Multiparenting Cayen & Cayson

Woke up early today as I am nursing a fever and sore throat and couldn't sleep well in the night. Woke to have some breakfast before taking medicine. When Cayen woke up, he said Bye Bye to me and signaled to the door. I initially didn't understand why but realised after a few seconds. He had thought it's a normal working day where I would head off to work every soon in the morning. So I had to explain that there are 7 days in the week and it's Sunday hence, I don't have to go to work.  Then, my dad changed the turtle water. As usual, Cayen kept signaling to him that he must feed the turtle (Cayen's very concerned turtle has got no food). When my father put the tank in a different position from the usual so Cayen could get a clearer view of the feeding process, Cayen started again to signal that the turtle tank should be moved back to the normal position.  Sometimes, we would wonder if this is some kind of OCD, or simply that young kids are really c

Wish I were here ..  "Ah Pa, 抱抱, up, bye bye " after he had enough of the games at United Square baby gym ..  That night , he surprised us with an accurate pronunciation of Out, close pronunciation of Apple and somewhat abstract Please. The things he would do for food/drinks .. In this case, motivation is Apple juice . 

Today Cayen intensify his recent interest in picking his nose. He seemed to think it's rather fun. As usual, nothing we do can stop him, at least until I invented a game/ sound to pinch his nose (for sharpness rather than having a big nostrils) .. The games we need to play .. 

Today, I was surprised to see that Cayen had scratched the back of his hand till it bled. He had a lingering eczema patch there which emerged when he was taken sick earlier and hadn't fully gone away since then.  In order to stop him from scratching, I pasted a plaster on the raw spot but he kept pulling it off. So I resorted to drawing some of his favourites prints to help him keep it on . He appeared to like it ! And even after the plaster was removed, he still asked me to draw on his hand. We then went to my nanny' grandson place for his housewarming. Was concerned to hear that Qi had 5-6 decayed teeth and required filling that cost around 2000 plus if she went for private dentist that would use general anesthesia so as to do the filling in one go instead of waiting for the public one that doesn't offer that so it means she needs to go through 5-6 times to get the filling done. The family is not rich so the private dentist would cost them one month's salary .. But th

Today we brought Cayen to the wet market .. I was just speaking to my father on how people could rent a stall cheaply from the government at a couple hundred bucks when the woman at the next table just chirped in to say that that's not the case. There's hidden costs and it would come up to around 2000 +. While she might be eavesdropping to some extent, I thought she's just trying to be helpful and Kay Poh all at the same time.  When we were about to leave, I saw a kid in pram coming towards us. I asked Cayen to give a wave and kiss as usual , and after he did so, the kid's grandmother came over to talk. She spoke to us about some weekend when a mother was shaking in fear and almost hysterical when she couldn't find her baby at the market. No one went to help her at all (so heartless??) . Anyway, it turned out to be a false alarm as her friend took the baby away.  After experiencing these chatty and friendly encounters in the morning, I can't help but f

Went to Zhuge Kaoyu for dinner last night . If you like speciality Sichuan cuisine especially barbecued fish , this is the place to go.  The fish was first barbecued before simmering in spicy broth (or you can choose other broth like 酸菜), and it's very tasty stuff. This was not my first trip there but all dishes there were generally quite good.  Lastly, and most of all, service is very good. Service staff offered to come by to carry and entertain Cayen after he exhausted all his self entertainment ability (from watching buses to scavenging Godma's handbag) so we got to eat for a while in peace. This was the second time they did this - they also did it during my previous visit so I was quite convinced that they sincerely were friendly.  Zhuge Kaoyu Hoa Nam Building, 27 Foch Road, Jalan Besar, 209264 6396 0681 Star factor: Food: 4.5stars Service: 4 stars Ambience: 3 stars Kids friendliness: 4 stars (due to service)

The downpour finally came after so many days. We decided to hang out with our godson Caleb in the latest hip cafe in our neighbourhood ...the Wheeler's yard. Refurbished from a ex carpentry shop, it's essentially a warehouse converted into a cafe / bicycle joint. It's my second time and this time we sat outside in the alfresco area instead of the air conditioned area and it was equally charming. It's not just the vintage bicycles, the coffee and the ambience.   With the old school charm, the high ceiling and a little patch of space for kids to roam , there's enough reason to come back though you must expect to wait for seats on a sunny day. This place has already attracted the likes of BMW and Burberries for functions though it has barely opened for three months so you can rest assured on it's charm factor.  The space you get is really rare in the city fringe area .. So it's a great place to go to for a quick escape from the city. Will be comi

Early yesterday morning, we brought Cayen to his favourite 麦 , Macdonalds, but this time to the King Albert Park (KAP) branch. It was a special occasion as it was to celebrate Auntie Xinhui's birthday and it was also the second last day of the Macdonalds branch closing due to redevelopment. This used to be our playground, the place where we used to "study" after school we were 12-18 years old. Hence, it's rather sad that it had to close. Anyway, I had never seen Mac so crowded before. Queues were ten men strong at any point in time, and seats hard to come by. We bumped into a few familiar faces from school too, all there to reminisce the good old days. Cayen had a jolly good time too, he ate a cup of corn and also learnt how to say "M".  Next up, we went to the old turf club to Pasar Bella , which hosted many interesting European styled stalls and food. I really loved the Paella and the roasted pork that I tried. I was also wowed by the many kids rel

As the usual guidance goes, no Tv or iPad until after 2. We obviously breached both. Well , due to multi parental weaknesses, the TV is always on in the morning and evening and the iPad / iPhone is always lying around as well. Cayen will signal with his finger "1" to say he wants to watch 1 episode of cartoon on iPhone and he will point to the Tv to ask for it to be turned on.  Yesterday he pulled 2 stools in the correct tv watching position , sat down in 1 chair and ordered my mum to sit down in the other chair and to turn on the TV  Thankfully, he will also order me to read a book by his wild gesturing as well. At least, he's not addicted to just harmful media, but multimedia ... 

I have always believed in conditioning , especially for pets and babies. Hence, my standards and expectations are always very high, especially after I read all those article about parenting. I will also get very irritated If my parents cave in to Cayen's demands whenever he makes a din as this will only condition him to make a big fuss till he gets his way. Nonetheless , after a long day at work , with the need to continue OT at home, and after seeing a bump on Cayen's head, all logic and reason disappeared when I heard him crying out his lungs in the bedroom when he was supposed to sleep. Naturally , I went into the bedroom to try to help Da who's trying to soothe him but of course that made him only cry louder as he knew I may be the ticket out of the room. I tried to soothe him , but to no avail of course as I wasn't heading out of the room. And before long, grandmother came in too. This time, he got his way. He managed to prolong his awake time by another t

The final day in Taiwan. Took a walk round the area to explore the library made wholly of wood (closed for renovations) , an open air hot spring, and the hotspring musuem with the most enthusiastic volunteers. Enjoyed this very much as weather was good and scenery out of the world despite the short walk. Had one final meal with all the Taiwan delights like  小笼包 ,  牛肉煎饼 Etc. That was my favourite meal.  Cayen was so tired he slept throughout the whole meal on the seat . Too bad he missed the 小笼包.  Later we did some last minute shopping before hitting the airport. The ride there was again nerve wrecking as we took a wrong turn but I was thankful we reached the airport safely.  All in , it was a good trip and I think Cayen had a really good time. In fact, I believe he came back smarter - he could suddenly  say many new words and sounds. And I think multiparenting takes on a whole new meaning when travelling with parents and 2 sets of grandparents!