Role Play - Teacher

Samuel the teacher - Recently he likes to be 'teacher' and we are his 'students'.

Samuel: Let me tell you story.

Mummy: Ok!

Samuel: I am teacher, you are baby.

Mummy: erhm..I am children.

Brings out his story book.....he goes...

Samuel: Say..."Fruits"....

Mummy: Fruits...

Samuel: This is pineapple

Mummy: Teacher...wrong...This is a Pear! Waaahaahaaa

He is so adorable when he is role playing 'teacher'! He is mimicking his school teachers. He even 'distribute' worksheets(rough papers) to us.

I am enjoying every bits of his growing up and have to embrace his nonsenses (Tantrum/sulking/demands)...oh well, it is a package deal of having children.

1st visit to Eye Centre & Dentist

Last weekend (2 weeks before his 3rd birthday), he had his 1st visit to eye centre and dentist for checks.

Review from Dental Visit: His baby teeth are all out and the dentist gave clearance for his teeth condition, no decay and helps to remove a slight stain on his 2 front tooths! :)

I was prepared to hear a crying & trembling Samuel but he did not cry at all, thumbs UP! He lie down on the arm chair on his own and let the dentist checked his teeth. Only has to continue to brush his teeth everyday which he is already doing it.

Review from Eye Centre: He has astigmatism of 400/each eye, slight long sightedness in his right eye and squirt on his left eyes – tends to squirt out and up.
Verdict: He has to wear glasses to correct his vision!!

My heart sank upon hearing this piece of news although we were prepared way before the visit as he went to see my optometrist friend at the optical shop for a test prior to KKH Eye Centre. No amount of preparation helps in preparing me to face this piece of news, imagine a toddler at age 3 having to wear glasses(and it could be for long term basis).

What causes Astigmatism?
The cause of astigmatism is often not known. Astigmatism is usually present from birth. A small degree of astigmatism is considered normal and usually does not require any correction.
Rarely astigmatism may be caused by chronic vigorous eye rubbing (such as in children with allergic conjunctivitis) or by cornea diseases such as keratoconus.
How do I correct my Astigmatism?
Astigmatism can be corrected with corrective lenses such as in spectacles or contact lenses. These vision aids help to focus the light entering the eye onto the retina. Other ways to correct astigmatism include refractive surgery options such as LASIK and implantable contact lenses.
Symptoms of Astigmatism in children
· Distorted or blurred image at all distances. More on blurred vision.
· Children may tilt or turn their head to get a clearer image. It results in headache or tired eyes.
· Inability to see objects, both near and far, without squinting.
· Discomfort or irritation in eyes.
· Difficulty focusing on printed words or lines.

Causes of Astigmatism in Children
Under normal conditions, eyes are spherical in shape. The cornea is smooth and equally curved in all planes. The light that enters the cornea is focused equally in all directions. Since, it refracts evenly, it forms a clear image of the object. Change in corneal shape gives rise to astigmatism. It occurs when the front surface of cornea is curved more in one direction than in the other. The cornea takes the shape of a football or the back of a spoon. When light enters the cornea, it gets refracted more in one direction than in the other. This forms the image of only a part of the object at one time. Objects, placed at any distance, appear blurry and wavy. Astigmatism occurs mainly due to genetic predisposition. It may also develop as a result of some sort of traumatic eye injury or surgery.

For now, he needs his pair of glasses so that he can see clearer so that this will not be a stumbling block to his learning abilities. No more squeezing of the eyes when he watches tv or when he looks at objects or people. At least comforting to hear that this can be remedied via aids and it is not life threatening.

Still….I choose to praise God in all situation & circumstances, knowing God is in control. God is good all the time and ALL the time, God is good!

Simple Pleasures in Life

Simple pleasure in life makes him excited:

1. Half boiled eggs for b/f with bread, he loves his wholemeal bread w/ no trimming off the skin! (Last i heard he fought w/ my maid for the top/bottom ends of the bread!)

2. Roti Prata

3. Curry Chicken (he is learning to eat spicer food..bravo!)

4. Trip to the playgrounds downstairs

(on & off, he still try his luck, asked if he can go FIDGETS...i told him we can go again if he can 'poo' sitting on the toilet bowl! He still has to poo in his pull up pants!!!)

5. Visits to toy shops even if no buying....he is ok with that!

6. Loves watching Noddy and Tom & Jerry cartoons now...those are classic ones which I used to watch during my childhood time.

The list goes on.... and yes, still as cheeky as ever and he agrees, Cheeky Boy!!

22 months old....

Pictures of Sam above to share…he has his haircut last Sunday, brave boy…no crying although he has his initial fear and almost wanted to ‘back out’. His pony tail still in tag, we aren’t going to trim off till he goes to P1. :)

How time flies…it’s been 5mths since my last post. Many things has happened, both at work and home but 1 thing is for sure, my boy has not stopped growing…he is a ‘big boy’ now! Turning 3 yrs old in 2 months time. I have been really busy at work due to some role restructuring but am glad for the change, to a certain extent, I pretty like changes, changes for the good definitely!

In April, we had our family trip to Phuket, Sam had his first deep sea experience, we went snorkeling and of cos’ he was ‘thrilled’ to bits that he is afraid of beach/swimming …hahahahaa! He enjoyed the sand play though and I hope to have another beach holiday soon! *hint hint* Samuel daddy…if you reading this!

I had a mini holiday with my mum, my twin, our primary sch friend and my colleague to BKK recently…a good break away from the hustle & bustle of work and family. All ladies trip, it was good although I felt sick on the day before we depart and ended up doing a lot of massage sessions and of cos’ shopping trips here & there. I still love to shop, eat and enjoy the thai massages a lot, will definitely go back again.

Samuel is pretty much adventurous in term of food, he is willing to try out new stuff. Over the weekend, we went for our prata ‘fix’ again, happen to be Samuel’s favourite too! This time round, we ordered mutton curry and requested him to try. With an initial hesitation, he pluck up the courage to try, asked for his water bottle on standby, he chewed the meat, tender and a little spicy…and down the water immediately after swallowing that chuck of meat, that wasn’t the end of cos’….he ate 2 more pcs thereafter. Well done…Spice baby!!

February 22, 2010: Cooking Craze ...

This is for Samuel’s ardent fans…

Lately He is into his ‘cooking craze’ again. Every day after school, he will immediate come home and wants to play his cooking toys…I think those were the best value for money toys we have invested. Yesterday after church service when we picked him up at N2, he was playing cooking alone at 1 corner while a volunteer helper looks on. When he saw me, he told me, ‘I cooking beef stew!’….he looks so happy in his own world of kitchen.

January 28, 2010: Bitten by a fierce classmate

Samuel is adapting well in school finally, this week was pretty much a breeze, no more whining and he seems to enjoy going school. He has however picked up a bad habit, everyday come home from school will cry and asked for biscuits! Am still cracking my brain how to break that habit or to let it be. Afterall, he will still polish off his bowl of macaroni/porridge or pasta soup.

Yesterday he came home with a ‘bite mark’ on his temple, grrrrh…whoever did that was really fierce and horrible. His teacher called me to inform that he was bitten by his classmate, apparently they were snatching toys and the end result is this. Hope this is the 1st and last of such violent act, not to his "porcelain" looking face pls. *hee* *hee*

January 15, 2010 On the road to recovery ....

Samuel has missed school for 6 days, he should be able to return to school next Monday. Our morning conversation before I left for work...

Samuel: Mummy wear shoes...
Mummy: Mummy going where?
Samuel: Mummy go work
Mummy: Why Samuel never go school?
Samuel: I sick, cannot go school
Mummy: Samuel take car or bus go school?
Samuel: Take bus go school!!

So smart, at least he associated sick cannot go school...hopefully after this 1 week break, he can still adjust well to going back to school.

His current favourite question to ask, "What's this?"...is driving me nuts! He kept on repeating same question even if we have answered him. Am waiting for next round of "What's this?"...to throw him back this question...hiak hiak...learnt from some experienced mummies...hope it works!

January 8, 2010: Defeated...no school today!

After 4 days of school, my little boy felt sick...down with fever today. He was actually dressed(as you see above) but I felt that he is abit warm than usual and took his temperature - 38deg.

Mummy: Samuel, you're sick...you can't go school today!
Samuel: I want go school!
Mummy: You're running a fever, touch your head, hot hot.
Samuel: I want go school!
Mummy: Change out your uniform and take your medicine.
(I get ready to leave house while my hubby searched for the medicine and samuel reached for his crocs - in his home attire. At least he associate home attire is crocs sandal, not the usual shoes for school...so smart!)
Mummy: Samuel...put back your shoes, you're not going out.
Samuel(whinning): I want wear shoes...

To pacify him, we let him wear a new pair of crocs in the house and off I went to work.

January 6, 2010: Day 3 in school

I decided the quicker way to go for Samuel to be independent is to cancel my planned leave yesterday morning and have him board the bus alone...off he went to school. Mrs Lim, the class teacher updated me yesterday's afternoon that he is doing better than previous day, cried abit at 11am..probably starting to feel tired, otherwise his attention span alittle longer but still likes to roam freely. Good headstart for him!

Mummy: Do you like school?
Sam: I like school
Mummy: You like to take school bus to school?
Sam: I like take school bus
Mummy: What did the auntie give you in the bus?
Sam: Auntie gives biscuits, auntie gives sweets

No wonder he likes taking school bus....bribes on the bus..hahahaha!

January 5, 2010: 2nd day of school

Today he did not do too well, Mummy sneaked off after his morning snack and the teacher told me he was wailing intermittently thereafter. I came back around 11am and heard a familiar loud wailing sound from the lobby waiting area. Wanted to go in take a peek but another friend told me not to go in as he was looking for mummy, haahaaa. I must confessed that girls these days are tougher than boys, the 3-4 'roses' in his class did not cry at all, those 'cry babies' are the boys! A big size boy was wailing badly after the mummy left and left us stunned cos' we thought he is a tough nut based on his built! Morale of the story: Don't judge a person by his outward appearance.

This is his timetable schedule for LOVE (N1) class:

8:30 - 8:45 Assembly
8:45 - 9:05 Snack Time
9:05 - 9:35 Chinese Lesson
9:35 - 10:05 Outdoor Play
10:05 - 10:35 Music & Movement/Bible Story/Art & Craft/Exercise Time
10:35 - 11:05 English Lesson
11:05 - 11:30 Story Telling/Rhymes/Sing-a-long

January 4, 2010: 1st day of school for Samuel

With much anticipation, the day finally arrived...our little boy is heading for pre-nursery school now, a 3 hourly daily fun filled activities lesson. His new school - Centre of New Life Kindergarten is about 10mins walk from my place but we opted for him to take the school bus for safety reason rather than having the domestic helper to accompany him. Took the school bus with him today to familiar with the route, he's the last to be picked up and 2nd to drop off after school...short bus ride but he enjoyed it. He behaves the same as in sunday nursery class in church, very active and likes to roam around freely in class. Fuss free, no crying...kept aiming at the door waiting to run out to have his hands on the tricycles and little tikes car(which are out of bound to all kids today!). After 2 hrs thru' his lesson, he toned down, energy soon depleted...haahaaha. He tried to snatch toys from a bigger size boy but was 'humptum'(not once but twice cos' he tried to snatch toys from the bigger size boy!)...serve him right for snatching toys, hope he learnt his lesson! There's only 3 'roses' among the 12 'thorns' in his class. :)

Dec 2009: Fun @ Polliwogs

Had fun at Polliwogs with Aloysius, posing above with my primary school mate, Felicia - friend for more than 20 years now. These are friends that I cherished and we can talk about anything and still feel very much at ease even when we meet ie. once or twice a year.

Recent Hair Cut

To get Samuel to have his haircut is a very torturous affair for him. Everytime we pass by the barber, we will 'pyscho' him 'want to have cut hair?', his default reply would be, "Don't want!" If we attempt to step in, he will be crying even before we set our foot into the salon, sigh! Last Saturday was the utimatum, his hair is simply too long and needed a cut. We brought the portable dvd player and loaded in Barney vcd in, still....he cried through the hair cut! At least less tears than before and he don't fidget but sat on daddy's lap crying thru' the session.

Neater right? We deliberately still keep the 'curly' tail behind, find it so cool!

His current favourite dvd

Thomas & Friends! These are the few characters he recognised and among these, he likes EMILY the most...which really surprises us! :) Opposite Attracts?

Random Pixs - Oct 2009

Haven't been blogging much lately, my dear son down with flu & cough for 6wks, still not recovered. Brought him to PD again and got a referral to do a chest X-ray, concerned that excessive cough might not be good for his lungs. Thank God that the result turns out well - lungs cleared, but he is still on medicine now, ate so much medicine for 6wks until he is 'addicted' to it. :( Will resort to TCM if this last addition of medicine don't works for him. Blame the haze...last yr this time, he also down for several weeks due to haze!


1st attempt of homemade ABF for him(after seeing SY made it for Shawn), he loves the sausage, scrambled egg ok but baked beans ...no no!




Samuel can fix a 12pc puzzle by himself...way to go boy!! I have many more sets of jigsaw puzzle waiting for him to complete...including Bob the builder and Thomas & Friends!

Enjoying picnic & kite flying at West Coast Park

2nd Birthday Celebration

We had a small birthday party with my family today, Samuel was thrilled and seemed to know abit more about birthday and could say 'happy'. How time flies...he is turning 2 in 10 days time. Am amazed at how fast he has grown and thank God for his good health and happy nature.

Banana Bread Receipe

My SIL gave me this recipe(not her own), try it and see if you like it.

Banana Bread V
SUBMITTED BY: Pat Heldenbrand
"This is an old 4H bread recipe my daughter used to make in the 50's. Best one I ever
ate."

Prep Time: 10mins
Cook Time: 1hr
Ready In: 1hr 10mins

INGREDIENTS
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 5 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 cup mashed bananas
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS
1. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter or margarine. Beat the egg slightly, and
mix into the creamed mixture with the bananas. Mix in sifted ingredients until just
combined. Stir in milk and nuts. Spread batter into one greased and floured 9x5
inch loaf pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) until top is brown and cracks along the
top.

I Love CAPS

When Sam was younger, he hates to wear caps. As he grow older(& more 'vain' I think), he loves wearing his caps, strange eh! He will cry if you try taking it off his head unless we reached home. It's hard to find nice and fitting caps for him, if any of you know where, let me know.

Bake Craze #2 Attempt

Yes, we're so happy that the oven works well now, it has given us hell of a time in the past, the whole house power supply will trip when we turn the oven on and hubby has to use extension cord to try various power points in the house to get it working. Feeling so fustrated, he dismantled the wiring of the power plug of the oven and 're-wired' it!

These are what we made over the weekends...this time round...the taste is 'very good'...IMO!



This batch is banana yogurt muffins w/ walnut(inside), still perfecting! Receipes from www.littlegastronomy.blogspot.com . :)


Banana Bread w/apricots - 2nd attempt done by my hubby...turned out quite good, moist and soft! Receipe from 'Kak'. :)

Baking #1 - Banana Bread

Suddenly had an urge to bake after reading a receipe from Company's Coming(Author: Jean Pare), given to me by my BIL in Cananda last December.

1st attempt - not quite successful as i mis-read 'ml' for 'g'...for flour and walnut, ended up the whole bread was so heavy...(see the bread nearly split into two...hee hee). You would either like it or dislike it, people who like strong heavy tasting food will give thumbs up! IMHO: 6/10 only! I will try it again...