Nadine's melt-down

This was Nadine, all geared up for school on a rainy Wednesday this week. She was her usual cheery self, until 10 steps away from the car park at home.

She wanted Mummy to carry her (maybe coz the floor was very wet), but I couldn't coz my hands were full. She started wailing. I dragged her to the car, and after loading up my things, I carried her. Thought she'll calm down after a while, but no, and she started saying she didn't want to go to school. She koala-beared me and just kept repeating "I don't want to go to school" and "I want to go home" endlessly.

It was strange, since she's been happily going to school for the last 4 months. I asked her what happened in school, why didn't she want to go to school, did teacher school her, did her classmates bully her, etc, etc, but couldn't get anything out of her. And she was beyond being consoled.

Finally, after half an hour, I gave up. Brought her home, banned tv, and went to work. So distressed that I had to post the "event" on facebook. Friends offered their sympathy, and many said it's ok, and normal, for kids Nadine's age to act up like that once in a while. At least 4 friends rationalised that even us adults have bad days, just that we know how to control our emotions. So I shouldn't read too much into it, nor be too hard on Nadine. Initially, I'd wanted to call up her teacher to find out if anything happened on Tuesday. But after hearing from all the well-meaning friends, I decided not to.

Well, when I got back in the evening, Nadine was showering. She said to me, "Mummy, I'm brushing my teeth, and then I'll go to school!" Bibi laughed and said, "ya, today whole day cannot watch tv. So now you know if don't want to go to school cannot watch tv right?"

Just to be sure, I asked Nadine, "so will you go to school tomorrow?" And Nadine gave a very affirmative "yes".

Thursday, she was back to her usual bubbly i-love-school self. Relief !!!!!

Nadine's 1st 'incident' in school

Last Thursday, Nadine's teacher called Mummy while Nadine was still in school. Mummy thought, can't be good. Daddy and Mummy have been worried that Nadine will be a big bully in school, and that sooner or later, we'll get calls from the school complaining about Nadine.

Well, quite on the contrary, the call was to inform Mummy that Nadine had been pushed by a girl in the toilet, and had cut her lip when she fell.

According to Bibi, Nadine's lip was very swollen when she got home. She complained that it was painful, and couldn't eat her lunch properly. Mummy spoke to her on the phone, and she could tell Mummy who pushed her. She sounded sad, and in pain. Broke Mummy's heart.

When Nadine was younger, she had fallen and cut her lower lip many times. But none as bad as this time.

In fact, she must have cried so loudly, and bled so badly, that Josh and Luanne told their parents about it when they went home. Josh said, "a lot of blood and got meat come out." The Chuas were so concerned that they came to visit that night. What wonderful friends we have!

Aaron - 8 months old

Weight: 7 kg

Height: 65 cm

Aaron now loves to stand up in his bed and watch Mummy, or whoever is in the room. And when he's had enough of being left alone, he'll call out for people to come and carry him. Just like his sister, he has a very loud voice.

3 little teeth has sprouted from his lower gum. Soon, he'll lose that cute gummy smile of his.

Still suffering from a viral infection, and perhaps also because of his teething, Aaron has not been eating, drinking nor sleeping well. Most people who saw him in the last 2 weeks commented that he's lost weight. But thank God, he's still in good spirits, except at night, when his nose becomes badly stuffed up. He's a bit like a vampire. The moment he sees daylight, he's a happy baby again.

Nadine's 1st School Holiday

Nadine's 1st ever school holidays started in the 1st week that Daddy's away in New York - 1st of his 6-week attachment there.

Mummy took leave on Wednesday to bring her out. We were planning to go to the zoo, and Nadine was all geared up for it. But it rained non-stop the night before, and the whole morning. When Bibi told Nadine that it's raining and she can't go to the zoo, she replied, "but I have raincoat!"

We went to Singkids at Vivocity instead.

Nadine had a great time playing with Josh and Luanne. And Josh was a wonderful big brother, taking care of the two girls. He even stretched out his hand to help the girls up the slide. So sweet!

Josh and Nadine had boundless energy. They ran around, jumped about, and played at different parts of the playground throughout the 45 min we were there. Hardly took a break. Whereas Luanne, after a while, needed to sit down next to her Mummy to rest. So cute!

After that, we went for a movie - Dr Seuss The Lorax. It was a great movie. Nadine sat through the whole movie, except for a short toilet break. It was just the kind of movie she likes - a bit of adventure, a bit of fantasy, a bit of human touch, and lots of nice music to jive to.

Just as Mummy was feeling guilty that Wednesday's outing was Nadine's only outing this holiday, Uncle Mel and Aunty Wendy very kindly and generously came to take Nadine out to Pasir Ris Park on Saturday.

Mummy was surprised that Nadine agreed to go, despite telling her that Mummy would not go. Apparently, she was easy to manage, and to everyone's surprise, she and Ethan did not fight at all! In fact, they played well together, shared their fries, and even "cheers" with their drinks! And Nadine even took a nap at the Gans' home before coming back. Wow!

Pst Ruth's theory for Nadine's good behavior - she has good survival's instinct. Knew her parents were not there to protect her. So she had to cooperate and be on her best behavior. Hmm .... perhaps there's some truth in this theory! hahahaha .......

Aaron standing up

Aaron's achievement this week - pull himself up to a standing position!

Nadine - 38 months old

We sailed through Nadine's second year. Thought it was because she started speaking early, and could communicate pretty well with us, thus lessening frustrations. But she seems to be going through the Terrible Threes now.

While she still has her angelic moments, she's also constantly testing boundaries, pushing limits and trying our patience. Sometimes, she'll back down easily when she's scolded. Other times, she'll sit down on the floor in protest, or worse, burst out wailing. It could be over very simple things like asking her to pack up her toys. It's very frustrating for Daddy and Mummy.

But sometimes, just as soon as she had her outburst, she'll revert back to being a sweetie pie, trying all ways to make amends. For eg, yesterday, Nadine gave Aaron a box to chew on. Mummy scolded her and chased her out of the the bedroom. Nadine knew Mummy was going to change Aaron. She quickly rushed to lay out the changing mat, powder and diaper cream for Mummy. Of course Mummy couldn't stay angry with her.

Nadine also swings from being a loving and caring big sister, to a little monster who will sneak attacks on the poor little brother. That includes biting him, sitting on him, and slapping him. Daddy and Mummy keep reminding Nadine that Aaron will grow up in no time, and will fight back. She better stop bullying him, in case he takes revenge in future!

Front-facing car seat

Lazy, we never turned the car seat around to be rear-facing for Aaron. And therefore, infant Aaron had never sat in the car seat before. But now that he's bigger, and looks stronger, we've started putting him in the car seat, front-facing.

Well, actually, it was done out of despair. 3 weeks ago, when Che-Che couldn't stop throwing up in the middle of the night due to stomach flu, Daddy decided to bring her to hospital. But coz she kept throwing up, she couldn't sit alone in the car, therefore Bibi had to go along (with a pail, just in case). And because Bibi had to go, Aaron couldn't be left alone at home, and had to be brought along to the hospital as well. And because Bibi had to hold Nadine, Daddy decided to just put Aaron in the car seat. So there.

The simple solution would have been to call for a cab. But, ah well ..... now we know we can put Aaron on the car seat.

New York New York

Daddy went off to New York this morning. He'll be there for 6 loooooooong weeks for attachment. :-(

Before he flew off, he took a day off work yesterday to bring Nadine out. They went to the library, and Nadine loved it. There were lots of young children sitting around, reading, doing their homework and drawing. Daddy and Nadine had to share a table with a girl. Daddy taught Nadine to ask the girl, "May I share the table with you?", and was so proud that Nadine could repeat the complete sentence boldly. That's my girl!

Daddy, we're gonna miss u sooooooooo much!

Aaron sitting

Aaron can sit very well now. He likes to sit in his bed and play, especially when Daddy and/or Mummy are in the room. He's contented that we're there with him, in the same room. But sometimes, his patience will also run out, and he'll call out for us to carry him. This happens every morning, as he watches us get ready for work, and when he realizes that we're done dressing up and are going out of the room.

Family portraits 2012

Mummy's ex-colleague, Uncle Noel, quit PR to go into full-time photography 2 years ago. So Mummy decided to ask him to take some family portraits for us. Long-overdue. Should have done it 1 round when Aaron was younger. But ... ah well .....

We did the shoot in our estate. Uncle Noel captured some really happy shots of us, and was pretty good at making Nadine laugh.

Didn't know Nadine could do the "I love you" sign! It was probably fluke.

Aaron sticking out his tongue

Nadine sticking out her tongue

Che-Che giving Di-Di a kiss

Aaron reciprocated Che-Che's kiss by eating her hair

Mummy loves this shot, but too bad Aaron wasn't looking at the camera

Photos taken at home

Che-Che showing Di-Di some affection again

After close to an hour, Nadine's attention was finally worn out. She wouldn't cooperate to take any proper photos any more.

Aaron, happy in Che-Che's room

Covered by Che-Che with her blanket

A shot with Nadine's wall flowers

Father and son, in identical jersey