Multiparenting Cayen & Cayson

2-3 weeks ago, we went for our second meet-the-teacher session of the year. I was a bit nervous as he recently had a few brushes with a classmate and even threw her shoe over the fence and her clothes  into the toilet. Not sure what went into him as they usually play together very well.  However, unlike the last mid year review where he still had some issues settling in and sharing , this one went quite well relatively. Teacher said that he's able to play well with his classmates, and he likes to role play and be the teacher and teach the other kids how to read (and teachers were surprised he actually was reading correctly) .  They asked if we sent him to any reading enrichment classes but we didn't. We only had nightly prolonged bedtime reading. (recap: he doesn't like to sleep).  The only exception is with this particular classmate that is very similar to him, who will not give way to him or follow his instructions. So while they will seek each other...

Since young, we have not really signed him up for much classes save for two terms of music lessons. We usually spend weekends just exploring new places, playgrounds, museums etc. However, since he just turned 4, we figure it's time to expose him to more structured learning to hone his skills and more importantly character.  Earlier, I spoke on enrolling for Little Executive lessons. For November, we enrolled him in the Little Shaws holiday camp to let him do a bit of sports and taking a trial class at Yamaha. For the Shaws camp, it was interesting that kids got to not just try new sports, but also do a bit of painting and baking.  As he arrived earlier, after kicking and running for 5-10minutes non stop, he was already tired and wanted to go home, but eventually he was coaxed to continue and they did have breaks with non sports activities in between the 3 hour program.  While he couldn't quite blend in the first day because the other kids all seemed to alread...

Given Cayen and his Ah Pa's obsession with Pokemon, naturally we had to be the first to visit the Pokemon exhibition inside the SEA aquarium when it opened two weeks ago. While it was interesting to see the various interactive exhibits , I was quite surprised the area was rather small. There's 8 stations in total plus a pokedex showing all the different Pokemons. And each person can only have a Pokeball (there's 3 different categories that one can choose from based on difficulty level).  Using that one Pokeball, you will choose 4 out of the 8 stations to place the Pokemon and see the clues they give. End goal is to guess the Pokemon that resides within the ball. At the end of day, there's literally no prizes for guessing correct, just some satisfaction.  I was glad that the game didn't involve any Pokemon gaming on the phone and involved mainly the booth interaction. Honestly I think it wasn't that exciting but since Cayen liked it, it was good enough for me.  A...

We had a basketballer mummy gathering at Art Museum last Sat. The kids were given instructions to create an artwork of their family with parental guidance. However, Cayen as usual didn't want my help , he wanted to do it his way. Hence, his piece was quite different.  Thereafter, we had lunch at Dome before some of us proceeded to the National Museum for the indoor playground. However, as luck would have it, it was closed for renovation ! We have been so many times but they had to be close when I was trying to show Don Don. Anyway, we chanced upon another exhibition which had a room full of big balloons! The kids were so excited and played in there for so long - they didn't want to leave. Then, we came across another exhibit where one could bring a piece home as well.. And so we did. The pictures were so cute ! All art should be so fun! And boy did we have a good time colouring it at home too. Next day was another good day as we went to Huber's for breakfast as suggested by...

When Ah Zang Alan stuck out his tongue and made a face, Cayson cried. When he shook his face another time , Cayson cried again. He hadn't seen Ah Zang for a few weeks and we suspect he's having stranger anxiety.  Ah Gong was down with flu the last two days so he hadn't been carrying Cayson. When he said hello from afar earlier, Cayson pouted his lips and gave a  very helpless and upset cry (很委屈!) Ah Gong was wondering why Cayson didn't react to his hellos - he used to laugh every morning when Ah Gong waved his very big hello. Then Ah Pa tried a few more times and Cayson  repeated his pout and cries .. And then we realised the root cause - he's very upset that Ah Gong hadn't been carrying him and didn't want to carry him!  Whoa, we were all quite surprised by how early he is able to recognise familiar faces and form preferences ! Cayen was quite open to all people until one year old. 

For the entire third month, Cayson could only take short naps during the day time , only 10-15 minutes each time and only a few times a day. It didn't help that the occasional times he slept was always interrupted by the renovation right above us.  Then, on Cayen's birthday on the 9th , as he was doing tummy time on the sofa, I gave him a hand when I saw him trying to rollover. I didn't realise that innocent flip was the start of a whole new era.  Since that night, he had been rolling over to sleep on his tummy. For the first two to three days, he was waking up every 15-30 minutes throughout the night. Then suddenly, for the next few days, his sleeping time suddenly increased in the day and at night while he slept on his tummy. Then, for the last few nights, he had been sleeping from 8pm to 3am and drifting back to sleep easily from 3am to 7am+. And he could take 1-4 hour daytime naps too.  So my light sleeper wasn't so light a sleeper after all - he just hasn't fou...

The past year has been quite an eventful year for Cayen - having to cope with a preggy mother, change of school and finally the arrival of a new baby brother. While I was initially worried about whether we made the wrong choice in changing his school, I also took comfort in the fact that the school have nurtured him in the following aspects - he has become more confident with higher slides in playgrounds, he's fine with playing sand and overall become more athletic. Guess having outdoor play does make a real difference. Having his Ah Pa bring him swimming also meant that his water confidence has increased and he's no longer so scared of water on his face. While he still can't swim unassisted, he's at least able to do a few laps with his floatation jacket and have a good workout. Also, while he has earlier been very picky about his clothings , we've also seen an improvement over recent months where he's more open to different clothing. In the past year, he's ...