Mandarin rhymes

Lele loves to perform for the camera. If he knows that I'm going to take a video of him, he will gladfully perform and eagerly ask c himself after the performance. Below is a series of performances.



Xiao Lao Shu (translates: little mouse)

San zhi lao hu (translates: 3 little tigers)

chanting Nam myoho renge kyo

Play-pretend

Nowadays Lele loves to play-pretend with our stuffs. His favourite play-pretend thing is a roller used for painting. It is kept in the storeroom (more correctly, the bomb shelter) but one day he saw it and requested (strongly) for Yeye to let him bring it out. We watched amused as he pretended to cut grass like the grass cutter, sweep floor like the road sweeper ("Sweep away the dirty things."), do fencing with it as the sword and blow our hair with it as the hair dryer. It was so funny! One day Nainai came home and just happened to see Lele play-pretending with the forbidden "toy". She commented,

"Boys will be boys. They all like playing such stuff."

I agree that boys reallie do seem to exhibit a certain kind of behaviour and preference. Before Lele came, I used to think gender behaviours are mostly cultivated through upbringing and influences from TV. I've changed my mind.

See, since Lele was a wee babe, we had not exposed him to TV as we believe that there are many things a child can learn (from daily living alone and from us adults) than from passive education on the BOX. It "helped" that he slept early as a babe. This means that at night when the telly is switched on the most (mostly watched by Nainai and Yeye), he is in dreamland. Even now when his bedtime is later (9p.m.), he doesn't show much interest to the TV and prefers us to switch it off so that we may play with him: ) This boy knows his quality time... ... haha...

But as Lele grows up, he gradually displayed certain preferences which are very boy-like.

1) Lele's changing mat has 2 sides, blue and pink. One day when I was about to lay him down on the mat, he protested,

"Don't want pink!"

At first I was puzzled. What was it about? Then I realised he was refering to the changing maty colour. I had put the pink side facing up and he wanted me to make the blue side facing up. Satisfied after I made the switch. He announced,

"Lele don't like pink. Lele like blue."

2) Some time ago I introduced a Chinese children's song to Lele, "ni wa wa (translate:clay doll)". He loved the song and requested me to sing many times throughout the day. When we got to part when ni wa wa has no papa and mama, his eyes will water.

Lele: Mama bring niwawa home. Lele play toy with ni wawa.

Mama: Yes, mama will be niwawa's mama. Mama will be niwawa's papa. Mama will bring niwawa home. Lele must take care of niwawa okay?

Lele: Yum!

Mama: Then niwawa will be happy!

Lele: Yum!

One day in GUG, the chinese teacher brought a doll to class and introduced the song "Ni wa wa". When Lele saw it, he refused to hug it. He refused to sing the song and then he declared,

"Lele don't like niwawa."

3) Lele is okay with pee-ing standing up ("...Just like papa") but ocassionally he will say he wants to sit down and pee. When he does that, I'll say,

"But only girls pee sitting down, Lele. If you pee sitting down, then I'll have to put on a pink shirt for you, just like a girl."

And he'll say,

"Don't want!"

4)Lele likes the story book "1,2,3" by Susan Boynton. He calls it the "loud loud loud" book. One page has many hippos dancing ballet. He was okay with it till one day out of the blue he declared, "Don't like this one."

5) Lele likes boy stuff like fencing, Taekwondo and Wushu.

Mingling skills

I had been worried that Lele hasn't enough oportunities to mingle with other children since he is the only grandchild and child in the family, without any siblings or cousins. While some children will mingle and play with one another in the playground, Lele would rather play with the dog, pluck fruits off ixora plants or play with me, or with adults.

When he did mingle with other children, it was not very gentle. He would shove a little too hard, tug at the hair or proclaimed loudly,



"I don't like this one (meaning another child)."



Even though Lele attended enrichment classes from 9months till now, I accompany him to all these classes. I wonder if perhaps he has gotten a little too used to playing with me, hence he doesn't want to or know how to play with kids his age.



Nowadays at his enrichment class, I try to do 2 things.



1) Give less attention to him especially during free-play time at the beginning of lesson so that he can play independent of me. To my pleasant surprise, he showed absolutely no signs of distress. When I need to be away (either to the washroom or do admin stuff), I will just let him know. He will cheerfully say, "Bye, mama." and proceed to play with the teachers. One teacher commented,

"Lele can self-entertain very well."

I even found him more sociable towards other kids. After endless repititions, firm warnings and pep talks, he now does not behave rough towards other kids. Yesterday in class, he stroked a child's hair very gently:) When another child laid down on the mat, Lele thought he wanted to sleep and he actually got down on his knees to stroke the boy's chest while humming, just like I always does with him! Words cnnot describe enough how relieved I am to see these small kind gestures...



2) Training attention span by putting in more effort to engage him during activities. See, now the Lele is more familiar with classroom procedures, his classmates and the teachers, he is becoming more active. Instead of paying attention, he liked to sing or move around. When he moves around, I will tell him that he needs to be out of the classroom if he wants to move around. He will request for me to leave with him, and I will say that I don't want to go outside because I want to enjoy the activities. When he found himself alone outside, he will request to come back in. Then I'll make a deal with him. I'll tell him that he cannot move around in the classroom. He'll agree and then I'll let him in.

Other methods of training attention at home:

a) Have simple art/craft activities at home a few times a week.

b) When Lele chooses a book for me to read, I'll ask him to choose a spot where he'll sit. Then I'll tell him,

"No moving around during story time."

He'll actually be very focused during story time:) unlike last times when he'll be all over the place even though he still interacted...

Reading habits.

Lele loves reading more and more. Daniel and I are truly glad about it because this is the one expectation we had of him, to raise a book-lover son.
From showing not a pinch of interest or crying/fussing at the sight of books to loving them, we had come a long way to achieve it.

Nowadays, Lele loves to ask for books.

When he wakes in the morning, he will ask to read a book or 2 in his bedroom before I bring him for wash-up n change of clothes (out of his PJs).

Before his nap, he will request for a book or 2.

During his play in the day, he will request for a book or 2 when he wants to take a break (as I see it).

Before his bedtime, he will request for a book or 2. Sometimes, when it's past his bedtime by quite alot because we were out, I will suggest skipping. But he wants at least to have 1 book read to him.

If we are out in a train, bus or cab, Lele will also request for a book. It has become my habit to always pack 2 books in my bag when going out.

Papa and me

Mama and papa feels that whenever all three of us are out together, I feel and act happier. Even at a young tender age, I seemed to treasure precious moments papa squeezed out for me. On rare days when I wake with papa next to me, I will happily ask him to play with me. Sometimes he will play a little while before having to jet off somewhere (usually work). Other times he, mama and me will go off for breakfast and I'll be quite happie....................................................
Below are some pics taken before, during and after a short trip so Seng Kang Sculpture Park for breakfast n play.

Mama took a snapshot of papa n me chatting.

"Say cheese!"

This is my 2nd time at Sculpture Park. The 1st time, mama and papa brought me to a place that was largely unshaded in the morning sun. We had lots of fun playing frisby n ball under the sunny sky but it was just too hot, thought mama and papa. This time rund, mama and papa decided to bring me to another part which featured a children's playground and was shaded. They were surprised when I showed not much interest and insisted on returning to the "hotspot".

There are many things to love about the "hotspot". For one, it had GIANT fishballs greeting me at the entrance. What more can a fishball-lovin little boy ask for? "ARMMMM!"





Here's me pushing a blue fish sail of some sort. Papa made the discovery (that it can rotate when pushed) on our first trip here. I just had so much time the first time round I had to do it again this time:　)

Not easy...

But so much fun!

Can u see me?

Playing hide-and-seek with papa.

Papa decided we had enough of the morning sun when I decided to leave the shade and venture into a scorching playground with equipments which were too complex for me anyway.

A final shot with papa n Mr. Dino before we headed off.

In the bus.

I was quite tired by the time we got off the bus. I laid my head on papa's shoulder while sipping some water. Papa was singing a tune for me.

Actual performance

As I had practiced lots, I sang pretty well when the music came on for the actual performance of "happy birthday". Below is a clip of my lil performance:)

2nd birthday celebration (part2)

2 days before my birthday, I held a 2nd birthday celebration at GUG with my mama, papa, teacher Wei, teacher Joyce and friends! Since the "hamster" cake was so YUMYUMYUMMY, I insisted on bringing that to the classroom.
To my utter disappointment, mama said that we'll biring a "cat" cake instead............................:(
I was pretty upset at first, until she got it through to me that I had chosen the "cat" cake myself at the cake shop some time ago. This "cat" cake is delicious too (more delicious than "hamster" cake, in mama's opinion), but I still prefer the "hamster" cake, as I could bring home 3 lovely Hamtaro hamsters for that one:p

Kids... we are reallie easy to please, aren't we?

As the birthday celebration this time round is more personalised with all my friends and loved ones, I was reallie excited throughout lesson. I enjoyed the entire session thoroughly!

Hope birthdays come by more than twice a year...

Teacher Joyce, me and Teacher Wei doing our smiley pose. Mama calls this the "smiley face" pose.

me, mama and papa, who rushed down from work. THANKS, papa!

I love ya!

The cake is here... ... but where am I? I declared, "WANT TO PEE." at the crucial moment and demanded papa to bring me to the wash room, hence the MIA. Sorrie to keep u waiting, friends.

2nd birthday celebration (part 1)

This is my maternal grandmother, whose birthday falls on 18th April. I had a joint celebration with her:)

This is the birthday cake which I chose by myself! Even though there was another design with Pooh bear drawn on it, I insisted on the "hamster" cake because of 3 lovely hamsters on it. Now the 3 hamsters are my sleep-pals as well as play-pals.

When is they going to sing the happie birthday song and cut the cake? Wai4 Po2's pretty cool about it but I'm not... Can't wait to sink my teeth into those hamsters...

Here's me enjoying my "hamster" cake. It was quite a pity that the hamsters turned out inedible. I kept asking to eat them but mama explained that they are toys, not food.

WHAT???!!!???!!!

Even though I had my fill of dinner, I managed to stomach 1 1/2 pieces of the delicious cake. YUMYUMYUM!

Soon, it was time to greet everyone goodnight. I had a wonderful time. THANKS to da4jiu4 and Karen jiejie for the lovely dinner! Mama will upload a quan jia fu next time.

More practice needed for this one

I'm singing happy birthday song in mandarin here. Need more practice kekeke...

Happy birthday!

Nope... Not my birthday yet... but I know that it's going to be real soon (SO EXCITED!).

I'm practicing with a paper cake my mama hastily drew on the paper.

Descriptives

Serious



Cheeky

Pretty

Elusive

Funny

Chat before bedtime

Lele and I had a little chat before his bedtime.

Lele: Shushu take aeroplane come back

Mama: Come back from where?

Lele: Shushu take aeroplane come back from Australia... shushu come home... play toy with Lele.

Mama: Lele play with shushu so much fun.

Lele: Lele take gun shoot with shushu.

Choco makes me spin

Family outing to Chinatown

Hi, everyone!

I went for an outing to Chinatown in just days before Chinese New Year. I went with my yeye, nainai, papa, mama and shushu! The following are some long overdue pictures of the outing, but I should count my luckie stars they even made it to the blog:p

Mama had put off uploading the pics for so long she almost forgot about it, but in the end decided to put up these pictures (FINALLY) because she thought my beloved shushu might be happie to see some pictures of his family... ....

You see, my dearest shushu is far away in Australia now. I know exactly where he is and what he is doing. But the adults (esp my nainai) don't seem to trust me. They keep asking me,

"Where is shushu?"

I'll reply,

"Australia."

Then they will 99.99% of the time follow with another predictable question,

"What is shushu doing in Australia?"

And I'll reply with either,

"Read books."

or,

"du2 shu1 (read book in mandarin)."

Even though mama explained to me that shushu needs to take an aeroplane to a faraway place call Australia to attend a school there, I find it hard to understand why he could not have simply stay at home to read books...

Well, I guess I'm just too young to understand some adult actions...
Nainai, me (munching at some very sour plums) and yeye with the God of Fortune at background

As I was too distracted by the sour plums, I was made to pose for another picture. Much better?

Shushu and me! Shushu is my favourite playmate in the family. Now that shushu is in Australia, I always pester yeye or mama to play with me. Shhh... I think I hear mama panting away now...:p

My little legs got wobblie after walking for some time in the sweltering heat. Let me take a rest... Huh? You calling for me?

My eyes lit up at the mention of some cool coconut juice. Yumyum!

A sip of coconut juice is all I need to feel energised again...

No way am I going to try the coconut pulp, though. They look kind of suspicious...

Mama was happie to have the pulp all to herself since I refused to touch it.

Cause for concern?

1) Was bored in the late afternoon so brought Lele to the playground to play ball. We were the only ones there till a father came with his girl who was younger than Lele. I asked Lele to pass the ball to meimei, and he went to her and hit her on the head with it! Thankfully the ball was very soft. I promptly apologised to the father and asked Lele to apologised, which he readily did. Straight after he said casually,

"Sorrie!"

He started tugging at the girl's shirt. Yikes!

Again, I had to apologise to father and made Lele apologise. The father looked quite displeased.

This is not the first time Lele acted rough towards other toddlers in recent days. If you ask me, I feel that Lele is merely trying to interact but not sure how. Probably since he can be as rough as he wants with us adults, which are his playmates more often than not, he doesn't yet realise that there's a different way of playing with toddlers.

How?

The only way I can think of is to create more opportunities for Lele to interact with other toddlers and guide him in behaving more gently/amiably.

OR

I can send Lele to a childcare centre where he will get to interact lots with other children...


Will consider.

First time ever

2 days ago before Lele's GUG lesson, we had abit of time so I went for an iced coffee treat from Yakun. It wasn't our first time there but for some reason Lele became the object of interest of the staff aunties. One auntie saw Lele and exclaimed,

"So cute!"

Then she gestured to another to see. They started commenting on his cuteness etc when one blurted out,

"If only he were a girl, then it'd have been perfect! He's like a small chilli."

NOW WHAT WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?

I half jokingly protested,

"Oh no, please don't say that!"

And another auntie hurriedly said,

"No lah no lah. Not like girl la."

Lele was often mistaken for a girl when he was a wee babe cos (I think) of his big eyes, small mouth and thick hair. But I have never thought of receiving such blatant comments about him looking like a girl!

Finally Free...

... ... of diapers, that is.

Here is a proud mummy announcing that her dearest son can indicate his intention to pee by saying,

"WANT TO PEE!"

He is now totally diaperless throughout the day except for naps (till I buy some mattress protector, maybe). He goes diaperless even for his trips to GUG for lesson. So far so good ... ... Some part of me is afraid of accidental leaks, or even poos, but I tell myself that since Lele is going diaperless at home successfully, no reason why he shouldn't be free of diaper outside too.

I'm very proud of my dear son for being able to "graduate" so soon, even before his 2nd Bday!

Funny Lele

I'm sure he's not the only one among tods his age, but my dear son Lele reallie tickles my funny bones nowadays!

One morning Lele woke and was playing alone in the bedroom. I opened the door ever-so-slightly to peep in. Lele was counting the bears on his bedsheet! He said, "5... 6.........(pause)......7" then asked himself, "Anymore?" and then flipped over a pillow before replying, "no more"
Then he gave a funnie, "Hmm...no more..."

Yesterday during his day nap, I was lying next to him pretending to be asleep. Suddenly he said, "Want to sleep with mama" and then climbed onto me. He laid on my chest for a while before climbing up to my face to give me a peck on the lips! I opened my eyes to see the sweetest toothy grin a tod can master and my heart melted as we looked each other in the eye.

One day, Lele and I were taking our morning walk when I sneezed. He said, "mama sneezed. Lele thinking of mama." So funny but so sweet...

One morning I woke earlier than lele and was watching telly when I heard lele calling from bedroom, "mama, mama, mama, mama!" This is strange because usually he will come knock on his bedroom door so that I will go open and let him out. I went in quickly and saw him lying on the mattress.
Me: Why did you call for mama?
Lele: bedsheet came off. Lele call mama to put bedsheet back.
... ...

Lele's favourite colour is green. We know because he told us, and also because he will always choose green things whenever there's a choice. I bought playdough for him and made sure there is green dough. To my surprise, he refused to allow anyone to touch that and not even hinmself has played with it. If you ask me, it seems he is treasuring his favourite green colour dough and dun wan any messing around with it. How else to explain why he always wants to open the yellow dough when he explicitly refused anything else yellow?