Public holiday

Its a public holiday and im having tuition in the morning. Mornings usually involve me trying to get Terelle ready for school. Today im of course, in no hurry to get anything done.

Im blithely teaching my student at the dining table. Terelle senses something is different about today. She saunters over and asks, "Why am i not going to school today, Mummy?"

"Cos its a public holiday."

"What's a public holiday?"

"Its a day when everyone does not work."

"But daddy is working." (Hubby's big boss is in town so he has to be at an important meeting)

"Daddy is special, he has to go to the office. Ok be good, go watch your cartoon, after Mummy has finished tuition, ill bring you out okie?"

"Yay! We're going out! I love you Mummy!"

She quietly settles down to watch tv for the next 45min. After my lesson, i decide that since its a cloudy and cool day, we could head down to the Botanic Gardens to have a picnic and feed the fishes. So I start packing some picnic things to take along.

"Are we going now Mummy? Are we??"

"Yes, after you finish your lunch."

"Oh man!" (Accompanied by a dramatic hanging of her head and exasperated shaking of her hands - This girl deserves an Oscar for her theatrics)

I call my parents and tell them of my plans for the day, to which they reply that its too hot to go to the gardens now and that i should make the kids take their nap 1st and then head down in the evening.

I agree (against my better judgement) and feed my by now extremely bored girl her lunch.

After lunch she dejectedly lies on the playmat in the living room and declares in a forlorn voice, "Its so boring at home, i want to go out Mummy, im so bored"

"ok ok we'll go out after your nap ok? Gong Gong and Por Por says its too hot to go out now. All the fishes are hiding deep in the pond, they will not come to the surface cos the sun will fry them"

"oh fry them? Then they will die? ok then ill sleep now, we go later when the sun is not so hot right?"

"yes i promise we will go later"

And so she happily skips off to bed. An hour and a half later, she jumps out of bed with a broad grin and chirps,"Are we going out now? Are we are we??"

By then it has started to rain cats and dogs and i was silently cursing myself for not following my instinct just now and just gone when the weather was fine.

"We have to wait for the rain to stop. Anyway Baby Bone is still sleeping. We will go when he wakes up ok?"

"oh its raining so the fishes will get wet then they wont come to the surface?"

"Hahahha the fishes are already wet cos they are living in the water. We will get wet if we go out in the rain. Then we will get sick."

"oh ok we go later"

Seemingly appeased for the time being, she skips off to play with her toys for a whole of 5 min before announcing again,"Im bored mummy! BORED! I dont want to stay at home. I know! Lets go to the children's playground!! The one that is nearby?"

"Aunty Yiling says its closed for renovation."

"Oh man!" (Dramatic hanging of head and wringing of hands again)

Her head suddenly jerks up and she implores longingly

"What about the other indoor children's playgrounds? You can drive there!"

"Its a public holiday baby, they will be very crowded"

"Oh man!" (This time she throws herself onto the mat and lies there with a woebegone look on her face)

"We will still go to the botanic gardens to feed the fish, just wait for the rain to stop ok?"


She doesnt answer me. I think she is angry with me. Haha...

After half an hour, the rain slows to a drizzle so i decide to take a risk and venture out. Terelle can hardly contain her excitement as i bundle both the kids into the car.

"Are we going to feed the fish now Mummy? Are we?"

"yes, yes. Pray hard its not raining at the botanic gardens ok?"

"Ok....god please dont rain at the botanic gardens please please" After which she settles back in her seat and happily starts singing her songs.

It was raining throughout our entire journey to the gardens and i was half expecting to have to deal with her disappointment at not being able to feed the fish after all. Miraculously, right after i parked the car, the rain stopped and we all headed straight for the Symphony lake.

As she was standing there gleefully throwing bread into the pond (bread sponsored by Gong Gong and Por Por who trooped all the way to Katong to buy scraps from a bakery), she turned to me and gave me a disdainful look.

"At last im finally having fun Mummy!"

"...?? ...??!!"

Since when did it become my fault??? Hahahah...

My second child

Then
Terelle used to follow me EVERYWHERE, and i really mean everywhere. Even when i had to go to students' houses for tuition, i would cart her along, and she would play with my students' siblings or watch her dvds right beside me


Now
I hardly bring Thane out cos with 2 kids of different ages, its kinda difficult to plan activities that they can both participate in. And it doesnt help that he doesnt cooperate when i try to bring him out.

1) If i take him along to tuition, i wont be able to teach for 5min before he starts howling for attention and demanding to be picked up. If not he will be crawling around/pulling on everything in sight/putting everything into his mouth. No way would he be able to sit quietly beside me for 1.5hours.

2) He hates being confined in the car seat, choosing to cry and squirm all the way to our destination. Outside, he refuses to sit/sleep in the stroller, and usually ends up irritable and cranky.

It is a vicious cycle, because of this, he seldom gets to go out. And perhaps because he seldom gets to go out, he is not used to being taken out and gets upset by the sights and sounds, and tends to get frightened by the many different kinds of people he sees. He will stare intently and scrutinize any new face, only to break into a howl when they start to smile/wave/play/do a hi5 with him.

Sigh...i am trying to bring him out more often now. Dont want him to end up being a frog in a well cos he's always left behind at home.

Then
Hubby and I would bring Terelle out with us all the time, and show her off to anyone and everyone.

Now
We try to sneak out as often as we can sans kids and we really relish our precious couple time together. Without the kids we dont have to take turns to have dinner/feed them/change diapers/appease their tantrums/carry them till our backs ache/worry about them touching dirty surfaces and contracting hfmd...the list goes on...

What about showing off the kids? Errr...just go to our blog and see their pics.

Then
Terelle used to sleep with us every single night.

Now
Thane sleeps in his cot every single night.

Then
I experimented with all kinds of foods with Terelle, unwittingly ignorant that they might have weakened her body. (according to the sinseh - he who believes that children should not be given any fruits from A-Z, no biscuits, no seafood, no cold stuff, no fruit juices until they have built up their constitution)

Now
Poor Thane only eats porridge/mee sua/organic pasta cooked in meat broth with vegetables and plain bread as his snack. He has yet to eat a single piece of fruit nor try a bite of a biscuit. His food repertoire is so pathetic that i feel so sorry for him.
On the flipside, he does seem stronger than his sister. He seldom falls sick, even when she coughs and sneezes right in his face when she is ill. Even when he is sick, his symptoms are mild and usually abate within a couple of days. We shall see...

Then
We had no helper and Terelle only had me 24/7. I was also fiercely protective of her and abhorred the thought of a helper, lest she vie for the affections of my precious baby.

Now
I leave Thane in the capable (so far) hands of my helper while i go out to teach/exercise/shop/eat/attend workshops/catch up with friends/have a life. I do not feel a smidgen of guilt...ok maybe just a teeny weeny bit sometimes when Thane tries to reach out for me as the lift door closes in his face.

Then
I remember when Terelle fell off the bed for the first time. We panicked and hubby carried her and literally ran all the way to the paediatrician to get her checked out.

Now
When Thane fell off the bed for the first time, i was quite unperturbed cos he only cried for like 30s, had no baluku and was pretty much his normal self after that. No need to go haring off to the pd...saved me $40 too.

Then
Splurged on pretty new clothes for Terelle ever so often.

Now
Im happy with my friends' hand me downs for Thane.

Then
Flashcards! Music during naptime and bedtime! Books! Gym!

Now
Err...i do some of the above whenever im not too tired or when i feel like it.

My poor second child...please dont grow up thinking that you've been sidelined. I still love you to bits.

Best Baby in the Whole World!!!

Thane is a very serious baby, i mean it.

Coaxing a smile out of him is like coaxing blood out of a rock. And that leaves most of our friends feeling extremely stupid cos no matter what silly antics they try, he will simply stare at them with an impassive face and a furrowed brow, as if to say "Hey just quit it, dont you know you look really silly and its not funny?"

Yet only Terelle can make him squeal and double over with laughter. We can say the exact same things, do the exact same actions as her, only to be met with that deprecating, pokerfaced stare.

Tonight, she was monkey-ing around as usual and singing "Ke Ren Lai" at the top of her lungs, peeking out at Thane from behind the dining chair from time to time. He seemed to find that hilarious and started laughing hysterically. That fuelled more clowning around from my dear girl and he was laughing so hard that he was spewing bread all over the place. (He was eating bread at that time)

This "Ke Ren Lai" episode went on for a good 15min, after which both kids were totally tired out so we started our bedtime routines. (hahah what a good way to get them to go to sleep!!)

As hubby was putting on a pair of long pants for Terelle and i was nursing Thane, she suddenly exclaimed "Baby is the best baby in the whole wide world!!"

Our hearts melted. I guess the best thing that we did for her was to give her a sibling.

But once he gets a little older, that's when the real mayhem will start.