Hong Kong trip day 1 (before departure)

Changi Airport before check-in

After check-in, before boarding

Long time no see

Yesterday morning after breakfast, I brought Lele to the playground. Before that, we headed to the supermarket to get some groceries and yoghurt. While at the yoghurt section, I met a neighbour and we started chatting while Lele busied himself with choosing a yoghurt flavour. Suddenly, he turned to the neighbour and said in mandarin,

"Wo heng jiu mei you kan dao ni. (I haven't seen you in a while)"

Fireman, Lele

Lele simply loves playing fireman.　Ever since he received the helmet at a community event last month, it has been his daily toy. He will put on the helmet as and when he wants to play fireman, construction worker, Bob the Builder and grasscutter. Even when not wearing it, Lele will bring it along with him whereever he is in the house!

Top 4 games Lele likes to play in the house
1) Fireman
2) Bob The Builder. He loves to carry his tool box around looking for things to fix. Even though there are many tools inside, his most used tool is the hammer. His most-loved method of fixing is by hammering hard and loud at the "faulty" thing, for as long as we allow his to...
3) Watching YouTube with papa. Well, this is not really a game,　I know. His favourite programs are ... actually,　I have no idea because I am usually barred from entering the room wo watch the clips because (in his words), "You cannot come, because I only want to watch with Papa." Watching videos is associated with Papa because he will only request watching with him and not me. Think it is something special and fun he likes to do with papa.
4)Cooking. Recently I organized Lele's messy toys. I found boxes for him to sort out his toys into cooking things, vehicles, small things, train things and tools. This makes it much easier when he is looking for things to entertain himself with. The most-used boxes are the cooking and tool boxes. When it is time to keep, I make sure we return the toys to their boxes before dumping into the huge "Francis Fish basket".

Below are some pics taken during the community event where he received a fireman helmet.

Countdown to Hong Kong!

Only 2 more days to go before we leave for Hong Kong...YEHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Though this is the very first family trip overseas and I don't know how little monkey Lele will take to the whole thing, I look forward to this trip SO much...

4 months of playgroup

Lele attended Chinese playgroup from July to Nov. Initially, I received many feedbacks from the teacher that Lele's attention span is quite short. Though I understood that lele's inability to sit still to receive knowledge was probably due to his inquisitive, curious and observant nature, I couldn't help worrying.

Will he outgrow his restlessness?

Is he hyperactive (Daniel convinced me that he is far from hyperactive behaviour... phew...)?

Besides including a few quiet activities (such as writing, colouring and puzzles of which he is very fond), I also set prayers for his and his teacher's high life state during lesson. Knowing Lele's curious nature, I chanted that he will be so curious about whatever the teacher is going to teach that he'll pay attention to her without getting restless. This specific prayer worked. Even without my asking, the teacher commented that Lele has been much more attentive in class. Some weeks, I'll receive good comments for 3 consecutive days. This is a far cry from initially, when he will only pay attention for 30mins at most and become quite restless. In the last lesson, he was even able to complete a worksheet by matching animals to their homes with a pencil, by listening to clues given by teacher.

Though I have chanted for Lele's development all this while, it was only when I began to set specific prayers and take specific action did I see very quick results. Before chanting, I used to worry about things even as I take action. But through this benefit, I can feel that as long as there is specific prayer + specific action, we have nothing to fear.

As a mother whose greatest responsibility is her children's wellbeing, I found this very reassuring.

Jungle play

Papa bought a 28-piece floor puzzle for me. I was pretty excited to see such big puzzle pieces. Though I did not complete the puzzle in the morning with papa, I manage to complete the entire puzzle by myself the 2nd time round, after a good nap. Mama suggested inviting my soft friends for a jungle walk, and I had lots of fun!

choco love affair

Lele likes sweet things and absolutely loves chocolate. Above is him devouring an entire choco muesli bar after 150ml milk for his teabreak. He requested for the muesli bar after waking from nap, and I made a deal with him. He can only have the bar after finishing his milk. Though reluctant, Lele finished his milk. I had thought he would not be able to finish an entire bar given a full stomach of milk. But he surprised me...