Everything you need to know ...

... is just a click away on the internet. I made my first pop-out greeting card together with Peanut by following instructions from here:http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/cards/flowerpopup/


And the end product was simply so beautiful, I wanted to keep it for myself:

Mr M and I couldn't help but admire Peanut's neat handwriting. All by himself - zilch tracing, no dotted lines to guide, just a plain single line for him to write the words on. We are so proud of you, son!

Shiver Me Timbers

Getting ready for Pirates Day - school fun activity on last Friday of March:

Pirate hat - $12 from ELC at Paragon (Searched Toys R Us @ Paragon during lunchtime and couldn't get any pirate get-up - no bandanna, no dagger, no eye patch ...arrrgh). A little expensive but this is a must-have given that his brother has the full get-up from Halloween 2008, complete with hat, vest, sword and hook.

Bandanna - $2 from Daiso. So thankful for this $2 shop. It's not easy to find bandannas these days. Simply refused to pay $7 for a handkerchief at Muji for something that would only be used once. Worse when you need to buy 2.

Eye patch - homemade by model's mum from left-over felt from Christmas costume.

T-shirt - model's own, graffiti-like painted by model as craft project in school, tucked away for months and discovered by mother whilst rummaging through wardrobe for suitable clothing.

Shorts - this one is easy; just pick any well worn hand-me-down (the politically correct terminology is 'pre-loved').

Belt - model's own, rather it was the brother's new and unused belt.

Foam sword - model's own, previously bought from Toys R Us.

26 March, THE DAY:

Check out the brave souls who walked the plank with a crocodile lurking in the water at: Pirates' Day at Pre-School. Be warned, there are like 171 photos. See if you can spot all the photos with Peanut and Sweet Potato - there are 17 in total, I think. Spot a mermaid whilst you are at it. Just prove something - a girl likes to flaunt every opportunity she gets; doesn't matter how old or how young.

Feel swarmed by too many kids' photos? Need some clues? Had enough of kids in pirates costumes?

No worries, you have the benefit of a mother who has scoured every photo for fear of missing out on any - even if it's a glimpse of the behind or part thereof. Here's the list:

Peanut in photo number

21 - this one is obvious

47 - out of focus, in the background

48 - another blurred one

51 - one more

54 - in the queue for his turn to walk the plank

55 - still q-ing

56 - can't find him? Well, he's right behind the one walking the plank

58 - Ah, my brave boy!

170 - rear view, on left
171 - rear view, centre of photo

Sweet Potato in photo number

117 - in bottom right, wielding the sword
127 - rear view, left most, look for the red bandanna

133 - the one whose face is hidden by a black hat

138 - end of queue on left

140 - rear view

141 - on the left, still waiting for his turn

142 - steady and fearless

Did you spot any that I missed? I doubt ...

Daily Lessons on Eloquence

I was complaining to a business associate, a mother of twins about the age of Sweet Potato, of how my share of homework had doubled as Sweet Potato's class had just embarked on "show and tell". She remarked in disbelief, "Can he do it at this young age?"


His first topic was 'family' and I prepared a poster (using a vanguard sheet - almost forgot that such things exist) with photos of family members. I have not had any feedback so far from his teachers. But I do know for a fact that he is one good storyteller. He has had a lot of practice - on the average at least once a day, he would come to me, using his sweetest voice in between sobs and sniffling, sometimes with effective pauses at the right places as if he is exercising great restraint, "Mama, just now ... gor-gor ... [used his buttocks to push me/squeezed my hands/beat me/snatched the toy from me/kicked me]."


"What did you do?"


"I used my buttocks to push him/squeezed his hands/beat him/snatched the toy from him/kicked him."

S.P's other achievements:

1. He is able to route count to 20, well almost - except that 15 and 19 are missing.

2. Innately able to do the opposite of what is asked of him. This morning's getting out of bed ritual went like this:

With huge dose of fake enthusiam, I exclaimed: Ok, everybody gets up.

S.P, matching with equal vocal strength: No-o-o-o

Everybody goes outside

No-o-o-o

Everybody says "No"

Y-e-e-s-s-s

Sigh, can't even out-smart a toddler. I don't need a crystal ball on this one - I see challenging times ahead, very challenging times.

Year of the Tiger

Finally, here are some photos for CNY 2010. This CNY, Sweet Potato is taught by 'popo' (my mum) to greet everyone 恭喜发财, 新年快乐, 身体健康 and successfully recruited a number of Aunties to his fan club!

Peanut learned the saying 天增岁月人增寿, 春满乾坤福满门 in school:

Peanut learned the story of 'nian' and the red banner, and made lanterns and gold fishes out of hong bao. Here is his best drawing yet:

Our CNY home decor, courtesy of Peanut:

Don't be overly impressed; he didn't exactly write those words - the teacher wrote them in pencil and he traced over them in ink. But it's a vast improvement of his fine motor skills nevertheless and yes, the couplets were proudly displayed in a number of homes this CNY by parents of his classmates who likewise reproduced the same artwork.

Who is your favourite superhero?

It's really fun to hear No 1 calling No 2 "Batman" and the latter calling the former "Spiderman" as if they were best of friends and defenders of the earth. Peanut likes his suit so much, I had to persuade him that they were not appropriate for his school's CNY celebrations notwithstanding that they were red and the class was told to wear red or traditional costumes.

Yesterday morning, like most mornings, Sweet Potato woke up, drank his bottle of milk and woke up Peanut with his cheerful chatterings. I turned to S.P, "Didi, can you please ask Auntie Wati to make milk for gor-gor?". Most mornings, he would oblige; once or twice, he would refuse. But this time, he surprised me with a shout "Batman to the rescue!", jumped out of bed, opened the door, left the room and I faintly heard him passed on the message to Wati. After Peanut finished his milk and was about to bring the bottle out, S.P said with a firm tone, "Good boy, Peanut." My superhero with his hilarious one liners.

Now, I am thinking my life would be complete if we have The Wonder Twins - yes, a family of 6. Just joking. Oops, I could almost hear Mr M muttering with disgust, "Not amused" or declaring with absolute resolve, "Dont' you even think about it".

Barely Disguised Child Labour Exploits

Remember the deadly sexy car-wash scene in Charlie's Angels starring Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore? These are a lot more fun and that of course is the teacher's car:

The school has come up with this brilliant project in the new year - on the last Friday of the month, the kids get to do something fun. The car wash was in Jan. For Feb, they get to wash their outdoor toys:

Now I'm wondering what's in store for March. And I'm thinking maybe soon, the family can do without Wati, the helper. But first, I should make a request for a school fee reduction.

Show And Tell

This was his first show and tell in May last year, reading (from memory) the story "If you give a mouse a cookie"; meek and soft-spoken:












At his umpteenth show and tell early this year. The theme - When I was a baby; sure and confident:

His show and tell last week on culture; bold and having fun:

Gulp ... I'm finding it hard to reconcile this boy with my memories of the baby or toddler he used to be.

Just last weekend we attended our first birthday party celebration of his classmate this year. It's the first 'drop and fetch' party where we left him at his friend's house in the care of adults who are total strangers to him (and us) for 2 hours without any supervision by us. Ummm, how should I describe that feeling? It was like having the imaginery umbilical cord that used to connect my baby to me severed ... it's surreal, kind of liberating and yet feeling a sense of loss at the same time. Peanut had a fabulous time, helped himself freely to chips and M&Ms for lunch

... I am still reeling from the shocking realisation that my baby is going to turn 5 this year ... boohoo *sob*