Cherish The Moment

Blessed New Year

2012-02-01T16:32:00.000-08:00

Time flies, and it has been 10 years since I left Singapore. The first few years were tough as I was still taking my classes, and it was impossible for me to go back Singapore for Chinese New Year celebration. After I had my littlehon, we tried to go back to Singapore especially during Chinese New Year as it's a great time for family and relatives to get together and catch up with one another. Although, each time when we go back, the total spendings including air tickets, and other expenditures in Singapore easily hit about SIN$10K, Rodney and I find it all worthwhile as it's the only way for our children get to know their grandparents, uncles, aunties, and cousins, for them to know more about Singapore culture, and for them to visit the places of interest in Singapore, for us to enjoy the yummy food in Singapore, for me to lug back all the Chinese books which are hard to get in the States, and if time permits for us to catch up with some friends but priority are always given to both sides of our families.

We went back to Singapore last July, and we never thought that we will be back again too close too soon. God is good, as He has always be. We want to thank God that He has always blessed us financially and that this year, we decided to spend Chinese New Year with our families. As we are away from our families and we don't get to see them everyday, reunion dinner and Chinese New Year celebration have become more meaningful to our families especially. Though the visit was rather short compared to the last visit, Rodney and I were glad that we were able to have our Reunion Dinner with our families.

I pray that God will grant our parents good health, and everyone will have a great year ahead. May I wish you a Happy and a Blessed 2012.

Welcoming 2012

2012-01-01T23:59:00.000-08:00

Indeed 2011 has passed quickly with our new addition, and as I looked back, most of my time were spent on nourishing and nuturing His Masterpiece. At the same time, a lot of energy was also spent in dealing with my littlehon. As my littlehon gets older, more time is spent working with him. Now my littlehon tries not to take his afternoon nap which sometimes I prefer he does, as it gives me more time to myself when both my littlehon and His Masterpiece are napping together.

It has been a year since His Masterpiece was born and within this one year, my life has changed, changed for the better I think. Being a mother of two now is so much different from being a mother of one. I thank God for His strength to handle my everyday life. Sometimes I wonder if His Masterpiece is just active and energetic or I am just getting old and incapable to handle two kids as my energy and strength have to be divided between my two boys. Sometimes I wish I had a domestic helper to help around with the housework, cooking, marketing, or looking after the kids while I take a break to re-energize. However, many times I am just glad that I don't have one.

I pray that as 2012 arrives, God will continue to give me strength to nurture my littlehon and His Masterpiece and guide me to teach them His ways. I pray that my littlehon will continue to enjoy learning as much as I enjoy teaching him. As I discover and learn more about His Masterpiece's learning styles, I pray that I will be able to apply new teaching methods to help him learn more and better. Most important of all, I pray that God will grant my family good health and that He finds favor in us in whatever we do. Amen~

Healthy Living

2011-11-15T17:39:00.000-08:00

Cooking for a meal can be very time consuming, especially when I have two little ones at home, and most of the time are spent on taking care of them. Thus, I don't really have much time to whip up delicious meals :( As our family love to drink soup, I decided to get a pressure cooker for soup making so that I don't have to spend so much time preparing soup. I think this pressure cooker really saves me a lot of time and it takes about 15 minutes to make any soups I want. This is my first time using pressure cooker, and I learn that it retains more nutrients compared to traditional boiling. How true it is, I am not sure, as long as it saves me time getting my soup done and ready on dinner table ;). Surprisingly, it is cheaper than I thought.

I bought the magic bullet when I had my little hon, and it's a blender for grinding grains, coffee beans, or baby food. However, I find that Magic Bullet cannot make really smooth texture, so I decided to invest on Vitamix 5200. Wow! This monster blender really makes great smoothie, baby food, ice cream, soup, dips and interestingly it could make dough too! I am trying to be on whole food diet for healthy living, and trying to make spinach ice cream for my little hon in order to get him to eat greens ;P. Thus, Costco's price of US$395 for this monster is worth the grab, and it is backed with full 7 year's warranty.

Recently, I am into baking when I started to get my little hon to learn some baking skills. I try to bake more instead of buying from stores. I don't really bake well but I love baking when I was younger. I love madeleine, and learn to bake some for afternoon tea whenever I have time. I hope to bake other pastries when time permits. My first batch of madeleine turned out too brown, practice makes perfect ;P

Too fat?

2011-11-08T19:13:00.000-08:00

I used to be wearing size 0 (bottom) and small (top) before I give birth, and after giving birth to my littlehon 3.5 years ago and His Masterpiece last Dec, I can find extra fats here and there :( I was so determined to lose my tummy fats 3 months after I gave birth to His Masterpiece but the trip to Singapore in July obviously didn't help. Instead, I ate more than I needed just because once I am back to US, I wouldn't be able to taste the great food of Singapore (not any time sooner). I guess Rodney must have thought that the tummy fats hanging around my waist looking like a muffin has caused some sore eyes that one day when we were shopping at Tajong Katong Mall, he dragged me to OSIM store. For what? Of course, he was trying to hint that I needed to do something to my muffin waist, and kept wanting me to try out the OSIM Ukimono slimming belt. Errr...is my tummy fat really that bad? I thought it was just a little bulging which is pretty normal for women who have just given birth. Seriously I don't believe that investing in such gadget will help make my tummy flat. We have been back for 3 months, and I have not been disciplined enough to use my Ukimono to see the effects. In order to see the effect, I promised myself that I will start using it for 30 days to see if it is really effective. Wish me luck, and hope that I can be slim again...haaaa....By the way, the color of my Ukimono is red, my favorite, of course ;P

I am back!

2011-11-03T08:50:00.000-07:00

It's been almost 3 months since I am back from Singapore, and have been super busy eversince His Masterpiece learns to crawl and climb. Besides busy taking care of my two princes, the house work and cooking for meals are never ending! Sometimes, I feel that I really need another break or more breaks! I try to update my web blog possible for my family and friends abroad, and even though FB is very popular, I am not a big fan though, and definitely I am no lurker! Seriously, I have not been visiting FB for many months, and sometimes I think I should cancel my account ....hmmmm...can I? I hate posting where everybody can see the posts which are meant for certain groups of people, and seriously I don't like the idea. I guess I am more personal and old fashion, and prefer to communicate via emails. Not that I don't care about what's happening in my friends' life, I wish I could sit by the computer or use my Iphone every now and then to update every little things on FB, but I guess I have other priorities. Anyhoo, pls don't forget about me (I know some of you already did ;( ) even though I am not a frequent user :(

Last year March, I shared about some thoughts on how I felt about Singapore.

I had a blast in my recent trip back to Singapore, and I guess it's because we are able to bring our littlehon to more fun places and he can appreciate it better as he gets older. The first place to visit is always the Singapore library to get books for the rest of the weeks. I was so happy when I was able to borrow 12 books (just my card) when I was there. Just when I thought Singapore Library has increased the number of books (each 6) to be borrowed, the librarian told me that it was due to holiday and 12 books are only allowed until end of July :( I was so disappointed upon hearing that :(

Next, I find that my experience with Singaporeans giving up their seats for those in need are somehow more positive than my previous trip. More Singaporeans are more proactive in giving up their seats when they saw me with two kids, entering into the MRT. I wonder it's because Singaporeans have learned to be more gracious now or they are worried that they will be STOMPED? Having said that, there are still few incidents that no one gave up their seats even when we stood right in front of them! Many of them just ignored or pretended not to see us :(

This lady saw Rodney holding His Masterpiece who was fidgeting but she ignored and continued reading her book. She was taking up the seats of those in need! Men holding babies also need a seat as much as those women who hold their babies, can't they just give up their seats to those who have kids?

We also encountered less incidence of Singaporeans using the MRT enter/exit gantry for disabled or stroller users, and this really made those who have strollers entering and leaving the station with less waiting time.

I seldom visit the swimming pools whenever we go back Singapore. However, this trip we visited the pools almost every weekends. I am very impressed with the huge pool play area when we visited Jurong Swimming Complex, and both our littlehon and His Masterpiece just loved it! We will definitely visit this pool again if we visit again next year!

This trip, I wanted to bring my littlehon to the theatre to watch a play about recyling, and we tried to hail a cab one morning to the DBS Art Theatre, and I was surprised that the taxi driver didn't know where it is! In the end, we had to miss the show because none of the driver knew the place! I guess the drivers are foreigners and thus didn't know the actual locations. How sad! Singapore is getting in all the foreign workers who don't really know Singapore well enough. I also encountered some bus drivers who are from China, and when I asked if the bus passes by certain places, they couldn't tell me : ( ...It's really sad to know that my Singapore is no longer the same Singapore that I know :( .......................

My ultimate challenge

2011-07-20T15:30:00.000-07:00

I had tried to visualize the whole process of my challenge, and I figured out that the cloth carrier is the best way to hold on to His Masterpiece as it's light and easy to put on and take out as I faced the challenge. With His Masterpiece in front of my chest, and pushing my littlehon in his stroller, just in case he fell asleep. Bravely and strongly, gritting my teeth, I finally faced my ultimate challenge of my life so far.

After Rodney's prayer, he left us for his work. I thought I'd better take a picture and emailed Rodney before I faced the challenge.

Ultimate Challenge: To bring two children, age 3.5 years old and 7 months from US to SIN in 20 hours.

Challenge 1: Going through the security check with the hazzle of declaring liquid items, fold and unfold the stroller, holding His Masterpiece without carrier as it needed to be on the scanner as well.

Challenge 2: After clearing the custom check, I needed to find a place to put back items, and tried to bottlefeed His Masterpiece before boarding. With His Masterpiece (still no carrier as need to board soon), and pushing my littlehon on the stroller, I went to the Gate to change seats. Then, I realized that I left the milk bottle near the security check point and has to walk about 8 minutes with both back to the security check point to look for the milk bottle, and walked back to Gate.

Challenge 3: His Masterpiece's 1st long flight and not sure if he is a good little traveller like my littlehon. Turn out not too bad.

Challenge 4: Entertaining two kids is never easy when his Masterpiece is at his teething stage and he gets very cranky. Fortunately, i decided to bring along Sophie, and he was chomping on it most time. Other then that, he is either drinking or sleeping while my littlehon was entertained by the games in Andriod. I wanted to let him work on some worksheets but he prefers his games.

Challenge 5: Sleeping time. Thank God that there was a 3 seats for us, and my littlehon and His Masterpiece were able to lie down to sleep

Challenge 6: My littlehon drank a lot of milk, and had to go pee many times. I found this is the most challenging part. Whenever he needed to pee, I had to lug His Masterpiece as I couldn't leave him at the seat. Imagine the small toilet room with 3 persons inside! One hand grabbing His Masterpiece, the other hand, trying to carry my littlehand to stand on the toilet bowl. As he was standing too high up (unlike standing on the stool at home), he splattered all over the bowl. I had to help clean up. At the same time, I had to go too myself. So with one hand holding on to His Masterpiece, and the other hand trying to zip and unzip my pants.

Challenge 7: Physically I was exhausted from not having enough deep sleep, but I was able to have some cat naps here and there which is a consolation.

Challenge 8: Claiming two luggages of 50 pounds each, with His Masterpiece hanging on my chest is never easy. Thank God that the staff at the airport helped to claim and push to the arrival entrance where my brother, Elmos, & Roy came to the rescue.

YEAH! I have finally conquered the challenge, and ready to face any challenges with God's strength. I want to thank God for His strength that He has given me, and also His protection over me and my two children during the long flight of 20 hours. I can now proudly testify that God has seen me through my challenge in my life. With God, everything is possible. Will you let go and let God see you through any of your challenges everyday of your life?

Give me strength, Lord!

2011-07-19T22:22:00.000-07:00

As I am typing, I am actually feeling very nervous about the challenge that I mentioned two Saturdays ago on the 9th July post. I can't imagine that the greatest challenge that I will be facing so far will be tomorrow. The day has come, and now I feel so unprepared mentally. I have yet to visualize the whole scenerio and walk through what might be going to happen during the challenge. Seriously, I have no idea how I will be able to handle the challenge but I want to leave it to God whatever it takes to face the challenge. I know there is no turning back to back up from the challenge, and as I think about it now, I am really getting nervous. Rodney is pretty supportive but at the same time he reminded me that it is my choice. Seriously, I don't think it's my choice, and I believe that there is a purpose for me to take up such challenge and God has already confirmed it through another sister in christ. Whatever it is, I strongly believe that God will see me through since He has put me right before the challenge. I know I can make it with God's strength, and with all the prayers that surrounded me. I pray that I will not be mentally and physically defeated after the challenge, instead I will feel much stronger than I could ever handle. But still I need prayer support and may God give me strength and more strength. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen~

Recent splurge

2011-07-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

Being a stay at home mum, I don't spend a lot on clothings, shoes, perfumes or make up. Think about it, I haven't been shopping for myself eversince I gave birth to my littlehon 3.5 years ago. When it comes to shopping, it's always shopping for my littlehon or His Masterpiece, and never for myself. I guess most parents are alike: skimp on ourselves, and spend freely on our children. Recently, I bought two pairs of wedges for myself and a pair of Tiny Toms for my littlehon from TOMS. I have to send back to exchange the Tiny TOMS because it's a little small for my littlehon.

It's the most comfortable shoes that I have ever had, and beside being comfortable, another reason for buying from TOMS is that they have this ONE for ONE programme when you buy one pair of shoes from them, they will give one pair of shoes to a child in need. Each pair of shoes is handmade, and I just love their designs. My feet used to ache after wearing heels for a long time, but eversince I got the TOMS wedges, I wear them the longest time ever, and I have no complaint of my feet aching. It's really worth the buy if you are one who love to wear heels. Do visit TOMS for more designs.

My next splurge is the Sophie, giraffe teether, for His Masterpiece. This is the 2nd time that His Masterpiece has lost his Sophie, and this pc is the 3rd Sophie that I have bought for him. This is the most expensive teether that I have ever bought, and I bought 3!!! just because His Masterpiece lost his twice!! I told myself this will be the last Sophie that he will have if he ever loses it again! So I have to tie Sophie down so that she will never get lost!!

Recently, my conscious pricked me, and I decided to spend on Rodney too. I think I am the most non-romantic wife ever because I have never bought Rodney any gift for his birthday, Father's Day, or anniversary day. Each year just passed by without any presents from me. Rodney doesn't complain, but I really feel bad that every year, he doesn't get any presents from me. I have always given myself the excuse that I am not working, thus I have no additional fund to buy him any gift, OR, he already has everything he needs and he doesn't need any more things. I wonder what other SAHM gives to their husbands on their special day since we are not bringing in any income to the household. Or, are they just like me, no presents for their husbands too? Maybe they just cook them a sumptuous meal, but I can never do that as I am not a good cook seriously. Rodney does give me monthly allowance but I never use the allowance to buy anything for him on his special days. Seriously, I feel very guilty as he always spends on me, but not me on him ;P

Anyhoo, I decided to splurge on Rodney as I have not been giving him anything all these years on his special days. Honestly, I really don't know what to get for him. I love Burberry tops, and thus I decided to get some for him for his coming Sept birthday, our anniversary day in Dec, and Father's Day next year June, and his birthday again in next Sept and so on. I guess it will be a one time gift for all events for the next few years ....haaa....Rodney is not a brand conscious man, and he doesn't believe that he needs to have branded items to show off his wealth, and seriously he will never buy any branded stuff for himself. But ironically, he would splurge on branded items on me instead. O.k. back to the Burberry tops, I do love Burberry but only their apparels, not their bags or accessories. I fell in love with their men's polo and jersey tops, and so I decided to get them for Rodney's coming birthday, anniversary, next year's Father's Day, and his birthday again next year ;P. I hope Rodney will like them as much as I do.

Morphology Fun

2011-07-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome to ABC

2011-07-14T14:12:00.000-07:00

Few months ago, one of our friends who already has 3 boys, gave birth to another boy! Oh my! I can't imagine how fun to have all 4 boys together. So my friend, welcome to ABC ~ All Boys Club. Honestly, if my friend, had given birth to a girl, I would feel very sorry for the girl as being the only girl, I know how it feels like growing up with two brothers. Seriously, I want to thank God for knowing my heart's desire and giving me two boys. I grew up as the only girl at home since I have two brothers, and being the only girl, I really felt lonesome at times. There was no one that I could play with or share my feelings. I always envied my friends who have sisters to talk to, go shopping together, share clothings, bags, or shoes with each other, or helping each other tie hairs or put on make up etc. Til now, I still wish I had a sister whom I can talk to or share my life with. This will never happen I know. I really hope that now that I have two boys, both of them will spend their childhood having fun together, going to school together, wrestling with each other, and doing boys things. I hope that His Masterpiece will see my littlehon as a pillar of support, strength and encouragement, and both of them will spend great times together as brothers and friends. Most important of all, both will love and trust God with their needs.

Take the challenge?

2011-07-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

I remember when I was in primary 3, one of my classmates suddenly fell sick and she puked on her desk just right after our English class started. Our class teacher, if I remember her correctly, Mrs Ng, asked if anyone would volunteer to clean up the mess. None of them volunteered, so I lifted up my hand, and everyone was looking right at me, surprised! In my mind, I just wanted very much to help clean up the stinky mess but on the other hand, I was worried that I might just vomit my breakfast out altogether. My classmate felt bad but appreciative that when no one dared to clean up her stinky mess, I stood up. It wasn't that bad afterall, and I felt I was a heroine after the incident. I felt good afterall, and since then, somehow, I became a daring and adventurous person in a way. I love to step up when no one does, and I would say that I love to take challenges.

The first time that I left my family for a vacation was when I was 18 years old. Being a young Poly student, I had no money, but yet I wanted to travel just like some of my friends in Poly. So I picked a destination that I really wanted to visit, packed my lugguge and off I went to Australia, on my own. Yes! All by myself! I mean all by myself, no friends or family members went with me. I didn't join a tour package. Seriously, I didn't know what I was thinking that time. I went to Brisbane, Gold Coast, to visit the Sea World, Movie World and the Water World. I stayed in Gold Coast for 3 days, and then went to Sidney to stay for another few days. I never booked any accomodation in advance because some of my friends told me that I could get accomodation easily in Australia. I couldn't afford staying in hotel of course, so bunk bed was within my budget. It was in Sidney, that I got to know my Japanese friend, Mae, when we visited Blue Mountain. After the trip, Mae, visited Singapore and stayed at my house (in Singapore) for two weeks. I was 20 years old then when she visited me. Whenever I told my friends that I went to Australia, backpacking alone at 18, they couldn't believe it because I don't look that adventurous to them. Look can be very deceiving ...haaaa....., and I do have photos left with my parents in Singapore to prove it :). Now as I think back, it was kind of scary, travelling alone, at that young ignorant age. I didn't know God then, and I believe that God has protected me all the while even though I wasn't a Christian then. I could have been kidnapped, or killed, and no one would know, not even my family members because they didn't know where exactly I was heading to, and where I would stay. I didn't have any cell phone then as too poor to have one, and if anything happened to me at that time, there wasn't anyway that my family member would know. I really thank God for His protection over me when I was alone in a foreign country.

The challenge of travelling about 20 hours flight alone with my littlehon when he was about 26 months when we (just myself and him) were back to Singapore, wasn't that bad afterall. My littlehon is a good little traveller, and has been travelling since he was 3 months old. Each year gets better as he gets older. I want to thank God for seeing me through and the strength that He gave me for any challenges that I have overcome. The next challenge would be a tough one, and I am still deciding if I should take up the challenge. Seriously, this is the most challenging "event" in my life, and I am not sure if I could do it. I pray that God will continue to give me strength as I am deciding whether to take my next challenge or not. Just as my friend told me, once I can overcome this upcoming challenge, nothing is too challenging for me. I do have fear in me and that's why it takes me so long to decide. But God keeps reminding me that "Fear not, for I am with you." - Isaiah 43:5.

Stay tune to see if I am taking up the challenge that God has placed in front of me. Give me strength, O Lord!

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

Eversince my eyes fall on you, there is no turning back. I am so attracted to who you are, and what you have done for me. You see me through in good and bad times, and you are always there for me, whenever I need you. When I am lost, you directed me. When I feel hopeless, you give me hope.

You are always there when I need you most. In my deepest, saddest and darkest moments, you are there to comfort, encourage, and love me. You have watched the tears I've cried, seen my broken heart, and felt my pain. You have rejoiced with my success, celebrated my accomplishments, and jubilated in all wonderful things that have happened in my life.

Your love is always there when I need it; and your words redeem and inspire me to be a better mom, wife and woman. I have never loved you first, and I love you because you first love me. Words cannot express how much I love you.

And you know that I love this song so much that I can sing to you the rest of my life "There is none like you, and no one else can touch my heart like you do. I can search for all eternity long and find, there is none like you." On this special day, I just want to express my love for you.

Dear Heavenly Father, I want to thank you for all that you have done; the blood that you have shed, and the bone you have broken for me. I have nothing to give you but myself and my family. As you look down from heaven this day, hear your daughter's wish, "Have a Blessed Happy Father's Day!"

Music Education

2011-06-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

I love music and I do love to use music to help my child learn if possible. Even though I am not musically inclined, I would definitely want my kids to at least have some music backgrounds I don't regard people who can play instruments well, sing, act, dance, draw or paint well as "talented" because I believe one doesn't need to know music or to be artistic in order to be talented. I strongly believe that everyone has his/her own gifts and talents. According to the Bible, God says "Each of you have your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that." 1 Corinthians 7:7. The reason why I want my children to know music is very simple : to worship God through music. Of course, one doesn't necessarily need to know music in order to worship God, but personally, I would prefer so. I learned my basic guitar skills when I was 21, and I was so glad that I took some guitar classes because I feel so good when I worship God with my guitar and songs. Spiritually, I am satisfied when I meet God through music. If there is only one class I could choose for my littlehon to attend, music will be my priority.

I am a parent who doesn't believe in sending my child for enrichment classes such as art, swimming, phonics, speech and drama, piano, abacus or any enrichment classes you could ever find. Or sending my child for enrichment classes just because the kids next door are attending, and my child shouldn't be left out. Yes, enrichment classes are great for children's exposure, and there is nothing wrong about sending our children for extra classes. However, I do not want my children to be going class after class, and become "Jack of all trades, and master of none". Seriously, I am pretty selective and cautious when it comes to getting my littlehon into enrichment classes. First and utmost important of all, I want to consider my littlehon's interest before I jump into signing him up for any classes. Enrichment classes are great to expose children to new learning, but if my littlehon doesn't show any interest in them, no matter how great the classes can be, it's just not going to work or make any huge difference to his learning development. However, I believe many parents don't think that way, and they feel and think that the more enrichment classes their children could attend, the smarter they will become. And sad to say many parents that I have come across believe that if parents can afford, do send their children to enrichment classes after enrichment classes in hope that they will become the cream of the crop in class or if not at least learn some useful skills from the enrichment classes.

Of course, I would want my littlehon to be the cream and be educated as a whole child, and enrichment classes are great to expose him to various learning opportunities. However, I do want him to enjoy what he learns rather than what I think it is good for his learning. Think about it, everything is good for his learning, but what matters most is his interest in the learning. I may think that learning music is good for my littlehon, but if he has no interest in learning music, there is no point forcing him to go for class every week. Since last year, I have been scouting around for good music class that teaches music education, and not just sing, dance and experiment with various musical instruments. I have also thought of sending my littlehon to learn piano in order to get his music learning started. After talking to one of my friends who is a piano teacher, I decided not to let my littlehon learn piano as yet. Reason being, my friend told me that the best age to learn piano is about 5-6 years old when their finger bone structures are more sturdy and well grown. She cautioned me that those who learn piano at a very age often have bad finger bone structures, and thus bad fingering position when playing the piano. Can you imagine it takes quite some forces for little fingers to press the big heavy keyboards on big piano. She added that many of her students went to her with so much fingers problems. Upon hearing that, I decided not to send my littlehon for piano even though he shows interest in it.

I thank God that He opens door and it was not by chance that I got to learn about Mini Mozart through my good friend cum neighbor, Yuchin. God answered my prayer. I went to observe the class, and immediately I knew it is what I have always wanted for my littlehon ~ a music education! This class is more than what I have expected! This class allows the students to master the music alphabet from A to G using the various soft toys to represent the keys, to develop the students' listening skill by training their ears to identify high or low notes, to play patterns on keyboard by ear, read line and space notes, to listen to a rhythm pattern, and use of pencils, paper, scissors to reinforce concepts and skills. At the end of the year, each child is given the opportunity to compose their owm little piece of music and play to the teacher. I simply love this music class, and after the first lesson with my littlehon, I know that we are going to stay in this class till my littlehon graduates in 3 years. And hopefully, my littlehon would have a firm music foundation before I engage my friend for private piano lesson when he is 6 years old. So far, we have been attending the music class every Thursday, and my littlehon looks forward to music everyday. There is homework practice everyday and he also looks forward of having music time with me after lunch. My littlehon even wants to quit the Montessori school to join the Mini Mozarts school as Ms Janet teaches the preschool concepts through music. After second thought, we decided for him to remain in the Montessori school since he is already doing so well in Ms Susan's class. If my littlehon is really interested in music school, we will wait at least until he finishes his music foundation with Mini Mozart first.

I am so glad to have found this music school, and will consider putting His Masterpiece into this school when he is older.

My birthday gift

2011-05-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

Every year, Rodney will buy me something for my birthday, but never flowers because he knows I don't like flowers which don't last and it's a waste of money. Usually, every year he will get a piece of jelwery from Tiffany & Co. Since last year, he started to get me PJ instead just because I have all my Tiffany that I wanted, and there is nothing for him to get unless I really need more but I don't. He knew that I love the jammie from the PajamaGram so this year he decided to buy me jammie again. I am not a big fan of having names to be printed on my wearing tops, but when I opened up my birthday gift, I saw my jammie top with my name, together with the names of my littlehon and His Masterpiece. I find it a little weird for a woman reaching middle age like me, but in my heart, I do love it very much just because Rodney knows that I am so blessed with our two sons. Though no Tiffany for two years, it is the best gift that I have ever had. Thanks, dear!

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T10:13:00.000-07:00

I will never imagine that I will be a mother of two, but God is gracious to me. Indeed He is our provider, and I give all glory to our Lord Jesus Christ. I had a very special Mother's Day this year just because I am so blessed with one man and two boys celebrating with me. My friend was teasing me that I am so fortunate to be pampered by 3 men in my life when I get old because I am the only princess in the house, and an old one too ...haaa....Yes! I love to be pampered, who doesn't? I am waiting for that day to come when all my 3 men pamper me to death ....haaaa.....I have never appreciated my own mother when she took care three of us when we were young. Now that I have two kids of my own, I have to admit that it's tough and challenging. Now I understand why I was always the one who got all the scoldings and beatings when I was young. Dude, I am the eldest, d*** it!! Yes, my littlehon gets a lot of scoldings from me in the beginning because he didn't like it when I shifted my attentions. It breaks my heart whenever he tells me "Mom, you don't love me anymore.", or " Mom, you don't attend to me anymore." or "Mom, you never carry me anymore.", or "Mom, you keep scolding me, I am sad". Yes my heart broke into million pieces and was buried in the rubbles the last time I heard him say that. How would I not love him anymore?

Mothers always love their children despite their disobedience, or rebellion. It reminds me of the love of Jesus Christ when he was hung on the cross for our sins. We are sinful people, and yet God sent His one and only begotten Son to die on the cross for our sins. Honestly, will you send your one and only son to die for others? If you say yes, you are lying! I have two sons, and it's impossible for me to sacrifice any one of my sons for this sinful world. I love my children so much, just like you do, and I will never ever give up on them. So you think that our God must be crazy that He gave up His only son to die on the cross for people like us, and He must not have loved His son? No...no...God is not insane. He loves His son and His creations (which is us) so much that He is sacrificing His son so that we can come to Him, and that now Jesus is seated on the right hand of God, and those who believe in Jesus who died on the cross and rose up after 3 days, will have eternal life with God in Heaven. God loves us despite our disobedience and rebellion, just like we love our children.

I pray that this Mother's Day, my littlehon will feel the love of God as I embrace him with God's love. This little pouch was made by one of the teachers, and everyone got to decorate it for their mothers as Mother's Day gift. My littlehon came back happily and presented me with this pouch and asked me if I liked it. Of course, I love it, and he was beaming with pride when he saw me putting my wallet, cell phone and keys in this little pouch. I told my littlehon that when he grows up, I do not expect expensive gifts or feast, and he can forget my birthday or Anniversary Day with Dad, but he has to remember Mother's Day, and what I want is a call back home and wish me "Happy Mother's Day".

On this day, I want to thank God for calling me to be a stay at home mom to watch my children grow every minute and second of their life. I love teaching, and even though I am not in a school teaching students, in a way, I am a teacher too when I teach my own child at home. I learn a lot about myself when I teach my own child, and my littlehon is always the motivation and inspiration to help me press on to my teaching passion. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to be with my children in their growing years. Children just grow up too fast, and afterall they are only young once, and nothing could ever replace the bond that we have together. We may not have double income to buy everything that our children want, but we are living within our means happily and comfortably, and most important we are contented with what God has provided us so far. Indeed, God's grace is sufficient for us, and God has always provided our needs, whether big or small. I pray that both my boys will live in God's sufficiency, and they will trust God to provide all their needs, and they will lack of nothing when God provides. In this Mother's Day, I pray that my two boys will not only appreciate me on this day but everyday of their life. May you have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Back in shape

2011-04-10T15:38:00.001-07:00

Gone are the days when I had my spagetti straps and halter tops and size 24 bottoms. Eversince my littlehon was born, I felt I could never put on any tops that show my bare shoulders anymore. Somehow, when I looked into the mirror, both my arms are like too fleshy or I should say flabby for decent exposure. I have been holding on to my sexy spagetti straps tops in the hope that I would be able to wear them one day. But that one day never came. Maybe it's time to donate them to Salvation Army and get some more age-appropriate tees/blouse. Or maybe it's time to sign up for some fitness program and shed 10 pounds off my flabby arms and cupcake figure. Actually, I don't really have any issue with my top half, just that I thought it would be nice to have not-so-flabby arms which seems to be the sign of aunty-look. I should be contented of my bottom half because I remembered it took me about 8 months to be able to fit into my size 25 jeans after I gave birth to my littlehon. Somehow, God is gracious to me this time, and I was literally jumping for joy when I am able to fit into my size 25 True Religion jeans after 3 months. I wouldn't say that I have no tummy but at least I could button up without much effort. Eversince, I laid my hands on my first pairs of 7 Heavens for all mankind and True Religion jeans, I got rid of all my Levi's jeans. I am giving myself another few more months to get rid of my baby fats on my tummy and hopefully I don't look 3 months pregnant when I put on my Juicy tees.

Summer is coming and I do pray that it's a time for me to get back into shape, and look good all over again.

Teacher-Parent Conference

2011-04-05T14:45:00.001-07:00

The Teacher-Parent conference was held in the beginning of last month, and unfortunately the rest of the pictures was in my old camera which until now God has not answered my prayer :( I guess God wants to provide me with the new camera that Rodney bought for me and I have to give up searching for the old camera. Rodney and I met with Ms Susan, our littlehon's classroom teacher, and we are happy that our littlehon has progressed so much for his age group. Ms Susan has started with our littlehon some activities which are normally done for older kids, and she is very happy to see him learning with joy and enthusiasm each time new lesson is given. Ms Susan has also started with writing and reading for our littlehon which she usually does for her students when they turn 4. Ms Susan told us that our littlehon loves to do pink tower, brown stairs, beadings, and tangrams. He is still a very orderly and observant boy, and he gets along very well with girls. He once told me that he likes playing with girls because the boys are rough and always run him down. I guess the rest of the boys are bigger and taller than he is, and he feels safer playing with girls, which I think is not a bad choice because I rather our littlehon picks up some sensitive and gentler side of the girls than to be one notorious and mischievous boy. I am also very proud of my littlehon whenever our friends commented that our littlehon always cleans up the toys that he plays without reminder whenever we go to their house. I guess it's part of learning from the school that they clean up after each activity, and also at home, I will try to remind him to clean up after he is done playing with the toys. Our littlehon is creative in his own way in terms of thinking, building materials, and singing. I love music though I am not musically inclined, and every time, whenever my littlehon sings some of his made up songs, I am so glad that he makes use of his creative juice to brighten my day. I love to hear him sing his silly songs and I hope to send him to some music classes if I can find someone who can teach toddlers real music such as note reading, or ear training and not those kindermusic where the children just sing and dance to the music.

Overall, Rodney and I are pretty happy with the school, and hope that our littlehon will continue to learn new skills and develop his characters as he grows with the classmates for the next two years.

Hello, World!

2011-03-15T10:57:00.000-07:00

It has been quite some times since I last posted, and I received a couple of emails from friends checking how I am coping with 2 kids, thinking that I must be overwhelmed with the new addition, and having my hair pulled left and right. Things have been great so far, just that, I am kind of lazy to post and I have not visited FB for weeks (anyway I am not a big fan of FB and rather do blogging than facebooking) , especially I am so occupied nowadays with trying to teach new things to my littlehon, and playing with His Masterpiece whenever he is awake, and getting his senses stimulated. And of course I am not trying to put the blame on my kids for keeping me busy, and not being able to post. I find it's just so lame and easy to put the blame on others for what I am not able to accomplish, and I don't like that. it's a matter of priority, and I guess for now, writing blogs are not my priority even though I would love to spend a nickle of my time doing that. I was requested to have my littlehon's blog revived! Haaa....how funny when I saw she used the word "revive", as she loves reading what my littlehon is learning, and all those books that I recommended or introduced to my littlehon. Thank you ya, Theresa, as I said you are always my number one faithful reader ...heee....I didn't know you take my blog seriously that you really try to borrow those books for your children to read....I am so glad they love the books, and I hope that you will continue to encourage them to read ; ) ...I did promise myself that the new blog "Growing Up Together" would be all about my boys' growing up together, and I try not to include any new learning or assessment in this blog. It is also an excuse for me not to spend so much time blogging since I have so little time now. However, I would consider to revive the blog if it benefits even one reader, and especially when my friend, Theresa, is curious about the chapter books that my littlehon is reading now. My littlehon has already finished reading four chapter books, and I think I will introduce it in my littlehon's blog when time permits, and get the blog REVIVED! as requested, will try to update soon if possible :)

Since I don't like to put the blame on my kids for keeping me busy, then I should blame it on my old camera then (another lame excuse for not updating blogs). Yes, I misplaced my camera at home during Dec after I gave birth to His Masterpiece. Yes, lost at home!! How can that be, one wonders! Indeed, I have been searching high and low, and low and high for this camera, and in vain. Rodney told me that if I stop searching, it will "appear" out of nowhere. But it has been almost 3 months already and it never appears! I have been using my Iphone 4 to take pictures and videos since the disappearance of my camera, and one word - HATE!!! Yes, I just hate it how the Iphone couldn't take as great pictures and videos that I used to have with my old camera! It is not as sharp as I want it to be, and downloading the video can be a pain in the $#% especially when I flip the Iphone in a different direction, and the video never was in the upright position! So all the pictures that I took after Dec was from the Iphone and I just didn't like the quality and how it turned out. Rodney bought me a new camera, but I guess I am still missing my oldies and there are still tons of pictures that I need to retrieve from the old camera and that I was so determined to search for it around the house, but still in vain. How could something possibly be lost AT HOME?? I am still waiting for miracles to happen, and until then, I am still relying on my Iphone 4 to take pictures if I am motivated to do so. The new camera that Rodney bought promised to do wonders, is still sitting on the shelve untouched with original full packaging in tact! Indeed, I am praying for miracles to happen, and pray that the old camera will just "appear" somewhere in the house!!

I wish I could pen down more of my thoughts but His Masterpiece starts to wail for my attention, and got to go now. Will try to be back soon as there is still so much things to update.....

Raising TCKs

2011-02-14T13:21:00.001-08:00

Growing up in America, inevitably, my children are commonly referred to as ABC, American-Born Chinese or a more advanced term as TCK, Third Culture Kid. Last Saturday, I conveniently left my littlehon and His Masterpiece to the care of Rodney, and had a date with Yuchin who had also left Justin with her hubby, so that we could attend a seminar conducted by my church. Though, this seminar was meant for both parents, I would prefer Rodney stay at home to look after the kids. Afterall, I didn't like the idea of leaving both my children to the child care provided by the church because His Masterpiece is still so young. I am dying to learn about how to raise Third Culture Kids biblically, and I was glad that I attended because raising TCK is something new to me as my children are so young. It's good to learn from a panel of speakers who have raised TCKs successfully in America - the God's way. I prayed that as I learn to be a better mom, God will continue to give me strength and wisdom to teach my children to walk in the light in the midst of such treacherous society.

Miracle baby shower

2011-02-05T23:10:00.001-08:00

Shalo and her miracle baby, Natalie. My International Pastor, Beth, holding the cake, Lois (between Beth and Linda), got in touched after 14 years lost of contact. Linda (standing beside me), an amazing friend who prayed with me in times of struggles. Yuchin (far left in purple), Justin's mommy, my neighbor cum best friend.

Our Christian friends from the church held a double miracle baby shower for us as well as for another couple because both of the babies are miracle babies. Yes, miracle baby! His masterpiece is our miracle baby and for those who know our story, know that His Masterpiece is indeed our miracle baby. It is by no chance that Rodney and I have this baby, and we really thank God for this miracle baby. It was a wonderful gathering with just all the Christian ladies listening to the stories of how God's hands are on these two babies. Indeed, God is a great God, and believe it or not, God has brought Lois, my sister-in-Christ whom I have not met for 14 years eversince she left Singapore, together. We found each other through FB, and got to know that she is in the neighboring states, and we are living so near to each other! We got connected after 14 years, and she was the one praying together with me for this miracle baby of mine. Lois recommended me the book "The Miracle of You", and the author and Lois are friends. I was glad that I prayed over His Masterpiece the minute I was conceived until his birth using this book. Indeed, the book 'The Miracle of you' is such a powerful and great book to possess and use to pray over the little ones while they are still in the mother's womb. I brought this book to the baby shower because I thought I will be meeting Karen Wells, the author of "The Miracle of You" in the baby shower, but later I got to know that she was busy in her shop and couldn't make it for the baby shower. I was so determined to get Karen's autograph that I decided to drive down to her store to get her signature, and I was glad that I did. In this baby shower, I also invited my littlehon's playmate, Justin's mother, YuChin. I thank God for Yuchin as she becomes my best friend eversince we met a year ago. Yuchin has been such an encouragement to me during my pregnancy, and I am so glad that we met. I want to thank my friends who helped organize the miracle baby shower, and their prayers over me and His Masterpiece. As I shared my testimony of God during the baby shower, I prayed that God will use me as a vessel to bless others who went through what I have gone through, and continue to use me to be a blessing to others. Amen!

His Masterpiece (6 weeks old), Natalie (4 months old)

Yuchin with His Masterpiece

Happy New Year

2011-02-03T21:00:00.000-08:00

With the two boys growing up together here in US, Rodney and I won't sure if we are able to keep our Chinese New Year traditions here. We didn't have our reunion dinner as we don't have any family here. We thought of doing a simple steamboat, but it seemed too much work with the two boys around - maybe an excuse. We didn't give our boys any Ang Pow - red packets on the Chinese New Year Eve but we gave them today (forgot which actual day to give also), buy any Chinese New Year goodies, or have any Chinese New Year decorations as we didn't really feel any Chinese New Year celebration atmosphere here. I hope as the boys get older, I will try my best to share with them about our Chinese traditions, and hopefully, growing up together here, both our littlehon and His Masterpiece will find meaning in the Chinese culture. Though we don't celebrate Chinese New Year here, we are just glad to have His Masterpiece to join us in time for this new year, and indeed he is our joy and celebration of a new year!

We SURVIVED!

2011-01-19T08:43:00.000-08:00

I want to thank God for His grace and mercy that He has seen Rodney and I through the first month without any help. It has been tough for Rodney during the one month confinement period with all the cooking, laundry, buying for groceries, night feeding, sending and fetching our littlehon, and worst of all sleep deprivations. I want to thank God for such an amazing husband, and I believe that God will not put us in situations that both of us cannot handle. Indeed, God is good and He has seen us through this one month. It was pretty challenging but we did SURVIVE! I was a little worried initially whether we can make it, but God is faithful, and He sees us through. I pray that this new year, I will be a better mom to both of my beautiful God-given children, and that God will provide all of our needs. I just can't thank Him enough for all the promises that He has given me, and I continue to pray for more strength as I take care of 2 children without help from now on.

Home Alone

2011-01-11T11:03:00.000-08:00

Since I am up and about, I told Rodney that it's not necessary to take too long a leave. So Rodney started work yesterday, and it was my first day at home with 2 children without help. In the morning, Rodney will send our littlehon to school and he will bring him back during lunch time. So I have almost 3 hours to myself with His Masterpiece. It gives me a quiet morning when my littlehon is not around. I spend the whole morning sleeping down with His Masterpiece, and will wake up to cook for lunch. Rodney usually comes back for lunch, and I thank God that my speedy recovery allows me to keep the routines going. It was quite a bit of challenge after lunch because Rodney has to get back to work, and my littlehon is usually wide awake after lunch. I have to do some activities with him before he takes his nap, and with His Masterpiece not napping while I am working with my littlehon, it can be a real challenge. God is good, He has seen me through yesterday. All of us finally took our nap at 3pm, and it really gave me some sleep to recuperate for night time. I try to be up before the children wake up so that I can cook for dinner. So far yesterday went on pretty smoothly, and I hope that with God's strength, I can handle both children without much difficulty. I know it can be very challenging especially there is no helper and I have to do everything all by myself during daytime~cooking, laundry, changing diapers, home teaching my littlehon etc. I guess God will not put me into situations that I couldn't handle. It is when I am weak that I can fully rely on God's strength to see me through. Thank God for His strength each day, and I pray for strength and more strength from God.

Back in control

2011-01-08T10:02:00.000-08:00

God is good all the time! I want to thank God for speedy recovery even though I still need to take some pain medication to control some of the pain. I remembered the last time, I was in pain for the whole month and I was a lot more weaker due to some complications, and even with my family's help, I couldn't really do much. I slowly recovered in about 10 days, and though I am still having some pain, it is still managable compared to last time. I told God that I need to get well and recover soon because I need to be strong enough to take care of His Masterpiece. Rodney has been a great "confinement nanny", and I am glad that I am into my 3rd week of confinement, and I can eat my favorite confinement food. I am glad that before my mum left for Singapore, she taught me how to cook the vinegar pig's trotters. I also love the Korean seaweed soup which is a "birthday soup", and it is also given to all post partum mothers as it's rich in calcium, iron and iodine.

I am just glad that I recover fast because I can't wait to take over the routine of my littlehon. As Rodney is busy cooking my confinement food, taking care of His Masterpiece, and also cooks for our littlehon, Rodney hardly has time to sit down and entertain our littlehon. Since I gave birth to His Masterpiece, Rodney will spend some time sitting down with our littlehon doing some quality work, but other then that, he couldn't help it but to put our littlehon infront of the laptop to view his favorite you tube programmes, or put him in front of the Wii to let him play games. I really dislike having children in front of the TV or computer, sitting there passively for hours, and not being to use their brains. By hook or by crook, I need to recover soon to take back in control all my littlehon's learning routine instead of him rotting in front of the TV and computer. I thank God that by Day 10, I was in charge! My littlehon was back into his painting of flags, writing, working on his maze and puzzle, doing Math, and while I am resting nursing His Masterpiece, I got him to work on the calendar. I felt something was accomplished at least, and I hope that by the end of one month, I can get back to my home teaching with my littlehon soon so that he can continue to learn new things that I have planned for him last year. This year will be a busy year for me once His Masterpiece turns one month, and I hope God will continue to give me strength, and more strength.

Happy 2011!

2011-01-02T18:07:00.000-08:00

2010 was indeed a very fruitful year for me, and I thank God for His strength to see me through 2010. I pray that next year will be a better year for me, and I pray for more God's strength to guide me as I raise up two children without help. I know it can be a challenge for Rodney and I, but with God's strength, we believe we can do it. In this new year, I created a new blog for my two precious sons growing up together. I will not focus on teaching and learning as I did for my littlehon. I am glad that I documented some teaching for my littlehon as I can refer to the blog when the younger one is ready to learn. Join me as I pen down bits and pieces of their life Growing Up Together http://growingup2gether.blogspot.com/

His Masterpiece revealed

2010-12-31T23:27:00.000-08:00

I thought a picture is worth a thousand words, and I received 2 emails from my friends asking me what I am actually having? Haaaaa......I guess babies, boy or girl, seem to look alike and "a picture is worth a thousand words" doesn't apply to babies ....haaa.....

Four months ago, I shared about being the only girl at home, how I really wished to have a sister whom I can share anything and everything under the sun. I am not really closed to my mother, but at least, with a sister, she will understand the struggles and the ups and downs that I have been through, and vice versa. I never had a sister, and though I have two brothers, we are never that closed. Afterall, boy and girl are made differently, and my brothers will never understand what I have been through as our thinkings are so different. Being the eldest girl, it's really hard to be a role model for my two brothers, and their masculinity somehow contradicted with my femininity. Therefore, being the eldest as girl, I always acted tough hoping for their submission and acceptance. It didn't work, and I felt left out when none of my brother respected me as their elder sister. I didn't remember three of us playing together because afterall I am a girl, and I played my paper doll. While two of my brothers would play combats and sword fighting, I was playing my paper doll alone. I tried to play the same boy stuff with them but it didn't last long as afterall, I am a girl and combats and sword fighting were not my interest. How I wished to have a sister whom I could play tea-party, paper doll, or dressing up with! All these never happened!

When I had my littlehon, Rodney was extremely happy because he just loves boys. When I knew we are having another one, Rodney longed for another boy because he simply loves boys! As for me, it doesn't matter boy or girl as long as they are healthy. However, I told God that since I have a boy, it really matters to me whether the next one is a boy or girl because I am seriously hoping for another boy. Don't get me wrong, I do like girls, but since my littlehon is a boy, I really want to have another boy for his companion. I want my littlehon to have someone whom he can really play with, the boy stuff, and someone whom he can be a real role model to as big brother, unlike me when I was younger. I prayed really hard, and God really answered my prayer!! I was overwhelmed when we found out that we are going to have another boy!! I thank God for His Masterpiece, and indeed He knew what I had been through when I was young, someone who longed for a sister, someone whom I can grow up together with even when my parents are gone someday.

I remembered when the radiologist told me that it was a boy, I was literally crying because indeed God has heard my prayer! I could see a sense of relief on Rodney's face because he longs for another boy. I believe if we were to have another child, he will want a boy too, and likewise! I just can't wait for His Masterpiece to grow up a little so that my littlehon and His Masterpiece could wrestle, and play their boy stuff together. At least either of them will not feel left out, and they can do things together, and stop bothering their Mommy .....haaa.....I am so glad to have two sons because they have each other to share, play, confide with each other with brotherly love. When we know the gender of His Masterpiece, we decided to let our littlehon to play a big part of His Masterpiece's life, and that's to choose a name for him. We were glad that we did that as we wanted our littlehon to be involved in His Masterpiece's life even before he was born, and we hope it would be a topic that they could talk about as they get older. I want to thank God for answering my prayers, and indeed, ask and it will be given! All glory unto God Almighty!

My Beautiful Winter Baby

2010-12-29T14:20:00.000-08:00

It is interesting that both my littlehon and His Masterpiece are born in winter. I thank God for His Masterpiece, and according to James 1:17 - Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. Yes! God's Masterpiece is so beautiful and precious to us, and I thank God for entrusting His Masterpiece under my care, and I pray that God will give me strength to bring up both my littlehon and His Masterpiece in Godly way that pleases God, and not man. May God continue to provide wisdom and guidance as my littlehon, His Masterpiece and I learn from one another with love, joy, and laughter.

God's Masterpiece - My beautiful baby from God

All Glory unto God

2010-12-29T10:47:00.000-08:00

Only by grace can we enter

Only by grace can we stand

Not by our human endeavour

But by the blood of the Lamb

Into Your presence You call us

You call us to come

Into Your presence You draw us

And now by Your grace we come

As I was writing down my thoughts, the above song "Only By Grace" kept playing in my mind. Yes, it's by the grace of God that I am alive each and everyday, and I thank God for the gift of life. Words cannot express how great God is in my life eversince I knew him 18 years ago. God has always been there for me when I need Him whether in the past, now, or future. I can always rely on Him, and let Him take charge whatever situation that I am in, and He knows the desires of human's heart because He is the one who made us.

Though I really want His Masterpiece to be delivered at full term, it will mean that His Masterpiece will be a Christmas baby. Though it will be easier to remember the birthdate, I hate the fact that many will focus on Christmas instead of His Masterpiece's birthday. It's kind of like "Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas, and by the way, Happy Birthday!" Rodney and I didn't like that. But my doctor doesn't want me to deliver past my due date which means that if I want to avoid a Christmas baby, I have to deliver His Masterpiece earlier which I am quite reluntant too. God has His plan, and in the bible it says that His plan is to prosper us and not harm us. So I commit my prayer unto God and let Him decide when His Masterpiece needs to be delivered. We had our favorite lunch at the Korean restaurant, and when we reached home, I felt that my waterbag burst. I wasn't sure if I was going to deliver but anyhoo, Rodney and I went to Legacy Hospital to confirm. We reached the hospital at 2pm, and I was wheeled to a room where the nurse monitored me to see if I was on active labor. From 2.30pm - 3.30pm, the contraction was intense in every 5 minutes, and then the nurse told me that I would be in labor soon. As I was not prepared for delivery, it wasn't really a good idea to have heavy lunch. I puked when the contraction started, and it was terrible. The contraction hurt but the breathing technique did help a little to ease the pain. Then I was wheeled to the delivery room where the contraction got more intense, and I remembered telling the nurse in my agony "I want epidural, it hurts!" For those who have experienced intense contraction, you know how painful it is, and I really want my epidural!!! On the other hand, I had bad experience with epidural when I had my littlehon 3 years ago. The labor was 16 hours then and even with epidural it still hurt!! Few days before, I was still thinking about not having any pain medication for my labor but on the other hand, can I manage the pain without epidural? My pain level wasn't that great but I guess epidural will make it less painful for sure, and there wasn't pain free for sure. While I was thinking whether to use epidural or not few days ago, then out of sudden, the scene of Jesus hanging on the cross appeared in my mind. Somehow, God is reminding me that Jesus was literally nailed on the cross without any pain medication, and He was bleeding to death! Is God trying to tell me that I can go through the labor without epidural or what?

Seriously I don't want to take any chances, it really hurt!! I kept telling the nurse "It hurts, where's the epidural?" Then in my daze, the nurse told me that "Hon, you don't need any epidural, your baby is coming out!". In my heart and mind, I was like "WHAT!!!! NO EPIDURAL!!! You know how painful it is or not!!!" The nurse held my hand and told me to push when the contraction comes. The on call doctor came when he checked that the dilation was good enough for His Masterpiece to be out. And on the 3rd push, His Masterpiece was delivered at 4.58pm, and I was surprised that it was only 2 hours of real labor compared to 16 hours when I had my littlehon! Immediately, His Masterpiece was placed on my chest for good 30 mins. Rodney was really surprised that it was such a short labor, and actually both of us thought that His Masterpiece will be delivered many hours later. The doctor gave Rodney a pair of scissors to cut His Masterpiece's umblical cord which Rodney didn't have a chance to do that with our littlehon. I bet it would be a memorable experience for Rodney. I want to thank God for His strength that He has given me during my labor, and allowed me to experience child birth pain without any epidural. I didn't think I could make it without any epidural, and I want to give all glory unto God that indeed He has seen me through. The child birth pain hurts, but it hurts more when Jesus was hung on the cross! It really amazed me that Jesus has to go through such pain to save human race! I want give all glory unto God that His Masterpiece finally arrived 1221 (Dec 21st), 4 days before Christmas. Indeed, His Masterpiece is the best Christmas gift from God! I thank God that His Masterpiece will have both birthday and Christmas presents :)

I also want to thank God for my confinement nanny who is none other than my own husband, Rodney!! When I was having my littlehon, my whole family came for 1 month to help. However, we don't have any help this time. I want to thank God that when His Masterpiece arrived, Rodney was on holiday break till 2 Jan, and he is planning to take a month off work to take care of me, our littlehon, and His Masterpiece. I thank God for Rodney that he helps cook my confinement food, do laundry and dishes, cook and entertain our littlehon, help feed His Masterpiece, and change diaper during the nights. Though, both Rodney and I are sleep deprived, I want to thank God for His grace and strength that He has given us. All glory unto our God Almighty!

Am I ready?

2010-12-20T09:58:00.000-08:00

I am looking forward to the arrival of God's Masterpiece, but on the other hand, I don't seem to be ready. When I visited my perintologist the other day, she told me that His Masterpiece can make its arrival anytime to this world. When I heard that I told her "No, please, I am not ready for it to be out!". Reason being, I want His Masterpiece to stay till full term in my womb because I believe the benefits of the brain development of the baby if it stays longer. Even though, after 37 weeks are safe to deliver babies, I refuse to get induced no matter what because I love my baby so much that I wanted His Masterpiece to get the best inside before its arrival. I believe in God's timing for His Masterpiece's arrival, and when it's ready, it would be ready. So why the need to induce which may cause stress to me and His Masterpiece. My perintologist agrees with me, and she was just providing an option if I really want the little one to be out soon. As long as I don't pass my due date, she is fine with delivering His Masterpiece at full term. There must be a reason why 40 weeks for babies, even though many considered 37 weeks as full term. I have read so many books about Fetal Brain and Cognitive Development during my course of studies, and learned that the brain of a baby delivered earlier than 40 weeks is smaller than those babies who are delivered at full term (40 weeks per se). The last few weeks before reaching full term are the most crucial stage for brain development for a baby, and it seems there are so much more happening to the brain development in the later stage than earlier. If you are one who are into brain development, you will know what I am talking about. I will definitely choose to deliver at full term for the sake and love of my child, unless the doctor has to intervene due to some medical reasons.

My littlehon was delivered at full term, and my mum told me that the second one will arrive definitely faster, and she warned me to stay close to home possible just in case. I believe in God's timing, so I am still praying hard for 40 weeks delivery, not before or beyond. For now, Rodney and I are enjoying our bonding with our littlehon, having great time with him until the arrival of His Masterpiece. For the past many months, we have been talking about His Masterpiece, and getting our littlehon to be involved, and also sharing with him the expectations when His Masterpiece arrives. We are glad that our littlehon is so looking forward for His Masterpiece's arrival, and keep asking when it will arrive, and it was funny sight that our littlehon got all his toys ready and wanted to show His Masterpiece upon its arrival. When I asked my littlehon, "Honey, are you ready for baby to come home?" My littlehon answered with beaming joy "YES! I am ready."

All about preparations

2010-12-10T10:45:00.000-08:00

It seems only yesterday that I wrote my last post, and I realized that it's been almost a month since I penned down my thoughts. As much as I love the four seasons in America, I hate the fact that in every season, I have to pack and unpack the clothings in the closets. Recently, Julie and Thieu gave us 4 big bags of their boys' clothings, and I thank God for the pass it down because it's pretty expensive to spend on children's new clothings, especially when they outgrow them very fast. I always welcome pass it down clothings for my littlehon so that we can spend our money on getting other useful things for him, like books, or educational toys. Don't get me wrong, we do buy new clothings for our littlehon, just that those pass it downs are great for daily wear, paintings, and outdoor wears. It really saves us tons of money. As I was unpacking the 4 big bags, our littlehon would have so much clothings that we don't have to spend any money for the whole next year's clothing for him :). Yes, it's also expensive getting the different types of wears for the various seasons. Unlike Singapore, boys just need short sleeves shirt/Tees, shorts/pants throughout the year, and whereas in America, short sleeves are worn during Summer, and once the weather gets colder, they will be stored and longer sleeves and thicker clothings will be taken out to prepare for chilly weathers to come. And those Summer clothings that are stored usually will be too small to be worn after a year later for the next Summer. So you get what I mean? It's expensive to keep getting new clothings for new seasons to come, and I really appreciate Julie and Thieu for their boys' pass it down.

Besides packing and unpacking the closets for change of season's clothing, I have been trying to get christian books for my littlehon for our next year's curriculum. As my littlehon turns 3, he is very articulate and very opinionated in every thing now, and also being a new Christian, I want to build on his personality/character on God. Therefore, my teaching focus for next year's plan will be teaching him Godly characters, besides the academic stuff. I think it's a great timing to nuture and build strong foundation of God's value into my littlehon now before it's too late. The Christian curriculum will be a simple one for next year: memorizing simple bible verses, teaching of Godly characters, and teaching of God's love for my littlehon. I managed to narrow down to the following books which I found them very simple and easy to apply for my next year's home teaching. I chose the above books First Steps series, Little Song for Little Souls series, Special Time series from Stephen Elkins for my littlehon's daily devotions time, and the great thing about these books is that all the books come with a Christian music CD which I will play while reading the book. I am starting with the First Steps' Beginning lessons of God's loves for my littlehon this month. As for bible memory verses for next year, my goal is that my littlehon will memorize God's verses using the above "ABC Bible Verse Book" by Deedra Scherm. As for teaching of Godly's characters, I managed to source the above books "A Child's Book of Character Building - Growing Up in God's World: at home, at school, at play" by Ron and Rebekah Coriell. I love these two Godly teaching character books and I intend to purchase the set after browsing through the library copies. If you can get a copy of these two books from your local library, it will be great because they are for ages 3-7 years old, and I like how it is written based on the bible, and how the children can apply what they learn using the character develoment challenges at the end of each character teaching. There are so many Godly characters mentioned in the bible and in these two books, and I intend to focus on each one every week so that my littlehon has time to reflect on each character, and apply and talk about it when needed.I have already started on the 1st Godly character: Attentiveness, and I hope that by the end of next year, all the Godly characters will be covered. I like the fact that these books share each Godly character in story form. They are kind of wordy to read word by word for my littlehon, so I have to summarize each story and he will look at the pictures. I also like the fact that the authors wrote about how each Godly character is applied in the bible,

at home, in school, , and at play.

I also like how at the end of each lesson, it has some teaching point of getting children to answer some questions to challenge their thinking skills. I am praying that after using these two books for next year's curriculum, I would witness some of these Godly characters magnifest in my littlehon's daily life. As for academic teaching, I will still base on my littlehon's interest, sponteneous learning, and to teach a little of what I think it's important for him to learn for his age. Besides learning about Christians' values, I will also focus on teaching of Calendar next year so that my littlehon learns about seasons, weather, days, months, date, time, bible verses, godly character reminder, Lord's prayer, and the pledge of alligence. As for Geography learning at home, I am still waiting for him to get done painting the various country flags before my littlehon learns about the 50 states and capitals of America. As for reading, I have not borrowed any books for mid Dec and January because I don't think I will be able to return the books on time if I borrow now as I will be very busy with the arrival of His Masterpiece. We will be reading Dr Seuss' books and some other books that I have bought in the past. Afterall, children love repetitions, and they won't get bored or tired reading the same books again and again.

Beside planning for my littlehon's curriculum for next year, I also try to plan for His Masterpiece's learning after its arrival. I am a right brainer, and I believe in doing flashcards, and I have no regrets using flashcards with my littlehon when he was younger. Knowing that I will not have any time once His Masterpiece arrives, I have to start preparing new sets of flashcards so that it saves me time doing that after its arrival, otherwise, I will be totally giving it up due to time constraint. We are also getting ready His Masterpiece's bassinet, bouncer, clothings, and changing table ready for its arrival. It's interesting that I am more excited for the arrival of His Masterpiece compared to my littlehon's arrival 3 years ago. I guess His Masterpiece is a very special gift to our family, it is what I prayed for since my last loss, and I feel that His Masterpiece is a miracle baby for us that I took it for granted when I had my littlehon. In fact, as I think back, Rodney and I did a lot more for His Masterpiece compared to our littlehon. I didn't really eat a lot of tonics when I had my littlehon, and with His Masterpiece, Rodney spent thousands of dollars on chinese tonics alone, especially on Codyceps which is very expensive tonics. I bought an expensive teether for His Masterpiece, Vulli Sophie the Giraffe teether, which is about US$18, and the one I bought for my littlehon was less than US$4. My littlehon used a pass it down baby carrier which is still in great condition, but somehow, I bought a brand new one from Kate Spade for His Masterpiece. I also used a pass it down diaperbag when I had my littlehon, but for His Masterpiece, I just need a brand new one from Kate Spade too. I delivered my littlehon at Southwest Medical Center, and for His Masterpiece, we choose Legacy Hospital which is newer, and better facilities even though it is slightly longer drive than Southwest. I never prayed daily for my littlehon when I had him, but somehow for His Masterpiece, I started praying daily for its well being the minute I knew I conceived. So which means that His Masterpiece is covered with God's prayer and blessing since day 1, and God has indeed protected His own Masterpiece in me. Am I baised or what? It's not that my littlehon is not a gift from God or I don't love my littlehon enough that I treated him differently from His Masterpiece. I just feel that His Masterpiece is a miracle baby for us, and it's a very special gift from God, and His Masterpiece has already held a special place in my and Rodney's heart even before it's born. And of course, we love our littlehon deeply too, afterall he is our first born, first love, and our first blessing in life. I just feel that God has blessed Rodney and I even more with His Masterpiece coming along, and I strongly believe that my littlehon and His Masterpiece will bring us tons of joy, love and laughters at home, and to others. I pray that as I prepare for His Masterpiece's arrival, God will continue to see me through, and continue to give me strength to bring up my littlehon and His Masterpiece in accordance to God's way, and not my way. God, may you give me strength, and more strength each day, in Jesus' name I pray. Amen~.

Welcome to the Kingdom of God!

2010-11-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

It has been more than 10 years that I have led someone to Christ, and after 10 years, I couldn't believe that the 1st person I led to Christ is my own child, my littlehon! I have always believe in God's perfect timing for everything and anything in life eversince I accepted Christ 18 years ago. Though my walk with God is never smooth sailing, deep down in my heart, I believe that Jesus is my Savior, and He loves me very much no matter what happens. I have always wondered if young children know the meaning of salvations, and if they can truely understand what it means when they pray to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and God. As a Christian mother, my prayer for my littlehon is that he will come to know God one day. Yes! One day! I really don't know when and which day my littlehon will come to know God, but it's always my heart's desire. Whether my littlehon knows God at a young tender age like Samuel (age 13) in the Bible or at a very old age just like my dad who said the sinner's prayer when I was 22, he will be saved and have eternal life in heaven.

My prayer got intense when a sister in Christ shared with me that her daughter accepted Christ at the age of 4! She told me that salvation belongs to God, and if it's God's timing, my littlehon will come to know God no matter what. No one can stop what God is or will be doing to a child's life! Yes! I took my sister in Christ's words to heart, and pray for my littlehon's salvation! I always believe in exposing young children to God through God's words, singing Christian songs, attending church, saying prayers together, but none of these will make the children a child of God. These are ways to help children understand God and bring them a step closer to our Lord Jesus. Yes, I have tried to expose my littlehon as much as possible everything about God, talk to him about God everyday, say grace before meals, pray to God before we sleep, and he even reminds me to pray for His Masterpiece every night. Though my littlehon somehow knows who God is, I still feel a little burden about whether he will come to know God one day. I want to trust God that my littlehon will come to know Him one day, and that one day has come!

Today is Veterans Day, and my littlehon doesn't need to go to school. After lunch, as usual, my littlehon played with his toy trains and cars before we headed to take our nap. I read to him "Bible Rhymes" and after reading, I told him that God loves him. Out of a sudden, I felt an urge to ask my littlehon if he knows that God loves him, and he said "yes", and then I asked him if he wanted to ask Jesus to come into his life, and surprisingly he said "yes". I was a little doubtful whether he really understood what I was trying to ask him, and I asked him again if he was sure that he wanted Jesus to be his God, and wanted Jesus to come into his heart, and again he nodded. By my littlehon's simple faith and his little understanding, it was his confirmation that he wanted God to be in his life. So without any delay or further doubt, I asked my littlehon to repeat the sinner's prayer after me. It has been a while that I led someone to Christ, and I almost forgot how the sinner's prayer goes. By faith, and with the guidance of God's Holy spirit, I said the sinner's prayer, and with much prayer, I hope that my littlehon would follow through with me. I recorded my littlehon's confession after me because I wanted to mark this day as the day of my littlehon's salvation, and it served as an evidence that he accepted Christ, just in case, he couldn't remember. And also, I wanted to show Rodney that our littlehon accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior! I am so excited what God has done! So through God's grace, my littlehon accepted Jesus, and when I was checking the date, it is 11 Nov (11/11) which coincides with Mikayla's birthday! I think God can be comical at times. He knows that I am pretty forgetful especially with my condition now, and He chose this day which is easier for me to remember my littlehon's salvation :)

Anyhoo, it's just the first step of faith that my littlehon confessed that Jesus is Lord and accepted Him into his life, and like any other brand new Christians, my littlehon needs a lot of nurturing regarding this new faith, and needs to learn more of Jesus, and know that how blessed he is that Jesus has come into his life.

Yes, one doesn't need to be in church, cell group, spiritual meetings or special Christian events to accept and know Jesus Christ. One doesn't need to be of certain age to know God. One just needs simple faith, and the rest is God's job. Salvation belongs to God, and it's God's timing that one will come to know Him as Lord and Savior! After my littlehon said his sinner's prayer, I covered him with prayer, and literally weeping, thanking God for this opportunity for my littlehon to come to know Him and accepted Him as his Savior. As my littlehon accepts Christ before age 3, I will check on him again to make sure the assurance of his salvations, and continue to guide him to follow Jesus. I can't say what lies ahead of him in term of his spiritual commitment, but I know that it is a great start into the Kingdom of God. Yes, Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, so we, as the children of God will be His Princes and Princesses. Now, I can proudly welcome my littlehon, Prince Ethan Joel, into the Kingdom of God, and may God's blessing be upon him, and he will be a blessing to many. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen!

I hope that you will rejoice with me because one life is saved! If you are a Christian parent, and your children have yet to know God, please press on to pray for their salvations! I will pray with you, and believe that God is in control, and God's timing is always perfect! As Christians, we want our children to come to know God which must be our first priority in prayer! I have been praying for His Masterpiece's salvation even before its arrival, and I am believing that God will call His Masterpiece to His Great Kingdom in His timing. God listens to His children's prayers, and ask it will be given! May God bless you and your family!

Matthew 19:14 - Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (NIV)

Preparation for Presents

2010-11-10T15:59:00.001-08:00

There are so many things running through my mind now, and I really need to set my priorities right. End year is usually pretty busy for me because of few important events such as Thanksgiving Day, my littlehon's birthday, my wedding anniversary, Christmas Day etc. As I am getting bigger each day, I can't afford to do last minute shoppings for presents at all as I have thousand and one things to do before the arrival of His Masterpiece. This morning, Rodney sent our littlehon to school and this really frees me up for some time that I can drive down to the toy store to get Christmas presents for some of our close friend's children. Remember I was so excited about Skip Hop lunchies and backpack that I got for my littlehon?

Yes! My littlehon loves his lunchie bag, and the director and teachers in his school keep telling me that they LUV his penguin lunchie bag, and so does my littlehon. My littlehon's classmates' mommy, saw my littlehon carry his little penguin everyday, and she loves it too. Guess what, she is also wanting to get the SKIP HOP lunchie bags for her two children too. Her children are my littlehon's good friends, so I intended to get them the lunchie bags as Christmas presents. Seems like my littlehon is advertising for SKIP HOP, people are loving the lunchie bags....haaa....Guess what! Justin's mommy told me that Justin loves the SKIP HOP penguin lunchie and backpack! So I am getting one set for Justin as Christmas present, and as for the two kids, they want a bee and a frog lunchie bag. I wonder why no one chooses the monkey :( I thought they are the cutest among all lunchie and backpack. Anyway, I spent 1 hour to and fro driving to get the Christmas presents. Don't they look cute :)

Justin's presents - Penguin

Riley's present - Frog/ Reese's present -Bee

At last, one chore completed at top of the list - CHECKED! Next, I need to get ready for my littlehon's 3rd birthday in school. I was checking with the teacher two days ago about celebrating birthday in class, and unfortunately, because his class has a few students, including my littlehon, are highly allergic to certain food, they don't allow any food items (including birthday cakes/cupcakes/cookies) in the class :( I am only allowed to prepare some gifts for the children in the class, donate a storybook to the class for the teacher to read to the whole class that day, and bring pictures of my littlehon's growing up each year for him to share in class. How sad that no cake is allowed in class :( but on the positive side, we don't have to spend to get a cake for the class, so we only need to get one cake instead this year for celebrating at home. So on the way home, I got pencils and erasers for the whole class, and a storybook to be donated to the school. Another chore completed- CHECKED!

The next top of the list is to get an anniversay gift for Rodney. Believe it or not, I have never bought any presents on his birthday, Father's Day or our anniversary day before because he doesn't lack anything, and whenever I ask him what he wants for presents, he said nothing! So I never got him any present at all for all these years! On the other hand, he is always the one who showers me with expensive gift every year. I really feel so bad, and no matter what, I need to come up with a gift whether he likes it or not ....haaa....Rodney is a very simple man and he doesn't like fancy or expensive things. I think it's so hard to get presents for boys/men, and I also don't like to surprise him because I worry that he may not like what I get for him, and it will defeat the purpose of getting something that he never uses at all. I need to get my head cracking of what to get for him for our upcoming anniversary, and I really pray hard for ideas of what to get for him seriously. Wish me luck ya, and I hope to get the rest of my chore list completed by early Dec to avoid last minute panicky.

Great timing

2010-11-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy for the past few weeks that I have stopped all my routine, especially my prenatal learning with His Masterpiece, my special time with God, my leisure reading time, and my littlehon's learning time with me. Nevertheless, I still want to thank God for providing the opportunity for my family to be here with us. I always believe that God's timing is the best, and God knows what is best for His children. As my littlehon will be having a sibling soon, I really thank God that it was really a great timing that my littlehon got to spend some quality time with his cousin, Mikayla. It was great that my littlehon learn to interact not with friends, or playmate, but with someone whom I called "family". Yes! Very soon, my littlehon will be a big brother, and he needs to learn to interact socially and accept others with grace. It was such a pleasure to observe both my littlehon and Mikayla playing together, and how my littlehon expressed his likes and dislikes, and communicated with Mikayla about his wants and needs. There were times when one didn't agree with the other, and when one didn't want to share toys with the other, and how one behaved when he/she was mad. It allowed my littlehon to learn that others have feeling just like he does, and sharing is important in order to play together peacefully. I did learn a great deal watching them play, and how my littlehon handles tough situations whenever he encountered problem with sharing. His first respond was to make known his unhappiness, and want his ways of course. When Mikayla walked away, my littlehon immediately knew that she was mad, and he would come to me or Rodney expressing his sadness that Mikayla didn't want to play with him because she was mad at him. Many times, we redirected him to deal and settle the problem, and if he couldn't, the playing together has to stop. It was the choice he has to make, and we have to get him to learn and realize why someone would be mad and stop playing at a point in time. Through the squabbles, I hope that my littlehon would learn to share better in time to come. I learn that problem with sharing will exist as long as there are two or more children in a family. As parents, I need to learn to deal with the challenges and pray that it will not become a pain in the neck. Though it was a short 2.5 weeks with Mikayla, I believe my littlehon did learn something in the process of playing with his cousin. I also try to talk to my littlehon alot about His Masterpiece everyday in our conversation, and also talk to my littlehon about sharing toys with His Masterpiece in time to come. I want my littlehon to be mentally prepared, and not feel lost when His Masterpiece arrives, and sharing of toys is inevitable. Interestingly, sometimes my littlehon will tell me that he wants to teach His Masterpiece how to play balls, show His Masterpiece all the toys, and bring His Masterpiece to school. While my littlehon shows enthusiasm in looking forward to His Masterpiece's arrival, I bet he would wish he is the only child when he sees his sibling getting all the attention and using the little toys that he used to play when he was a baby. I can't imagine in time to come, I have to put up with two kids fighting with each other over some toys everyday, and I think I will need some timeout if that really happens.

Teacher-Parent Confernece

2010-10-14T07:22:00.001-07:00

Today, Rodney & I went for our first Teacher Parent conference with Ms Susan. It was 30 minutes conference for every parent, and I was all excited to hear about how my littlehon behaves in class. I am concerned about my littlehon's achievement and learning in class but that's not my priority because I know his capability too well. As Ms Susan mentioned, my littlehon is way beyond more mature, and know more than what a 3 year old can do, and so it's not necessary to emphasize how well he is doing in class. I recorded down what Ms Susan has to tell us about our littlehon but it was a 30 minutes talk so I will just briefly summarize how my littlehon behaves in class. It's more important to know how my littlehon behaves in class, and about his real personality when he is not around with Rodney and myself.

Ms Susan observed our littlehon as a very organized and patient little chap who does his work systematically. I did witness this little trait at home but yet to really confirm. I guess it depends what chores my littlehon is working on, and I believe that if the chores interest him enough, he will put all his attention on it. Ms Susan also mentioned that my littlehon loves and enjoys snacks! I thought every kids love snack time, don't they? Why is it so particular that Ms Susan needed to mention this to us. She observed that my littlehon enjoys his snack compared to everyone else in the class. My littlehon will take his own sweet time, taking out the snack I prepare for him every morning, and sitting by his table, enjoying every bits of them. He will spend about 15-20 minutes taking his time eating his snacks! That's way too long, thought Ms Susan and myself too. On the other hand, I like the fact that he is taking his time to enjoy what he eats, there is no rush to do work, just pure enjoyment! Both Rodney and myself burst out laughing when we heard that my littlehon really takes his time to enjoy his snack, and he pays full attention to what he is eating. Ms Susan told me not to prepare too much snacks for my littlehon as he will take forever to eat his snack, enjoying himself. So I really have to cut down his snack so that learning time in class can be maximized.

Ms Susan recalled an incident to us that there was one day, the sunlight was shining into one of the sidewalk windows, and my littlehon was really amazed by it. And very spontaneously, he started dancing under the sunlight. What a shame that I couldn't witness such incident, but I could picture in my mind how carefree, and pure delight to be able to express himself without being judged by his friends and teachers. Ms Susan, of course, never interrupted him from dancing, and I believe it would be such a delight to see my own child revealing his true self in a different environment. As I stopped for a moment to think about him being at home, I realize that I am a lot stricter with him and expect him to behave a certain way a mature boy would without realizing that he is only coming to 3 years old. Though we do a lot of silly things together, at the end of the day, I still want him to be composed, be more matured, and grownup like. I need to allow myself to see my littlehon as a little baby, and not expecting him to behave a certain way, afterall, he is just a 3 year old.

Ms Susan observed that my littlehon loves to look around, and observe. Yes, I couldn't agree more with her. My littlehon is a very observant boy which sometimes I feel that I need to learn from him instead. There are so many cases that he caught me by surprise, and just yesterday, we were reading a book by Mo Willems, my littlehon asked me why some speech bubbles are rectangular and some are oval. To me, a speech bubble is a speech bubble, who cares about its shapes, and I really didn't even notice them. My littlehon caught it, and I was speechless indeed, and I seriously I told him I don't know why it comes in different shapes and they just do.

Last but not least, I was so thrilled when I heard this from Ms Susan. She said that my littlehon is a very happy little boy everyday in class. I am not sure should I use the word cheerful to describe him, but I am so glad that he is a happy boy in class because to me it's very important that he is happy learning in class, and happy being with his friends. I want him to be happy, and there is no greater joy than to see your own child being a happy little kid, enjoying him/her self wherever he/she is. I guess he takes over me as I am always happy, and I take things positively in life. I want my littlehon to be happy of what he is doing now, and in the future, as long as he is happy.

It's good to learn about the otherside of my littlehon, apart from home. Now it's a good time to develop his personality, and hearing what I heard about my littlehon, I want to build on and help strengthen his personality by providing more opportunity to allow him to exercise his traits possible. I guess I will not rush him when he is taking snack at home, and I will try to provide more activities that will allow him to show off his organizational skills. Most important of all, I need to continue to create a happy environment at home so that he will be a happy boy with a positive attitude always.

Give me strength

2010-10-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

Eversince my littlehon attends the Montessori school, seriously, I have no clue of what he is learning everyday in class. Teacher Susan told me that in Montessori class, the teachers don't organize their teaching according to themes, but she tries to incoorporate seasons into her teaching. The themes are very wide, and therefore, it's impossible for me to narrow down what exactly he learns in class. and I don't want to simply ask Teacher Susan everyday what he learns in class, and I can be an annoying parent if I do that every time. After spending much time reading up books about Montessori concepts/ methods, and how the teachers teach in class, I have at least a better idea how the class works. It's not so much on academic success, but more towards the individual well being of the child.

Coming from traditional education system where I want to see my students or now to be exact, my littlehon strive in every area of his life, is my dream. Being a parent, we are all anxious to know if our children do learn anything from school or succeed in class. I guess after learning from what I read about Montessori concepts, my paradigm has shifted a little. It's not so much of how much my littlehon knows in his tender age of less than three, though it's still very much important to me how much he can learn and absorb at this age, it's more of me wanting him to develop a lifelong love of learning, and develop the strength and capability of having strong character and confidence in handling his life challenges ahead of him. From the very beginning, my aim and purpose in home schooling my littlehon, is always wanting him to love and enjoy learning with me, without treating him as empty vessel, trying to fill him up with tons and tons of knowledge. My littlehon enjoys learning and I believe all children love to learn especially from their parents. I don't have any regrets being a stay at home mum with my littlehon to witness his growth in his first most precious early years in his life. I wish I could do more for my first love, my littlehon, and with His Masterpiece coming soon, I guess, I have to dedicate my next few years to nurture His Masterpiece into what God wants it to be. I believe it's God's calling for me to be staying at home for the first critical years of my child/children's life, and I submit to God totally until He calls me to another mission in life.

Knowlege is power, and I pray that my littlehon will continue to absorb more knowledge through love, joy and laughter with me while learning at home, and above all, I want my littlehon to enjoy his learning in school, and I hope that these three years will instill in my littlehon a sense of independence, a strong sense of self capabilities, and confident individual who is able to utilize his creativity in working and learning with others cooperatively, and most important of all, a passion for lifelong learning and improving oneself. I pray that God will continue to give me strength, and wisdom when it comes to teaching my littlehon so that I will not dampen his enthusiasm and thirst in learning. And that God will help me to see my littlehon with the eyes of a Montessorian parent-to-be. I also pray for more strength and more wisdom in handling two children soon-to-be, and be able to provide equal home education for both my littlehon, and His Masterpiece in the future. Give me strength, Oh Lord, I ask.....

Understanding Food Allergy

2010-09-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

Seriously, I have never heard of any children being allergic to eggs or peanuts when I was in Singapore teaching for several years. I know some people are allergic to seafood or dustmites, but eggs and peanuts, never. So when I first came to US 8 years ago, my friend who has been in US for a while told me that her elder daughter is allergic to eggs and peanuts, I was like "WHAT??, peanuts and eggs allergies? Are you serious?" I didn't know how serious the reactions were until I had my own littlehon who also has the same fate of eggs and peanuts allergy. As mentioned, my littlehon had done blood test for food allergy and results showed that he was allergic to eggs, peanuts, fish, milk, and soybean. Due to the recent hives episode, Dr Miller, my littlehon's primary care doctor suggested that he should get another allergy test to see if he is still allergic to certain food or maybe more food. I agreed with him, and so appointment was fixed for this afternoon after my littlehon's class. After 1.5 hours of consultation, I was surprised that the allergist specialist doctor, Dr Greenhill, was very detailed and didn't know that I had to spend that long time just talking to him about my littlehon's allergy history. It was past nap time, and my littlehon was actually tired when the nurse started the skin test. My littlehon was pretty awoke when the nurse tried to prick him on the back of the skin, but needed to wait for 15 minutes for the skin to react. After 15 minutes, my littlehon knocked out and went to dreamland instead. Results were out : bad news ~my littlehon was still allergic to peanuts and eggs which are very common to American children, good news~he is no longer allergic to fish, milk and soybeans. However, my littlehon needed to do a blood test so that with both tests concurrently, the results could be determined if he still has other food allergens besides eggs and peanuts. The blood test will be done next week, and after seeing the allergist, I have a better idea of how to handle my littlehon if his allergic reactions happen again. It was quite scary when the allergist told me that food allergens will be fatal if not treated on time, and I was told not to take it lightly if my littlehon reacts again. With regards to epi-pens, the allergist told me that I should have them with me 24/7, which means whenever my littlehon is with me, whether home or outside, epi-pens should be available at all times, instead of leaving them at home. That is how serious when you have a child with food allergy because Rodney and I will not know what will trigger the reactions if my littlehon is dining outside, and the epi-pens will save his life.

With my own child having food allergy, as an educator, I understand the children better when they are allergic to certain food, and will take more precautions when I work with them. I understand that children in Singapore having peanuts and eggs allergy are uncommon, but if you have a child who was born in other countries, like America, and is in the Singapore education system for some reasons, and when parents tell you that their child has food allergy such as peanuts or eggs, you as educator, better take it seriously. Yes! I mean seriously as it can be life and death if the allergy does happen. You need an IEP health plan for this child who has allergy, and make sure that you keep the necessary medications in school when needed. I remember one of Rodney's colleagues was attached to US for about 2 years, and his daughter was born in the US. Somehow, his daughter has peanuts allergy and was tested positive. When the whole family returned to Singapore after the work assignment, he registered his daughter for preschool in Singapore. He told the preschool teacher that his daughter has peanuts allergy and make sure that she doesn't sit together with other children who has peanuts for lunch or snack. The teacher looked at him with disbelief, and that made him really upset because it could be deadly for his daughter if she has any reactions when someone takes something with peanuts and accidentally if she touches it, she would have developed hives that might caused swollen throat that leads to breathing difficulties. So if parents are telling you that their child is allergic to something, you'd better take their words seriously. I hope you will have a better understanding for food allergy, and I do hope that my littlehon will outgrow them one day which the allergist told me that some do and some do not. For now, we try to eat home-cooked food more often, educate my littlehon to avoid food that contains peanuts and eggs, and remind myself to carry in my purse the necessary medication such as benerdryl and epipens with me 24/7. Definitely, we do not wish to see another hives episode again, and pray that my littlehon will outgrow his allergies one day.

The followings are pictures and video that I took to show how skin test allergy is done so that you have a better understanding of food allergy skin test.

First, the nurse drew dots on my littlehon and each dot represents the food allergen that will be pricked on his skin for test.

Then, the nurse pricked my littlehon with the food allergens for egg, peanut, codfish, tuna, salmon, soybean, milk, sesame seeds, wheat, etc on each dot according to her list of allergens.

After 15 minutes, I saw little bumps on those areas that he is allergic to, and the nurse measured the size of the bumps with her special ruler.

Results showed that my littlehon is allergic to eggs and peanuts because the bumps are bigger than normal. Thank God that the results didn't show that he is allergic to fish, soybeans or milk anymore, but we will have to do the blood test next week to confirm again.

Crazy about Skip Hop

2010-09-24T14:06:00.001-07:00

It all started because of the latest hive episode that my littlehon developed when he ate some noodles and miso soup from a newly opened Japanese restaurant on Rodney's birthday few days ago. My littlehon got serious allergic reaction after few hours eating the food, and we had to rush him to the emergency room in a nearby hospital about 10pm at night. My littlehon developed big hives, really big ones, about five inches, around his neck, and all over his body. It was a terrible, ugly sight that caused goosebumps over me when I even tried to look at them! My littlehon was scratching all over his body due to the itchiness, and he had to have two injections in order that the swelling and big hives subsided after 5 hours staying in the hospital. We reached home around 3.30am, and since my littlehon recovered from the hives the next day, I sent him to school, late of course. The Director saw the terrible photos of my littlehon's hives all over his body, and immediately told me that he is not allowed to eat any snack from school, according to the law. I guess the school has to protect themselves to aviod the children getting allergic reactions from the food they provide, just in case. I have to get IEP health plan from my littlehon's primary doctor so that in the event if allergy does occur in class, the teacher would know the procedure of attending to my littlehon.

When my littlehon was younger, he went for a blood test for allergy, and results showed that he is allergic to eggs, peanuts, fish, and milk. My littelhon is alright with certain milk and fish, but he couldn't eat any Tilapia fish which he had his very first allergic reaction with very swollen lips when he was 10 months. His second allergic reaction was when he had a small bite of crossiant in Singapore when he was about 13 months, and big hives appeared all over his face and body, and we had to rush him to the emergency room in KK hospital. His third allergic reaction was when he was in Knowledge Beginning, and he tried to touch his friend's sandwich filled with mayonaise, and he rubbed onto his face that the allergic reaction caused his whole face to swell. The current allergic episode was the fourth reaction that happened, and with all these history of allergies, my littlehon was fully aware that he is allergic to certain food, especially peanuts and eggs, which can be deathly if the reactions cause him to have breathing difficulties. So since he was very young, I always tried to educate him that he needed to watch out for food especially peanuts and eggs, and he knows very well that if he takes them, his body will develop hives. I have to teach him to read nutrition labels whenever he wants certain snack or titbits, and if you ask him what medication he needs to take if the allergic reaction occurs, he will tell you "Benerdryl". In fact, it's more than "Benerdryl" if the allergy is very serious or life threathening, he needs an "Epi Pen". So "Epi Pen" is stored in school and at home if his allergic reaction is life threatening, and once the "Epi Pen" is used, he needs to be admitted to the hospital immediately, and that's the procedure.

Due the seriousness of the history of allergy, my littlehon cannot take any snacks that are provided by the school. And that means that I have to prepare special snacks for my littlehon everyday. When I hear that my littlehon cannot take any snack from the school, I was upset because I have to wake up early to prepare snack for my littlehon. I am kind of a lazy Mommy, but for the sake of my littlehon, I drag myself up early to prepare his snack. For one day, my littlehon didn't eat his snacks in class, and I was disappointed because my hard work of waking up early was poured down the drain. So I tell myself, I need to be creative in my littlehon's snack in order to entice him to eat. This is what I did: I tried using the playdoh cutter to cut the bread, cheese, and ham, and surprisingly, my littlehon finished up his snacks that I made. I guess children are attracted to cute little bite-size snacks, and I am trying to improve in making more attractive snacks to make my littlehon eat his snacks in class.

When it comes to lunch bags, I am one who will not spend more than average to buy cute little lunchie bag for my littlehon. I am a practical Mommy, and seriously I am not into buying cute little stuff for boys especially. My littlehon doesn't really care whether his lunch bag is cute or not I think. But when I was shopping for a cheap, and reasonable lunch bag for my littlehon, I chanced upon SKIP HOP Zoo Lunchies, and immediately I fell in love with it. I tell you, I am not one who will spend more than an average lunch bag, and I don't really want to spend so much on the fancy ones too. However, when I saw the SKIP HOP Zoo lunchies, I was crazy over them!! Seriously, I told myself that my budget for lunch bag is about US$5, and guess what, this SKIP HOP is more than twice my budget, and I didn't really care! I just want to get one for my littlehon. So without knowing what animal he actually likes, I decided to choose the SKIP HOP Monkey because I just lOVE MONKEYS!! I wanted to get Paul Frank lunch bag but I just couldn't find them. So I settled for SKIP HOP monkey zoo lunchies, and I decided to spend another US$20 for the backpack as well cos' I find them so cute. I was hoping that my littlehon will like it, and guess what? After driving half an hour to get this moneky zoo lunchies and backpack, I went back happily, and showed my littlehon who told me that he DIDN'T like MONKEY!!!What a DISAPPOINTMENT & I thought I wanted to give him a surprise :( Don't you think the monkeys are cute? I just love them! It's hard to depart the monkeys but since my littlehon doesn't like them, I have return them :( I showed my littlehon SKIP HOP website, and got him to choose the lunchies himself, and he wanted the PENGUIN instead. So I returned the Monkey the next day, and got him the Penguin. Then, I went to school to pick up my littlehon, and upon seeing the Penguin lunchies, he exclaimed happily :"My pengiun, my pengiun!" My heart melted instantly, and nothing beats to see the happy face of your own child/children. I did learn my lesson: Even if I want to give my littlehon a surprise, I have to ask him what he wants first before I commit myself to buy it - which means no surprise for him. It's better to get what he wants than to get something that he doesn't like, especially now at his age, he is so opinated about everything.

Seriously, I still like the monkeys and actually wanted to keep them for His Masterpiece, but after second thought, His Masterpiece will not be able to use them soon, and I don't want to keep that long. So I have to return the monkey unwillingly. I hope that when His Masterpiece gets older, I will get the monkey again, and hope that His Masterpiece will like them :) I have decided to get my littlehon's playmate, Justin, a set of SKIP HOP lunchies & backpack, and I told Justin's Mommy to show Justin the website so that he gets to choose what he wants because it's meant for his Christmas present, and I want to get something that he likes. I hope he will choose monkeys....heeee....will see....

Looking Thru' the eyes of a Montessorian

2010-09-18T10:32:00.001-07:00

Eversince my littlehon started the Montessori school, I haven't got a chance to stay and observe him in class setting. Yesterday, I decided to stay for the whole morning to observe my littlehon together with the Director. Being a traditional classroom teacher who taught students of the same age level (of course not with traditional teaching instructional methods), I never really understand how a Montessori teacher teaches a class which comprises students of age 3-5 years, and also how she goes about handling each child in class. I want to learn more, not so much on how she teaches, but more of how my littlehon works in such learning environment. I am curious, very curious indeed whether my littlehon enjoys learning in the class, and how he interacts with the learning materials provided, and with other children in class.

The class starts at 8.30am, and after sending my littlehon to class, I left for some errands, and went back after an hour. The Director & I were observing my littlehon working on geometrical solid shapes. While I was observing him, I also questioned the Director with regards to my littlehon's behavior as he worked on the shapes. For the first 45 mins that I was there, I observed that my littlehon was working with the shapes, and at times, he would try to be funny with the shapes by spinning all shapes in the basket one at a time, and also trying to put the basket on top of his head and created some distraction for other students who went to him to see what he was doing. It seemed to me that he spent too much time working on something that he already learned and knew, and also it seemed that he was goofing around with the materials given to him, which I find it a concern. So I questioned the Director when the teacher would stop the activity and get him to move on to the new one, instead of keep working and goofing around with the materials? I saw such acts as goofing around and wondered why the teacher never stopped what he was doing. However, through the eyes of a Montessorian, the Director told me that my littlehon developed great concentration on working on a material which is very important for learning new things. She also added that my littlehon wasn't goofing around with the shapes when he spun them in the basket or when he put the basket on his head. In fact, he discovered new ways of handling the materials by spinning the shapes around the basket, and by doing so, he was trying to find out which shapes spun faster and which one didn't. He also discovered new way of handling the basket, instead of putting shapes in the basket, he could also put the basket on his head for balancing. The teacher would not stop him because in a Montessori class, the teachers are trained to observe behaviors and based on the observation, she will determine the next level of my littlehon's progress. In fact, the students will work on the materials until they are satisfied or rather when their inner self motivation caused them to move on to something new. The teacher will not interrupt what the students are working on until they are satisfied by themselves, so which means that students can work on something as long as their satisfactions are achieved. It doesn't really make sense to me, but through the eyes of a Montessorian, it's all about the child, never about what the teacher wants them to do or not to do. What the teacher wants my littlehon to build is concentration skills, and for a less than 3 year old child to have such concentration (to work on one learning material alone for about an hour) is pretty amazing, according to the Director.

What a great insight for me because for me who is not trained in Montessori method, would think that it's a waste of time working on something one already knew, and would rather move on to a new activity. I learned something new through that observation, and seriously, I believe that my littlehon discovered new ways of handling the objects given, which is something that is intangible to be brought back to show me or Rodney. One thing I realize is that my littlehon never brings back any work home to show me, and it's hard to really know what he has learned in class. Unlike his previous school, work was always brought back, and I knew what he was learning in class. That really bothers me because I really don't know what he learns in class, and it's really hard for me to supplement learning at home. The class teacher, Teacher Susan will always update the parents about their children's learning in class. Accordingly to the Director, all learning takes place in that 3.5 hours, (to be exact, it's 3 hour period, and the beginning half an hour is for the children to settle down when they reach class), and because the Montessori method is based on individual child's exploration and discovery, at my littlehon's level, it's hard to know from him what he actually learns because only he himself knows what he has achieved and learned for that day with self satisfaction, and own motivation while working on the materials given. Therefore, I tell myself that I will not ask my littlehon what he learns in class because I know that the minute he steps into class, he is working hard on the choice of the activities that the teacher provides, and as long as he enjoys what he learns, I should be glad and not ask for more. Ultimately, as told by the Director, the aim of Montessori method is to help a child develop a love for learning, and be able to concentrate on what he/she is doing, and be able to work independently, as well as cooperatively with others around him/her. The Director told me that it's important that motivation of oneself should be intrinsic instead of extrinsic, and this is what they want to achieve eventually in every child, knowing that they themselves can be successful in any given task based on their inner self motivation, instead of relying others for confirmation or affirmation of their abilities and success.

Indeed, I need to have a paradigm shift if I want to continue putting my littlehon in a Montessori learning environment, and allowing myself into becoming a montessori parent. I am not sure if I am able to see my littlehon's home learning through the eyes of a montessorian, and or maybe I should keep on teaching what he learns best from direct instructional method. It can be a challenge for me, but as what the Director said, I just do what I can to help my littlehon learn at home, and the rest I will leave it to the classroom teacher to further tap on his potential. Seriously, I hope my littlehon will gain much from the Montessori school and I will try my best to see my littlehon's home learning experience through the eyes of a Montessorian.

Accident again

2010-09-08T14:10:00.001-07:00

I went to school to pick up my littlehon, and was surprised that my littlehon had an accident again. Yes, again. So far, he has 3 accidents since he started this Montessori school, and it's less than half a year. First accident was his carelessness that he fell on his back of head while trying to sit down criss-crossing in the classroom, second accident happened in the playground when someone threw a ball on his face by accident, and the latest was when he was standing in the hoola hoop, and someone pulled the hoop, and my littlehon fell forward, hitting his forehead on the ground. Though, accidents are inevitable for small children, I find that 3 accidents in less than half a year is kind of too many I think. I remember when he was in Knowledge Beginning for 2 years, he NEVER had a single accident before. In fact, I was pretty upset because if accidents like these continue, I would rather put my littlehon in a normal school setting where everyone is of the same age learning the same stuff. On the other hand, I think accidents happen because he is the youngest and the tiniest in class, and the rest of the students are between 3.4 years and 5 years old. I don't mind my littlehon learning with older children, but playing with older and bigger children is a totally different thing. Imagine how those older children run faster and they are stronger than the little ones, and somehow, I don't really feel my littlehon is safe during playtime because if the accident is serious, it can be bloody.

Due to the accidents, I reminded the teachers to keep an eye on my littlehon during playtime because I don't want him to be hit or hurt by other children again. I told the teacher that if it happens again, I will consider changing school because I want my littlehon to be safe in a school that I don't have to worry about other children causing him to have accidents. I want my littlehon to enjoy school in term of learning as well as playing, and I don't want the accidents to cause any side effect of not wanting to go to school if any. The Montessori school may have better learning and teaching method than the traditional schools, but if my littlehon keeps having accidents, it defeats the purpose of sending him there because I want him to not only excel in learning, but also not to be intimidated by the older children during playtime. I just want him to be in a safe environment where he can learn and play safely. I guess not all schools are perfect, and I will see how things go, and pray that accidents will be minimized.

Moments of contemplation

2010-09-08T14:09:00.001-07:00

My littlehon has started his class last week, and this really gives me a lot more time to connect with His Masterpiece, and also time alone with God and myself. I am enjoying every bits of time that I have with His Masterpiece because I know that after its arrival, I am going to miss all its kicks and turns. It brought back great memories of how my littlehon did the same when I had him 3 years ago. I want to thank God for His perfect timing in providing such wonderful gift to me, because as I think back, if I were to have a second child then, I don't think I will be able to finish my Masters or even get it done, and also my littlehon was not as mature and independent as he is now, and it would be a lot more stress on me then. I guess all things good and bad happened for a reason, and I am really thankful now that God's perfect timing has come, and He wants me to prepare myself to be a better mother of two soon. Sometimes, I think that I love my littlehon so much so that I am willing to have just him as the only child because I am not sure if my love can be divided for another one to come. I am not sure if I am even competent enough to take care of two without any help from in laws, parents or even domestic helper. Suddenly, I feel sorry for my littlehon when I think of how my littlehon is going to accept the fact that he will not be the only pampared child at home, and he has to learn to care and share everything he has, including Rodney's and my love for him with His Masterpiece. I do care about his feelings and his emotions, and seriously, I don't want him to feel left out or hurt when all the attentions are on His Masterpiece instead of him.

I want to be the same Mommy who loves him, plays with him, teaches him, reads to him every day and night, hugs and cuddles him everytime, and tells him I love him everyday. Seriously, I think I will really miss those times and moments I have with my littlehon alone. I try to make up by spending more quality time with him, giving him more hugs and kisses, telling him more stories, having more fun time outside with him, telling him again and again how much I have loved him, and reassuring him of my indefinite love for him. I try to draw strength and wisdom from God that I will be able to be sensitive to my littlehon during these periods, and even more so after the arrival of His Masterpiece. Though His Masterpiece will be the central of attention, I tell myself that I will try my very best to remain the same routines that my littlehon and I have together even after the arrival of His Masterpiece, but I know it's not possible. But at least, reading time and writing time will remain, and the rest like art or outdoor time to be taken over by Rodney. God has assured me that I can do it with His strength, and during these times that I spent with my littlehon and His Masterpiece, God has shown me that I have to be mentally prepared because dealing with one is never the same as dealing with two. I still need to provide the same attention to my littlehon once His Masterpiece arrives, and I have to love them both with my undivided love. God has shown me that each child is unique, and special in its own way, and I should never favor one or the other, and never try to compare my littlehon with His Masterpiece because I believe that they are very different in everyway, whether both same gender or different gender alike. As all children are different, I tell myself not to share about the differences my littlehon and His Masterpiece might have in terms of personalities, developments, learning styles, sleeping patterns or eating habits if possible because I believe that once I share about their differences, in directly and subconciously, I am comparing them to each other which I want to avoid very much. Afterall, my littlehon and His Masterpiece are totally different beings, and unique in their special ways, and each will have its strengths and weaknesses. In terms of learning at home, I will still apply the same teaching style, learning activities that I used on my littlehon like bathroom learning, flashcards learning, outdoor explorations, lots of reading and music etc to see if they work on His Masterpiece. If it works, great! If it doesn't, then I try new ones, afterall what works for my littlehon may not work on His Masterpiece.

I have been reading books on welcoming new arrival, how to handle firstborn's feeling towards the new addition, how to handle melt downs and understand sibling rivalry which I believe it's inevitable in families which have 2 or more children. It has been an awakening and enlightening moments for me after reading some books that I have borrowed. I have gained so much insights about parenting 2 or more children, and it gets me worried if I am able to fulfil the role of a good Mommy to both my littlehon and His Masterpiece at the same time. I have been talking to older friends whose children in their teenage years, and try to learn from them how they handle their children when they were younger. I found out that whether a family has children of the same genders, or different genders, the parents face the same challenges in sibling's personalities, disciplining methods for both or more children, understanding differences of each child, favoritisms towards one or the other, labelings each child, and competitions between siblings etc. There are so much to learn and so much to absorb about having a new additions, and it is really overwhelming when I think about it. To me, having another child, is not like eating another bowl of rice that fills my hunger. It takes a lot of time and effort to bring up another totally different beings into this family, and it's more than just filling up my hunger span. It's a lot more of emotions, and mental invlovements, and a lot more of an adjustment to make to make things work for everyone so that conflicts, competitions, or rivalry will be reduced to non-existence possible. A lot more time and energy to be spent on both children than on one. I have to consider the feelings of my firstborn, my first love, my littlehon. I hope that I am doing the right things which I think I did, by getting my littlehon to be invloved in His Masterpiece's life now by helping to choose the name, bringing him to the clinic when I had scans, and he was so excited to see His Masterpiece on the screen, and in fact my littlehon looks forward to listening to His Masterpiece's heartbeats everytime I go for prenatal checkup, getting my littlehon to choose for His Masterpiece's necessities, sharing about his new role as a big brother, read books about the coming of a new baby, role play with my littlehon using a doll pretending to be His Masterpiece, and what to expect when His Masterpiece arrives in Dec, and how he could help me in attending to His Masterpiece. Everything sounds great and in order, but I believe that when the actual day for His Masterpiece's arrival, I am expecting a totally different attitude from my littlehon. I am praying to God that my littlehon will not feel hurt, lost, or neglected, and that God will see me through when the day comes. I have heard about how the firstborns act differently when there is new addition, and many times they just become whinnier, and wanting to act like a baby once again. I think I need a lot of rest and peace, and I really hope that my littlehon will spare me some peaceful moments without acting out, and try not to add on more stress on my fatigue body, and sleepless nights, which I don't think it's going to happen. So I pray to God that He will give me strength, more strength, and triple strength to deal with whatever that will be coming in time to come.

Time to connect

2010-08-19T09:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, after my doctor's appointment, the words "Now, it's a great time to spend sometime connecting with the unborn and more time with the born before the arrival of the unborn" kept ringing in my ears. Wow!! The doctor's words sounded profound yet very true. As for the unborn, His Masterpiece, I really want to spend the rest of the weeks having quality time connecting with it because I strongly believe in prenatal learning or prenatal education. According to Swell Pregnancy Guide, Learning, or cognitive development, is simply the construction of thought processes, including perception, remembering, language abilities, problem solving and decision-making, which begins in the womb. The brain is open to stimulation and learning and it's a time for an enriched environment to be absolutely necessary in every regard. I am glad that I spent my time in prenatal learning when I had my littlehon. My littlehon was very fortunate to be able to listen to Dr Arwood, my language professor preach too~I mean teach, for almost 4 months. And I believe that prenatal learning has benefitted my littlehon in his cognitive development where evidence of learning was achieved at a very tender age. My littlehon's knowledge is way beyond his peers, and not only that, he was potty-trained early too. His language functions exceed his age level, and learning abilities are beyond my imagination. Eversince, he showed interest in learning a foreign language, I want him to learn my dialect, Teochew, very much. So I tried to speak Teochew with my littlehon too...haaa...it sounded crazy with all English, chinese, Spanish, and Teochew learning together, but I believe my littlehon can do it. Furthermore, I really do not want Teochew to be extinct in my family from my generation onwards. Though my littlehon is an American, I want him to know his roots that his Mommy, me, is a typical pure Teochew Ah Nia(lady), and I want him to learn this beautiful dialect and pass it to his children in the future. If I die, I will die in peace ....haaa.....I think my parents will be very pleased to know that. I don't want this beautiful dialect to be extinct in my family seriously. I hope my littlehon will be able to at least understand and pick up some Teochew. Back to prenatal learning, yes, with His Masterpiece, I am doing likewise, even though many have told me that every baby develops differently, and it might not work for His Masterpiece. I guess prenatal learning plays a part, and the major part is still my desire to connect with His Masterpiece whether or not His Masterpiece's learning abilities will be on par with my littlehon. I want His Masterpiece to know that he/she is God-given, a miracle child, and a very special gift from God, and I want to spend every moment I can to connect with it through prenatal learning, as well as daily communication with it.

As for the born, my littlehon, yes, I need to spend more time with him before the arrival of His Masterpiece. I know that with the arrival of His Masterpiece, all of my energy left will be attending and focusing on His Masterpiece instead of my littlehon. With foreseen sleep depreviation, frequent night awakening, and higher stress level, I can predict that my littlehon would feel left out and lack of love from me. I really want to spend the rest of the weeks to connect with him, play with him, and show him that I am still the same Mommy who loves him very much regardless whether he has a sibling or not. Afterall, he is my first born, my first love, and he will always be. Though, I have been teaching and focusing a lot academically these past 2 years, I want to try my best to spend the rest of the weeks focusing on my littlehon's emotional needs, and educating him on the arrival of His Masterpiece. I want my littlehon to be mentally, psychologically, emotionally, and socially prepared for a new addition in the family soon. I want my littlehon to be in everyway involve in His Masterpiece's life even before its arrival. Rodney and I would seek our littlehon's opinion when it comes to buying His Masterpiece's neccessities. Our littlehon would pray for His Masterpiece every night before he sleeps eversince God gave us this gift. At times, my littlehon would read to His Masterpiece, and everyday, he would give His Masterpiece (in my tummy) a kiss without fail. We even let our littlehon choose the name for His Masterpiece. Rodney and I have in fact decided on 3 names for His Masterpiece (anyone of them is fine with us as we love all the 3 names equally much). We wanted our littlehon to play a part in His Masterpiece's life even before its arrival, so we wanted him to have a say. I video-taped the whole process of name choosing by my littlehon, and it would be an evidence for us to witness our littlehon's involvement in His Masterpiece's life. I would like to keep everyone in suspense, so this piece of evidence will be revealed in time to come.

I want my littlehon to know that he is part of our life, and he has every right to help make decision in the family. I told myself that for the rest of the weeks, I will not do any new teaching (though I have been saying that at the beginning of the summer break), except naptime, and bedtime reading focusing on books that introduce the arrival of sibling, sharing, loving each other etc, outdoor explorations, and paintings will remain. Definitely, a lot of play time, silly time, and snuggling time together will be the main focus for the rest of the weeks. I will not be spending much time recording my littlehon's learning as anyway, I will not be introducing anything new for the rest of the weeks. I really want to spend the rest of the weeks connecting with my littlehon and His Masterpiece. I will try to post some home videos, or outdoors stuff instead of my littlehon's learning. I want the rest of the weeks to be fun and memorable for my littlehon as he looks back his blog before the arrival of His Masterpiece. And in mid October, my brother, Elmos, will be coming with his family, and in fact my parents have decided to come with them in Oct instead of Dec as we have other arrangements last minute. I think it will be a fun time for my littlehon in the month of Oct. I hope to update as I can, and for the time being, keep guessing if God has granted or rejected my wish. If you don't see my post, it means my littlehon, His Masterpiece, and I are having great time connecting.....heee.......

Shopping Spree

2010-08-16T17:10:00.003-07:00

My parents will be joining my brother, Elmos and his family, to visit us this mid October. So I took this opportunity to buy something online in Singapore, and send them to my parents' place so that they can bring back all the items I ordered. I bought some clothings for His Masterpiece, and for my littlehon, which are made in Asia, and I don't think I can get any of them from US for sure. Though chicken essence is sold in the US, they are far more expenisive here than in Singapore. I have to get Rodney's sister to help order for me as she works for Brands and they are much cheaper than getting from the stores in Singapore. Cloth diapers with inserts are more expensive here in the US, so I have ordered quite a few from Singapore too. Don't ask me why I use cloth diaper instead of disposable diaper. I have been using cloth diapers for my littlehon when he was more than 6 months old. My mother puts us on cloth diapers when we were babies, so I have decided to use cloth diapers when I had my littlehon. I find that cloth diapers are more economical than disposable ones, and not only that, they cause less problems than the disposable ones. Rodney doesn't like the idea of cloth diapers as it's more convenient to use disposable ones in the event of big accidents. I guess I am a green person, and I just do my part to keep the environment green. Having said that, when I tried to add up the money that I spent for this shopping spree, it cost me more than SIN$800 just for clothings, cloth diapers, tonics, and some creams. My brother, Roy, told me that all my items already takes up one big suitcase. I hardly buy stuff onlines, and from this online shopping experience, I learned that it's so easy to keep paying and paying through Ibanking or credit card without knowing how much I have actually spent until I really sit down and calculate the cost. I guess I need to control my spending for now as there will be more to spend in time to come.

Smile

2010-08-16T17:10:00.001-07:00

I have been giving my littlehon the liberty to use my camera quite a bit for the past few months. He will go around the house taking pictures, and come back and ask me if they are nice. One day, I forgot to switch my camera to picture mode, and my littlehon took it to snap Diao. When I look at it, I thought it was funny. I saw a 3 second video clip that my littlehon asked Diao to smile. How to make my littlehon realize that animals don't smile like we do even though I have read that they do smile? I guess my littlehon was trying to imitate us when we always want him to smile at the camera when we want to take a picture of him. Diao must be thinking "Dude, I can't smile and stop asking me to smile in front of your camera!"

Public meltdown

2010-08-15T07:27:00.003-07:00

Diao was a little puppy when Rodney bought it for me as a Christmas gift in 2002. In fact, Diao has a christian name, and it's Shane. When you put it together, it is Shane Diao which sounds like "Sheng Diao" that means "Godly Condor". It was the name of a condor in one of the chinese gongfu shows long time ago. I love this name and I want Diao to soar like an eagle. These 2.5 years, Diao and my littlehon have been great friends, even though in my littlehon's early years, he tried to terrorize Diao quite a bit. Whenever my littlehon wakes up, he will look for Diao. My littlehon will get upset if he doesn't see Diao because sometimes I will put Diao in the garage so that he doesn't wake my littlehon up during his nap time. Few days ago, I told my littlehon that Diao needed a haircut because all his hair is covering his eyes. When the day arrived, my littehon took a picture of Diao before he left. My littlehon requested me to help take a picture of he and Diao in his long hair. Then, out we went to the pet saloon to drop Diao off. When Diao was left in the saloon, my littlehon refused to leave, and was crying and screaming so badly that he didn't want Diao be in the saloon. It was such a commotion that my littlehon was crying for a good solid 20 minutes refusing to get back to the car, and kept crying "I want to see Diao Diao!". I was not able to drag, and pick up my littlehon due to my heaviness myself, so I tried to comfort my littlehon that Diao would be done in few hours, and he would be able to see him again. My littlehon refused to listen, and continue crying. I was desperate in getting my littlehon out of the pet saloon, and I knew that timeout in the public wouldn't help much when my littlehon was so upset crying so badly, and nothing would get into his ears. I also figured out that talking sense technique would take a long time when I didn't have much time for that as I needed to rush back to cook for lunch, and distraction technique would not work too, especially my littlehon was so upset about Diao's absence, and it would make him worst.

What would you do when your toddler is not cooperating? If you have the whole time in the world, you can try whatever techniques you have read or learned to see which works, but not in this case. I had no choice but to call for Rodney to the rescue. Thank God, it was lunch time, and Rodney was able to get out of his office to my rescue. Usually, whenever my littlehon is not cooperating with me, talking sense to him works really well but not this case. I guess the bond with Diao is so strong that all my trying-to-get-him-cooperate techniques didn't work. Somehow, Rodney's presence worked wonder, and he was able to get my littlehon's cooperation and left the pet saloon happily instead. At that moment, I felt I was a failure in this case, and I realized that the techniques that I have learned and applied successfully before don't work for all meltdowns because the reasons behind the child's emotional breakdown are different. There is so much to learn from my littlehon, and I couldn't help thinking what would happen if I have both my littlehon and His Masterpiece meltingdown at the same time? Would I go insane? Maybe I need a timeout myself if that happens. I really don't want to think about that right now for sure.

That's my son

2010-08-15T07:27:00.001-07:00

I brought my littlehon to the Teacher Fountain at downtown again last week. This time, I was more prepared but I wanted him to take off his shirt and pants instead. So my littlehon was playing with the water in his underwear. Then two American caucasian females were standing by the fountain, watching my littlehon playing. There were many other children around, but somehow, they were attracted by this little Asian American boy in his underwear. Upon seeing them, I took a closer look at one of them, and realized that she was my former classmate, Angela, from University of Portland. Angela was surprised to see me, and likewise. We have not seen each other for 2.5 years, and when we were in the same class, I was still pregnant with my littlehon. We chatted for a while, and exchanged contacts, and before she left, she asked if that little boy was my son. Yes! That's my son, Ethan. Angela asked my permission if she could take some pictures of my littlehon, and I said "sure" without any hesitation. I love her pictures, and upon seeing them, I feel so motivated to pick up Rodney's Cannon EOS 5D to take nice pictures of my littlehon next time.

October Visit

2010-08-09T13:14:00.001-07:00

Few weeks ago, my brother, Elmos called me to say that he will be visiting us this coming mid October with his family and our parents. As my mother-in-law is not able to come in Dec, my parents have to change their tickets from Oct to Dec so that they can help out if possible. Therefore, this coming October, Elmos will be visiting us with my sister-in-law, and my niece, Mikayla. My littlehon is looking forward to their visit, and keeps asking when Mikayla jie jie will be coming. It will be Autumn time by the time they arrive, and it will be beautiful to see the Fall colors here. My brother and his family have been here twice, once for my undergrad's ceremony duing end Spring, and the other was when I gave birth to my littlehon during Winter. It will be great for them to see Fall this year, and hopefully it will not be too cold for them. So for the past few days, Rodney and I were trying to clean up the house, and rearrange some of the furnitures partly for my brother's family, and mainly for His Masterpiece's arrival in Dec. I hope Mikayla and my littlehon will have a great time playing together, and I bet my littlehon will be reluntant to go to school when they come visit. I am so looking forward for their coming.

The worst ever

2010-08-08T17:35:00.007-07:00

I remember I was in Singapore when I was in my second trimester with my littlehon, and my mum told me it's good to eat durians as they act as tonic food. I do love durians, and when I was in Singapore for 3 weeks, I ate durians everyday without fail! Somehow, I couldn't find fresh and good durians in America. I have to settle for the worst grades and more expensive durians if I really find them. I bet no one in Singapore has ever tried frozen durians, and who in the right mind will eat frozen durians when one can get and eat them fresh. The most one will keep it cold and eat them after a few days, but don't think they will be frozen in the freezer. In order to satisfy my taste bud, we found durians in some Asian stores, and they are FROZEN!! The price? US$9 for this one we bought! I have never tried frozen durians ever, and will never ever want to try! However, I guess beggers can't be choosy, and Rodney decided to buy just one frozen durian for me to try. The shell was soft when touched, and Rodney had hard time prying it opened. This is the worst looking and grossest durian I have ever seen in my life! The shells have brown "bruises" everywhere due to the defrozing, and the fruits don't look appetizing at all. It seems like water got into the frozen durians, and turned brownish on some parts of the fruits. This is the grossest durians I have ever seen. Having said that, when I tried one, it tasted pretty good, but of course, never as good as the one from home. Again, beggers can't be choosy :(

Sweet Indulgence

2010-08-08T17:35:00.005-07:00

I don't remember I took so much chocolate when I was pregnant with my littlehon, and recently I can finish up a 3.5 ounce bar chocolate everyday, and it has to be dark chocolate. Not that I love chocolate, but somehow, I develop sweet tooth this time. Upon seeing my sweet indulgence on chocolate, Rodney secretly ordered Godiva chocolate without my knowledge. How sweet :) I got a shock of my life when I saw the delivery box, it was huge for a box of chocolate I think. Before I opened the box, I thought: OMG! I will be sick and tired of chocolate after eating the whole carton, or will develop chocophobia for sure! And also where on earth I can store the chocolate as our refrigerator is not big enough for the whole carton of chocolate. As I opened it, I was praying that Rodney will not be out of his mind to order so many chocolates. I was really glad to see just two big boxes instead! Thank God! I guess two boxes will last me 5 days if I just take few pieces each day, and most probably 3 days if I am more aggressive enough.

Good or bad news?

2010-08-08T17:35:00.003-07:00

Rodney has been working with his present company since day one. I should say since he graduated from Uni, so go figure how many years he is in this current job. Sometimes, I feel that staying too long in a company can be too complacent and unwilling to take risk to move into an entirely new environment. It's good for a change but I think there is still a risk when the job market in US is not as stable as compared to many other countries. During the economic crisis, I thank God that He has been faithful and He has preserved Rodney's job, while many of his colleagues were not as fortunate as him. Many were asked to leave the company, and I thank God that Rodney was not affected at all. However, his team has to be dispersed as the job will be outsourced to India, and he has to move into a new team doing something different which will widen his job scopes. Though Rodney has a choice of which new team he wanted to join, he finally chose a team that he can learn something new, and also will be asked to travel to China occasionally. While travelling is great, but I still prefer him not to travel as I want him to spend more time with me and our littlehon. So far, thank God that he has yet to be asked to travel to China for project work. However, few days ago, Rodney told me that a Head Hunter company called him out of the blue to join another company, and asked him if he is interested. I just wonder if it's good news or bad news as he just joins this new team. I pray that God will close the door if He wants him to stay put, and on top of that I think he likes working in his current company otherwise, he wouldn't stay that long and refuse to leave for other jobs.

Whatever you are

2010-08-08T17:35:00.001-07:00

Whatever you are,
I want you to know that
you have been prayed for daily
because you are God's gift ~
You are His Masterpiece.

Whatever you are,
I want you to know that
God will protect and keep you
because you are special ~
You are His Masterpiece.

Whatever you are,
I want you to know that
God has called and chosen you
because you are His precious one ~
You are His Masterpiece.

Whatever you are,
I want you to know that
God loves you so much that
He makes sure you are perfect ~
You are His Masterpiece.

Whatever you are,
I want you to know that
I will love you whatever you are
because you are God's miracle gift~
You are His Masterpiece.

I wish and I wish.......

2010-08-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

I have two younger brothers, Elmos and Roy, and being the only daughter and the eldest at home, I always wished and dreamed of having a little sister whom I could play with when I was younger and talk to when I got older. My brothers and I didn't really get along when we were young. I guess at a point in time, Elmos and I did play together when we were much younger ~ maybe 4-5 years old. I could remember vaguely that I always played with my paper toys that I drew, and he would play with his boy stuff. I guess I played a lot more with our neighbors instead with Elmos. Roy was born 5 years apart of me, and I don't really remember I ever played with him at all. So as we grew older, instead of getting closer, we drew apart because we have our own activities and friends. We did fight a lot during our teenage years, and sometimes, I really wished I had a sister then. A lot of people said that girls are always closer to their mothers. I guess it depends on individual family. My mum was a disciplinarian, and I feared her more than my dad. I don't really share much with my mum, and we were never close at all when I was younger. I think I love her out of fear than out of love. All I got from her were a lot of scoldings and corporate punishments, and under such circumstances, I guess I grew up became a lot more rebellious during my teenage years, and I admit that I really gave her a lot of heartache and worries. With two boys at home, I have to act tough being the eldest, and my parents expected me to give in to my brothers. My mum taught me how to cook when I was in Primary 3, and by Primary 6, I had to rush back home by 5pm (when not in school) to help cook. Many times, I wished I had a sister to share the household chores or even share my feelings, but it never happened.

I really wish that I had a sister because it's hard to share my feelings with my brothers even though we are siblings. When I was younger, I always envied my friends who have sisters to talk to, go shopping together, share clothings, gossip about boys, and share any secrets they have. I guess girls are more emotional creatures and they need a lot more emotional supports than boys. Sometimes, I wonder if having two sisters are closer to each other, than having one girl closer to her mother? Now that I grow older, I don't really share a lot of things with my mum, and let alone my brothers, and furthermore, we are so many miles apart. Many parents believe that having a girl is better than a boy because when they grow up, they will still remember their parents, and they are closer to their parents than having a boy. I think it's stereotyping, and it's unfair to the boys. My two brothers are in Singapore, and both boys take really good care of my parents. Elmos though married, he still calls home every now and then, and also brings my parents out for meals many times, and Roy takes leaves whenever my mums needs to go for medical check-up. Many may think that it's their responsibility because they are boys. Again stereotyping. I have been in the US for almost 8 years, and sometimes, I really feel bad that I couldn't share the responsibility with my two brothers to take good care of my parents. I really thank God for my two brothers who are willing to take good care of my parents when I couldn't, and they do so ungrudgingly.

Yes! Boys can be close to their parents too, even though they may not express their love and care in words, they do so in actions. I have heard many of my friends that their boys are closer to them than their girls. But I think what matters most is that will 3 of us be close if our parents are gone? I hope so, but yet I still wished that I had a sister whom I can really share my ups and downs with. I always envy those parents who have two boys or two girls. When I look at the child, I would imagine how fortunate he is to have a brother, or how fortunate she is to have a sister, and at least they have something in common when they grow up. When I had my littlehon, I told myself that when I have another child, I want it to be a girl for some selfish reason that she will be close to me when she grows up. But as I look at myself, I had always wished for a sister whom I could share and play with, and talk to when I grow up, and I believe my littlehon would feel the same too. Whenever, I looked at Thieu and Julie's two boys playing together spontenously with the same toys, I always tell myself it's good to have two boys. When I see Linda's 3 teenage daughters, I tell myself it's so good to have all daughters sharing and be so close together. And also Megan's two teenage boys are like best friends, playing their electronic games and going to school together. I really envy their children who have someone in common to share things with and talk anything under the sun. Of course, I do have friends who have both boy and girl, but somehow it seems they are not as close together when they grow up compared to having two children of the same gender. Again, I guess it depends a lot of the upbringing and environment.

Anyhoo, if my littlehon were a girl, I would definitely wished for another girl, but that is impossible now. So therefore, I wish for another boy so that they will be able to share, play, and do anything together under the sun even when they grow up. I want them to be the best of friends, and even when Rodney and I leave for heaven, they will be best brothers and friends ever. I wish, and I really wish ........I will leave it to God since He is the creator of His Masterpiece, and again I wish and I really wish that God will grant my wish......

Always be prepared

2010-08-04T12:09:00.001-07:00

I remembered whenever my mum goes out, whether to the market or shopping, she is always very prepared, especially when she is with the kids. My mum always says that it's good to bring along extra clothes or an umbrella because she won't know when it will be raining or turning cold when she goes out, especially with the kids. Now that my brother and I owe a car, she always reminded us that it's good to put some children's clothings in the car in case there is a change in the weather SUDDENLY or SUDDENLY the children wet themselves. How sudden can it be? I always ask myself. I never really take my mum's advice seriously until few days ago, I brought my littlehon to downtown Portland to do some shopping. After shopping, we passed by a public water fountain, and I decided to let my littlehon play with the water. I totally forgot that I do not have any extra sets of clothing for my littlehon, and he was wet from under, except the top because I took off his shirt before he played with the water. Without a choice, I had to get him take out his underwear and shorts because he was soaking wet, and I didn't want him to sit on his carseat with his wet underwear and shorts. I was searching high and low for shorts and underwear in the car but realized that I didn't have any in the car. Then I remembered my mum's advice. Always be prepared and put a set of clothings in the car. Then I found some diapers in the car which I forgot to take them out of my car eversince my littlehon went diaperless. So this was it! My littlehon would put on the diaper for the time being! YES! The diaper came into use, but my littlehon refused to put it on, and said it was for babies! I didn't blame him as he is diaperless since 28 months, and after 5 months of being diaperless, who in the right mind will go back to his diaper again? I had no choice but to coax my littlehon to wear the diaper as I didn't want him to be naked in the car. Finally, my littlehon obliged. Thank God! But the worst has yet to come. After putting on the diaper, my littlehon told me that he was urgent and want to go bathroom! OMG! Can you just hold? OR maybe can you pee in the diaper, afterall you did that for the past 28 months, and you should be an expert by now? I asked my littlehon. Nope! He refused to do it in the diaper, NO MATTER WHAT!! My littlehon couldn't hold as he drank a lot of water after the water play and he was seriously urgent! What should I do then when he refused to pee in the diaper? We were in the parking lot, there was no bathroom nearby, and I couldn't simply let him release himself in the parking lot. So I search frantically in the car to look for something that can contain his pee, and at the same time urging my littlehon to hold his pee. Thank God, I found a paint container which my littlehon left in the car for weeks that I forgot to take it out the car. I told my littlehon that I couldn't find him a bathroom in time, and he had to do it in the container instead. He had no choice but to release himself in it.What should I do with the container full of pee? Put it in the car and drove home with it, of course! And imagine, having a cup of pee in the car, it's kind of GROSS!!!! I learned my lesson. Always be prepared, and at the same time, thanking God that I have a boy because I wouldn't know what to do if my littlehon was a girl. I wonder how to make a girl pee on this small container if that really happens ....hmmm.....

My cooking headache

2010-07-25T18:08:00.001-07:00

Eversince my littlehon's summer class ended, I am getting so lazy in my posting. It seems there are always forever never-ending household chores to be done, and what gives me real headache is, everyday I have to think of what to cook for lunch and dinner. I remembered when I was in Singapore, my mum always asked us what we want to eat for lunch or dinner. She was always cracking her head what she should cook for our meals, and said that it's really causing her headache thinking of what to cook everyday. At that time, I was thinking : what's so big deal to worry about what to cook ~ anything is fine. However, she always cooked the same old food because she really doesn't know what to cook. Now, as I got married and have my littlehon, I began to think of what to cook especially when I need to cook for my littlehon, and worst still, he is allergic to certain food like eggs, peanuts, and certain fish he cannot take. I don't want him to get bored eating the same food everyday. I want him to try new food, but I don't like cooking that is too complicated and takes up a lot of time too. When it comes to Rodney, I think he gets tired of eating the same dish almost everyday. Seriously, my biggest headache, like my mum, is to wanting to cook new dish and yet if possible, not so complicated dish. It's easier to say and done. I really admire those SAHM who can whip up new dishes everyday for their family, and some domestic helpers can do a good job in cooking. As for me, my cooking skill is very limited, and believe it or not, Rodney is a better cook than I am. Ashame to say that, sometimes, he has to rush back home from work and help me cook because I really don't know what to cook, even with all the groceries in the refrigerator. Blame it to my laziness I think, I am so tired taking care of my littlehon, entertaining him with activities, and worst still, recently, he refuses to take nap! I need a break and nap time is the best time for me to take a break from him, and yet he can tell me he doesn't need a nap because he is a big boy now! I have to make my littlehon tired by noon so that he will feel tired and sleepy enough to nap. So we go out a lot to release his energy. Thank God, it works! Now, come back to cooking, I am still at lost how to improve my cooking skill. My boring random dishes for everyday are: chicken soup, fried eggs, stir-fry spinach or other vegetables, broiled chicken thighs, steamed seabass for my littlehon, stir-fry portobella mushrooms or sliced chicken strips with black soy sauce. If I am in good mood, I will cook some curry chicken or curry fish, or fried bee hoon, but still a lot of work though. I think Rodney must be bored of eating the above random dishes everyday that he decided to buy Prima Taste instant packets so that he can enjoy Laksa, Sayur ledeh, Mee Siam, and Mee Robus. Actually, I miss Singapore food at times and even though there are Asian Restaurants selling Hainanese chicken rice, wanton mee, fried chay kway tiao etc, they are not as nice as what we get from home. So whenever I visit Singapore, I really appreciate more of my mum's food, and I am more understanding if she has to cook the same dish everyday for me. Actually in Singapore, the food is so cheap, and many people are eating out for their meals nowadays I think. That really solves the cooking problem, and unlike here, eating out is really expensive. For example, a plate of Hainanese chicken rice costs about US$8 in regular restaurant. So I try to cook Mon-Fri, and over the weekends, we will eat out, though it's expensive, but save me my time on cooking. I am currently getting ideas from the internet to learn how to cook different dishes, and I hope my cooking skills will improve, and not eat out over the weekends. So wish me luck in my cooking skills ;P

School transfer?

2010-07-21T06:29:00.001-07:00

I went to pick up my littlehon yesterday, and I had a little chat with the class teacher. I have shared with the Director and the class teacher about how my littlehon learns and how fast he is absorbing knowledge for his age, and also how exhausting I am to keep up with his learning, before my littlehon was enrolled into the school. The class teacher told me she would try to observe my littlehon and see how she could help him move up the level beyond his age level, and get him to adapt to the Montessori way of learning, given he is so advanced compared to other children around his age group. After few months of observation in class, yesterday afternoon, the class teacher told me that indeed my littlehon was way way beyond his age level, and in fact he was teaching and showing other children (he is the youngest in class) what to do instead. The class teacher also mentioned that my littlehon's language function is so much better than what she has expected, and compared to some older children, he speaks more fluently, and able to express himself very well. A new lesson taught usually needs to be practised over a few days, and my littlehon could grasp it within the day. He gets bored if asked to do the same activities a few times unless it is something that interests him. The teacher told me that she asked my littlehon to put the shapes puzzles according to the shapes, not expecting him to be able to name all the shapes, and he did, and he knew what to do with the pink tower without teacher telling him what to do when he first started class early few months back. Of course I got compliments for teaching him all that he needs to know and learn, but that's not what I wanted to hear. I don't want to know how well my littlehon is doing, because he is my son, and I know his capability and what he already knows and how well he is doing. The purpose of chatting with the class teacher is to find out more what the teacher could offer to help him learn more that he already know, and not about how good my littlehon is. I don't need to know all these I tell myself. I questioned the class teacher that with what she learned about my littlehon, how would she approach in teaching him starting this September? Her reply was she would go slow with him even though he already knows all the basic knowledge, and she would not push him or else he would burn out, afterall, my littlehon is only 32 months.

However, the class teacher told me that she would observe how my littlehon progresses given him a year in the school starting this Sept, and if he is learning so much more that his peers and if the teacher cannot keep up with him, then she would suggest that my littlehon to be transferred to another school. WHAT!!! Is that the best solution? I chose this school because it's near my place and I know it is a good school. I used to think that if a child is willing to learn, any good school is fine. If a child is not interested in learning, send him/her to a branded school doesn't make him/her a better learner. Yes, I want my littlehon to learn more than what he already know, but yet, I do not want him to be ostracized by other children because he knows more than other children his age. I don't want the teacher to see him differently because I know how dangerous it is if a child is perceived as different from other children. The teacher might neglect him in class because he already knows so much, and may be oblivious of what he might not know yet. I know how teachers tend to pay attention to weaker students, and not knowing that their negligence to those TAG kids in class will cause the lost in interest in their learning. I hope that at the end of the school year, my littlehon will not be transferred to other school, and the teacher will be able to accomodate his learning capabilities, and try to keep up with him possible. As a parent and a teacher myself, I know what it is like to have a child who knows everything for his age level, and if you have one in your class, you will be wondering what you shoud do with this child since he/she already knows so much, and the rest are still learning/struggling. You have to come out with extra activities, or work just for this child. Isn't it exhausting as a teacher preparing two different sets of activities, one for high achievers and one for slow learners? I guess this is where differentiated instruction would be very useful in teaching the students, and highly efficient teachers will know how to differentiate instruction for their class because they will recognize that not all students have the same learning capabilities. But the question is do the teachers know how to differentiate their instructions to the various groups of students knowing that not all children learn the same way? This is something that teachers need to strive to find out in order that no child is left behind. Are your child (students) left behind?

In the past, my littlehon's school focused on having themes every month, and that made me a little easy when I tried to supplement my teaching based on the themes that the teacher was teaching. However, after my littlehon attends this Montessori school, I was told that they don't not have a particular theme because they don't want to restrict the children in just focusing on something that is so narrow for the children's learning. Their intent is to widen the child's knowledge and not to stiffle them into themes. That makes some sense. I am so used of using themes to guide me in teaching my littlehon at home, and when I learned that there is no theme, I really freak out! So what am I supposed to supplement my littlehon's learning at home then? According to the class teacher, even though they don't teach according to theme, their curriculum is based on seasons - Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer. It is pretty broad theme if based on seasons, but I couldn't agree more with the teacher when she told me that based on the seasons, she could teach anything she wants without a narrow focus theme biweekly or monthly, so that the children are exposed to a variety of learning knowledge in class. She can teach about the types of animals found during that particular season, the types of clothings they wear, the food they eat cos some food/fruits are seasonal, the migration of animals, colors changes in each seasons, the types of plants they can plant in each season, the acitivities they can do in that season, the places they would travel in that season - you won't go up the mountain to see snow in summer, won't you?, the weather conditions in each season etc. She also bases on what the children are interested in learning. I guess she doesn't want to restrict her teaching in just a particular theme in class, and everyday she will try to tie in her teaching related to the season, and also what is happening in that month. For example, if it's a Recyling Week, she will teach about "Recycling" in class, and if Halloween is coming for that month, she will share about "Halloween" etc. Since there is no focus on a particular theme, and also I will not know what she is going to teach for that week, it's hard for me to supplement my littlehon's learning at home. So I decided to teach my littlehon based on what he is interested in, and from one lesson, I try to spiral my teaching to another lesson. I guess by doing so, I will expand my littlehon's knowledge base. Whatever it is, my littlehon will be in this school for a year, and the teacher and I will decide if he needs to be transferred at the end of the school year, if the teacher really cannot catch up with his learning. I hope that won't happen. It's no joke transferring to another school after knowing everyone in class. Seriously, I won't want my littlehon to start all over again in another school and rather keep him at home to learn from me instead.

We are His Masterpiece

2010-07-17T08:56:00.000-07:00

In the Bible, Psalm 139:13-14 says that "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well". Yes, God is our craftsman, and we are God's craftsmanship as in Ephesians 2:10. As I look up the definition of "craftsman", it also means "artist". So God is also an artist, and we are His artwork, made perfect in every way. I pray that as God chisels us, we will grow into His image each and everyday of our life. Yes, God doesn't make junks, we are His original masterpiece. Whoever we think we are or are not, remember that we are God's Masterpiece, and He is proud of us.

Recounting an accident

2010-07-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

Today, when I went to school to pick up my littlehon, the teacher assistant told me that my littlehon had an accident in class. According to her, she said that my littlehon bumped his forehead on the floor while sitting down, and he was crying hard. They did put some ice pack on him and he was alright after that. I always tell myself, accidents happen and sometimes it can't be prevented, and what is done cannot be undone. As long as it's not life threatening accident, it's no big deal for me. I don't really make a big hoo ha when my little hon hurts himself, but I would be dying to know the truth how my littlehon hurt himself. I wondered how on earth my littlehon would bump his head SITTING DOWN?? I know my son pretty well, and he NEVER has an accident at home while sitting down. How could a child bump his forehead while sitting down? This is the question that I didn't really quite understand when the teacher assistant told me, and I asked her HOW he managed to bump his forehead sitting down? Her reply was that how toddlers can sometimes lost their balance, and that's why she prefers the students to sit criss-cross on their legs. To me, it didn't make any sense as I know my little hon's reflexes very well and he is such an agile little guy who rarely has an accident at home or outside home. Of course I didn't buy her story. So after we reached home, I wanted my littlehon to recount the accident to me.

Mommy: Honey, what happened to your head today?

Littlehon: I bumped my head and it's aooowee.

Mommy: How did you bump your head?

Littlehon: I was sitting down, and I bumped my head.

Mommy: Did you bump your head on the floor?

Littlehon: No, I bumped my head on the table.

Mommy: hmmm (in my head thinking: the teacher told me he bumped his forehead on the floor), so can you show me how you bumped your forehead on the table.

Littlehon: I was trying to sit down, and I fell backwards, and I hit the table (pointing to the leg of the table).

Mommy: I see. So did you hurt your forehead or the back of your head?

Littlehon: The back of my head (his hands touching back of his head).

Mommy: So did you bump the head yourself or did someone push you?

Littlehon: I bumped my head myself.

Mommy: So what did the teacher do to your head?

Littlehon: The teacher put ice pack on my head.

Mommy: Did you feel better after the ice pack?

Littlehon: Yeah...

Mommy: So again did you bump your head on the floor or on the table?

Littlehon: On the table (pointing to the leg of the table again).

The above were the exact conversation that I had with my littlehon. I guess the teacher assistant has underestimated the ability of my son's language, thinking that a 2.5 years old will not be able to commmunicate much, let alone an accident. My littlehon tells me everything that happens in school, and I know he is capable of putting his feelings into words. So whose story do you think I would trust? This accident was not a big deal, but at least I know the truth on how it actually happened. After this incidence, I believe this new teacher assistant know who she is dealing with, and teaches her that never underestimate the ability of a little child's language, and lying to parents doesn't help.

Thank God for His Masterpiece

2010-07-13T16:04:00.000-07:00

Thank God for the gift of His Masterpiece.
God has been faithful & great,
for He is my strength when I am weak,
seeing me through my first leap of faith.

Thank God for the gift of His Masterpiece.
God has been awesome, and my peace,
for He is my conquerer when I am faced with fears,
seeing me through my first leap of faith.

Thank God for the gift of His Masterpiece.
God has been merciful & gracious
for He is my blessing when I expect the unexpected,
seeing me through my first leap of faith.

Thank God for the gift of His Masterpiece.
which is God's precious gift and promise to me,
and I accept it humbly with my grateful heart,
that I will cherish and treasure the gift of His Masterpiece.

Thank God for the gift of His Masterpiece.
that He has seen me through my first leap and,
as I go through my second leap of faith, I know that,
God will continue to see me through with His unending love.

Thank God for the gift of His Masterpiece.
May God continue to bless my family and I,
as we await patiently for His wonderful year end gift
and that's our special gift from God -
The Gift of His Masterpiece!

God's Gift

2010-07-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

God promised me a gift, a gift that He longed to give me.
Would it be my dream house, dream car, or dream vacation?
I was wondering, and yet I waited patiently for His gift.

God promised me a gift, a gift that He has planned long ago.
Would it be my dream career, dream diamond, or just dreaming?
I was wondering, and yet I waited patiently for His gift.

God promised me a gift, a gift that no one else can give.
Far more precious than any dreams of my dream would be.
I was wondering, and yet I waited patiently for His gift.

God has promised me a gift, a gift that is wonderfully and fearfully made.
A gift that He painstakingly crafted and designed to His perfection.
And I am waiting patiently for the arrival of His Masterpiece.

No more milk bottle

2010-06-28T08:29:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder if my littlehon should continue to drink milk with his milk bottle. I restricted the use of milk bottle to only night time before my littlehon goes to bed when he was about 22-23 months old. Reason being, I don't want him to rely on his milk bottle too much that it will become a habit. I am glad that my littlehon has never used a pacifier since birth because I know how hard it is to break from it once addicted. I am gradually weaning him off from his milk bottle. Strange enough, last month, I realized that he seldom asked for milk at night, and even if he does want milk at night, he always tells me he wants to drink from the cup. I had no idea why the change, and I guess it's a sign of growing up. So gradually, he was weaned off his milk bottle, and never asks for it ever! Seriously, I would prefer him to drink from milk bottle because he tends to drink more milk from the bottle compared to drinking from cup. When I asked him why he didn't want his milk bottle anymore, and he told me that he is a big boy now and big boy doesn't need milk bottle. Yes, my littlehon is a big boy now, and pretty soon with a blink of an eye, he will become a man. I can't bear to think that he will no longer be my little boy in 10-20 years time. Thus, I am enjoying every single bits of my life now with my littlehon, watching him grow and learn, and let him know that I am always there for him. Life is short, spend more time with your children because very soon they will have their own friends, own life, and you will miss all the cuddles, hugs and kisses from your little ones. I am missing them now as I type .......

Watch your language

2010-06-27T08:44:00.001-07:00

I was working on my laptop one night, and out of sudden I got so frastrated with the downloading that I literally screamed for Rodney for help! The minute he came up to the study room, I was so fed up with the laptop that I vented my anger and told him "This STUPID laptop is so slow! Can you please help check?" I was so frastrated that I was oblivious that my littlehon was tagging behind Rodney and obviously, he heard my CURSE & SWEAR on the laptop! The next morning, my littlehon was playing with Rodney's cell phone and he was playing with it for quite some time that it ran out of battery. My littlehon literally came running to me and said with frastration of course, "Mommy, Mommy, this STUPID cell phone is not working! What happened?" I knew I learned my lesson!

Summer Break

2010-06-25T08:32:00.001-07:00

It's a long 3 month break from school for my littlehon and he doesn't start his class until September. Therefore, I lost my total freedom eversince he stays at home with me since June! I miss my quiet time with God, reading my favorite books, meeting up for coffee with friends, watching my favorite shows, and even the slightest quiet time at home alone, and of course with Diao but he never makes so much noise or bothers me as much as my littlehon does! Since my littlehon is learning so much in his class, according to his teacher, he picks up things pretty fast, and shows no signs of struggling with a different teaching method which I am worrisome of because I want him to enjoy learning things that best fit his learning style. I promise myself that I will not be "pushing" him too hard about learning at home with me during summer break, though he enjoys each and every single activities with me. There will be some learning of course but it will not be as intense as before which he was always doing something whenever he was with me. I want him to enjoy his break knowing that summer break is time for him to take a break from school, and enjoy himself. I want him to choose what he likes to do most and of course he would choose outdoor, who doesn't at his age? We go outdoor pretty much whenever the weather is good. We meet up with his playmate, Justin, almost every once or twice a week, either at the play park or at his house. I am happy to see them together, learning to share, interact and be social. And of course, there are times that both of them disagree, and this is where we parents intervene, and tell them to be nice to each other. The meeting up becomes a routine that my littlehon would miss playing with Justin if we don't get to meet a particular week. When we are not meeting Justin, we would take our nature walk around our neighborhood, and I would also drive him around to explore other places such as postal office, clinics, bookstores, pharmarcies, library, swimming pool, cafe, airport, bank, farmer's market etc to observe what people do at different places.

If we are driving out, my littlehon would ask, "Mommy, where are we going?", and I would tell him where we will be going, and out we go. And less than 5 mins of drive, my littlehon would ask, "Are we there yet?"....Arghh....of course not! And he would keep asking until we reach! I wonder if most children are like that, a lot of questions, and very talkative. At times, I feel tired of answering the questions he asks. On second thought, I rather he asks me questions than not asking at all. This is where he will learn, for instant when we were learning about "Clouds" few weeks ago, he asked me why the clouds were moving. I explained to him, and I thought I wanted to expand his knowledge further by borrowing books about "Air", and "Wind" for his reading level. Afterall, he learns a lot from reading up. We read "Air is Around You" by Franklyn M. Brandley, "The Wind Blew" by Pat Hutchins, "Wind" by Marion Dane Bauer, and "A Book About Bubbles- POP!" by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. After reading those books, and we explored "air" by doing some activities like using straws to blow bubbles in the water, blowing bubbles using wand, using pump for balloons, and ball. It's just a simple question, "Why the clouds move?", and it spiraled into learning of "Air", and I really kind of like it this way because the learning was expanded based on my littlehon's interest and curosity, and I didn't have to think of what to teach which I used to spend a lot of time doing that made me kind of stress. I do have plans of what I want to teach him, but the curriculum is more geared towards what I want him to learn instead of what he is interested in learning. So I go with his flow instead because finding out what interests him is more important than what I want him to learn. Reading is my littlehon's love, and during this Summer Break, just for June itself, we borrowed a total of 148 books! My littlehon was so thrilled when he saw the room filled with books.

Recently, we discovered a new born rabbit at our yard, and also some newborn birds in a nest at our property, and we talked about them. Then, two of the questions that my littlehon asked were "Why is the little rabbit in the hole?", and "Where were the rabbit and the little birds' mommies?" After giving a short brief answers, I thought I would borrow some books about the names of places that the animals live in, and see if I can find any books about what happened after the baby animals are borned or how a nest is built. This may be quite challenging, but anything for my littlehon's learning. I realize that I do enjoy finding materials that I know my littlehon wants to learn because it's out of his interest and his curosity. I hope it will remain that way for the rest of the year, and now I learn to be flexible in terms of his learning and my teaching. I can't wait for his two weeks summer class (July 12 - 23 July) from his Montessorie school, and I am looking forward for my own space, my refuge with God, my personal time with friends, and most important, a recharge of energy from a day's work -housecleaning, cooking, running errands, and taking care of my littlehon most of the time. The toughest and the most rewarding job on earth ever - Stay At Home Mum!

Pet Peeves

2010-06-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

Everybody has at least one pet peeve, and my major ones are as follows:

- people who love to criticize others without first examining themselves.

- people who think they know more than others especially not in the areas of their expertise.

- people who talk loudly over their cell phones.

- people who don't pick up after their pets.

- people who double-dip.

- during rainy days, the car engine is turned off without first turning off the wipers; leaving the wipers in the middle of the windshield.
- drivers who text or use their cell phones while driving.

- drivers who change lane without signaling.

- when my socks get wet in the running shoes during rainy days.

- toys, especially those potentially sharp or pointed, lying on my leather sofas.

- when I can't find the things I need when I need them most, and when I don't need them, they are just right in front of me!

What makes a family?

2010-06-14T09:48:00.000-07:00

Few days ago, I was chatting with my American friend who has two boys in their early teens. I love catching up with her because in term of raising boys, she has more experience than I do since she has two and went through trials and errors growing up with them. I just love talking with experienced mothers. While chatting, out of curosity. I asked her a very simple question, "Have you ever thought of having girl in the family?". Not to my surprise, she told me that when she was pregnant with her second child, she longed for a girl but it never turned out. It seems very reasonable to think of a girl if one already has a boy, and vice versa. However, to my very surprise when she said how she wished she had a girl so that her family is complete. I got a shock of my life that how a highly educated, working woman would give such an ignorant and naive comment! Is she trying to tell me that she needs a girl so that her family is complete, and with two boys, her family is lacking something?

According to human definition, "Family" is a unit typically (or "traditionally") composed of a mated couple and their dependent children in co-residence. According to biblical definition, the basic biblical family unit is comprised of one man, one woman—his spouse, and their offspring or adopted children. In the New Testament, “family” includes everyone who lives in a house — this would include not just blood relatives, but also slaves and servants. Nothing in the definition ever mentions that one needs a boy and a girl to make up a family. Whether one has a boy or a girl, or all boys or all girls, you are already a family. One doesn't need to have a boy AND a girl in order to complete a family. A family is a family and there is no such thing as a complete family. Those who think that you need to have a complete family, it's time to change your mindset and do some rethinking. Though it's a very simple question, I hope that through very simple answer, this friend of mine knows that she has a great family that God has planned for her, and nothing is lacking in her family. She may not have a daughter, but I believe that she will have great daughter-in-laws in near future who will join into the family. May God bless her and her family! And I want to thank God for my family too!

Diaperless Update

2010-06-06T09:37:00.000-07:00

A friend emailed me two weeks ago to ask me if my littlehon has ever had any accidents during the night. My answer to her was "Yes!" to be honest. My littlehon was diaperless at 28 months in March, and til now he is still diaperless, and he never wants to go back to his diaper ever. For the past three months, he wetted the bed 3 times, and the first 2 times were when he was not feeling good & caught some flu bugs, and the last time was when we traveled to B.C. Vancouver, Canada, a new environment for him. My littlehon is doing great in his undies, and has much better control of his bladder as he gets older. I remembered many times when we were outside walking in the nature, he was able to hold pretty well when I told him that I couldn't find him a restroom, and needed him to hold til we went back home. In our recent 6 hours driving trip to B.C. Vancouver, we made sure that we made several stops so that our littlehon could release himself. In his class, he is the youngest who goes diaperless, and according to the teacher, he insists to go to the bathroom by himself and doesn't want any help. There was no reports of accidents during naptime either. Many times, whenever, my littlehon wakes up in the morning, he would tell me "I never wet the bed". Except, the two times when he wasn't feeling good, he had accidents, and he would wake up, and said to me, "Mommy, sorry, I wet the bed". I guess those children who are diaperless, somehow, in the beginning, they will still have some accidents sometimes. As time goes by, they will outgrow it, just like we did when we were young.

I remember when I first started to toilet train my littlehon, my mother told me to wake my littlehon in the middle of the night to pee so that he will not wet the bed. I never did that because I can't wake up in the middle of the night myself, and seriously I rather my littlehon wets the bed than for me to wake up in the middle of the night to wake him up just to pee. I am not that motivated to wake up in the middle of the night at all. Thank God, my littlehon could sleep through the night without having any accidents, except the two times when he was unwell, and the one time in a new environment. Whenever my littlehon is in the bathtub or in the swimming pool, he will tell Rodney or me that he needs to go pee. I am impressed that he doesn't pee in the bathtub or in the pool. I am ashamed to say that I would pee in the bathtub or in the pool when I was his age. I would say that my littlehon is doing a great job. Give your little ones time, and they will definitely outgrow it. But remember to do some protections for the bed still even though they are diaperless, just in case, they may have accidents due to some reasons. Do not be discouraged if your little ones are not diaperless yet, they will outgrow it just like we did, it's a matter of time. Don't rush them!

Need to size down?

2010-06-02T22:59:00.001-07:00

The month of May was a little crazy month for me. I know it's Mother's Day on 2nd Sunday but somehow, it came without me realizing it until two days before Mother's Day, I received a parcel from UPS. As I opened up the parcel, to my surprise, it was for me. I have heard so much about Pajama Jeans from radio talks, and Racheal Ray who hosts a TV talkshow during Feb and talked about it, but I never know that Rodney would ever get a pair of Pajama Jeans for me for Mother's Day. Seriously, I have never even mentioned about it, or have any desire to own one. There are a number of critics too about the Pajama Jeans, and I don't really care. At least, this year's present is different from all previous years which I was always surprised with my favorite Tiffany jewelries. I love my Pajama Jeans however when I tried to put on, I realized that it was a "XS". Bummer! Is Rodney still having the illusion that I am still on "XS" or is he trying to hint that it's time to get back to "XS" size? How on earth could I ever fit into an "XS" after giving birth to my littlehon?. And, honestly, my "XS" size never got back even until now! What was he thinking? Rodney has to send back my Pajama Jeans to exchange for BIGGER size, and the Pajama Jeans came back in time for my birthday. Is that an excuse for not getting me my birthday present or what? Anyway, it's the not gift that matters. I had a wonderful time on my birthday because we drove up to B.C. Vancouver just to shop and eat our favorite Chinese food during the long Memorial Weekend. And my littlehon had an opportunity to see a little part of Canada since he has been studying the flags of various countries. When we were at the border of US/Canada, my littlehon exclaimed "That's Canada" upon seeing the Canadian flag. I was glad that the study of the flags at home is worth the time and learning.

All About Preschool

2010-05-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

Though my little hon has been to day care school before, I have never really liked the idea of putting him back to school again eversince we pulled him out from Knowledge Beginnings. I still feel that I am his best teacher who knows exactly how he learns best based on his learning styles and his interest. I just couldn't entertain the thoughts that he has to go through all over again, the basic skills that he has already mastered, with all the other children who are beginning to learn the basics at his age. I strongly feel that I am doing a disservice to my little hon if I were to put him in such learning environment. Since Rodney thinks that it's good for him to go to school (which I disagree), I have to submit to his authority "grudgingly" in fact. I told God that if my little hon needs to be in school, I want him to be in a Christian school which is my first priority.

It has been difficult the first week, looking for the right school for my little hon. Some of the Christian schools that we visited, though have a very strong teaching about exposing the children to God's words or personality, singing Christian songs, and doing Christian crafts, the majority of the learning time is still based on learning the basic skills, which my little hon already mastered:( I hate to say that my little hon will not be able to benefit from learning new things academically, except learning about God, singing Christian songs or doing Christian crafts etc. One of my American friends told me that if given a choice, she would put her daughter in a school that challenges her daughter in her academic learning because she can teach her daughter about God, or sing Christian songs or do Christian crafts at home with her. Learning about God could start from home, and by getting my little hon to church, he will learn about God and singing Christian songs too. So to find a school that meets my little hon's academic needs is more important. I am not sure if I agree with her, but I took hearts of her words, praying and asking God to help me choose the right preschool.

As Rodney and I were looking around for schools, talking about which school to put our little hon when we were at the Korean restaurant for lunch, we met our Christian friend from our previous church in the same restaurant. Then we started to talk about schools as she has a daughter, who is 4.5 years old, and she began to comment about her daughter's ex-preschool which happened to be in my list of choice of preschool for my little hon. After hearing her comments, I decided to strike off the preschool as one of the choices. Then, this friend of ours told us about The Good Shepherd Montessori Preschool that her daughter is in right now. This preschool that she mentioned is not in our list at all because putting my little hon in a Montessori school is NOT our choice as I don't think I like the idea of putting my little hon in a Montessori school. I am not against Montessori teaching and learning, just that I don't think it's a great environment for academic learning for my little hon, knowing the way he learns. I hate to say that I don't want my little hon wondering around finding things to do as I prefer him to learn in a direct instruction learning environment where it's more structured, and I know that he will learn best based on what I know about him. My little hon is methodical and functions best when he knows what is going to happen, instead of doesn't know what's happening next. I don't mind the Montessori personal life skill activities, but not the teaching method of academic subjects which are pretty broad and lack of focus and substance I think.

But somehow, after talking to this friend of ours whose daughter is in the Good Shepherd Montessori Preschool/Kindergarten, I told Rodney that we should go take a look at the learning environment before we made any final decision. I have heard and learned so much about Montessori classroom, and the concern I have is that my little hon might not be able to learn in such environment. Again, afterall, I know how he learns best under my care, and for the past 1.5 years, many have witnessed his growth and his learning abilities through regular updates in his blogs. So, with my skeptical and doubtful attitudes, I went to pay the good Shepherd Montessori Preschool a visit. The first impression was that the children blew me off the ceiling - they were so independent and know exactly what to do with little teacher supervision. The second impression was that the classroom is very structured even though the whole room is full of Montessori materials & manipulatives divided in sections, and the children seem to be spreaded out at the different parts of the classroom, working on their own individual activities. The third impression was that I never knew that Montessori school teaches about God. The four impression was how on earth the 2-3 teachers managed to accomodate and teach 20 children whose age range from 2.5 to 5 years learning in the same enivronment? OMG! Can and will my little hon learn in such environment? Does he know what to do with little supervision or will he wonder around in the classroom looking for things to do or even skiviing when the teacher is not paying attention at him? Will my little hon be able to learn about God in the Montessori way? These questions came to my mind as I was observing the class, and I was told it will take a new student a few lessons to learn the routines in the classroom and he/she will learn the rules eventually. My main concern is: Will my little hon learn in such environment? After spending 2 hours observing the classroom, and on serparate occasion, I sat down with the Director and the classroom teacher where I shared all about how my little hon learned all these while, and what he has achieved so far at age 2 years 3 months. I also shared about my concerns and his learning abilities which sometimes put me into exhaustion of what to teach him next. After hearing about my little hon, both of them were so excited and couldn't wait to meet him on first day of school.

There must be a reason why Rodney and I met our Christian friend from our previous church. If we hadn't met her, we would never ever consider a Montessori preschool for our little hon, and if our little hon has never ever gone to the Montessori preschool, I would never know how much he would enjoy learning in such different environment from where most of us would be in the public schools. I thank God for creating such an opportunity to "bounce" into our Christian friend, and I believe it's God's plan that we put our little hon in the Good Shepherd Montessori Preschool/Kindergarten. My little hon has grown to be much matured in term of his learning and social skills. Basically, he is learning by observing the older children in class, and at the same time teaching and guiding the younger ones while doing the activities. I also observed that my little hon's concentration and patience have improved tremendously in terms of doing art especially. I guess it's the Montessori method of teaching. I remember when I was observing one of the Montessori classrooms, the children were learning about "Earth Day" and later in the art, each child was to paint their "Earth" (already pre-drawn) by observing an already painted Earth done by the teacher. When I asked why the children are "copying" by looking at the teacher's art work and applying paint to their "Earth", and to me it's kind of reproducing another same "Earth", and what's the purpose behind it? I was told that by getting the child to observe an art work, and do exactly the same, it helps them to observe and get the right colors that they need to apply to their "Earth". Observation skill is acquired during the process, and in order to observe, one needs concentration, and thus this is another skill that a child needs to acquire in order to accomplish a task as such. This is by no means trying to stifle a child's creativity but to encourage a different skill set.

Therefore, based on these reasons, I let my little hon paint the little letters of the Fruit Alphabets by observing the colors of the fruits, and the art lessons spiral into the painting of the various country flags, and the various types of clouds in the sky. My little hon seems to enjoy the process as we talk about the colors and some aspects of the art work while he is painting the pieces. It doesn't hurt to observe a classroom, and I hope to observe more of the Montessori classroom if I have more time and energy. I remember the Director told me that Montessori teaching style would allow my little hon to learn in a different way from direct instruction teaching, and what I do with my little hon at home would be a supplement to what he is learning in school. In a way, my little hon would benefit from both teaching and learning styles, and thus would maximize his learning abilities. I do agree with her, and even though we are from different schools of thought, I would not say which is the best methods of teaching for any children. By far, I still believe that the best method for my little hon is direct instructions, and I hope that he will be exposed to other ways of teaching and learning and convince me he learns otherwise. Whichever teaching methods that we parents use for our child/ren's learning, as long as he/she enjoys and love learning, that's what matters most.

I made you proud, Ma & Pa!

2010-05-14T21:33:00.001-07:00

I remembered 4 years ago when I was an undergraduate, watching the graduates wearing their hoods receiving their certificates, I told myself that I want to wear the graduate hood to receive my certificate one day. And here I was on 1st May 2010, wearing the graduate hood, receiving my certificate. I wish my parents were there that day. Though they were not able to attend, I know deep down in their hearts, they are so proud of my achievement. On that same day, when I saw all the professors marching in with their robe and bonnets, I told myself that I want to wear the professor's robe and bonnet one day to receive my doctorate in Education. Just as I was busy preparing for the doctorate application in the past months, somehow God has a better plan for me. I have no choice but to set aside my doctorate dream, and I wonder if I am able to embark this dream if I take on the other plan that God has for me. Anyhoo, as I was seeking the Lord, this verse came to me, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9. Yes! God has a plan for me, and it's my job to obey Him. Not that I am a godly woman, I am not. I just don't want to mess with God who has a better plan for me. I know better, I have come a long way to learn my lesson when I didn't submit to God's plan. I'd better be, and I believe in God's timing if it's time for me to take up my doctorate. For the time being, I am contented with my Master in Education, and I am glad that I made my parents proud. Though my parents were not there to celebrate my success, I was glad that my own family was there to support me. Just as my little hon witnessed his Mommy's achievement, I hope that 20 years later, I will be the proud parent of my little hon, to witness his highest achievements in his life.

Rejoice!

2010-04-19T00:18:00.001-07:00

Whenever my little hon achieves his milestones such as when he began to turn over his little body, took his first step, said his first word, calling "Daddy & Mommy" for the first time, had his first pearlie, took his first solid food, mastered his basic skills, mastered his self-feeding skill, learning to be independent, read his first book, learning to spell, and draw, write his name, being diaperless, or now learning to say 1-10 backwards, like many proud parents, I will rejoice and celebrate every success he has achieved in his growing up moments. I feel proud and happy that not mainly because my little hon is able to achieve all these skills at a very young age, but mainly because he has put in a lot of effort into trying and practising in mastering those skills, and of course some of which came to him naturally. All glory be to God! I rejoice and celebrate for my little hon's success because it takes a lot of a little being's inner spirit and strength with lots of patience and determination to get to where he is right now. And again all children will get to where they are supposed to be or achieved in their own timing, but to me I just feel proud that not only my little hon has acheived what he has learned, in midst of getting to where he is right now, he has shown me the beauty of his strong personality, he has developed great patience and determination, embraced the love and joy of learning, and most important of all, he learned to exercise his decision making skill and be self motivated in all things that he does. Now his famous quote is "I can do it!" which melts my heart everytime when he encounters difficult situations, and tries to solve himself. I rejoice and celebrate not only his success in all the skills that he has acheived, but also his spirit and strength that are developed within him. I thank God that my family and some of my close Christian friends will rejoice with me upon my little hon's success by dropping me an email, and they feel happy for me. Afterall, they have also been through what I am going through now, a proud parent in the making. I am so blessed that I am surrounded with a bunch of great christians whom I can share my joy, and I believe that people who feel miserable about others' success have a hard time being happy with themselves or with life. Do you find it hard to rejoice in others' success? I believe as Christians, we should rejoice with those who rejoice. Instead of having sour grapes over the success of other people, we should be jumping for joy. I thank God that you are rejoicing with me in celebrating every success of my little hon's achievement! All glory be unto our God Jesus!

Hit Hard!

2010-04-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

Today I went to church with my little hon as Rodney was not feeling good. I was glad that I met one of my church friends whom I have shared about how God was telling me to be still. Guess what! This friend of mine told me "Cherish, I am so glad that you could make it for today's service inspite of you being unwell too. This message is really for you. Pastor Frank preached about "Be Still". Upon hearing that, I broke into tears even before I attended the service! God has indeed spoken to my heart and today's sermon is a confirmation of God's peace to me that He wants me to be still and know that He is GOD! Pastor Frank preached from Mark 4:35-39 where Jesus wanted his disciples to take a boat with Him and cross over to the other side of the land. The disciples obeyed and went across. In the midst of crossing the sea, a huge storm came, and the disciples became panick and asked Jesus "Don't you care if we are drown?". Then, Jesus stood up and told the wind and waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Yes, there are many storms in our lifes that we struggle and sometimes we as Christians we question God "Don't you care?". Yes! God does care, and He wants us to know that in the midst of all the storms of our life, He wants us to be still and know that He is God that is in control. I think I worry too much about how to be the best mother to my little hon, and how I could provide my best in his academic success in life, and start thinking about how he is able to learn and reach his potential in public school, and whether I should homeschool him instead. Some of you may think that I worry too much, but it's so natural for mothers or even parents to think about their children's needs in life, and want the best for their children. I guess this message has hit hard on me that I need not to worry that much because my God is in control, and I should let go and trust that God will take good care of my little hon's needs in life. I need to be still before Him, so that when storms come, I will be able to trust God to see me through difficult situations. Do you have storms in your life that you need to trust God that He will bring you safely out of the storm? Be still and know that He is God in control! I really thank God that God has spoken to me so hard and clear this morning, and He knows each and everyone's heart. I am so determined to find peace with God because I am so tired of being in control, and I want God to be in control behind the wheel and lead me to wherever He wants me to be in life. May God bless you too.

Oh Dear!

2010-04-11T22:15:00.000-07:00

Two days ago, my friend sent me some links to update blog templates, and I was trying out today with my little hon's web blog, out of sudden, the web blog seems to miss some links. In my panic that I may lose some posts, I was trying to click and hoping to resume back to my old templates which I thought I like most, some side bars were GONE!!! I tried to retrieve but can't, and that showed how handicap I am in technology...hiaz...I wonder how to retrieve those data, and now my little hon's pictures seem doesn't move by itself in slideshows, and I wonder why. I emailed my friend, and was told that I should save the original setting which I didn't ..Bummer! Help!!!! Anyone? or is it too late to do anything now :(

Be Still

2010-04-10T18:31:00.000-07:00

I wonder why eversince my little hon started to go to school last month, these words have been coming into my mind, "Be still, and know that I am God!". God must be trying to tell me that something is wrong in my current situation now, and wants me to be still. Yes! I remembered before I got married, I spent at least 1 hour talking to God (praying), and another hour reading His words (Bible) everyday, and I also had great social life with my friends in Singapore. After I came to US since 2002, things seemed to have changed much. I was no longer spending that much time with God, or friends because I was spending most of my time studying or working partime to gain some teaching experience with the American schools. My prayer time is either when I was on the run, or when I was in the bathroom, or 5 mins before I sleep, and trying to utter a quick prayer to God! I don't really have time to sit down and ponder upon God's word, and wait before Him anymore. Something is very wrong! Things got worst after I had my little hon. For the past two years, I have been so busy with him, trying to cope with my Master program, and teaching and occupying him with my activities, and I hardly have time for God! I have been a very strong advocate for homeschooling eversince my little hon started to learn things at 16 months, and I see his potential and his ability to learn more with me than putting him in school. However, somehow, God had to challenge me that I need to have a paradigm shift into believing that my little hon would benefit from school even though he learns more than basic stuff from me. I guess I have to submit to God since I prayed to God that I will do so if I can really find a great school. Somehow, God answered my prayer! Why God? You shouldn't have! (I will share about the school when I have the time). Again the thought of putting my little hon in school was still unwilling, and I was really having a lot of struggles, and I do so grudgingly. So since my little hon is in school, it gives me even more free time to look up for materials, prepare them, and revamp my lesson plan a little so that it coincides with what the school is learning. I found myself even busier when my little hon is not around. I have high expectation of what he needs to learn thus spending more time in reasearching the best materials, comparing materials, and thinking of what to add on so that I can teach him in my fullest ability. I will not have any excuse of not getting the best materials because I have the whole time with me without my little hon interrupting me when I try to work on my computer to put his learning materials together, I thought. As I was busy working one day, the back of my head keep ringing "Be still, be still." As I stopped, out of sudden, the voice seems clearer, and telling me, "Be still, and know that I am God!" Oh Lord gracious! It was God speaking to me! Then, images of my time with the Lord came to me. I used to spend hours talking to God and now what am I doing? No time for God but got time to do research, find materials for my little hon? Yes! God is telling me that I need to get back to my time with Him and set my priority right! God gives me 3 free days (that's when my little hon goes to school) with a purpose! It was a wakening call from God for sure! Things are getting better once I got my priority right, and spend more time relating to Him. I feel so charged with energy and refreshed each day, and no longer I see the need to spend so much time thinking of what I want my little hon to learn and whether he learns enough for that day. God has blessed me with this special child, and this child belongs to God. God has entrusted my little hon to my care, and I need to let God take charge of my little hon's life, and whatever that he needs, just like he takes care of mine. Beside the need to spend more time with God, I have also spent more time with my friends. Yes! I need a social life. Most of close friends here have kids that are in their teens, and of course I do learn a lot from them through their parenting experience and what not. I lost most of my social life by spending most of my time with my little hon at home, and this needs to be changed. I had great time catching up with my friends, and have great fellowship with them. When friends came over to my house, chatting and eating, it was so relaxing and my mind wasn't even thinking about my little hon in school. No unnecessary whinning, no self talking noise, no sound of the trains and buses...everything was so peaceful.....Yes, I think mothers need to get away from their children once in a while to recharge otherwise one will lose her sanity. I was praying to God one day that He will bring me a playdate for my little hon so that the mother and child can meet up with us when my little hon doesn't go to school. That is one of my goals this year that I want a regular playdate for my little hon so that they can do things together outside home environment. Yes! God is faithful in answering prayer, and He always does! God brought me a playdate named Justin, and he just turns two, and most amazing thing is that he stays in the same neighborhood that we do. We have been meeting each other for the past month, and guess what, Justin tried doing art with my little hon when he is having his art time! Justin's mum, Yu Chin, is impressed with my little hon's love for art and music, and I hope to inspire Yu Chin to get Justin to do more art when he is at home! Isn't it God amazing? God is so good, and unless you have experienced the love of God, you will never ever know how good He is! I can't wait for my time with God again. I hope you do spend time with God too, and witness how good God is in your life, just like I do. God bless!

Because of Him

2010-04-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

Because of Him, I become a stronger woman, friend, teacher, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, sister-in-law, wife and mother. Because of Him, I become fearless, hopeful, and thankful. Because of Him, my pain and anguish are transformed into joy and peace. Because of Him, I choose to live a victorious life as He sees me through good times and bad times. Because of Him, I know I have eternal life because I believe in my heart that He died for my sins, and rose from the death. I want to rejoice Easter Sunday with all my brothers and sisters-in-Christ that our God, Jesus, has conquered death because He HAS RISEN on this day. I hope we will take this time to contemplate as we remember the victory of Christ over the empty tomb! My friend has blessed me with the Painting of His Ressurection, and I hope you will be blessed too!

Potty Trained

2010-04-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

It has been crazy weeks eversince my littlehon started to go to preschool two weeks ago. We also have been working on some activities, and I will share about it when I have the time. Eversince, my little hon was able to use language to tell me that he wants to poop, I thought I'd better start training him to tell me that he would want to pee. So I began putting him on training pants last Dec, and hoping that he would get use to wearing the training pants. In the beginning, there were accidents of course, which toddlers wouldn't when they started potty training? So in December, I only let my little hon wore training pants which he prefers to call it "underwear", during day time. The only time that he would put on diapers will be his nap time and sleeping time at night. My little hon did pretty well in telling me that he wanted to go bathroom each time, and there were no accidents whenever he wore his underwear. Everything went pretty well before we flew back to Singapore for Chinese New Year. I guess due to new environment, he had few accidents at my mum's place during the day time. So in Singapore, my little hon wore underwears only when he was at home, and I dared not let him wear underwear when we went shopping because I worried that we couldn't find a bathroom in time for him to release himself. Things get better when we returned to US in early March. My little hon did not have any accidents during day time eversince we came back from Singapore. As my little hon gets better control of his bladder, we tried taking our little hon go shopping in his undies. Of course, I bring along extra pants, and underwear, and not forgetting the plastic bag, just in case my little hon has an accident. I thank God that we never get to use the extra pants and underwear because he is doing so well in telling us that he needs to go. Whenever my little hon wakes up from his nap time, his diaper is always dry, so gradually, I try letting him nap with his undies. I am glad that he has been napping with undies for the past two weeks and there were no accidents reported. Even when he was in his school past two weeks, teachers have been telling me that he DID NOT have an accident during his nap time. Of course he had accidents the first two days of school due to new environment again. Yes! My little hon has been wearing his underwear to school since day one when he started his new school two weeks ago. By day 5 of his school, my little hon's teacher Ms Veronica told me that my little hon is already potty-trained as he is able to tell her when he needs to go on day 3 of school. I felt a relief when I heard what she said. Now night time is kind of scary if my little hon goes without diaper because I wouldn't want to deal with the cleaning of the stinky mess if he really has an accident. I insisted him to put on diaper during night time, and I observed that even with his diaper on at night after his shower time, he would tell Rodney or me that he needs to go bathroom to pee. This happened concurrently when he started to go to school two weeks ago, and with the diaper on at night, my little hon still prefers to use the bathroom instead. So I took the opportunity to ask my little hon one night if he wanted diaper or underwear, and he said "underwear". So I submitted to his request with fear and trembling of course. My gracious Lord! The next morning, he was so dry! This happened for the past one and half week without any accident when he wakes up in the morning! And of course before he goes to bed, I will always get him to use the bathroom. So now, I can officially and proudly declare that my little hon is DIAPERLESS at 28 months!! haaaa......yes all kids are different and they will be potty trained eventually at their own timing...I just want to thank God that my little hon makes my life easier by being independent and self-reliant at an early age, and I have one less thing to concern about because I hate to think about when will he be able to be potty trained and checking on his diaper every few hours. Now, whenever he is at home, he doesn't even tell me that he needs to go bathroom. He would go to the bathroom by himself, pull down his pants, and start releasing on his blue potty. A few times, I caught him trying to clear his potty over the toilet bowl, and I couldn't help laughing. Whenever he goes bathroom by himself, he would sit on the potty, and whenever, he is with me, he would stand up peeing. I don't really care whether he sits or stands peeing as long as he does it by himself. Oh before I forget, I guess my little hon feels motivated to go bathroom by himself because after he is done, I will hug and praise him for using the bathroom, and not forgetting a little stamp as reward on his hand ;)

Back to school?

2010-03-16T08:53:00.000-07:00

For the past two weeks that we have been back, my ears are not in peace because my little hon has been bugging me that he wants to go to school! My little hon didn't fuss about going back to school when I decided to take him out last Dec, and why now? I begin to confirm that the trip to Singapore caused all these fuss ~ good or bad, I don't know, I just want to spend quality time as much as possible with my little hon. Afterall, I still think that I am the best teacher for his learning just because I know how he learns and processes things, and I know him too well cause he is MY son, and no one knows him better than I do. I began to feel a struggle within my heart when I hear him telling me or Rodney that he wants to go to school the first thing in the morning, and the battle is especially tough when I hear him say "Mommy, when am I going to school?". I feel like telling my little hon, ""Guess what, hon, this IS your school, and Mommy is your teacher! You don't need to go to school, you will learn things and many more things with Mommy." I tried to recall the incidents that my little hon made such a fuss for school now, and I finally got it! While in Singapore, my brother, Elmos, would bring my niece, Mikayla to my mum's house to play with my little hon. Whenever my lilttle hon didn't see Mikayla on weekdays, he would ask me "Mommy, where is Mikayla jie jie?", and I would tell my little hon that Mikayla jie jie was in school. My niece is in K2 this year, so she cannot play with my little hon all the time, except weekends, but occasionally, my brother would bring her to my mum's house for dinner, and they would play for a long time. In fact, while in Singapore, my little hon did tell me that he wanted to go to school like Mikayla jie jie, and I thought that was just kid's talking, and he would soon forget about going to school when he gets back to US. That wasn't true! my little hon has been a bugger lately for school, and seriously I want to spend quality with my little hon, packing him up with tons of interesting activities (at least I think my activities are interesting and educational for him....heee...). It's really a struggle for me when Rodney said that my little hon has grown up to be more independent and sociable, and has mind of his own, and he prefers to play with other kids and NOT Mommy anymore. Those words really pierced deep into my heart, and broke it into thousand pieces! Yes, my little hon is not a baby anymore, I cannot keep him with me all the time, and he needs new circles of friends beside Mommy & Daddy, especially when my little hon cannot play with his cousins anymore now. Seriously, I cannot entertain the thought that my little hon is wasting his time in school learning those things that he has already known since 18 months, and he needs to learn more things other than all the basics alphabets, numbers, shapes, and colors. Though Rodney thinks that our little hon learns a lot more from me than from school, he supports the idea of sending him off to school to make friends rather than focusing on learning since our little hon has grown up to be more sociable. I am really apprehensive about the whole going back to school thingy, but I told Rodney I would do so unless our little hon is enrolled in a Christian school or a Waldorf schoo. Unfortunately, I don't seem to find any Waldorf schools which are near our place, so it has got to be a Chirstian school then so that my little hon can learn more about God, and some christian values. So for the past few days, I was looking for great Christian schools near our place, and we will be visiting some this week and next week. Seriously, I am not excited at all to send my little hon to school unless the school is teaching something that meets my little hon's needs. Until I see the curriculum of the school, I still prefer that my little hon spends quality time with me. Who knows I am waiting for my little hon to stop bugging me for school, and there we go again ~ spending quality time together ....heee....will see....

Resentments & Consolations

2010-03-12T11:52:00.000-08:00

Maybe "resentment" is too strong a word to use to express my unhappiness, disappointment, and displeased about my experience in my recent Singapore trip.

-Firstly, it was the visit to the Singapore library. It's a kind of love - hate feeling towards the library in Singapore. Each time, whenever I visit Singapore, I will definitely visit the library. I love going to the library, anywhere in any place in any country, simply because I love books! I hate it when I can only borrow 6 items: 4 books + 2 DVDs using 1 Singapore library card. For a moment, the word "injustice" comes to my mind when I think about those parents who may not be able to frequent the library often and yet want to borrow many books for their children to read. Some may think that I can use other family members' card so that I can borrow more books. But again, there is still limitation on numbers of items I could borrow. I begin to appreciate the libraries in America which there is no limitation for books borrowed. Each time, I go to the library , I would lug back at least 60 books for my little hon. It takes us a few days to finish reading all the books. The 6 books borrowed each time, takes my little hon a few hours to finish reading & talking through them, and I have to go back to the library to return the next day. The thought of going back to the library the next day to return the books was tormenting, especially walking through the killing heat on the way to the library! I really hope I could borrow more books the next time I visit. Until Singapore changes the rules in the library, the maximum number of books one could borrow using one card is 6, 4 books + 2 DVDs. How sad!

- Secondly, it was the MRT commutation experience. I think Singaporeans have not changed much when it comes to giving up their seats in the MRT, eversince I left Singapore 8 years ago. In each cabin, there are specific seats allocated for those who are physically challenged, pregnant women / with children, and senior citizens, and yet no one gave up their seats to my old parents, and not even me with a running child! Where is the Singapore grace? How sad! Maybe I was just unlucky in every of my MRT commute. Related to the MRT commute, I hate it when Singaporeans use the double the regular size entry/exit automated door when they swipe their cards at the stations. Don't they know that these doors are for those with wheelchairs or strollers? I think it's fine to use them when there aren't any passengers with wheelchairs or strollers need to enter/leave the stations. I was pretty pissed off that I had to wait for all passengers to leave when everyone saw me with a stroller and yet simply wouldn't give way to let me through the automated door. I was wondering what the personnel inside the control station was doing when he saw me standing near the door helplessly waiting. What a shame!

- Thirdly, it was the forever terrible heat in Singapore! Maybe I shouldn't have visited Singapore during Jan - Mar period. The transition from a cold winter to a sudden hot summer was the worst expereience for my body adjustment. I felt uncomfortable all the time that I have to "chop" off my hair for the first time. The shortest ever, even shorter than my first pregnancy! I think December is the best time to visit Singapore, definitely not Feburary!

- Lastly, it was the number of people that has risen over the years in Singapore. Frankly speaking, I felt claustrophobic when I saw tons of people swarming by me. For a moment, I felt breathless! For a small country like Singapore, the population has tripled over the past few years. Sad to say that I felt very insecure walking in crowded places as I have heard that crimes have risen which are inevitable when Singapore opens door to people of different values. When I heard from my sister-in-law that she was a victim of a MRT theft by a professional pickpocket, I have second thought about the people in Singapore. Yes, crimes happen everywhere in every countries, and Singapore may have the lowest crimes in the world, that doesn't mean that crime will not increase in time to come, especially when the government keeps importing people to our tiny country. Overcrowding is the word I would use to describe Singapore now. I used to feel safe and secure when I was in Singapore, but now with the overcrowding population, I feel insecure when I walk down the street at night. Believe it or not, when my Dad brought my little hon for a walk during evening time, I felt worried. I worried that someone might kidnap my little hon, and my old Dad would not be able to fight back to run after the kidnapper. I had to follow behind my Dad (without him knowing) to make sure that there was no one of weird behaviors approaching my Dad & little hon. With the increase population, seriously, I wouldn't know what kind of people Singapore is bringing in, and that worries me a lot for the safety of my little hon. You may think that I am a little paraniod but I don't care, I guess having left Singapore for 8 years, I begin to feel like a foreigner instead.

Alright, enough about my resentments, and now let me share my consolations

- First of all, I want to thank God for providing us all the financial needs each time we travel back to Singapore. The air tickets are not cheap, especially my little hon's ticket is an adult price, not even a child's price ticket. God has been faithful and good to me all these years, and He is my only source of comfort and consolations in times of needs. Despite the expensive air tickets, Rodney and I were glad that we decided to go back Singapore for Chinese New Year visit. Our little hon enjoyed every single moments in Singapore, and he was always happy because he sees many other people besides Daddy & Mommy. My little hon got to play with his cousins, 5 in total, and I got to know him more during the play with his cousins.

- Secondly, I found consolations when I visited the Singapore Zoo. I have never thought highly about Singapore's Places of Interest because nothing was as interesting as those found in other countries such as the United States. Having visited the zoos in the United States, I would say that our Singapore Zoo is one of the best zoos in the world. I have begun to change my perception of the Singapore Zoo after visiting 2-3 times during this trip. The zoos in the US have most of their animals in their enclosures, either behind glass wall, or a huge tall fence. It is hard to get a close up shots with any animals without those glass walls or huge fence. Even so, the views of most animals are always from a far distance. I begin to fall in love with the Singapore Zoo where the whole place is spotless and beautifully landscaped.,and most important of all, it's not as stinky as before. I am really impressed with the "open zoo" concept where the animals are free-roaming in their comfort zone, and the animals could be viewed at near distance in low fence. I was asking Rodney why the animals do not jump over the low rising fence to attack visitors, and his reply was : The animals in Singapore are well fed.....haaa......Is that true? Anyhoo, I love visiting the Zoo, and wish to visit again next time we are there. My little hon loves the splash zone, and no wonder it is one of the best attractions in Singapore! Keep it up, Singapore Zoo!

- Thirdly, I mentioned that Singapore has lost its grace when it comes to MRT commute, but I do find some consolations when I take buses with my little hon. The passengers in the bus were more willing to give up their seats when they saw me with my little hon. Surprisingly, majority of them who gave up their seats were middle-aged people. Are they more graceful than the younger Singaporeans who commute in MRT or they have gone through life enough to know what grace is all about? I hope Singaporeans will stop pretending to sleep on the privilege seats, and give up their seats to those who really need them. It really helps to relieve their discomfort if any, and make their MRT commute a pleasant experience.

I hope to find a brand new experience when I visit Singapore again next time. We have been back to US for more than a week and we are recovering slowly from our jetlag. I would say that the recovery period gets tougher as I get older, and it simply doesn't help much when there is a toddler who is also having jetlag, and worst still, daylight saving starts this Sunday, and may lengthen our jetlag recovery time. Will see. My little hon has been enjoying himself too much in Singapore, as well as back here because I haven't really started teaching him on the curriculum that I have planned for him eversince we went back to Singapore. I am hoping to start teaching him soon before his fire for learning dies down. And again, I will post less once we get back to our routine when we recover from our jetlag (hopefully end of next week), but will try to catch up if time permits.

Not so long!

2010-01-28T14:55:00.000-08:00

I haven't been visiting my blogs for more than a month, and seriously, I totally forgot both usernames and passwords. Fortunately, I wrote all passwords in my notebook, imagines how many passwords one may have. I guess it's a sign of aging ...sigh....For the past few weeks, life have been busier than I would imagine, when I have my little hon at home. He is always up and about all the time, and I have to keep him occupied with learning activities. It's only during his nap time, and after he goes to bed at night, that I have all the time to do housework, surf the web for resources, and put all the materials together for the next day. Blogging & emailing? Honestly, no time at all. Now, I prefer skyping, especially with my family.

For my little hon's learning, last year I adopted the "Theme" concept where I chose a learning theme every month. As for this year, I tried to focus on a mixture of "Christian based", and "Interest based" learning. As I mentioned last year, I want my little hon to learn about God, and want to instruct and discipline him based on Christian's Principle. I use the Children Bible as my reading text, and after reading, I search for activities that are related to the topic that we are reading. As for music lessons, I am introducing christian songs on top of the secular children songs. I also invest on christian books teaching about God's value. I also teach my little hon how to pray, and though he cannot pray well yet, it's such a joy to hear him say "Amen" at the end of every prayer.

For the month of January, we are learning about God's Creation and Noah's Ark. As this is my first time teaching about God to little child, I feel so inadequate and a lot of time have been spent surfing the web for teaching materials, and links after links, I was led to this website for Christians activities and learning. Though, 3 years ago during my student teaching, I have seen some teachers using such learning folders, I am not really attracted by it because it takes up a lot of unnecessary time putting the materials together. How much one learns depends on the materials provided. Basically, a learning folder comprises of worksheets or learning materials that are cut and arranged into pockets or flaps, and sections, and the main purpose is to motivate reluntant learners to help them learn. Most of the learning folders are put together by the students with the help of the teachers. Initially, I was reluntant to use the learning folder because it means a lot of time needs to be spent searching for materials to be put in the folder, and secondly, personally, I feel that the learning folder is for reluctant learners, and my little hon is so highly motivated, and learning folder is not necessary at all. However, I want to make the learning about God fun and interesting for my little hon, and also it's my first time teaching him about God, and the particular website has most materials ready for me to use, so I decided to give it a shot. I wonder why it was called "Lapbook" as the end product is not a "book" according to definition. So I decided to call mine "Learning Folder". I took some clips of my little hon's learning but no time to update as I wanted to spend quality time with him.

You may be wondering why I have the time to blog now ....heee....because I AM IN SINGAPORE NOW!!!! Rodney and I decided that we come back to Singapore for Chinese New Year, as we both think that our little hon should spend more time with his grandparents. Now that my little hon's vocabulary is exploding, he is able to speak in full sentences, and express himself very well. I am hoping that he learns some conversational chinese with my parents. It is so interesting to see the duck (my little hon) and chicken (my parents) converse, and yet both understand each other. My little hon understands some simple chinese but he is not able to speak. I came back alone with my little hon first, and Rodney will join us later. Some of my friends said that I am very kungho by bringing my little hon back to Singapore alone. I guess it's because I don't have to bring a lot of his toys and diapers since my little hon doesn't really play toys, and also by 2 years old, he is already out of diapers (only day time) whenever he is at home, and I don't have to lug so many diapers (don't forget diaper takes up space). I only replace his toys and diapers with now his favorite Dr Seuss' books. I still need to lug the stroller just in case my little hon falls asleep between transit. By the way I seem to have more problems uploading videos in You Tube in Singapore than in US. I wonder why. Let me get over my jet lag, and will update my little hon's learning later....however, updating blog is not my priority now because I want to spend quality time with my family......let me zzzz, and will update when possible......

So long!

2009-12-20T14:51:00.001-08:00

Finally, I am done with my Master Program, and I will be taking a break from my study before I get my "Permanent Head Damaged" ....heeee...It has been very challenging studying and taking care of my little hon at the same time. I would definitely give all the credits to my dear husband, Rodney, who has been giving me a lot of emotional support when I was under stress with all the forever never ending assignments, physical supports by helping to cook, clean the house and dishes, do laundry, give me comfort food (chicken soup), and take care of our little hon most of the nights when I was busy with assignments, and last but not least, the financial supports for buying all the expensive textbooks for the program (even though the tuition fees were from scholarship). Without all the supports, I don't think I will be able to complete the course successfully with Distinction. Indeed, God has been gracious and I feel so blessed! My convocation will be held in May, and I hope that my family will fly here again to celebrate my success.

Next year, I have great plans for myself and for my little hon. I will be taking my little hon out of daycare, and will be teaching him full swing with a tailored curriculum just for him. I am battling whether to get a job or stay at home to give him my full attention, and finally I have decided that I need to be spending more quality time with my little hon. Believe it or not, my mum gave me a good "scolding" for wanting to stay at home teaching my little hon. My mum thinks that it's more important to build my career and leave the teaching to the teachers in the school. Am I not a teacher too? I am certified to teach in Washington State, so I should be highly qualified to teach my little hon. Is building my own career and earning money more important than teaching and nurturing my little hon who is God-given? I believe that God gives me the skills to teach but not necessarily teaching other people's children. I really hope to homeschool my little hon if it's God's plan for me to do so. I started formal teaching my little hon 10 months ago when he showed interest in learning when he was about 15-16 months old. Within these 10 months, I have seen him grow tremendously, may it be the basic knowledge, art, music, life skills, and personality. My little hon learns so fast that he really amazes me every time. Sometimes I am really at lost what to teach him, and I feel guilty of not providing enough for him to learn more. Since my little hon already know his basic, seriously, if I continue to leave him in school, I believe he will lose interest in learning because whatever the teacher teaches are too easy for him, and on top of that I don't think daycare teachers will differentiate instructions based on the child's ability. Therefore, I have decided to spend quality one to one teaching with my little hon and continue to spur him on in learning.

I am proud that my little hon has achieved 99% of the learning goals that I set when I started teaching him. As I looked back how much my little hon has grown from a 15 months old who knew nothing to a 24 months old who know all his basic and so much more that a 2 year old would ever learn, I feel so proud of myself that through God's strength and guidance, it can be done! Yes, there is so much more in life that my little hon need to learn, and obviously it will take him forever to learn. So why in such an early age? Firstly, I believe in seizing the moments. When a child shows interest in learning, it is the best time to teach, and never reject a child who wants to learn about things in life. Secondly, I believe that the earlier my little hon learns about things, the more he will learn about other things, and much more. Knowledge is built, and expanded based on the child's exposure. Last but not least, I believe that Knowledge is Power, one can be robbed of treasures and gold, but no one will ever rob away my little hon's knowledge once he possesses it. I want my little hon to be a life long learner, and to me it's important to impart the skills of a lifelong learner, and instill the values of lifelong learning.

Within these two years, I have spent great time with my little hon, and I really want to thank God for him. Even though, some times my little hon drives me nuts, most of the time, he is such a lovely and comical boy. He is a sweet little boy who surprised me one night with "Are you o.k.? Mommy" when I was burying my head on a pile of notes, and many times, he shows his compassion by stroking my hair, looking at me saying "Mommy, so pretty". I am not sure if he meant Mommy is pretty or my hair is pretty, but it doesn't really matter because to my little hon, no matter how I have aged, I will forever his pretty Mommy. Every day without fail, my little hon will whisper to my ears, "I love you, Mommy" before he goes to bed. Some of my Christian friends told me that this is the best time to bond, and don't trade in for anything else because children grow up too fast. Seriously, I don't want to miss any moments with my little hon, and I know my little hon will grow up too fast too soon, and I will miss carrying him, and all the hugs and kisses if I let time goes by without spending quality time with him.

I would say that my little hon is a fast learner, and in terms of learning, he is a very patient boy. He loves to learn, and though academic knowledge is important, I still strongly think that good values and knowing about God will be the main focus in our next year's curriculum. Not only that I want my little hon to be outstanding in all that he does, I want him to learn to have God-like characters, values and personalities. I am not a perfect Mommy, and I am not a 100% godly woman, but I know what is best for my little hon, just like any other parents who want the best for their children. It has been a good 1 year 8 month updating my little hon's learning journey, and I hope to take a long break from blogging and focus 100% on my little hon, without spending time uploading videos and pictures and writing which are very time consuming. So for next year, I am planning to spend quality time with my little hon, and I believe 2010 will be a very fruitful year for both mother and son as we learn from each other with love, joy and laughter. I thank God for choosing my little hon to be my son, and me his Mommy. I will never trade my little hon for anything else in this world. I want to thank God also for my little hon's God-given intelligence, and I pray that he will grow up to be a smart man of God with great personality. I also pray that God will continue to provide me His strength and guidance to train my little hon in the way he should go(Proverbs 22:6), and bring him up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). In Jesus name, I pray.

Thank you for visiting my blog, and it has been a great 1 year 8 months of my blogging journey. I wish everyone a blessed Christmas, and a Happy 2010!! So long, my friends!

What an Ad!

2009-09-28T15:43:00.000-07:00

We went to Ikea for breakfast over the weekend, and saw this huge advertisement hanging down the ceiling. Rodney & I found it funny. Not sure if you caught it? ....pretty hilarious....haaa...

Raising kid/s

2009-09-16T12:15:00.001-07:00

This statue at University of Portland reminds me that it takes a whole village to raise a child, grandparents, friends, teachers, pastors, activity group leaders and many others in the community. Yes, I strongly believes that many individual others all have a role in the lives of our children, however, parents do bear the first and primary responsibility for their sons and daughters, in terms of educations and well being. I remember my mum once told me that it's easier to give birth to a child, but it's not easy to bring him/her up to the kind of person you want him/her to be. Two weeks ago, I spoke to one of my friends who has two boys in their teens. I asked her how's life being a mother of 18 years, and her reply was : CONSTANT WORRIES about the boys! Hmmm...I guess my mum must have thripled worries when my 2 brothers and I were in our teens. So does that also imply that the more children you have, the more worries you will be? That is kind of worry me because with my little hon, I am always worrying about his health, his needs and well being etc, so if I have another one, which this same friend asked me if I intend to have one, won't it be double worries? It's always interesting that when I have no baby, some people ask me when I will be having one. Now that I have one, some people will ask me when I will be having another one after my loss. I am also finding myself asking this question to some of my friends who have only one child too. I would love to have one more before I reach my big 40, but I know it's impossible because my previous loss was due to chromosome abnormabilities issue, and with my age, doctors told me that the risk of having abnormal kid is higher if the pregnancy carries through. So I must be really thankful to God that I miscarried then, otherwise, my 2nd kid will be someone special. Though, I am trained in Special Ed, I am totally not prepared to have or raise a special kid. Ironic, isn't it? Seriously, don't get me wrong, I am not discriminating against special kids, I love teaching them, and everyone is special in God's eyes, it's just that I am not willing to have special kid of my own, knowing my incapability to raise one. Some friends told me that I may not necessarily have special kid if I do get pregnant, but I don't think I want to take the risk. For now, I am just too thankful and happy to raise one healthy smarty pants if that's God's plan for me, and I guess God knows my ability as a mother, I am just not willing to take any risk. So I hope that my little hon will not blame me for not giving him any siblings.

Makeover revealed!

2009-09-09T14:03:00.000-07:00

Finally, my new countertop is done! I am so pleased with it, and I'd better be ...haaa....I am very particular about cleanliness, and now the new countertop is so much easier to maintain. Our kitchen now stands out more than the old tile countertop, and it looks fabulously wonderful! I told Rodney that maybe we should change our stove, refrigerator, and dishwisher into stainless steel. Unfortunately, Rodney is not going to invest any further on this house, and says that when the housing market is good, we should try selling our house. Now that I see my new countertop, I don't feel like moving anymore ...haaa....

Before

After

Wordless Wednesday #4

2009-09-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

Wish for another white Christmas this year!

Pls visit here for more Wordless Wednesday.

Coming Makeover

2009-08-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

Time is so sneaky! My 3 weeks summer break passed by without me realizing it! I thought my family would go for a short trip somewhere, but Rodney has other plan! He decided to spend the money on our kitchen countertop instead, and so no trip for us :( However, I am really excited about the new countertop makeover, and it won't happen until this coming Friday. Why the makeover? I guess we have been staying in this house for almost 5 years, and our initial plan was to sell this house and get something slightly bigger. Due to the economic downturn, and the house market weren't looking good, we have to put off our plan to sell this house. Not that I don't like this house. I love everything about the house. It has pretty serene environment, nice neighborhood with beautiful greenery just a stone's throw away from our backyard, with nice neighbors, and good schools around. Since at the moment, we are not able to sell our house, Rodney thought it would be a good idea to upgrade our 5 year old tile countertop with something else more durable with less maintenance, and hope that by the time the house can be sold at a higher price value. It took us a while to decide what we want to put onto for our new countertop. Seriously, we don't mind spending on granite (about 7-8 grand including tearout+haul+plumbing+undermount sink+backsplash+custom edge nosing) if we lived in a million dollar house, but the fact is that we are not. So we decided to choose quartz which is more affordable price range for us (but still cost us more than 6 grand). Maintaining a tile countertop is really a pain in the neck, especially the grout area! On top of that, our countertop is off white, and it makes stains and mould stand out more under the light. I hope that we make the right color choice, and I just can't wait to see it next Friday.

It's life

2009-08-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

I can see that my little hon is getting there, his terrible two! I was complaining to one of my girlfriends that sometimes, my little hon will do things that drives me crazy! My little hon is quite a handful now. He is always picking things up, playing with them a little while, and dropping them around the house, especially the alphabets bath foams & alphabets & number fridge magnets! Each time, when these little alphabets go missing, I have to search the whole house to make sure that they are in complete set. At times, my little hon will take out all his crayons, going and naming through the colors one by one WITHOUT putting them back into the box! This drives me nuts because I hate crayons to be lying around on the carpet, and I am particular about putting things back in place. And at times, he will be like a caterpillar, trying to crawl under my coffee table, and other times, a little monkey, trying to jump from one couch to another! On good days, my little hon will run towards me with hugs and kisses. On bad days, it will be "NO, and more NO!" to everything, including his favorite dessert, ice-cream! Though my little hon drives me nuts at times, I still could handle them pretty calmly. My girlfriend whom I was complaining to has 3 children, age 4,6,9, and she was telling me how her 4 years old daughter insists doing things her own way, how her 6 year old son refuses to let her hug and kiss him in public, and how her 9 year old daughter rolling her eyes, and talking back at her! OMG! I really can't imagine, my little hon doing those to me! No way! But wait a minute, didn't I used to do that to my mum? I used to roll my eyes on her when she refused to let me out too late in the night, I used to talk back to her when she kept nagging at me for using the phone for long hours, I used to stomp my feet, throw my tandrum when I didn't get what I wanted. I must be giving my mum a hard time when I was young, and I believe she has shed many tears when I was growing up. I believe my mum longed to hold me like a baby when I was first born, always be her cute little obedient girl. So when I think of my little hon's terrible two, I guess it's not that horrible as what I think. I just have to take one step at a time. Sometimes, I wonder if I have more than 1 child, would I have more things to worry about, and be more insane if all of them go through the terrible 2s, more terrifying 3s, or the frightening 4s, and will I have sufficient energy left to handle any meltdowns. Now as I come to think about it, I really admire friends who are stay-at-home mum (SAHM), and have 2 or more children to handle. I can imagine how crazy it is with 2 or more children if they have meltdowns at the same time! And as the cute little ones grow older, they enjoy phone talking to their friends, wanting to watch their own tv shows, and enjoy their alone time more. I can't help but to entertain such thoughts that my little hon will one day no longer be my little cute baby who used to do things together, and learn things from his Mommy. Whether my hubby and I have 1 or more children, we both know that we cannot keep them with us forever. But I guess, I am a selfish Mommy who wants my child to be with me, and be my cute little baby forever. Maybe I really need to learn to let go, and maybe I should focus all my love to my hubby instead of my little hon, because eventually, my hubby will be the only one who will stay by me forever ;P .....I guess I am thinking too much now .....I'd better enjoy every moment, every second I have with my little hon before he grows too fast....

What type of Mom am I?

2009-08-19T13:31:00.000-07:00

I believe in personal time just for me and me alone, for me to unwire, and redeem my sanity. Though I miss my little hon who goes to daycare 3 times a week for now, I still enjoy being alone doing my own personal things in a quiet, serene, environment where there is no diaper changing, no activities, no nagging, no cooking for lunch, no talking, just some classical music and a little of "woof, woof" from Diao. The house is kind of neat, I would say as I spent the whole morning, cleaning, packing, tidying up the room, putting back all the mess that my little hon created the night before or even nights before. Sitting down, relaxing with a cup of tea, and of course surfing when I have the time NOW! I was wondering what type of mom I am after being a mom for almost coming to 21 months. I went to take a short quizz to find out, and guess what the results show that I AM A SOCCER MUM!!

Here is the descriptions of a soccer mom - You want your kid(s) to be the all american girl/boy. You push them to their limits. Only because you know they are more than capable of that and more. You put so much pressure on them to try harder and strive for greater. Sometimes you will make them crack under pressure but you tell them to suck it up because it builds character. You don't baby them because weakness is for losers. Some may say you're too much but you know you're raising a winner. Quiz is kind of fun, and I love to take quiz, provided that I have nothing better to do ...haaa...So which celebrity mom am I? KATIE HOLMES!!While you don't have a lot of kids, you really focus on the one you have and enjoy spending quality time . You make sure your child is perfectly dressed and well-mannered. Your child will grow up to be a charming person with impeccable manners!

Hmmm...yes, I want my little hon to achieve but I don't think I am pushing him to perform, and I am definitely not a mom who will put pressure on my little hon to strive harder when he is already performing well. I see the potential in him, and he does enjoy learning, and I am proud to see his achievements. I guess because my little hon is the only child, I do focus all my energy and love for him, and do enjoy the quality time I have with him, and I totally agree that I am "Katie Holmes" who want my little hon to be a charming person with impeccable manners :) So what type of mom are you?

Wordless Wednesday #3

2009-08-12T14:42:00.000-07:00

Identity Crisis

Before After
Pls visit for more Wordless Wednesday

Scenic Sunday

2009-08-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

The view of Mt Hood when I went fishing with my family at Lost Lake few months back. For more Scenic Sunday, pls visit other participants' scenic view.

Happy Birthday SINGAPORE!

2009-08-08T22:24:00.000-07:00

Singapore Pledge

"We, the citizens of Singapore,

pledge ourselves as one united people,

regardless of race, language or religion,

to build a democratic society,

based on justice and equality

so as to achieve happiness,

prosperity and progress for our nation."

This little red flag has been in my room eversince I came to America in 2002. It reminds me of my homeland, my country. I have been saying the Singapore Pledge for more than 25 years since I started my elementary school. Even though I have been in America for almost 7 years, I will never forget my Singapore Pledge as long as I live. 9th August is my country, Singapore's birthday. America is about 15 hours behind, so today is National Day, 9th August, in Singapore. I hope to join my fellow Singaporeans to say the pledge at 8.22pm Singapore time, and it will be 5.22am here in America. Happy Birthday, SINGAPORE!

Eagle or Hawk?

2009-08-08T21:28:00.000-07:00

Captured this in the Oregon Zoo today. I thought it is an eagle, but it is a hawk. It's called the red-tail hawk, and I learned something new today.

Break Time

2009-08-06T15:03:00.000-07:00

Finally, I am done with my summer class!! 6 weeks seems passed by pretty fast for summer classes, and now it's time to take a good break before I take my last 3 classes in Fall, starting end of August. I have been a slacker when it comes to updating my post, and I hope to spend more time reflecting and jotting down personal thoughts. I guess I am just wanting to spend some time updating my little hon's post than my own as it seems nothing much for me to update unless I really sit down to ponder. Now that I am having my 3 weeks break, I'd better get some housework done. There are tons of never-ending housework awaiting for me, and I am still sitting here posting ....*sigh* .... I am so looking forward to my short trip now and see if I can capture some beautiful sceneries out there .........

Loss

2009-08-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

Today, one of my friends sent me a very sad email sharing that she had lost her unborn baby. I really feel so sorry for her because she and her husband have always wanted to have a baby for 5 years, and it was their first pregnancy. My heart went for her, and I totally understand what she has gone through, because I have been through the loss last December. I don't think my pain could be compared to hers because my pregnancy was unplanned, and actually I was kind of worried that I might not be able to cope with the pregnancy, study and taking care of my little hon altogether. So, to me, I believe it's God's plan for me to experience my loss. It hurt but I got over it pretty soon, and life still goes on. Seriously, if I hadn't have the loss, I am not sure how I can cope with 2 kids with no family members helping me, and also I am not sure if I could put 100% focus on my little hon's learning. Though I love children, I am not sure if I will have a sibling for my little hon. My hubby is contented with just one, and I guess I will have to leave it to God. As for my friend, I hope that she will find hope, and will not give up trying.

Shadow Shot Sunday

2009-08-02T14:51:00.001-07:00

My 1st Shadow Shot Sunday

I am learning to take good pictures, and I visit Shadow Shot Sunday to look at other great pictures.

Skywatch Friday

2009-08-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

My 1st Skywatch Friday

I went to the beach yesterday and saw a flock of birds in the sky. I am learning to take good pictures but somehow, I couldn't get to a nice shot of the birds. I guess I will have to keep practising taking more pictures! For more other great sky pictures, pls visit Skywatch Friday ya!

Wordless Wednesday #2

2009-08-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

Went to the beach with my little hon yesterday. I just love his tiny feet!

Visit other great pictures on Wordless Wednesday!

Photography

2009-08-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy with my Summer class, and I don't even have time for myself to jot down my thoughts. My class will be ending this week, thank God! Few days ago, I was searching for some wordless books for my little hon and I chanced upon Wordless Wednesday while I was surfing. To find out what it is all about, I clicked on some links and I found many great pictures taken by many participants. However, Sara Chapman's pictures caught my eyes, and I just fall in love with her pictures! This morning, I was kind of bored after studying 1/6 of my exam, so I went to check out other participants of Wordless Wednesday. I love the portraits that Mike took, and his portrait ideas. I love taking pictures of my little hon, but most pictures that I took didn't turn out to be great :( I am not a great photographer, and I know nuts about photography! But I want to learn taking great pictures to capture every precious moment that my little hon displays. Having looked at so many great pictures taken by other participants, I am so inspired by them. If you love photography, and love looking at great pictures, Wordless Wednesday may be a good start. I also found out about Skywatch Friday and more from Sara's blog. Now, I am learning to take good pictures with "good eyes." Someone ever told me that one has to have "good eyes" to take great pictures. "Good eyes" which means "to be able to see objects in a nice angle before you take the pictures". Is there such a thing as "good eyes" in photography term? I don't know, but I know that I am now training for my "good eyes". ....haaa....

Wordless Wednesday #1

2009-07-31T00:48:00.000-07:00

My 1st Wordless Wednesday

Visit Wordless Wednesday for more participants' gorgeous pictures : )

Summer Break Plan

2009-04-23T23:58:00.000-07:00

It has been almost a month since I last updated. I feel so relief now that I will be having my two months Summer break this coming Monday. There are so many plans in my mind for this Summer break: lesson plans to teach my little hon, holiday plans for the break, and some gardening plans too. Eversince, I started my Spring class, I grabbed every opportunity that I have to teach my little hon. My heart beams when I see how my little hon learns fast in a zooming rate ,and also growing up to become a little man. Yes, a little man I would describe him. My little hon has a mind of his own, and begins to reveal his temperaments. He used to eat whatever I cooked, never whined when I took him up from the bathtub, response to me upon calling etc. And now as he gets older, it seems hard to tell him what to do. I really can't believe that my little hon will be turning two soon. Time really flies, and I really hope that it will not be as hard to deal with, in his coming two. I really thank God for my little hon everyday, and hope he will grow up into what God wants him to be.

Spring Break

2009-03-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

Yeah! Spring break is here! I have been waiting for a break eversince I started my class. I have been busy with assignments for the past few months. I couldn't believe that my practicum will be done one week after Spring Break, and 90 hours just past by so quickly. I am so in love with teaching Special Ed. kids, and feel so accomplished when they learn new skills. Now I am still thinking if I should also get my ESL endorsement as I was told just by getting Special Ed endorsement will land me a job without any difficulty. Not sure if I want to start a job right away after my graduation end of this year. I still enjoy being a SAHM taking care of my little hon, and not forgetting that we are planning for another little hon if everything goes well. But I could feel that my hubby seems not very keen for a second kid with the economy downturn, and our plan may be shelved who knows. For now, I don't want to think about anything other than spring break. Just want to relax and do nothing!

Day Care

2009-02-08T09:08:00.000-08:00

It has been almost a month since I started my class, and I would say I am still coping pretty well with my assignments so far. In fact, it's not easy to juggle between school work, taking care of my little hon, and as well as house work. Hubby has been very helpful and he takes care of everything when I am busy with my own stuff. As far as my little hon's day care is concerned, I am pretty happy to place him there. He seems to have settle down in his class as he is not crying as much. Teacher Angel said that my little hon learns to feed himself with his hands, drink his sippy cup real well, and enjoys eating various kinds of food given in class. But strange enough, my little hon still wants me to feed him while he is at home. I guess self-feeding is a skill that all children will learn and it's a matter of time. I really like how Teacher Angel focuses on her weekly curriculum with various themes each week. They learned about colors and talked about colors they see in the classroom, made circle prints with paint, and did some flashcards on colors. One week they learned about all apples, and did apple printing, taste the apples, and made applesauce, and applepie with apples. And another week, the children learned to dance on sticky paper with flowers under them, and sang songs with actions. The children also learned to dip heart cookie cutter into glue and cover them with glitters. The activities sound kind of fun, and no wonder my little hon is not crying as much now. However, one setback in putting my little hon in day care is the risk of explosing him to other children who are already sick in class. My little hon caught some virus, and was puking and having bad diarreahha for a couple of days, and was told that few children in the class had it also. We had to rush him to the clinic and was told by the advise nurse that almost 80% of the children got the same virus during winter time, and it's pretty common. Thank God he is feeling better now, and starts eating well again. I was told it's good for children to be explosed and it will build up their immune system, and how true I am not too sure, but just hope that my little hon won't get the same virus again. It was really bad!

First Day of Class

2009-01-12T22:30:00.001-08:00

Staying at home for one year has really made me become so lax about getting back to school. I shouldn't be giving lame excuses for loosing the momentum of study, and afterall I should be charged with energy and enthusiam, and looking forward to my classes. But nothing that sort though. I hate leaving my little hon behind, and dragging myself to school. First day of class wasn't that bad, afterall, I am taking only one class every Mon night, and also one teaching practicum which will be everyday. Professor Linden made it sound so easy, and kept assuring me that I will do well in class, which I am kind of nervous as my mind is all about my little hon and nothing else. After sitting in class for an hour or so, thinking about my little hon, and trying to digest what has been taught, my mind was still battling on the readings and assignments required. I am still trying to adjust, and I hope my momentum of study will kick in anytime soon. The minute when the class ended at 6.30pm, I quickly headed to the door which I don't normally do when I was without my little hon. Normally, I would hang around a little bit after class and asked the professor some questions and hoped to get some inspirations for the next assignments. But not this time, I tell myself. I need to rush home and drive as fast as I could to see my little hon at home. Never I have felt this way before, and I believe all who are parents will feel the same, longing to see their children like they have never seen before.

A Year Well Spent

2009-01-11T23:45:00.000-08:00

Time really waits for no man, and Year 2008 went by so quickly. I have been a SAHM for a year, and I really do enjoy spending time with my little hon everyday at home. Though at times I felt some frastrations, I still cherish and miss the time with him. I would say that a good mum, I am not, and everyday I have been striving to be a better mum. Each day is a learning process for myself and my little hon. I really feel that even though I have been at home for the whole year, it's a year well spent with my little hon especially I could use some of the skills and knowledge that I have learned from my course of study unto my little hon. I really want to thank my professor, Dr Arwood, who taught me the importance of language even to newborns, and all the strategies and skills that I could use to help my little hon to strengthen his language skills. I would say that I am a strong believer of Dr Arwood's language theory, and Dr Arwood, if you are reading this, I want to tell you that I have read all your books written by you, and you are such a phenomenal professor. How I wished I have more classes from you. I have no regrets being a SAHM, and I hope to be one again if I have a chance. The bond that I have with my little hon is indescribable, and that explains why my little hon is so much attached to me. It has been a joy and tear looking after my little hon by myself, but at the end of the day, it's all worthwhile. My little hon, Mommy will be back with you once I am done with school, Mommy promises.