Yang's first Chinese enrichment class

Yang went for his first Chinese enrichment class today. We had thought Yang might be more receptive to it since he's younger, compared to Kai who was so unhappy in his first class. Well, we thought wrong - he refused to go into the room and when I managed to carry him inside after showing him the crafts outside the room, he started wailing!

My poor baby wanted to go outside. So while the others were playing blocks on the mat, he was crying. He stopped when I asked a teacher to bring in the skeleton he saw next door - he liked it. Managed to halt his crying with the skeleton - all bones, no muscles, couldn't hold his hand up for a high five, no eyes, no nose, no 屁屁 cannot go to the potty!

But he started wailing again when a teacher came over to ask him whether he wanted to join them. So more talk about the skeleton. Eventually, I managed to go from a standing to a sitting position - gosh, he's so heavy!!!

And then the class put the blocks away and started with some singing and dancing. Yang started looking at the keyboard right next to us and the children dancing. Slowly, as the teacher went through the various animals they learnt last week, he turned from facing me to facing outwards.

This is not an easy class. After the singing and dancing, the children were either staring or wandering about. Did I mention there are three assistant teachers too?? There were fewer than 10 kids in the class. But the teacher used their curiosity to make them participate - the kids had to say 我要看一看 in order to peek into a magic box. She offered Yang a peek but he didn't want. So I took a look and told Yang I knew what was inside! I think he was curious but so so stubborn!

Then it was activity time - sticking feathers on an owl! Yang was familiar with the owl as we have one at home. He rejected the owl so I took it instead. Took the opportunity to unload him onto the floor so that I could get to the owl. When I was putting on the glue, he asked to have a "little" go at it and he really just rolled it once. When it was time for the feathers, he helped out. He took the eyes happily and stuck them on himself. Warming up well!

Our owl

He didn't want the toilet break. Just as well! I took the chance to give Yu a snack at the boob and then we went back in - no more crying! He wanted to go straight for the tables and chairs but it was still mat time. This time, he was ok to move further into the class but he still refused to sit on the mat. We ended up on the floor between the mat and the tables and chairs.

The teacher went through the day's exercise in totality, i.e. she coloured and linked the mice to the owl, and stuck the word cards on. The kids were supposed to follow suit when they went to the tables and chairs.

Yang coloured only a small portion of the owl and linked the mice at the very end

Had to convince Yang which was the right way and which was upside down

It was clear that the goal of the exercise was for the kids to link the mice to the owl and stick the word cards. The teachers were focused on those two tasks. The colouring could be done at home.

It was also clear that Yang understood what was going on but he simply refused to engage with the teachers and other kids. Sito said that when he asked Yang what the craft was, he said 猫头鹰 while he overheard another kid say "owl". Score!

I asked him just now whether he liked Zhang Laoshi. He said no so that's trickier than Kai's case. Anyway, I told both that we will go to the Chinese school every Sunday. Yang didn't respond to that while Kai whined "why???" before eventually saying that he liked it. Hope Yang would come round to it too...

Sleep, our ever-elusive friend

Had a rough evening. It started well - Yu dozed off quickly enough, and Kai and Yang agreed to hit the book (ya, just one book with a few stories) before 8 pm. I almost reached the end of the first story when Yu woke. I settled Yu and came back to finish up and start on the next story. Halfway through, Yu woke again, and this time, I couldn't put him down.

Kai and Yang were playing with N but very soon, there was a crash on the door and Kai cried. Standard - someone must get hurt *.* And soon after, Yang decided to come find me. I let him stay in my bed to soothe him, thinking I would carry him back after he dozed off. I managed to then set Yu down on his bed and chat with Kai for a while.

But when I went back to Yang, Kai decided he would bo chup my orders and came into my bed too. So the three of us stayed under wraps for a little while more, with Yang sharing my pillow and Kai taking Sito's. In fact, I thought Kai was asleep already when he suddenly sat up to tell me that Yu was crying. I must have been on the verge of falling asleep coz I didn't hear until he told me!

After settling Yu, I came back to find his brothers asleep. When I finished washing up, it was almost 9.37 pm. No mood to do work. And I have many pictures :)

A shot for posterity after my shower

Yu on his own on Kai's bed - that's Kai's bolster next to him

Had to put Yu on Kai's bed coz (a) it is bigger than his, and (b) his bed has the wrong side up so it isn't comfortable! Couldn't change it now so told N to change it tomorrow...

The boys all seem to sleep on our bed very well. Unfortunately, Kai and/or Yang will always wake Yu at some point. And Sito and I get very little space. Later, Sito will go to his side of the bed while I bunk in with Yu.

The morning when Yang and Yu slept until past 7 am!

While I really could do with more sleep, I also want to go on date nights with Sito! With Kai, we didn't manage to get many date nights in coz we had no helper for 15 months. We enlisted Mum's help on special occasions only. Even when we got a helper, we didn't leave Kai until shortly before Yang arrived. But Yang was kind - four months in, we had our first date night. Yu is now six months plus. Nope! No date night in sight coz he still wakes frequently. Plus our routine with Kai and Yang has also changed.

I wanted the boys to fall into a good sleep pattern and letting them sleep in our bed seems to do just that! Kai can now sleep through. If he wakes to pee, he can go back to bed too unless he finds himself alone - he doesn't like that. Yang still wakes a couple of times a night, which is an improvement from a few weeks ago before he started coming in. It could also be the paediatric tuina, who knows! As for Yu, I hope by the time he starts having porridge for dinner, he can sleep more so that we can go out for a quick dinner!

Preparing Kai

Just read LS's post on how much kids gotta know by primary one. I'm trying to be chill but...

So we've signed Kai up for Chinese enrichment classes. He went in on his own, no verbal protest but his body language and facial expression told me he wasn't keen. I took a peek here and there, and boy, was he grouchy!! He was sitting at a corner of the mat listening to the teacher - at least he was listening! - grouchily. When he saw me, I gave him a jia you sign with my fist and he rolled his eyes and head away!! !@#$%^&*

Then when they put away the mat and laid out word cards on the floor to match with the card in the teacher's hand, he participated! During the pee break, he turned and saw me sitting outside. I waved happily. He did the rolling thing again before joining his classmates to go to the toilet. This boy!

It was writing time after the break and he was seated throughout. When the teacher went through the day's lesson with parents while the kids were wearing shoes and queueing up inside, he said that the two characters had many strokes and many kids didn't finish writing them, urging parents to finish up the worksheet at home. But see what my baby did!

Mama so proud :)

But there's still a long way to go before he can be conversant in Mandarin. We have been watching 激战奇轮 at Mum's place the past two Sundays. He started watching this cartoon in English on TV but mid way. We started the Chinese version from the first episode. Sito and I like it very much too! Helps that the song is great. We taught Kai and just now at bedtime, he could sing almost the whole song!

I should also be very happy with this conversation comprising two Chinese terms from him:

Kai: Let's park upstairs?
mf: Ok, 我么去楼上。
Kai: What's 楼上?
mf: Upstairs. What's downstairs?
Kai: 楼下?
mf: Yes!

I must remember that my son learns from listening, not reading, so that I don't get too anxious about his reading. Or non-reading. I haven't seen him read a book yet. I mean, he'll flip books and ask questions such as, what's his name? Who is Zuri? (Who IS Zuri?!) But he's reading only up to four-lettered single words. On the other hand, I once saw Yang take Yu's Brown Bear book and read from the pictures - of course he heard the story before but I like that he can read it on his own based on the pictures. This is something I'm trying to get Kai to try coz he kept saying he couldn't read.

Kai also doesn't do maths very much. He has no problem with counting by sight but he's still asking whether 18 is larger than 80 - he seems to be asking coz they sound similar. I'm not sure what to make of it. And addition is a hit-and-miss. Playing snakes and ladders with him is a torture - nvm that he counts each dot but he hates losing!! :p

So Kai doesn't speak Mandarin much, read or do maths. He does mainly robots. Robots hor, not robotics! I have no time to teach him. Can only leave it to the school. So I figure he'll figure it out at some point. After all, that was what his mama did - except that English and Chinese switched places.

So, mf, take a deep breath and go to sleep.

DOWN, DOWN, DOWN

Lots has happened since I got back to work 12 April.

Well, I was in office for all of 2.5 days so far! Was on a week-long course last week that was actually very useful. Then I had an external meeting on Monday morning that saw me back in office way past lunch. And I telecommuted yesterday coz the window guy came to check out our windows - one was falling off though he assured me it wouldn't just drop off. Today was retreat day in good old Varsity Park - went there just about weekly during our dating days and early marriage :)

Enjoyed two beautiful mornings already :)

Just before it rained but no less beautiful - blame the camera 

And as I was easing back into work before this week, Sito was enjoying the last of his carefree days before he started his new job this week. He caught a nasty bug while out last week and we both got it (first DOWN), which explained why I didn't do my regular updates last weekend. In fact, I'm still not through it - just now, I redefine double cleansing by rubbing foam cleanser all over my face before I washed out the oil cleanser *.* (I've also washed my hair with shower gel and showered with shampoo before!)

So what does this mean??

Disruptions in pumping milk for Yu!!!

I still managed to pump more or less regularly through it all but the tolls of outside home and outside office took a toll on me - my output today was 80ml short, the most significant deficit so far (second DOWN). I'm just glad this boy doesn't drink much else I'll have to supplement with formula very soon, which is troublesome for Yu coz he seems to be intolerant to milk. Gotta test that out soon...

I've been eating a lot lately, which could also have contributed to my slight cough today though I mostly blame the bug from outside. See my decadent Starbucks breakfast yesterday - coz I felt like a cuppa.

Omelette looks like s* but tastes alright

But I have been checking the weighing scale. I must say I'm happy with the line chart on my phone (third DOWN) :p Five more kilos to go....

I have more to say but I'm returning to pen and paper for a while - drawing geometry shapes for Kai while he's interested in tangrams! Tiger mum in the making? Hoho!

The family bed??

Last night, all five of us slept on our bed!

I woke at 2.30 am, probably coz Yu stirred next to my boob, to find Yang sleeping with his head behind Yu's bum. Settled Yu pretty quickly and went back to sleep.

Then Kai came in at 3.50 am to share Sito's pillow, almost edging him off the bed! Had to settle Yu again but while doing that, Yang slithered up and I was left with the lower half of the bed for Yu. Nvm, left him there safely and prop myself up at my side of the bed coz I no longer had the leg space to lie down.

It was blissful until 5 am when everyone woke! It started at 4 plus when Kai moved his head to my left knee. Then somehow he slithered up until he was wedged between Yang and me. So Yang protested. And Yang was very loud.

None was able to go back to sleep after that. I was so upset that they were all not getting enough sleep. I was also very pissed with them for not sleeping - just wait until you become parents!!!! - and for keeping me up.

Yu just woke many many times in the past three hours. And many of those times, I had to make multiple attempts before I succeeded in putting him down on the bed - for all of five minutes before he cried again.

Please, boys, just sleep well and lots tonight.

Kai's first Chinese enrichment class

Kai went to a trial Chinese enrichment class today. He was reluctant, seeing that Yang would be going over to Ah Ma 家 so Sito had to dangle the ice cream carrot. They left at 10 am for the 10.30 am class while I stayed home with a sleeping Yu and a sticky Yang. But Yu woke soon so we left for Mum's place via the traffic light vs. jay walking :p

Then Sito texted me at 11.30 saying that Kai didn't look happy, having red eyes, like first day of school. I was so sad. The class ended at noon and I anxiously waited for their return. At one point, Mum was tapping the cabinet while playing with Yu and I thought it was Kai. I stood up to go to the door and realised it was not. I teared a little :(

When they finally came back, Kai looked kind of down. After their lunch, I learnt that Kai was not joining in the class of six children who were happy in the class. He sat at one side with an assistant teacher, looking forlorn. When asked, he said that he didn't like the class though he liked the teacher, who spoke with him separately and praised him for writing his Chinese name.

Check out his Chinese name at the top, a little wrong but I think it's very good already

Sito said when the assistant teacher came out a few times, he thought for a moment that it was Kai. But it was not. If Kai came out, Sito would have just taken him home. But our Kai is a brave boy!

Last Saturday, he dropped his half-eaten ice cream while trying to share a spoonful with Sito. I told him I was so sorry he dropped it. He looked like me like he didn't care, but his lips were stretched and I knew it was a matter of time before the dam broke. He was bravely holding back his tears. I told him he was very brave already and shared my own ice cream story with him - I was about this age when I dropped a barely eaten scoop of corn ice cream next to the TPY fountain and was left with a kosong cone coz the ice cream had not even melted.

So Sito gave him an ice cream cone from Macs and promised ice cream every week if he agreed to go with Yang *.* I'm not sure about the ice cream but yes, we do have to bite the bullet and send him for the class with Yang, although they will be in different classes. Hopefully, Yang would be less resistant given his younger age.

I realised from this experience that trial class is more for parents than for the kids, to assess the class and how the kids respond to it. Although Kai didn't respond well to it, it was more because he couldn't understand it - yes, his Chinese is that bad! At least he likes the teacher. The teacher said it would take two to three classes for a new kid to warm up.

Sito will sign the two boys up and they will start next week. Will update!

Back to the grind...

It's 9.25 pm on my second day of work. I'm glad to report that I'm still not sleepy yet - last night, I could hardly stay awake while sending the bigger boys to bed at 8 pm!

So, my first day.

Yu gave me a nice little present by sleeping in to almost 7 am, which gave me time to prepare his milk stuff, wash face and get ready. I sent them to school pretty early but I couldn't go to work so early coz my staff card was not found. So I went back home and chatted with Sito before cabbing to office with all my barang barang - my bag with laptop, pump bag, milk storage bag and food bag.

I was feeling... Well, I don't know what exactly I was feeling, haha! Perhaps some anxiety and apprehension.. But I was given a very warm welcome in the office - a hot cup of Mr Bean, a box of chocolates and a vase with fresh flowers!

My flowers (and Koka noodles :p)

I dragged all emails from my full inbox to a local archive and sent the laptop to our friendly IT guy, B, for some updates while I hopped over to NTUC to grab tissue paper and some snacks. Managed to clear most emails by the end of the day although the laptop went totally crazy that afternoon. Luckily, it magically revived in B's magical hands.

Lunch was porridge made from leftover lor bah and rice from home! Yup, I brought a pot to office :) And a kettle, and lots of food etc..

Check out my desk!

I started my second pump of the day late and ended up leaving the office late. I didn't even manage to air my pump parts after washing them. Lucky for me, I caught a cab on my way to the MRT station!

Today was better. Managed to start looking at emails from these two days and did some powerpoint. Developed a system of cleaning my pump parts - couldn't for the life of me remember how I did it last time! Also took the train back and made it in time to meet Mum to go fetch the kids.

I have no VPN access at the moment so I'm enjoying my me time while it lasts. Probably can't escape OT at night...

To ever better work days!

My week of freedom

I had exactly seven days where Yu was in infant care and I wasn't working yet. And just nice, Sito was (still is) in between jobs. Very precious. We planned everything in advance to maximise time and yet have some free time to nua.

Monday - admin day. Brought stuff to office. Packed things around the house. On standby for calls from school.

Tuesday - day out with Kai. Karaoke after that.

Wednesday - day out with Yang. Bought aircon filters. Did pedicure while Sito did foot reflexology.

Thursday - lunch with Mother. Shopping before and after that. Sito was at a workshop whole day.

Friday - tai tai day. Enjoyed prata for breakfast. Massage courtesy of Mum. High tea courtesy of Mum too! Meanwhile, it was Sito's admin day before the high tea.

Monday - tai tai day. Coca and Llao Llao in between bouts of shopping. Hair treatment. A bit of unplanned child care at the end of the day due to Yu's diarrhoea.

A rare shot of the two of us

Tuesday - full-day date with Sito. We went in search of Sunday roast - yes, on a Tuesday and we found it at Monkswood but it screwed up the lunch reservation and booked us for its other restaurant so we ended up standing outside the restaurant which opens only at 5 pm! So we had some Tanjong Rhu Pau and went to Bedrock at 313 for yummy steak lunch! Then we walked around a bit to clear the stomach for Swensen before calling it a day with foot reflexology.

Sito will be starting Indonesian classes at 10 am on Saturdays next week. And with Yang's paediatric tuina at 8.30 am or 9 am, I will not be able to go out on Saturdays at all for 10-12 weeks T.T Not to mention that I'll still keep Yu at home on Saturdays until he can either drink or eat better. And until I am done with pumping, I won't be having lunch dates with anyone too.

THERE GOES MY SOCIAL LIFE!! *.*

Yes, mf is very sad...

But it can only get better!!

Update 13 Apr 2017

So Sito found out that he won't be taking Indonesia. So I asked him to not start the language classes. Let's settle into our respective work before thinking about CCAs...

Meals on "vacation"

Since Yu turned one month, I had been very busy going out with family and friends and even shopping and library trips on my own with baby in tow. Sometimes, it felt like I'm on a solo vacation - miss those trips when I was in my 20s! Like the typical Singaporean of today, I fed my camera before myself :p

16 Nov 2016 at the Malayan Council - very yummy fusion food, even yummier cakes

22 Nov 2016 at the Butterscotch Cafe - the namesake souffle

5 Jan 2017 breakfast at Starbucks with free drink upgrade - the croissant looks better online :p but still yummy

18 Jan 2017 breakfast at Cafe O - I had obviously wiped the eggs clean while waiting for the prata

19 Jan 2017 at Awfully Chocolate - what's there not to like about chocolate, especially warm chocolate?!

3 Feb 2017 cream cheese bagel from Costa coz the guy holding the key to Starbucks was late (!) and thanks to him, I discovered that Costa serves better hot coffee!

6 Feb 2017 at the Cocoa Colony where I was intoxicated by chocolate - nice but too much!

8 Feb 2017 at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf - I have loved their cakes for years!

9 Feb 2017 bibimbap at Clementi food court - had it standing up at a high table

Which was followed by Hoshino drip coffee - a small cup of yummy

And of course their souffle!

10 Feb 2017 at Overeasy - loved this salad!

Such a nice burger but I had to dismantle it to eat it :p

16 Feb 2017 stew at Hello Kitty cafe - so small I had a second lunch...

17 Feb 2017 cream cheese cake and coffee at Provence - still prefer their milk bun

21 Feb 2017 Taiwanese bingsu?? It's different but oh so good!!!! Would love to have it again

23 Feb 2017 high tea at Raffles Town Club - love such dainty displays... I fancy a set of my own one day!

15 Mar 2017 Penang street food buffet at York Hotel - round 1 :p

16 Mar 2017 milkshakes at Patissez - notice that there are two straws per mug? There were only two of us :p

Oh ya, Yu was having milk too :p

30 Mar 2017 kimchi fried rice - somehow Korean rice dishes are suitable for eating with one hand and/or over baby head!

3 Apr 2017 chicken and hummus flatbread with a cappucino with a non-eating Sito

5 Apr 2017 at Ma Maison - my steak don was yummy!

Sito's chicken pasta didn't have enough carbs so there was a side of bread :p

10 Apr 2017 at Coca - standard but so yummy!

11 Apr 2017 at Bedrock - steak time!!

And I also attempted cooking!

16 Nov 2016 scrambled eggs on toast

25 Nov 2016 with my failed overeasy

25 Jan 2017 overnight oats with the last bits of fruits - it's usually not so colourful...

Tried to cook in the past week but ended up just giving instructions to N. We had claypot rice, ramen, lor bah and tomato fried rice! But forgot to take pictures - dinner time is always too crazy!

My next culinary adventures will take place in office - akan datang!

Yu's ailments

It seems that Yu has a more troublesome digestive system...

Earlier on, he appeared gassy when I took cow's milk. This evening, one week after entering infant care, he had diarrhoea. I asked Yan who has experience with milk intolerance for her kids. From the symptoms such as gas, sometimes green poop, mucous in poop, foamy poop, super red bum, it seemed cow's milk was the culprit again. I took some here and there, especially in milk tea but he was fine so I supposed it was the frozen milk from before I stopped taking milk in overnight oats. I don't know why it matters whether the milk is in oats or tea though!

He's such a poor thing. He kept farting and pooping little bits. I had to change him for fear of aggravating the redness. But when I wiped him, he cried. In fact, he soon learnt to cry the moment he hit the changing table :(

Looking sad when I fetched him just now

I wondered if he might remain intolerant to cow's milk, which would make it difficult if he takes more milk than I can pump. So far, my daily output is enough for him. If he increases his intake via the bottle, I'm sure I cannot keep up and have to explore soy or goat milk formula. Costs aside, I don't know how well he will take to the taste. I was telling Sito about a colleague who continued to breastfeed her eczema-prone kid for some three years as she could not take many foods, which meant that my colleague also could not ingest those foods - it was very sad for her palate.

May Yu outgrown this soon!!

Kai's Chinese

A few weeks back, we taught Kai his Chinese name. He learnt the surname quickly but took some time with his given name. And this week, I asked him to write his name on a piece of paper to show his Chinese teacher. A couple of days later, he came home with this on the back of his colouring paper:

The surname was nicely written. The given name was not proportionate but the strokes were all correct. Needless to say, I was elated :)

This weekend, we have been discussing what to do with his Chinese. He's usually reluctant to speak Mandarin. We thought that we need to instil some interest in the language in him. So we started searching for enrichment classes. So many. So expensive. Waiting list for weekends so long!

While we decide on a class or workshop to send him, I think we can do more at home. We kind of started speaking more Mandarin to him a few weeks back but we haven't been too consistent. I guess for language, immersion is critical. So we need to adjust our own usage of the language. Mum suggested that Sito and I speak to each other in Mandarin. That's a start.

His Chinese teacher told us to just speak it, never mind if he doesn't seem to understand. During the curriculum briefing earlier this year, the Chinese teacher used this term 放声思考 - it's just "thinking out loud" but in Chinese :p It reminded me that perhaps I should just use Mandarin to articulate my thoughts, especially in the presence of the kids.

And, we're also thinking of bringing forward our trip to Taiwan! We were thinking of a trip next year just before Kai enters primary school. But if it's useful, as we have heard from friends (and even Sito voluntarily spoke more Mandarin upon returning from his Taiwan immersion!), we'll do it this AND next year!

Weaning the baby

Both Kai and Yang started solids just before six months. I don't remember all the details now but they seemed to have few issues with food. Very soon, they were eating quite a bit. Yu, on the other hand, proves to be a little more challenging.

After his first solids last Sunday, I asked the teachers to give him cereals in school. He didn't eat very much but appeared to be improving. Just like for the older brothers, I religiously take photos of his daily log in school to check his intake, output and naps.

His first check-out shot

This weekend, I decided it was time to use the avocado I bought earlier in the week - it was all brown already! When I opened it, it was nicely ripe and soft. Mixed it with some milk and offered it to the baby. This boy is quite lucky - after experimenting with two babies before him, I'm finally weaning with more than Nestle rice cereals. And during his pregnancy, I even managed to learn how to tell when an avocado is nicely ripe!

"My spoon is tastier..."

但是，他不领情 *fumes* Obviously, I only gave him a few scraps of the avocado. Even then, he ate very little of it. He also didn't take much of the oat cereals at lunch. There was more food on the table and tissue paper than in him.

But this morning, he took obvious sips of the oat cereals from the spoon! I was so happy! Let's see how he fares this week. Hope he can eat more soon!

PS: He pooped a lot and frequently since early Sunday morning. And mostly green. Avocado? Or processing the frozen milk produced during the time when I was still drinking milk? So long as no constipation or diarrhoea!

Becoming forgetful...

People often say the pregnancy causes mums to be forgetful. I beg to differ. Pregnancy is a temporary state. But sleep deprivation is very real and long-lasting. And it surely is THE culprit for my forgetfulness, if forgetfulness is the right word.

I haven't had good sleep consistently since becoming pregnant with Kai. But that was already the easiest pregnancy; I did get quality rest after the backaches were gone. Btw, Sito had to remind me of those backaches that kept me sitting up at night in the first trimester!

Once Kai was out, it was sleepless in Holland Village. I finally got two nights of good sleep in Taipei when pregnant with Yang. Then, there were good nights while we were in Spain, when Yang slept through. And the trip to Club Med. Then no more.

I do see a light at the end of this tunnel. Kai can sleep through now. If he needs to pee, he'll go to the toilet by himself; he doesn't even need the light - whatever misses should dry up by the morning! Yang, however, very seldom slept through the night. So I may reach the end when Yu turns four, or three if I'm lucky...

Sito rocking Yu while Kai and Yang were sleeping haphazardly

In the meantime, I deal with sleep deprivation and what it does to us.

What it does to me:

It didn't happen with Kai. Or I don't remember. But I remember waking up in the middle of the night, sitting at the bay window with Yang nursing in my arms - how did we get there? And waking up in the middle of another night to find myself halfway through changing Yang's diapers - just how did we get there?!

I had two similar episodes with Yu. The first was quite bad - I cannot remember what I was doing when I woke; I only remember something like this happened *.* The second time was quite amazing - I found myself sitting upright next to Yu who was awake. When I had to bring him back to my bed, I saw that I had set up my bed to be ready for Yu; I certainly did not go to sleep with that setup!!

Many times, I lost my train of thoughts mid sentence. Or I got distracted far too easily.

Many times, I left a room to get something, only to forget what that something was.

The other day, I forgot people and things at work. How to go back to work like this?!

What it does to the children:

Just this morning at just past 6 am, I went back to the kids' room with Yang and they wanted me to sing the Moana song. I sang and dozed off mid-sentence a few times. Kai asked me why I stopped *.*

Having a lethargic mum. Though there are times when I still flung them into the air for fun.

Being nagged to go to bed every day so that I can also rest. Nowadays I don't scrimp on storytelling even if I'm tired unless it's very late, like when we go out for dinner.

Sometimes Yu was left to whine and cry coz I was so tired.

What it does to Sito:

Kena disturbed by a baby who was left to whine and cry.

Dealing with a wife who falls asleep holding her phone, taking said phone away and turning off the light.

Having incoherent conversations when I lose my train of thoughts and get distracted by things.

How I deal with it:

Nothing I can do about it until Yu can sleep through. I am just thankful for my ability to doze off pretty quickly, many times before the kids were even out!

Kara forever oke!!!

I couldn't remember the last time I went for karaoke. Was it during CY's birthday in 2012??

So I decided to devote two hours of my seven days of freedom to Teo Heng at Star Vista :p We got a medium room as they ran out of the small rooms. Oh yes, Sito went with me! :) I still remember that he sang One Night in Beijing with CW and Hup when we first went to karaoke more than 10 years ago!

We (mostly me... :p) sang some of our faves - One Night in Beijing by 信月团 where Sito said I sang a part wrongly (*.*)，情非得已，倒带，many 孙燕姿 songs，Beautiful Love，你是我的眼 which made me cry (!)，童话，痴心绝对，手放开，月亮代表我的心，眉飞色舞 which was just fun to sing，舍不得你，喜帖街 where the Cantonese made my tongue cramp，爱我别走 where I played backup singer to Sito，爱得正好，爱和承诺，Firework and even a couple of kiddy songs! The kiddy songs don't have nice videos so won't be bringing the kids anytime soon...

Very happy to sing the two duets with Sito - must be the first time we sang duets! Usually, we'll hum and sing some old songs that kind of float into our ears. Or 新谣 which Sito is listening to these nights. But duets? First time :)

But I didn't have much space in my phone so I recorded our 爱得正好 instead of videoing it. It was only at the end when we sang our last song Firework that I decided we needed a video! It was a good song to end with :) 

Just a still from the video

Special time for Kai and Yang

When Yang arrived and entered infant care, we took Kai on a trip to the fire station. Now that Yu is in infant care, we thought it is time for us to have some individual bonding time with his brothers too.

Kai happened to woke late on Tuesday. He was still having breakfast when I sent his brothers to school. When I got back, I trimmed his hair!

All geared up for a haircut!

It was going well until I happened to catch his hair on the trimming scissors. He wanted me to use the regular scissors. Then I made an awful cut on his fringe and had to spend the rest of the time repairing it. In the end, I gave him Moana on my phone so that I could use the trimming scissors peacefully. The result was thinner hair but the ugly cut remained visible :(

Kai took a photo of us in matching stripes!

Excited on the train!

He talked a lot the whole morning but didn't ask me where we were going. When Diggersite appeared as we went up the escalator, he realised that was where we were bringing him!

Kai tried all three machines - he could operate it himself here and there

But he did ask me if he could have ice cream. He wanted Macs ice cream. I wonder if he learnt it from his friends or he remembered it from 2015...

Happy meal for the kid 

And a dessert right after

Kai didn't want the box with a Smurf house inside so I carried it

The Happy Meal toy was a cause of much crying in the evening, when Yang wanted it too! So we made a quick change of plans for today - instead of coming back to downstairs for lunch, we would let Yang have a Happy Meal and have a later lunch ourselves!

Having fun while changing

Scooting in the MRT station

Digression: The MRT station where I lost my cardholder with my staff card and fare card :(((( I put both my phone and my cardholder in my back pocket just before I left the house. I took out the phone only when we got to the station. By the time we got to the gantry, no cardholder :( Went back to the lift and above to find. Nothing :( Reported it at the station. No call the whole day :( Reported loss of fare card to no avail coz my card was not registered :( Finally heard from admin that they would need a police report before I could request for a replacement card for a fee :( Sian...

Something about "fall down in the water; later gonna die!" *.*

Scooting towards Sentosa! It was a very pleasant walk today :)

He kept getting distracted by water...

Big fountain at RWS

Small fountain at Festive Walk toward the Merlion

A big fountain that smelled fresh!

Sito and I were able to, for the most part, chit chat while Yang walked near us. He's really old enough for us to be more hands off now! So, two more years before Yu reaches that stage!

Welfie!

Sito took a rest at KFC while I brought Yang up the Merlion. He didn't go up the last time we were there; only Kai went up with Sito. We are very fair haha!

Posing with a mermaid!

And the statue that spits out medallions at the end of the show

Now he can smile on demand. In the above photo, he dropped the smile immediately after I put down the camera!

We ran into a troop of tourists but luckily, we went to the mouth gallery before the head gallery; they came down from the head gallery just as we were leaving the mouth gallery!

Yang was a little afraid...

There was a bell at the mouth which I pulled to make a wish. It was loud! Later after the head gallery when Yang wanted to walk down the stairs, I used the bell to remind him that we had already been down there. I definitely didn't want to keep climbing stairs!

Looking at the Imbiah Lookout rising up and up

"I need a drink!"

Eating nuggets!

And he got an ice cream treat too!

Cute face!!

This boy took the Happy Meal box himself but he left it at school *.*

Sentosa is great for bringing kids out early when pretty much nothing else is open! The weather was very pleasant today so we really enjoyed it. I think next time, we'll return for the cable car :)