Ohisashiburi, indoor playground!

Still remember we used to go to indoor playgrounds quite a bit with Kai. Less with Yang. The last time we went to one, it was the one at Centrepoint - super sad. We were happy to see one just downstairs but no chance to go until Friday - it was child care centre closure day!

It was considered peak period coz of Teachers' Day. So $19 each for Kai and Yang, but $5 for Yu coz he's under two. And there is same-day re-entry! We spent over an hour there in the morning, went for lunch and a nap, and back for over two hours. Yu had to go back earlier coz his fever came back but it was not enough for Kai and Yang!

Yu scooping sand

Yang pouring sand into some machine

And there was a kaypoh instant here. He saw an older boy in front of him playing with an excavator. I didn't notice until I heard him - he's pretty loud! - telling the boy, "That's not a dump truck. That's an excavator. *pause* Are you a baby??" Hoho!!

Kai pouring sand into a similar machine

And waiting for the sand level to go down before pouring again

Not the first time I thought he might make an engineer...! I mean, there's all the LEGO creations he's making...

Yu was very brave!

And a bigger kid kind of adopted him at the slides

Kai saw them and told her that Yu was HIS brother. "You think he's your brother??!" Then he proceeded to go play on his own! Though later he came back and guided his brother up and down the slides too.

Yang had a great time on the ball merry-go-round!

The building room where two great structures in the morning crumbled in the afternoon

The playground was quite the madhouse in the afternoon. At one point, I was just one arm's length away from Yu when a horde of six or eight kids came rushing past me towards Yu. They brushed past him but he got scared and cried! So poor thing!

I pretty much left Kai and Yang alone, just checking on them occasionally to make sure they hadn't left the playground. They had some arguments with kids here and there but well, they should sort out their own playground problems. When Yu left, I sat down to watch drama using the mall wifi haha!

Sito came back from reservist just in time so he grabbed dinner for N and came back for us. Mum brought dinner for the kids so everyone got to eat and shower early. Sito and I went out for date night :)

I realised that it was not a very tiring child care centre closure day when the kids were so occupied. And better yet, they're growing up! In a year's time, I can just sit and let all three run free, yeah!

First letter to Kai

I wrote my first letter to Kai yesterday.

The original intent was to encourage him to write back to me. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt like it was purely a note to connect with him. I decided I would write the boys little notes here and there.

The first note was actually the day after the Flyer trip - 23 August. I had to go to office real early but they chose that day of all days to sleep in! So I wrote a note to them and left. I didn't take a picture of the note in my hurry and couldn't find it after I got home.

Yesterday, my letter was addressed to only Kai. My handwriting has deteriorated over the years but I took pains to write properly for him else he might find it difficult to read. Or he might chide me for my handwriting, as he did before!

I left the envelop leaning on his fire station. He found it after his shower coz he went over to his cabinet to grab his underwear. He came over to me wearing only his underwear, asking me what that was. I told him it was a letter to him and we could read it after he got dressed. We eventually finished reading the letter only in the evening. He read it out loud with some help from me.

I was pleasantly surprised when he told me, even before he read the letter, that it was precious to him and he would keep it - awww! My baby is such a sweet boy... But kids are all manipulative - at night, he told me he would not keep the letter unless I left Yang to go to him NOW!

Just now, I told him that I would write him a mix of letters and notes in future coz I don't have a lot of envelops :p He told me to make envelops myself!

Big boy being quiet and nice while waiting for dinner

Yu's first excursion

Yu's excursion was postponed until 30 August due to HFMD. Sito was supposed to go with him but he had reservist on 30 August so I went instead.

He had a fever at night and in the morning. I gave him some paracetamol and he got better. But he was still lethargic. I thought we would skip the excursion but he wanted to go to school. So we went.

I sent them all to school and went off for breakfast before going back to catch the bus with Yu. When I got back, I found other PG kids with their parents in their classroom and Yu sitting quite still on his own at a dining table, with his half-eaten food in front - so poor thing! :(

When I got near, Kai and Yang saw me first. Then Yu turned, saw me and broke into a smile! We were given some bread for the excursion - four buns were too much for both of us! - and he carried them for the longest time.

His expression most of the time

Still looking forlorn on the bus

And at the waiting area at Qian Hu, still carrying the buns

Yes, the excursion was to a fish farm! We started with a tour of the farm, which he wasn't interested in at all but he knew that he should follow the uncle :p Then we sat down for a snack.

Finally a smile!

He waited a long time for his turn at the kiddy ride

So happy! But poor boy is looking tired :(

And finally, it was time to fish! There were a few ponds or one big one separated by bridges. We tried fishing in the pond but it was so hard - the fish ran away real quick! So we moved to the box :p And Yu caught some fish all on his own!

"Scoop!"

We poured out all the fish we caught but he continued to go around scooping water. It was quite hot at some spots. Mama melted!

Dozed off on the bus back but woke on arrival coz it was such a short journey

The eyes shutting, very cute

Poor boy didn't nap much in school. Just before I left for a meeting, the school called to tell me he was having a fever. So I got N to bring him home. And as I was on my way home, Sito said Yu hit 39.2 degrees! Thank goodness he was home! So he gave him some medicine. My poor boy...

And there is this unfortunate correlation between Sito's reservist and kiddy fever while I wan't home. Yang had febrile fits when Sito went for reservist in January and June 2016. Now Yu had fever! Thank goodness no fits!

Oh, we were given a box and some fish to bring home. Gosh, I didn't expect that! So I had to go buy some fish feed. Also asked YQ if he wanted the fish. When I eventually took some good photos of the fish, he said these were guppies and he didn't want them!! Snob.

Nine fish in all, and a decorative dog for company

The nine fish became 16 or 17 the next morning - a fish or two gave birth! But of course all the babies were dead *.* I had to change the water and throw out the dead babies. This morning, there was a dead fish, which became three by lunch time. Super scary and sad to throw these dead ones away. I'll never bring fish home again!

Catching up with the boys!

I scrolled through my posts and realised they were mostly based on events since we moved! Time to do a major update on the Sito kiddos!

The sleep chapter

First chapter - coz sleep is so important to kids.

Bedtime routine is still the same. After showering, I send Yu to bed while Kai and Yang busy themselves with toys or TV or video, depending on the day. When Yu is down, I'll do some reading and send his brothers to bed.

I spend the most time with Yu. We go in when it's still bright. Then he will take some time to settle down before he has his bottle milk. And then he will run around, play, ask for water. Best, he loves to poop after his bottle - happens five times a week minimally!

Looking out at the sunset

Yu bullying me! :(

His brothers also come in to play half the time. The half? He goes out to find them!

Kai loves to baby Yu

Universal design allows children to do it too - at the parents' peril!

Squatting to poop!

He's still nursing. I wonder when he will stop. But recently when he wakes for the first time at night, I can put him back to bed without offering nai nai. Hope that's the start to the end? 

"Nai nai is nice" :)

But we're not done yet even with nai nai. He will get back to turn the light back on. And the play continues until he's tired.

Trying to convince Yu that the red light from the camera is nothing fearsome..

And then I'll get to his brothers. Recently they love my renditions of Mo Willems' books - I borrowed the Chinese translations, quite fun to read :) Other times, they may not be interested in reading at all.

Running about naked is part of the deal

Bliss when they compete to give the best massage :)

One day, Kai asked to sleep with his brothers coz he said he liked that, just like how they used to do so in the old house. Awww.. So I let him. But I also realised the poor boy hadn't got over the bees :(

And sometimes, Yang came down to join them

I realised only recently that people used to say that we should not take pictures of sleeping persons. Gosh, I've been doing that since Kai was born! Heck la, they are all so cute in dreamland!

What a pout. I couldn't help staring at him and kissing him!

Some hours later, I woke to find him leaning on Sito

Thanks, baby, for clearing our space my side for me to sleep! :p Coz many nights, Kai and Yang also came onto our bed - our queen bed! Even Sito can feel their presence now that they are big and so many!


The food chapter

With Yu still waking at night for nai nai, and my recent gym (and drama!) routine, I'm so tired that I hand him over to N in the morning when he wakes at 5 plus, and go back to sleep. So it has been some time since I saw them at breakfast.

Breakfast time!

I'm trying to cook and bake more. Some time in April, I cooked dinner coz I was on child MC for Kai - thought I'd accompany him that day. Ended up no kid had dinner - so sad :( My baking efforts meet with better success, as usual.

mf: "Are the muffins good?" Boys: "Yes!"

Yu was looking at Papa with his face full of muffin

"Where's Papa?" When Papa walked to the fridge behind him - he's a daddy's boy :)

The Aikido recce night, we had too much ice cream

Somewhere between moving house and the kids growing up (just a little), we have started eating out with just the five of us, no helper. It can be a challenge, but we can manage. I'm very happy :)


The play chapter

There's plenty of space to play in our new house, as we still call our home. Great for the kids, not so great for the parents who have to find them! The balcony in our bedroom is the best - it connects to Yu's future room so it's like Monsters Inc, you know... They love it.

Kai and his LEGO corner in his room

Very pleased with his latest creation

Showing off some cool parts of his rocket

A big helicopter and more vehicles!

Kai played LEGO when he lost his video privilege

Kai also amazed me with his attention to details. He likes to fold things. One day, he taught me how to fold this amazing boat. Honestly, I forgot the many steps right after!

With our boats :)

Kai was writing something on his flower petals

First play date at our place - watching Frozen or Moana

Third playdate (after BBQ) but only Yu was happy to have his photo taken

Kai learnt about 斗鸡眼 so I taught him how to do it!

Yang wanted to do it too :p

"Wheeeee!"

It's great to live above a mall - so convenient. But the temptations are also great. We can take a long time to get from home to the MRT coz kiddy rides, fishballs, doughnuts, pets, and even decorative Tuk Tuk!

I'm surprised the restaurant never said a word..

My beng beng!

Lagi more beng!

This one looks like a boss...!

We finally rolled out the scooters last weekend! They were collecting dust in the stairwell, oops :p

Yu took Kai's scooter

Cos Kai was busy at the playground

Lazy mama's fave play activity? Watching TV together - quietly. Wow.

Oh, we have another game that we play that is quite manageable even for tired parents. We play this only on taxis. One person will have a number in his/her heart and the rest will take turns to guess the number. Love it when Yang is the one holding the number:

Yang: I have a number in my heart!
Kai: 20!
Yang: Lower!
Mama: 18!
Yang: Higher!
Kai: 19!
Yang: Lower!

Huh?? Eh, we're playing whole numbers! Hoho!

The swimming chapter

This is play too but I think it deserves a chapter on its own.

After much procrastination and search, we finally started swimming lessons in June! Kai is quite confident and willing to learn.

Play time before lesson

Three Sundays ago, Yu didn't want to have his swimming lesson at all, likely after one lesson when the coach said something like, if you don't do this, you can't play that. But we tried every week and last week, he finally did the torpedo himself and proudly showed me!

But Yu had great fun copying Kai! He was putting his face into water here and there. Inadvertently, he drank some water. But he looked like he enjoyed it!

Kai was also keen to teach Yu.. Yup, yaya papaya

Yu could kick around quite a bit

My baby all wrapped up

School chapter

Ever since the HFMD episode, Kai doesn't like to go to school on Saturdays. No choice, I need my Saturdays to do work and house stuff. On Sundays, he says, "No more holiday already? So fast?" Awww... But comes Monday, he is quite happy to go to school. In fact, he will nag me if I'm slow!

But Yang can be difficult on school days. Journeys between home and school can be fraught with cries and frequent stops coz he drags me to a stop. Why? No doughnut. No fishball. No toy. No escalator. But after checking in at school, he still wants a thousand kisses and hugs from me :)

His meltdown melted away when he saw this!

Yang on a good day

Yu also likes this - "cheeeeese!"

Little Yu struggles to get out of the stroller. On days when I let him out, it is super tiring to chase after him. Otherwise, he's a sweet baby. He is contented with a kiss and a hug. And then he walks in with his big bag.

Holding hands :)

宝贝的背影

Running towards home!

We finally live very near a library! Last time, we tried going to the one at Clementi a few times but it was just difficult to go regularly. But I realised that my kids are a terror in the library. More than once, they or us were called out by librarians - yes, they kept running and screaming! In a library!!

First trip - what an illusion

The bookdrop is a huge favourite!

I find it fascinating too...

Yang read a random sentence out in English while pointing to Chinese...

Yu is the one who is most consistent about reading. Even on weekend nights when it was late, he would sometimes insist on books even though I didn't want to.

Hello baby, can you sit up, please?

The random chapter

Why don't you like to have a haircut?! (cutified)

The bag that lived one day - one zip came off that day!

My boys in National Day gear!

I'm glad we managed to stay in to watch the National Day Parade. The boys had watched the 2018 song on TV many times. Our mall started playing NDP songs since June or July. They also sang NDP songs and the Anthem in school. I asked them to stand when the Anthem was playing. On the rerun, Yu told us all to stand at the same part of the show! Just a few days ago, they were still singing to the 2018 song on TV. I'm happy :)

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Once again, I'm trying to make a commitment to blog more regularly. Capture the boys' growing up before they're all grown! Hope I can keep this up!