king-sized bed once too often, I had had enough. And after listening to my complaints numerous times, the husband also agreed that it was best if we settled the kids into their own room. 

We bit the bullet, cleared out one of our rooms, hauled ourselves down to Ikea during the year-end sale, and forced ourselves to decide on two beds and mattresses for the kids. Then we brought the kids down on a separate occasion to choose their own sheets.

Of course, me being me, the whole process wasn't without its little hiccups. Like how I had grandly waved off the need to pay $30 for the assembly of the beds, only to open the boxes and find that the first step required me to screw in 22 screws to attach metal tracks to the wood. Yup, that's 22 screws for one bed. I pressed on anyway because I'm stubborn like that, and wow, was my hand aching after I was done!

I was pretty proud of the fact that I managed to assemble the bed all on my own! But I got the husband to build the second one, which he did… after buying a power drill to help with the screws. Hah.

The kids were very enthusiastic about the whole process, and when we were done, they were very excited about their new bedroom. But of course, the test was whether they'd sleep in their beds. Noey, my older but more clingy child was immediately alarmed about the move but we managed to appease him by assuring him that Mummy would in the same room for a while, though I would not be sleeping with them. On the first night, they managed to settle and while Noey did wake and need me to put him back to sleep, Meips slept well. And they've been sleeping in their own beds since. "Wow, this is like staying in a hotel!" sighed Noey, a couple of days after moving in.

It's not been painless, naturally. The good news is that they have not awakened in the middle of the night and wandered across the corridor to our room as we thought they might have. The bad news is that they yell for me instead. And I have to hurry over or the noise would wake the other child and both would need me to put them back to sleep. So I've since resurrected my baby monitor and uninterrupted sleep remains elusive. But thankfully they ease back to sleep quickly and it's not happened more than once a night. I'm optimistic it'll get better. It will, right?

In the meantime, I'm finally going to break out the nice mattress pad from my sister and BIL, and lovely sheets that I've been hoarding to celebrate!

Enjoying Her Two-ness

As we wound down the year, two thoughts kept re-playing in my head: 

1. That my daughter is really so impossibly cute; and

2. That I'm really going to miss having her around in the mornings when she starts school.

Because yes, she starts school today. I am one part anxious, one part excited, and another part wistful that my little constant companion will no longer be there with me every morning. I have to admit that more often than not, I'm happy when she's off playing on her own in the mornings, and I heave a not-so-silent sigh when she looks at me and beseeches me to take her along with me on my morning runs with cries of "I want to follow yooooou!" Now, with school marking an end to our mornings alone, I've started to regret not treasuring those times more. Such is life, isn't it, that we start to appreciate what we have only when it threatens to be taken away?

So over the past few weeks, I took the time to savour the last of our Mummy-and-Meimei mornings. I took her along on my errands whenever she wanted to follow me, and I spent my time just being with her and watching her. Enjoying her carefree 2-year-old-ness.

Today, she joins to her brother at kindy, marking the start of her schooling journey. I am not worried about her adapting -- she's familiar with the school environment and will have Noey with her. Instead, I think it's me who will have some adjustment issues. Then again, I can't say I'm not thrilled about having nearly 3 hours to myself every morning!

My little-big girl, how you've grown.

Diaper Freedom

As of two weeks ago, Meips has been officially off diapers. Both in the day AND night. I think that is a milestone worth recording.

It didn't feel like that long ago when I was talking about starting potty training. And in truth, Meips' journey to diaper freedom hasn't been all too difficult. Perhaps it is selective memory on my part!

This was certainly one area in which I was grateful for her strong independent streak. Wanting to do everything like the "big girl" that she insisted she was, she progressed to being diaper-free during the day in August, about few months after we started potty- training. She was even able to take her afternoon nap diaperless and she has never wet bed. We progressed to bringing her out without a diaper, and while we've had make a mad rush for a toilet more than once, there have been very few accidents. (Of course the ONE time she had to have a major accident was when I was out alone with both children in a nice-ish restaurant. She didn't pee despite making me bring her to the toilet twice, only to pee all over the floor of the restaurant shortly after. Argh.)

For the past few weeks, she'd been asking to go to bed without her diaper. I was very very hesitant, since she had not presented me with a dry diaper at that point. Her father was much more enthusiastic. "I think she's psychologically ready," he said. "Anyway, if she wets the bed, she wets the bed." I tersely reminded him that it was always I who had to get up in the middle of the night to change the sheets and clean up whenever there was a pee accident, so no, I did not regard bed-wetting as a non-event like he obviously did.

Meips kept resisting wearing a diaper though, so in the end, I told her that if she presented me with a clean diaper in the morning a few nights in a row, I would let her sleep without a diaper. Obviously I didn't expect her to do it, but obviously again, I underestimated my strong-willed daughter.

I've always been amazed by how Meips is an incredibly conscious sleeper. She's the sort of child who would remember exactly what she took to bed with her and would be incredibly unhappy with you if she woke up to discover that the item had been removed. If I promise her a swim after a nap, you can be sure she'll wake up from her nap and immediately ask to swim. So perhaps I should not have been surprised that after our deal for diapers was struck, my little girl woke up everyday and telling me that her diaper wasn't wet.

Off came the diapers, as promised. That very first night, I hardly slept a wink. I was so sure she was going to wet the bed so I kept checking her, through the night. But what can I say? My daughter is a pro. She was dry and has been dry ever since. I almost cannot believe it myself.

So we officially have no need for diapers any more in this household. Well done my big girl!

The Kindy Year-End Concert

The highlight of the pre-school calendar, for the parents at least, must surely be the school year-end concert. 

We've all really enjoyed going for Noey's concerts over the years. When he was in Pre-Nursery, he was a little angel dancing to the tune of Hark the Herald Angels Sing. It was a super cute performance, the sort  that is the inevitable result of putting blur little 3-year olds on stage. I still smile when I think about it. Last year, in Nursery, he had his first speaking part. The play was Noah's Ark, performed in Chinese, and he was one of a pair of monkeys. "我们是聪明明的猴子!" he declared, before moving on to sing a song with his class.

This year as a K1 student, he got a much meatier role, as an angel again, this time in the Nativity story. This year though, he was part of a handbell ensemble - 8 of them - that played Joy to the World, and most exciting for us, he was assigned to sing a solo of O Holy Night. I won't deny it: I was rather concerned when I was first informed of the song that he was going to sing. O Holy Night is supremely high and difficult to sing! But I guess his teachers were confident he could pull it off.

Can you spot Noey's name int he programme?

On the day of the concert, we were all out in full force. My parents, sister and brother-in-law, mother-in-law all came to support our little man. I think we all held our breaths each time he came on stage but I'm glad to say, he totally rocked it. From the handbells to the singing. I think he all collectively held our breaths as he sang and the notes climbed higher and higher, but he managed it and I think he did a good job. So proud of him!

A video of Noey singing. He sang while the Nursery class did their dance item. The little ones were "stars" in the night sky.

Part of the ensemble playing Joy to the World. Noey was the High C.

With the rest of the school for the big finale.

Well done Gor-gor!

With his fan club!

While watching him sing, I can't help but marvel at the fact that this is the same kid who did not sing a note till he was 2 years old, and who spoke with a flat robotic tone with little inflection. By God's grace, he's actually developed a rather lovely singing voice and has started to be selected to sing solos in school. He had a turn in April too during the school anniversary concert, and his Godma, who remembers how he used to speak was extremely tickled. I guess it's one of the ways in which he has blossomed and I'm so glad he's been given opportunities to develop this in school.

This time next year, I'll have two kids performing in the year-end concert instead of one. And one will be graduating! Fancy that! While I feel a tinge of regret at how quickly they are growing, I know I'll be looking forward to this again next year. 

With my little star in the making! 

The Bedtime Story Ritual

Bedtime stories are a daily ritual in this house. The kids MUST get a book or two (or three or ten, pleeeeese Mummy??) before they go to sleep, or there'd be unhappiness all round.

I'm glad they love books but boy, does it get tiring for me to read books one after another. Especially when they usually don't agree with the other's choice of books so Mummy has to read double the quota. Meips is the sort of child who must read her favourite book-of-the-moment over and over, reading session after reading session, day after day,so I can't blame Noey for objecting to their precious story time being used on the same book they've already heard a million times. It even drives me a bit batty too.

Now that Noey is an independent reader, there have been many occasions when I am tempted to just ask him to read on his own. He's actually so competent a reader that I take it for granted that he can read any word he comes across. He frequently pulls out books to read on his own, but when he comes up to me with a book in hand, I try very hard not to turn him down. He loves me to read to him, and so I do. And except on days when I'm ready collapse come bedtime, I actually really enjoy it. 

So I was very glad to come across this article on Babble with seven reasons why you should be obsessed about reading to your kids. The points made by the author reaffirmed a lot of what I do and what I believe about reading to my children, identifying these reasons for reading aloud:

1. It's time spent together.
2. It's a conversation starter.
3. It's a great way to talk about emotional health.
4. It's a great way to honour the individuality of your children.
5. You can open up new worlds for your kids.
6. You get a wealth of information on where your children might need help.
7. It can lead to a lifelong love of reading in your kids.

I enjoy reading to the kids because it's a time we can spend together doing something that I love to do. I do the voices, and I get Noey to read parts, and it's a lot of fun. And I realised recently that now that when the kids read aloud, that sound like me in tone and inflection. Haha. Noey knows to stress and slow down words written in caps or italics, to end correctly when asking a question, and to up the volume for exclamation marks. I'm sure my mother, who often comments that Singaporean kids read and speak with a really flat tone, would approve. (She was a teacher and it's an occupational hazard!)

Another thing I love about reading aloud to my kids is the fact that it's given me the opportunity to re-visit old favourites from the past.  We started on covering some chapter books recently and Noey's been loving Roald Dahl. Our current read is Mathilda. I've always liked that one though it sure doesn't paint a very favourable view of adults! But I'm glad that it gives me an opportunity to discuss themes like how good triumphs over evil, and also that of power and revenge. All with Roald Dahl's trademark humour, which can be above Noey's comprehension. I love seeing his eyes light up as I explain puns and irony and get him to see beyond the plain text.

The only issue with reading chapter books is that these hold little interest for Meips, who would sometimes get restless and go do her own thing. It's ok when Papa is around to step in at bedtime, but otherwise, I do feel a little bad about that. I'm hoping with time, she'll come to understand more, but in the meantime, we continue mixing it up a bit with picture books so that Meips too can be a part of the action. Because reading is fun, and I want them both to know that.

(Or maybe I should get this Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Pop-Up Book from The Groovy Giraffe, which I think will capture both their attentions? The "GET5OFF" code to get an additional 5% off this book and all other books on the website still applies by the way!)

Still, while I relish my role as the main bedtime story reader, when an opportunity arises for me to outsource that duty to my assistant, it does give me a bit of a thrill.

Gor-gor reads to Mei-mei and Mummy takes pictures! Win.

I'll end this post with cute video of Meips "reading". She can't really read of course, but little miss bossy pants just loves pretending to! She actually told a way more interesting story but I was too slow in pulling out my camera. So all I got was this clip.

I hope bedtime stories are a part of our daily routine for a long time to come!

Singing It Right

You know how it is that you don't realise you'd miss something until you realise that you'd probably heard it for the last time?

That's how I felt when last Wednesday, I heard Meips sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" correctly for the first time.

You see, for the longest time she's been singing the 3rd line as "Up above the ser world high". At least as the second-time parents that we are, while we did sing it correctly when joining in, we didn't make her correct it. Because it was cute, and because we knew that all too quickly, she'd learn the right words and that bit of our baby will disappear.

Well, that just happened. I think we're definitely going to miss "ser world".

Incidentally, just a couple of weeks ago, I heard her sing “up above the ser world high”, and immediately catch herself and say, “not 'ser world'? Ok.”

Ah, self-awareness. Another sign that my baby is growing up. Just not too quickly please!

Going driving with her pal Raa-Raa. Thankfully it'll be quite a while before she drives off on her own for real!

The Great Pacifier Wean

Ah, the pacifier.

With inconsolable newborns, you fight the little tikes to just take the pacifier -- and stop using you as one! Then as toddlers, you fight them to stop using one. Poor kiddos. I wouldn't blame them for being confused.

Both my kids have used the pacifier, with vastly differing experiences. Noey took the pacifier as an infant, but when he was about 8 months old, he suddenly decided that he didn't want it any more. That was all well and good since it meant that I didn't need to wean him off it. Unfortunately it didn't mean that he didn't need something to soothe him to sleep. Rather, it was that he wanted ME to soothe him to sleep. But that is really another story for another time. 

Meips took to the pacifier really well -- too well, in fact, since she's now nearly 2.5 years old and we're struggling to wean her off it. She LOVES her pacifiers. Yes, that's pacifiers in plural, because she likes to go to sleep with two of them: one in her mouth, and the other in her hand. She uses the one in her hand to stroke her face. It's most bizarre, and I have no idea how the second pacifier came into the picture though it is definitely my helper's doing.

Anyway, we were happy to let her continue with her two pacifiers since she only really uses her pacifiers when she needs to go to sleep. Admittedly, she'd pounce on any loose pacifier she sees lying around the house with the glee that comes from seizing upon forbidden fruit, but by and large, we don't let her have it too often. I was wondering how I was going to get her off it though.

And then, as it happened, she had a big fall a couple of weekends ago.

She was apparently playing at the playground -- under Daddy's watch -- when she tripped over her slippers and knocked her face into the side of the stairs of the play structure. I wasn't there to see it, but I saw the aftermath: A scrape on her chin, a big gash on the inside of her upper lip, and most worryingly, bleeding around her front two teeth. We panicked a bit when we realised she could not bite with her front teeth without suffering some pain and rushed her to the Dentist. There we were told that it didn't seem too serious, but there was probably soreness and while her teeth were a bit loose, there was a good chance they might firm up again after some time. "What about her pacifier?" we asked. "This is probably a good time to wean her off it," was the reply. 

Gulp.

We were not very strict about it in the first week, but when we realised that her teeth stayed wobbly, we realised we had no choice but to go cold turkey.

The first few days did not go well. Meips kept asking for it. When she was turned down by one party, she asked another. There was lots of whining and some tears. And, it took her AGES to fall asleep because she kept talking and wasn't able to settle down. Her naps have been really late and on two nights, she had to be glared to sleep by Daddy. It was actually really funny when she fell asleep on the second night with her hands covering her face!

Things are better now. She still asks for her pacifier at night, but she doesn't persist. The good thing about this girl is that she does listen to reason, but only if it makes sense to her. We repeatedly told her that she couldn't have her pacifier because it would hurt her teeth. "It's not painful! See!" she said at first, tapping her teeth with mock bravado. But when she continued to resist tooth brushing (she really HATES it) and shied away when we cleaned her front teeth, she knew she wasn't going to win the argument.

Tonight, she fell asleep fairly easily. There was talking and attempts to do forward rolls on the bed, but not for very long, and I didn't need to glare her down. So that's probably an improvement! It'll be a while before she stops asking for the pacifier altogether, but hopefully, we'll get there sooner rather than later.

Oh, and her teeth? They feel much firmer since we've gone the no-pacifier route. Yay.

If you've had to wean your child off the pacifier and have some good tips, please share! I'd love to have some alternatives to keep up my sleeves in case cold turkey doesn't turn out so well!

From Diaper to Potty

An e-mail popped into my inbox about potty training recently so I thought I'd talk a bit about Naomi's potty training journey so far.

Frankly, the lazy Mum in me kind of groans when it's time to do this. Let's face it: diapers are really convenient albeit costly. Transitioning to the potty would save you money in the long run, but is messy and limiting. You've got to be ready at an instant to pop the kid on the pot, or that mess that I mentioned? That's what you'll be cleaning up. 

For this reason, I tend to delay potty training till I'm sure that both my child and I are ready. Yes, that's both of us.

I started popping Naomi occasionally on the potty at the start of the year, just before she turned 2, to get her used to the idea. Most of these attempts didn't yield much result -- something I fully expected. I only started getting more serious about it after her birthday. Off came her diapers during certain times of the day. She got wet a lot, but she progressed to knowing when to release, and in the past couple of weeks, I realised that she can now tell me accurately when she needs to pee. Only when the diapers are off though. When they are on, she might occasionally ask to pee in the potty but by and large she just goes in the diaper. We've made it through a number of days with only the occasional accident. Hurray! Poop-training is still a work in progress. 

We are not out of the woods yet, but I thought it might be fun to join Mama J's Friday Five linky with our tips for potty training so here are 5 pointers that we found useful in our potty training journey:

1. Make sure that you and your child are ready.

The experts always talk about child-readiness, and I think it is one of the biggest factors affecting the success or failure of your attempt to potty-train. Personally, I've found that 24 months is a good age to start. Some things I look out for include the child having the word for "pee" and "poop", and having the ability to communicate these. She should also be able to take instructions. I came across this Potty-Training Readiness Checklist (2-years) from BabyCentre which has a number of other behavioural characteristics that might be helpful.

Let's however not forget that potty-training is a combined parent-child effort. It can be a lot of work for the parent and you have to be prepared to put aside time to follow through for it to succeed. So don't pick a period of time when you're stressed or feeling overwhelmed or just having your hands full. Delay it if necessary till you feel you are able to commit the time and effort to this and are up for the challenge. 

2. Just take their diapers off.

This was the advice of a Mum of 6 (yes, 6 kids!) no less, and after trying this on both of mine, I agree that taking off their diapers was really necessary to get them started on the potty-training journey. Kids need to feel wet and uncomfortable before they realise how their body works. They are just too dry and comfortable with their diapers on to care! If you dislike the mess, try cloth nappies with plastic pants to contain the mess. For training purposes, I don't think pull-ups are effective because they are just too similar to diapers, though they do come in handy for a child under training when you're both out of the house.

Once the diapers are off, you will also get a better sense of your child's rhythm. Like how soon she would need to use the potty after eating/drinking. This will help you plan potty times better. 

Of course, once they start getting wet, they might resist wanting to take their diapers off. Naomi now complains and gets teary when we want her to do diaper-free time. "I need my diaper! I like diapers!" she would wail. But I persist, because I know she can do it, and over time, she's learning that too.  

3. Be consistent.

Following from the above, I think once you decide to start potty training, common sense dictates that you should try to do this consistently over a period of time in order to train effectively. I tried to find a pocket of time everyday when I would be free to tend to Naomi, to watch her and attend to her cues while she does her diaper-free time. In the early stages, I would try to put her on the potty at intervals to get her comfortable with the idea and to see if I would actually get her to pee. I figured it would also get Naomi used the idea of using the potty, and help me understand when she needed to go.

Now that Naomi's gotten pretty good with peeing, I make her go without her diapers during two periods of in a day: immediately after her morning milk and immediately after her afternoon nap. She still complains but she's getting used it, and better too. Sometimes we have to go out and the diaper definitely goes back on, but I try not to let her get away with that too often.

4. Get a potty that is stable and easy to sit on.

Whether you choose to use a toilet seat placed over the toilet bowl or a stand-alone potty is a matter of preference. I think there are benefits and drawbacks to both. I prefer a stand alone potty because the child can get to it on her own and it's easier to sit comfortably, but you do have to wash it out every time. But whatever your choice, I think it helps to get a seat that your child is comfortable and feels secure with. There were a couple I bought because they, err, looked cute, but Noey didn't even like sitting on them, so that was that. The current model we've got was bought by my Mum, and the seat cover can be lifted off and placed over the toilet bowl to be used as a child seat if you so choose. I tried that with Naomi, but in the end it was much easier to use the potty. I think she also felt better when she was able to put both feet on the ground.

By the way, if you're wondering, I did train my son to pee sitting down first, but it wasn't difficult for him to transition eventually to standing to pee when he got older -- and tall enough to reach the toilet!

5. Heap on the praise! 

I think this requires no further explanation! And the proud smile that I get from Naomi when I praise her for remembering to use the potty? That's priceless.

 

Linking up with:

*I know it's no longer Friday but can we just pretend that I'm early for next week?

She's 21

My look-alikes. We know who's the boss here!

Naomi's 21 months old today, and quite the handful.

So much has changed since my last update on her. Still a baby at 17 months, she's really a little girl now at 21 months, albeit a tiny one. She understands just about everything we say and there's no getting anything by her these days. Just 4 months ago, we were counting each word she knew. In the 4 months since, her vocabulary and knowledge have grown exponentially. From a handful of words, she's progressed to making increasingly longer sentences, and is very adept at making her needs known.

A recent gem: "Mama, hungry! Want marshmallow!"

She's also a little parrot these days, who loves repeating after Noey. Every time Noey tries to tell me something, she will try to tell me the same thing too, repeating the tail-end of Noey's sentence, but at a louder volume. 

Something else she's picked up from her brother: Making monkey faces!

She continues to be a feisty little thing. Our pint-sized little commander, good at issuing orders and insisting that they be followed. And she's never wrong, in her opinion.

Me: (pointing at a picture) Hey Meips, what's this?
Nomi: … Cat!
Me: Well, it's a Tiger really...
Nomi: No, CAT! Meow!
Me: It is from the cat family, but it's called a Tiger.
Nomi: NO! CAT!!

Did I also mention that she's really stubborn?

She's a little fashionista in her own way. Even before she turned 18 months, she started wanting a say in the clothes she wore, and starting picking out her shoes. She likes red, pink and purple. Sometimes all together in the same outfit. She only wants to wear clothes that she likes and oh my, the tantrums when I try to get her into an outfit which I think is more appropriate. I'm starting to understand why I see kids on the streets wearing clothes of questionable taste. I shouldn't have blamed their parents. 

In her favourite purple shorts which she INSISTED on wearing. You have to see it with her favourite red & yellow sneakers for the complete look.

Yet, she is also my little samseng. This is how she sits in the car.

What's a tray table for if not to rest your feet?

Yes, that is a tray table on which she is resting her legs and yes, she came up with this herself. When I snap the tray table in front of her back in place, she'll pull it right back down again and make herself comfortable. 

If there's something to climb, you can be sure you'll find her climbing it. Thankfully I had a boy first so her level of activity doesn't come as a shock to me! Many other parents have commented on her gross motor skills, which are, I agree, pretty advanced. At about 18 months she could jump, lifting both feet off the ground. She hangs off any bar she sees and is fearless in the playground. Just the other day, I watched as she climbed up a ladder (not stairs, mind you) in the playground and slid down the rather high spiral slide all by herself. She then went over to a rather complicated overlapping step structure and climbed that up to the top of the slides with ease. I later found her trying to scale the rock wall in the playground. Would you believe she had managed to step on the lowest foothold with both feet and with her hands on two different handholds, was trying to find a way up?

My little monkey, just hanging around...

She will be the athletic one of the family. 

All that activity is a good thing in any case, because this girl loves her food. She's constantly looking for snacks, much to my chagrin.

"Mama, cheese please?" she loves to say, looking at me winsomely with a cheeky grin.

Some days, between her milk and her meals and her incessant requests for snacks, it feels like she's eating all the time! It got quite ridiculous at one point when my attempts to distract her with a book backfired because the pictures reminded her of stuff she wanted to eat.

Me: Look Mei-mei! This is O! O is for...
Nomi: Orange! Want some, Mama! Kitchen? 

Eergh.

But while I worry about her trek towards obesity, I must say it truly is a joy to feed a child who loves her food and who is willing to try everything you offer her. One who goes running for the dining table with a loud "YAY!" when meals are served because she is hungry. Thanks to her love for food, Nomi can actually feed herself rather well, with minimum mess. She can feed herself a whole bowl of porridge when she feels like it. And even when we're feeding her, she has to have a separate bowl in front of her from which she feeds herself.

"Mei-mei Feed!"

She's certainly got that independent streak. She'd hold on to my hand when she's unsure, but as soon as she gains some confidence, she'll be shaking her hand free. "Mei-mei do, self!" she'd insist when I try to help her take off her slippers. I'm glad she wants to do things on her own, though I might sigh over the extra mess or time needed to complete a task, and the fact that my baby is growing up so quickly. 

Stubborn, fierce and loud as she is, she is also the sweetest, cutest thing. Everyone loves her.

Cheeky smiles!

She is a living doll, with big eyes and extremely kissable cheeks. But beyond that, it's also her loveable personality. She's quick to pipe up with her "Ten Chu Mama!" (Thank you Mama!) when she gets something and is very obliging with her greetings and goodbyes. She likes learning people's names and using them, which always endears her to them. She gets super excited when Papa comes home and would dash into his arms in a way that never fails to make her Daddy's heart melt. She sings, makes the funniest most random comments when you don't expect it, and has the cheekiest, naughtiest grin.

 "Noo night, Mama. Weff you!" (Good night, Mama. Love you!) she said just a couple of nights ago when getting ready for bed, completely unprompted.

My little Meips, how does anyone resist you? I certainly can't.

Decking the Halls

With the rain pouring down yesterday afternoon, I decided it was as good a time as any to get the Christmas tree up.

Noey was most enthusiastic. "We need to listen to some Christmas songs," he said, and he proceeded to put pick out one of his favourites and set the CD player going. (This boy can listen to Christmas songs the whole year round if we let him!)

It was a great suggestion on his part. The music, together with the wet weather outside, really set the tone for the whole festive dress-up.

Today was the first time that Noey has been interested in helping me with the tree. I was expecting him to get bored and run away but he didn't. Instead, he stayed to help me fix in the branches of our plastic tree, and made himself useful when I strung up the lights. Then, when it came time to hang up the decorations, he gamely picked his spot and patiently helped to hang the ornaments one by one.

He was so cooperative, I didn't have the heart to tell him that he'd hung all his ornaments a little too close together. I did look up and tell him to space things out a little, but then left him to it. I figured that I would just re-arrange things a little after we were done anyway.

Besides, I also had my hands full trying to stop Little Miss Naomi aka Destruction-on-two-legs-with-a-cute-face from pulling off everything within her reach and giving it a taste test.

We were done fairly quickly, and for the first time, I could say that it was because of the help that I got from Noey, not In spite of of it. He was pretty proud of himself too.

At times like this, I think that even as we sigh over how quickly our babies are growing up, having a big boy is pretty awesome too.

That said, I think I'm going Noey's decorating handiwork untouched. If only to remind myself that my big boy, isn't quite so big just yet. And that's the way I like it.

Now that the tree is up, it's starting to feel a lot more like Christmas!

Swim, Noey, Swim!

Noey started swim lessons last week.

His cousins were looking to start a class and I jumped at the chance to let him learn in a group setting. While DD is a very proficient swimmer, and would have done a decent job as a swim instructor, we did think Noey would be more willing to learn in a group with friends rather than on his own. As it was, when I first broached the subject of swim lessons with him, he quickly said he didn't want them. But when I told him that S and Z would be with him, he happily agreed.

Various travel plans caused the start date for swim class to be pushed back, but when Monday arrived, I think all us Mums were feeling a bit nervous about how the kids would take to it. We had roped in one other friend's daughter to make a class of four, and except for Z (who is the youngest), all the other three have some water anxiety. We all came, fully prepared to have to jump into the water with the kids but seriously hoping that we wouldn't have to!

Our prayers were certainly answered -- all four children took to the lesson, and the coach really well. The first lesson was more fun than challenging, with plenty of time spent splashing and getting the kids comfortable with the water. "So that they will want to come back," said the coach. I think he's got his strategy right! 

Coach E getting the kids to wash their faces.

Lotsa kicking!

Here Noey is trying to float on his back. He gamely went forward and stuck his arms out and put his head back, but hated the feeling of the water in his ears. He had to be persuaded to try again, and I'm glad he did it.

The kids all finished the first lesson with no tears and were enthusiastic about returning again the following week. We Mummies considered that a huge success! Credit should be given to their coach for connecting with them well and getting them to participate with him. Incidentally, their coach is a good friend of my sister's from her school days, so I've kind of known him, through her for years now, but I was surprised by how good he was with kids. Guess I never saw that side of him!

The second lesson was today. They did more serious work today, and I was really pretty proud of Noey. For a boy who would usually only want to walk around in the baby pool and kicks up a huge fuss about his swim wear, he actually wore the wetsuit uniform, managed to float outstretched with a kick board, agreed to wear his goggles and dip his face in the water while wearing them and holding his breath. And when floating on his back this time, he was able to put his ears in the water. Wow. I think those were quite some achievements for him!  

Floating outstretched

So we're definitely off to a good start. I am definitely praying that this continues.

Naomi at 17 Months

My dear Meips, my spunky little girl,

You are 17 months old today. Though sometimes I feel like you are 17-months-going-on-17-years.

Today, as I write this, I am struck by just how different you and your brother are. He is straight as an arrow, and you, probably not so much. He accepts instructions, perhaps after testing me a couple of times. You refuse to accept instructions if it is not what you want to do and you'll keep testing me, not taking no for an answer. When he gets in trouble, your brother's first instinct is to get angry and cry. When you get in trouble, your first instinct is to try to smile your way out (then cry when that fails). Where your brother needs approval, you decide who gets your approval. Your brother is bright and probably has a high IQ, but your Dad and I have our money on you having a higher EQ. Of course I'm over-generalising, but you get the picture.

I already know that parenting you is going to be a challenge. Especially when you are mad with me and deliberately ignore me when I try to get your attention. Young lady, you're barely out of your infancy and you're already giving me the cold shoulder? This is going to be a problem. But at the same time, you are so loveable that I'm so glad it's me who gets to be your Mama, challenge or not.

It is impossible to document your development the same way I used to do when you were younger, but here is a snapshot what you are like at this age, before time slips us by:

 

♥ You have about 50-60 words, which I think is pretty decent for this age I guess. It hasn't been that easy teaching you because you don't really like repeating after us. In line with your character, you have only learnt the words that you want to learn. So there's bo (bowl) and pok (fork) and spoo (spoon) for food, and dor (door) and bag and shh (shoe) for going out. And Ba-ba (Bye-bye) and Hi to engage everyone you meet. And an extremely cute no. (Though not so cute to be at the receiving end of it.) You also know how to call all of us and wield that power to call us over and over. Your grandparents LOVE it and that has won you plenty of good favour. You can also say Mei-mei very clearly when we ask you your name. We'll get round to Naomi soon enough.

 

♥ While you don't like to repeat words, you love to repeat sounds. "Papa Crrrrr!" you would say, copying the sound of Papa's snoring. Or "Papa Ahch!" (the sound of Papa sneezing). We toot the horn in the car and we'd hear an echoing "Beep beep!" from the back seat. You'd say Brrrrrm and Grrrrr but refuse to say Bus or Lion. It's funny but entertaining.

 

♥ You love bags and shoes. Oh dearie me. "Bag!" you'd say to remind me every time we head for the door. And every time you spy my bag sitting in its corner during gym class, you'd always head straight for it and bring it to me. You do the same with your brother's school bag when you see it lying around, much to his exasperation. This obsession of yours with bags has led your grandmothers to each buy a little bag for you, which you love to tote around, proudly.

 

 In your world, a bag is absolutely necessary before we can go out. Pants are optional.

♥ And shoes, yes, you are really good with shoes. You have multiple pairs and yet I can always count on you to pick out the correct pair after class each time. But it's not just your own shoes that you recognize. You know which shoes belong to me, your Papa, your Gor-Gor and Aunty M, and not only that, but your Nai nai, Por-por, Kong-kong and Jiu-jiu as well. Basically anyone who visits us with any regularity. Just the other day Nai-nai came to visit us. I noticed your Nai-nai's slippers outside our home and realised that you must have too, because when you walked in and didn't see Nai-nai, you looked around quizzically and asked "Nai-nai?" I'm still amazed by how good you are at recognising footwear.

 

♥ You are a very agile little monkey. Seeing how strong you are, I decided to bring you for gym class. It was a good move as you really enjoy it. You didn't know what we wanted you to do on the monkey bars (I don't know what the proper name for this is!) but once you saw another little girl swinging from it, there's been no stopping you. The other kids step off, swing and drop down but you, you can really hang on for ages. You swing then reach backwards with your feet for the step and pull yourself back on it, then step off and swing again. Rinse and repeat. We might make a gymnast out of you yet.

 

Swing!

 

♥ I call you the class monitress because you just love telling people what to do. Once you've taken your seat for you meal, you will start ordering everyone to sit down too. "Tor-tor! (Gor-gor) Chair!" you'd say, gesturing to the chair to insist your brother sits down. I was told that once, when Kong-kong was saying grace, you looked around and saw that Jiu-jiu did not have his hands clasped. Immediately you sought to get his attention and deliberately brought your hands together to signal him to do so. I had a good laugh when I heard that. You really are a bossy little thing.

 

♥ You LOVE to go out. Can't blame you there. It is more interesting than staying at home, certainly. You know I'm going to head out when I pick up my bag, and you'll immediately head for the door too and ask to be let out. And my, do you howl when I leave you behind! It's the one thing that gets me the cold shoulder treatment the most often.

 

All dressed up with nowhere to go...

 

♥ You are now down to one nap a day. Your daily sleep schedule now has you waking up around 7.30am, napping for about 2 hours between 1.15pm till past 3pm, and being in bed by 9pm. This is the ideal schedule, which I hope you'll stick to for as long as possible! It gives you enough rest and gets you to bed at an appropriate time.

 

♥ Oh yes, you're officially out of your cot. We took you out early last month when we discovered that you could climb out of it. One fateful night, I heard you start to fuss in the middle of the night, and as per my usual practice, I left you for a bit to see if you'd settle, before I headed over to check. I then got the fright of my life when, on route to your room, I saw you walk out the door on your own. I still thought that maybe Aunty M got up and got you out of your cot, but nope, you definitely got out on your own. We lowered the cot to its lowest level the next day but two nights later, you showed up in my room in the middle of the night. After that, we took the mattress out, and you, Ms Naomi Houdini Ong, have been sleeping on the floor ever since. Till you walk over to our room and plonk yourself on the bed in the middle of the night, that is.

♥ You have 8 teeth. You've been drooling quite a bit for the past month or two, and we can feel the teeth under your gums, but they really are taking their time to come out. I'm in no hurry, especially when your lack of teeth has not stopped you from trying to eat all manner of food. You still take a bottle of milk to sleep too, so I feel it's better that your teeth stay in for now!

♥ You are a very good eater. I call you my little foodie. I love the fact that you will at least try everything before choosing to reject anything. You've definitely got adventurous tastebuds though. I made a spiced cauliflower soup, the other night, with cumin, coriander and turmeric. Your brother took one lick and refused to eat any of it. You made a funny face after tasting the first mouthful, but kept on eating! Well done sweetie. Maybe it was also the fact that you love soup, much to your soup loving Mama's delight. 

I'll have this please!

♥ The fact that you love food has also translated into you being able to feed yourself rather well. You deftly scoop up porridge and direct the spoon into your own mouth without much mess. Given your independent nature, I dare say you'll be fully self-feeding before your brother is. Hur hur.

Sometimes a girl's just got to feed herself to get to the food around here!

♥ You are friendly - very friendly. You would greet folks with a cheery "Hi!" and you love to say bye to anyone we meet. Like the waiters at restaurants when we are done with our meals, or sales assistants in shops when we step out. They are usually very happy to wave back. You also like other children and I'm glad I mostly don't have to worry about you hurting them. Except that because your brother has this unfortunate habit of greeting you by tickling your cheeks, you seem to think it is acceptable behaviour for greeting other children. I'm still in the process of trying to train you out of it.

♥ You still prefer Uncles to Aunties. Somehow they have more luck carrying you. Granduncle George succeeded where all the other grandaunts failed. And when Uncle Jon came to visit, you merrily plonked yourself in his lap with nary a care. 

Making yourself comfy on Uncle Jon's lap.

♥ You really love music, much more than I remember your brother doing. You'd jiggle merrily to tunes and you have this super cute way of swaying your head from side to side while pretending to sing. It's really the cutest thing ever. You also really enjoy action songs and will follow along after me. "More! More!", you'd say, complete with nodding, to indicate that you want me to sing.

Moving along to your own version of the itsy bitsy spider. 

♥ You are LOUD. Both of you kids are. I wonder where you get it from.

♥ You are starting to copy everything your Gor-gor does. You want to be where he is, have what he's holding. The good thing is that the two of you are also starting to play together more, and I'm always very happy when I hear squealing laughter as the two of you run around together.

And I'll take this, thank you!

♥ You are independent. I drop you off at your class for BSF every week now and you go with nary a tear. The lovely ladies at BSF are always telling me how good you are in class and how much they enjoy having you around. I can't tell you how proud I am of you when they tell me this.

Feisty though you are, you generally have a good temperament. You know how to wait your turn, you are gentle with little babies and you're so adorable. Your Papa and I both love the 1-2 year old stage and we're really enjoying you now. We love you so much, Meips. We just want to keep you little forever. Happy 17 months!

Love,

Your Mama