Christian 1 Daddy 0

My dad has placed Christian’s booster seat in the front, and they call each other “Captain” (gongong) and “1st Officer” (Christian), pretending that they are in the plane. His teachers have also witnessed him saying “Bye bye captain”, when my Dad drives him to school and they part.

Today, when P was driving in front and Christian was in the front passenger seat (still on booster), C said:

“Daddy, keep in lane ok.”

P: “Yes Boss. Wait. Who’s the captain here?”

C said instantly: “You! I’m the boss.”

P and I were suddenly speechless and burst out laughing at his brilliant comeback. This marks Daddy’s 1st verbal defeat by Christian.

Children and growing up

C: Will you be a nai nai next time? When I grow up?

Me: Only if you have children, darling.

C: If not?

Me: If not, I’ll just remain a mama. Do you want children when you grow up Christian?

C: I don’t know…Mama..when I grow up, will I be able to eat kid’s vitamins?

Me: Hmm..you can eat kid’s vitamins although I think you will probably need adult vitamins then.

C: Then can I eat goat’s milk sweet?

Me: Of course you can, although you may have to share with your children then. Is that what you are worried about? Are you worried about not being able to eat goat’s milk sweet when you grow up Christian?

C: Yes…

Me: *grin* don’t worry about it.. hmm..maybe you can pray tonight and ask God whether you should have children or not.

C: Why can’t I hear God’s voice when I talk to him?

Me: He doesn’t talk to everybody darling..Only Jesus and some other prophets.. but it’s ok, you can hear what he says if you listen softly, with your heart.

C: Jesus? You mean he talks to himself? You mean God talks to himself?

Me: Huh..not really..well, God the Father talks to Jesus, which I suppose is like talking to himself..

C: I know i know.. I know Jesus’ full name. It’s Jesus Christ. I know..his surname is Christ and his name is Jesus right?

Me: Bursts out laughing. Actually they didn’t use to have surnames back in Jesus’ time. Jesus Christ was his full name.

C: Oh.. the bad guys who killed Jesus didn’t have surnames too? What are the names of the bad guys?

Me: Erm..Pontius Pilate.  That was his full name.

C: And Pontius Pilate died too? He’s in heaven talking to Jesus now?

Me: Erm..I’m not sure about that..he may not be in heaven…

C: And none of my family are in heaven right? None of my family have died right?

Me: Eh..nope. Except hamster and betta fish..

C: I miss betta fish..and I remember why hamster died! Because he has a hole in his face right? Why did he have a hole in his face?

Me: Maybe it’s because he didn’t eat enough fresh vegetables..

*takes the opportunity to nag about vegetables and fruit*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My dad was in the background laughing silently as he listened in on our conversation and watched how I struggled with some of Christian’s questions. I am glad to see my children being such a source of amusement for my dad.

Children’s 1st trip to Malaysia

I brought the kids back to Kluang, Malaysia over the long Good Friday weekend, while P was in New Zealand with his mum and aunt (a story for another blog post).

Christian was sooooo excited it was his motivation for presenting his best behaviour for an entire week before the trip. “Oh, yes…! No sugary stuff cos I will fall sick and we are going back to Malaysia already right??” “Are we REa-lly re-a-lly re-a-lly going to Malaysia?” “i want to climb to the TOP of the mountain!”

My uncle drove out on Thursday night and by the time we left Singapore it was 10pm. Calista was a little clueless about the unusual commotion so late (for her) in the night but she was visibly alert and raced to the door when she saw that we were all ready to go out. Christian got comfortable at the back of my uncle’s 7-seater, and lay with his feet on my lap. By the time we actually reached the Second Link checkpoint, both children had fallen asleep.

It was a great adventure for them, a change of environment from congested, built-up Singapore. They lapped up the attention from all the distant grand uncles, cousins, etc. whilst I had a break from being their only source of entertainment.

Christian saw the old train station, loved the beef noodles that is a family favourite and a must-have whenever any foreign Yaps return, and enjoyed the rope bridge at the foot of the mountain.

When I asked Christian what he liked about Malaysia, he said he liked being able to run around the garden, from the front of the house to the kitchen, being able to pick pebbles from the garden and giving me the precious stones. The highlight of his trip was not the jaunt around the foot of the mountain, or the house-visiting, but the Tom and Jerry cartoons his cousins played for him to watch. Hah.

I made the most of my trip by visiting a relative’s optical shop to make cheap glasses (most of existing glasses have been ruined by Calista) and buying goat milk powder (I saved $78 in total, with my purchase of 6 tins), and did nothing much other than eat, eat, eat.

Calista charmed all the grand-uncles and grand-aunts by being so generous with her kisses, I could see them lighting up whenever she gave them a loud ‘muack’ on their cheeks. 5th Granduncle would tell her nursery rhymes and tickle her, whilst 3rd Granduncle was so taken by her he kept offering her snacks and even volunteered to let her sit on his lap while he drove (!!) She even charmed my cousin who runs the optical shop to give her a pair of small retro sunglasses for free (see above picture) =7

It was an enjoyable trip for all, and hopefully there’ll be enough return trips for them to remember Kluang fondly, as I do.

Calista’s 1st day at school!

Today was dear Calista’s first day at “school”. She’s been pointing to the school near the playground she plays every day, and saying emphatically “Yes!” whenever I asked her whether she wants to go to school too.

I think those many many days of seeing her brother go to school while she is stuck at the entrance helped increase the desirability of ‘school’, so when I bought her a new school bag and told her it was finally her turn soon, she was all ready to go.

Her brother was there to witness the milestone. He was worried about her though, and kept asking me..”what if the teacher asks her to take her pencil case out, and she doesn’t know how?” “what if she is asked to write?”

I explained that she was only at playgroup, and she goes there to learn by playing, singing songs..and just in case the green monster named Envy made an appearance, I quickly added that she was there to learn colours, shapes, numbers and alphabets, all the things he knows already, and he beamed.

He wanted to tag along, and when she refused to carry her own bag after his repeated attempts at helping her, he decided “ok, then korkor carry for you.” I felt so proud. :)

The teacher allowed him into the classroom for awhile whilst i settled the administrative stuff at the counter, cos they figured she’ll be fine as long as he is inside. It was nice for him to witness his sister going to school, and she did so well, for a first day.

The rows and rows of montessori materials around captivated her and the 3 teachers took turns to be by her side. She would take an activity out, place it on the mat / table, be guided by the teacher, then attempt it herself. The activities which required her to pick and transfer objects with tongs were still beyond her but she did well in the scoop-marble-with-spoon-and transfer-into-paint-palette-holes activity. As for song and circle time, she initially just stood and stared as everybody waved their arms and hopped and skipped, but in the end joined in a little by turning around. I noticed that she was the shortest in class and found out she was the youngest.

The content acquisition is not as important as her learning independence and socialising with other children. The teachers said she did well, cos I left the classroom halfway to observe from afar and she was fine, and didn’t cry. I am quite happy with the fabulous ratio (there were only 5 children to 3 teachers today, although I was told that there are 10 children on Tues- Thurs).

She was obviously tired by the end of the 2 hour session though, and her eyes looked a little droopy. I was still proud of my little girl. Fingers crossed that her love for school continues to outweigh any separation anxieties that may arise!

p/s when i picked Christian up from school later that day, he asked me “did meimei cry at school? did she play with the other children?” Awww..so concerned about his little sister..