Chu Chu's learning - Colours

Since my last posting on Chu Chu's learning, he has been learning more and more things. I'll post them one by one. Today I'll start off with colours.

Below is the list of colours which Chu Chu can recognise:
1) Black (黑色)
2) White (白色)
3) Blue (蓝色)
4) Green (绿色)
5) Yellow (黄色)
6) Red (红色)
7) Pink (粉红色)
8) Purple (紫色)
9) Orange (橙色)
10) Brown (棕色)
11) Grey (灰色)
12) Silver (...)

Haha... After listing the colours, I notice I have not taught him Silver in chinese. :-P



"When I see a colour or hear a sound, I am aware of something, and not of nothing." -- Charles D. Broad

婆婆对孙子的爱

很多人都说打是疼骂是爱。

婆婆对孙子的爱也是如此。打他是要让他了解对与错。打了过后，看到留下的藤条疤痕，婆婆的心也疼了。


当然，婆婆也有用不同的方式来表达对孙子的爱。这看来非常简单却错误百出的字条，就是婆婆用尽心思来交待如何训练孙子如厕。




“There is nothing more wonderful than the love and guidance a grandparent can give his or her grandchild." -- Edward Fays, The Grandparent's Treasure Chest

Swimming at the pool

It was really a wonderful day on Good Friday. Ken Ken, Chu Chu and myself went for swim at a neaby swimming pool.

Chu Chu used to be afraid of the water at the pool, but this time, we brought along a big float to hold him in the water. With the float holding him, he can float freely on the water. He even tried to kick his legs when he saw other children kicking their legs in the water. I am so glad that he had enjoy his time in the pool and is no longer afraid of the water.


Chu Chu kicking his legs in the water.


Chu Chu splashing water.


Chu Chu splashing water over his face.


Ha ha... Chu Chu and ma ma...



"If you want to learn to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you." -- Bruce Lee

How about seeing the doctor TOMORROW?

Ken Ken is having diarrhoea again... Which is due to stomach flu... Sigh... He's having stomach flu so frequently ever since he had appendicitis...

He has decided to see a doctor to find out what is the real problem. However, there was a large crowd in the clinic.

This is the converstion between the clinic nurse and myself this morning:
Myself: "Is the queue very long?"
Clinic nurse: "Yes, it's going to be a long wait."
Myself: "Oh..." (I'm still wondering whether to wait or not to wait.)
Clinic nurse: "Why not your leave your name here?" (She pushed a pen and a diary in front of me.)
Clinic nurse: "And come again TOMORROW."

What a joke??!! I didn't know that seeing a doctor can wait till TOMORROW.

Anyway, we decided to see another doctor, as we don't think it is possible to wait till the next day to see the doctor while having the discomfort of diarrhoea.

After consultation with the doctor, we learnt that this frequent stomach flu could be due to IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome. A series of regulator and some other diarrhoea medicine were presribed. Ken Ken will have to observe thru the week and hopefully this regulator can help to regulate his bowel habits.



"In gastroenterology, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional bowel disorder characterized by abdominal pain and changes in bowel habits which are not associated with any abnormalities seen on routine clinical testing. It is fairly common and makes up 20-50% of visits to gastroenterologists. Lower abdominal pain, and bloating associated with alteration of bowel habits and abdominal discomfort relieved with defecation are the most frequent symptoms. The abdominal pain type is usually described in a patient as either diarrhea-predominant (IBS-D), constipation-predominant (IBS-C) or IBS with alternating stool pattern (IBS-A). In some individuals, IBS may have an acute onset and develop after an infectious illness characterised by two or more of the following: fever, vomiting, diarrhea, or positive stool culture. This post-infective syndrome has consequently been termed "post-infectious IBS" (IBS-PI) and is acute onset Rome II criteria positive. This condition is more homogeneous, being mostly IBS-D and is drawing much clinical investigation." -- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Chu Chu's Chot Chot

WOW!!! It has been 4 months since I last put up a posting in my blog. As usual, I'm going to post about Chu Chu.

It's another enjoyable weekend whereby I have chu chu by my side all day long. As usual, I play my role as a responsible mother and cook his lunch and dinner, which is none other than his chot chot (porridge).

The chot chot may be simple, but its ingredients provide good nutrients to Chu Chu. And hopefully he'll grow to love veggie.

Ingredients:

French beans, carrot and potato


Fish and egg

Finishing product:




"Our children's health and well-being are dependent on our commitment to promoting food access and good eating habits at home, at school and in the community."-- Rod Blagojevich

Chu Chu's learning - Alphabets

Chu Chu has learnt alphabets for quite some time, but till now, he can only recognise upper case.
Below is to show how he pronounces the various alphabets:
1) A - 'air'
2) B - 'bee'
3) C - 'ceeeee'
(he loves to prolong when he pronounce this alphabet)
4) D - 'dee'
5) E - 'eeeeee'
(he loves to prolong when he pronounce this alphabet too)
6) F - 'argf'
7) G - 'ju'
(I really love to see how he 'duuu' his mouth when he pronounce this alphabet)
8) H - 'edge'
9) I - 'ai'
10) J - 'jay'
11) K - kay'
12) L - 'air o'
13) M - 'arm'
14) N - 'an'
15) O - 'ooo'
(I also love to see how he 'O' his mouth when he pronounce this alphabet)
16) P - 'pee'
17) Q - 'qun'
(No matter how we correct him, he still pronounce it as 'qun', I guess it's bcos we always laugh at him when he pronounce as 'qun', and he enjoys the attention which we gave him when we laugh at him)
18) R - 'ar'
19) S - 'as'
20) T - 'tee'
21) U - 'you'
(once again, his mouth is real 'duuu'ed)
22) V - 'vee'
23) W - 'dub ber you'
24) X - 'as'
25) Y - 'why'
26) Z - 'zac'
(he always pronounce this alphabets loudly to indicate the end liao)



"You learn something every day if you pay attention." -- Ray LeBlond

Planned Long Weekend + Holiday Tours

I took a day leave on 9 Nov, the day after Deepavali, therefore, got to enjoy a planned long weekend. Hahaha... This is a privilege which I can never get to enjoy from my previous job. Mmm... Another plus point for job change...

In fact, during this week, two of my colleagues went for holiday trip. One of them went to Phuket, another went to Vietnam. These are some sourvenirs given by them from Phuket and Vietnam:


Hmmm... Really envy them... So when will be my turn for a holiday trip leh? I wish to visit Bangkok... As I heard that the shopping there is... Woohoo!!!



"Every man who possibly can should force himself to a holiday of a full month in a year, whether he feels like taking it or not." -- William James

Chu Chu's learning - Numbers

Chu Chu has been learning and picking up things knowingly and unknowingly.

'Knowingly' means he learnt as we teach him. Whereas 'unknowingly' means he learnt as he observes us.

Below are some numbers he is capable of counting:
1) One - 'Wan'
2) Two - 'Doo'
3) Three - 'Twee'
4) Four - 'Forr'
5) Five - 'Fai'
6) Six - 'Jek'
7) Seven - 'Sa man'
8) Eight - 'Egg'
9) Nine - 'Nine'
(Oh he can pronounce this soooooo accurately)
10) Ten - 'Den'
(Oh he can pronounce this vvveeeerrry loudly)
11) Eleven - 'A nan men'
12) Twelve - 'Towf'
13) Thirteen - 'De... Teen'
(Mmm... He always miss this number, maybe he don't like 13)
14) Fourteen - 'Forr... Teen'
15) Fifteen - 'Fit... Teen'
16) Sixteen - 'Jek... Teen'
17) Seventeen - 'Air men... Teen'
18) Eighteen - 'Egg... Teen'
19) Nineteen - 'Nine... Teen'
20) Twenty - 'Twor Tee'
(Once again, he pronounce this loudly to indicate that he had finished counting)


Oh ya... This magnetic board is a very useful tool to interact with toddlers. Real good stuff!!!



"Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves." -- Abbé Dimnet, Art of Thinking, 1928

Mid Autumn Festival Celebration

This is the first time we celebrated Mid Autumn Festival with two little ones.

Though the younger little one didn't really know what is happening, but his early arrival to the world seems to tell us that he wanted to celebrate with us.

But I think the elder little one also didn't really know what is happening. He only knew how to say 'Mumm... Mumm...' when he wanted to eat the moon cake and pomelo. Well... Besides the food, he was also quite fascinated by the lanterns which we had lighted up. We even switched off the light in order to see the lit-up lanterns more prominently, and they became so prominent that we cannot see anything except the lanterns. Hehe...












Besides the lanterns, I thought Chu Chu was even more fascinated when one of the lanterns caught fire, seeing a few of us (or maybe I'm the only one) freaked out and quickly rushed for water to put out the fire. Hahaha... :-P



“Faith means living with uncertainty - feeling your way through life, letting your heart guide you like a lantern in the dark.” -- Dan Millman

First time as Da Yi

Wow!!! My little nephew is born!!! On 21st Sept 2007. However, he did not wait for me to come back from Batam before he decided to arrive to the world. I'm so excited to be Da Yi the first time!!! See, this is my little nephew with his wide smile:


Mmm... To me, this little nephew of mine is a quiet baby. He is steady and calm most of the time.

With this little nephew around, it really bring back my memories for almost two years ago when Chu Chu was just a newborn, so petite and tender. I still miss that time when he's so reliant on me and my mi.

With this little nephew around, I get to practice my skills of carrying and feeding newborn. But it's so different when I'm carrying and feeding my own newborn and Jie's newborn. I tend to be so much more careful with Jie's newborn. Afterall, he is Jie's precious baby. Haha...

With this little nephew around, I hope Chu Chu will learn to behave better and learn to set good example for this young cousin of his. I also hope that Chu Chu will learn to share his things and not to have all the attention on him.

Of course, last but not least, I hope that this little nephew will grow up with 'Double-H', that is, happily and healthy. :-)



"The absolute dependence of a newborn infant inspired many things in me, but it did not activate any magical knowledge about what to do for the next twenty years." -- Mary Kay Blakely

My First NP Staff Retreat at Batam

It was the first time I had staff retreat away from Singapore. It was quite horrifying when I first knew about it, as I had just joined NP not long ago. And I don't really know my colleagues well.

In fact, all along I did not like the idea of staff retreat, because, to me, the definition of retreat is to move away. Hence, to me, company staff retreat means to move away from work. However, in my previous work place, staff retreat is to go back to work place and do more work. So, it's more like staff 'rework', than staff 'retreat'.

Moreover, the thought of leaving Chu Chu for 2 days and 1 night for some work related matter really sadden me. So, I didn't have a positive attitude towards this staff retreat. Nonetheless, I still have to go because it's my new job, and I did not have any valid reason for not going.

However, after spending some time with my colleagues on the first day, the feeling got better, and my attitude became more positive. This is because most of my colleagues carried very positive attitude and they are basically a group of fun loving people. We did alot of chit-chatting and games. Besides the many fun time that we had, we also got work done. Mmm... I should say, this is one of the best retreat I have ever attended.

These photos show how happy we are at the retreat:

Briefing given by the tour guide before the trip:

Pier at Singapore, getting ready to set off to Batam:

Scenery during the ferry journey to Batam:

Work time, gotta be serious:

Gotta makan, in order to have strength to work:

Though work is done, we had fun too:

This is the resort where we stayed in during the retreat:

'Standard' group photo:

Pier at Batam, getting ready to go home:

Journey home:

These are my rewards from Batam:

Hahaha.... These Polo Ts cost me more than a million dollars... But... it's in Rupiah la...

"Part of the happiness of life consists not in fighting battles, but in avoiding them. A masterly retreat is in itself a victory." -- Norman Vincent Peale

100% chicken killer

Ken Ken is a real 100% chicken killer. Look at the bones left over after his sumptous spring chicken meal:









As compared to my baby sister, sigh... she's not good at 'killing' chicken at all:












"We didn't starve, but we didn't eat chicken unless we were sick, or the chicken was." -- Bernard Malamud

Loving Grandparents

Grandparents always love their grandchildren unconditionally, no matter how naughty and unreasonable the grandchildren can be.

This is the love from Chu Chu's grandparents to Chu Chu, simple yet precious:















"Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children." -- Alex Haley

童真

我想。。。 小孩子们之所以会比较容易快乐是因为他们的童真吧。

他们的思想单纯，不会把简单的事情复杂化。

就拿Chu Chu '看拖把' 事件来说吧。不就是一个拖把而已，他竟然能笑得那么开怀。而我们这些大人,会笑也是因为看见他为了拖把而笑。



咳。。。大人真会把简单的事情复杂化。



"童真，是我这辈子都想守护的，却不得不失去的。" -- 卫雪儿

New chef from the Tang's Family

Yummy Yummy!!! It's the very first time my baby sister take up the chief chef role in our family. She became the overall-in-charge to cook for our dinner. Look at this colourful and mouth-watering dish:









It's a very high class dish, it's panfried linguine. We had all enjoyed the meal, but, it's not because the food is tasty (though it's delicious). It's mainly because we are eating the meal heartily as a family. It's so warm to be able to eat with my whole family.

Of cos, I must have some contribution. However, my dish is effortless. Though the dish is easy to prepare, it's very health. Haha... Well, my dish is none other than... Salad with Thousand Island dressing. Hee hee...












It's another happy family gathering. :-)



"The rewards from eating together as a family can range from helping to establish healthy eating habits to strengthening family ties..." -- Lisa Mosing

Exploring new things

Chu Chu is exploring more new things... He used to be very fearful of the coin drop kiddie ride. However, this time he's not. We placed him in this car kiddie ride, and he enjoyed himself.

This is actually supposed to be a school bus... Hmmm... I hope he'll enjoy going to school in future. :-P









In fact, he has shown 'interest' in reading. He even 'Shhh...' us when we disturbed him. There's a videoclip to show:


Hee hee... Though he may not know what he's reading, he seems to be very engrossed in his reading. I understand that this may not show that he's really interested in reading, but it's still very enjoyable to see how hard he try to 'read'.

Mmm... Chu Chu... Mummy MISS you VVVVEEEERRRRYYYY much whenever you are not by my side.



"Explore your mind, discover yourself, then give the best that is in you to your age and to your world. There are heroic possibilities waiting to be discovered in every person." -- Wilferd A. Peterson

New hair cut for Chu Chu

Chu Chu had got a new hair cut!!! Phew... It's a REAL challenging task to bring Chu Chu for hair cut. This time, the credit goes to my papa and the barber.

Firstly, my papa brought Chu Chu to sit outside the barber shop for awhile, allowing him to get use to the environment. At least, this time he did not cry before he entered the barber shop. Great! The first challenge is overcome.

Next, the barber was informed that Chu Chu is fearful of hair cut, hence, he carefully put the cape for him, in order not to scare him with the big piece of cloth. However, Chu Chu refused to put the cape on. The understanding barber then tried to put the towel instead. But still, Chu Chu refused to put the towel on. The barber knew that the priority was to get Chu Chu hair cut, he then suggested not to put anything on.

Upon an agreement with my papa over the cape and towel, the patience barber, who claimed that he has 8 grand-children and hence knows very well how to handle hair cutting for toddlers, started to dance and cut Chu Chu's hair at the same time!!! Yes, he danced. Not only did he danced, he also danced childishly with funny hand gesture. By doing so, he managed to bring laughter to Chu Chu. Brilliant!!! Chu Chu was not crying, but, laugh when he got his hair cut!!! Isn't it wonderful?! Salute to the barber!!! For $5, the barber got to dance and cut the hair from this challenging head of Chu Chu. Fantastic service!!! And the hairstyle is pretty 'IN', not 'GONG' on Chu Chu's head, and it makes Chu Chu look more like a boy. See for yourself:

I told myself, Chu Chu will not go anywhere else for haircut, except to this barber shop. :-)



"Hair is vitally personal to children. They weep vigorously when it is cut for the first time; no matter how it grows, bushy, straight or curly, they feel they are being shorn of a part of their personality." -- Charles Chaplin

蔬菜与水果雕刻

真没想到原来蔬菜和水果也可以雕刻出这么生动的动物。真是令人叹为观止。

















































































































这下可好啦，素食者也可以很大放而且毫无担忧的吃‘肉类‘ 了。哈哈。。。



"Man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them." -- Samuel Butler