Multiparenting Cayen & Cayson

Cayson after tasting very sour blueberries... Cayson: Ah Pa, try some. Ah Pa tried it but it was a tad sour.  Cayson: Do you like it ? Ah Pa: Yes ...  Cayson: ok, you can have it. Haha..  —- Today, I was washing dishes and my hands are full.  Cayson: Ah Ma, can you cut me some oranges? Me: I don’t know how to Cayson: Oh, first you open the fridge. Then you go to the bottom, then you pick up the orange. Then you cut it into small pieces, so I will not dirty my shirt because I bathe already.  Whoa! He sure knows his facts very well where food is concerned. 

1) I usually am very causal on weekend, just a top and shorts. One day whilst spring cleaning, I found a long flowery dress and I wore it. Cayson saw me and said “Ah Ma, so pretty !” . And he never ever said it to me before. I think he went on to repeat his compliment again.  Lesson learnt: need to dress up more.  2) He was trying to talk to me. But I’m talking to someone then. He started to try “ My dear Ah Ma” but I ignored him. He repeated a few more times. It’s quite funny cox he never acdrsssd me as Dear Ah Ma before . Lesson Learnt: He knows how to use the right words to get attention (though it didn’t work on me, I sure heard him alright). 

Every time Ah Gong leaves the house, he will ask “Ah Gong, where are you going?”.  One day, he repeated his question .. this time in a knowing way.  C:  Ah Gong, where are you going? Mahjong? Ah Gong: Yes C: You have money?  (We rolled over laughing. How did he know money is required?) —  Today, we were preparing to go out for a birthday party but he didn’t know. So he asked me.. C: Ah Ma, where are we going ?  Then he cheekily added , “Mahjong?”  — Cayson went to the party .. at one point, I saw him chasing two girls .. screaming “我是霸王龙”（I am T Rex)..  I hope they are just playing catch ...  Somehow I feel like I need to tell him, this is not the way to chase girls... (女孩子不是这样追的).  — He likes to lift heavy things and exclaim that he’s “muscle man” ! He sure is quite strong for his size.  — He’s pretty much fearless. He climbed up the slopes very quickly and slides down the slides without hesitation. He must be the youngest kid on t...

Ah Pa brought Cayson to the supermarket. As usual, Cayson tried to reach for the escalator railing but Ah Pa stopped him as he’s worried that his fingers might be trapped in it as he’s a tat too short for it. Pa: no holding Cayson  C: need.... Later baby fall down. Baby die. No more baby. Ah Pa will cry. Pa: ???  Auntie standing behind them couldn’t help laughing. (Think he picked up the concept from me. I usually will warn him not to do certain dangerous things by saying .. this is dangerous. don’t do this.. later die, no more ah pa, no more ah ma. He basically parroted it right back) —- I was washing my hands at the tap. Cayson suddenly said, “don’t waste water. Later Ah Pa scold you!”  (Ah Pa is quite innocent cox usually I’m the one nagging Cayen for turning on the tap for too long and wasting water).  — I was remarking to Ah Po how good Cayson is with jigsaw puzzles. Ah Po agreed , saying how she sometimes also don’t know and needs to take very long to piece it ...

Apart from being perceptive, Cayson’s also very funny sometimes. At a party that day, he took some chips and walked towards Cayen who’s kicking ball.  However, as he couldn’t resist eating the chip, it was finished midway before he could reach Cayen. So he shouted, “ Ah Yen, wait !” And he turned back to take more chips. But once again , as he started walking midway, he found that he has finished his chip again. So he screamed, “ Ah Yen what!” And he u-turned again. The third time round, he decided to wise up and broke into a bit of a run , probably thinking that he should be able to reach Cayen this time. But as he was still munching away, the chip was finished before he could reach.  Today is the day the school started renovation so kids have to move to a temporary new premise. The move must have been tiring or stressful for them . Because Cayen declares he’s sleepy by 8 pm and Cayson announced that 我累了 (note that he speaking mandarin is very rare) at 8.30pm, both way ahead ...

Since it’s Halloween today, it’s appropriate to have some stories on monsters.  Cayson asked very seriously, “Ah Ma, is there monsters ?” Me: No, no monsters. Not in our house. Who told you? C: Ah Pa  Me: No, no monsters. Did you see them? C: No, outside.  Me: Where? C: Hiding. Monster hiding.  Me: Oh no, there’s no monster.  C: See ... there ! (Points to behind me? See!)  I looked around and didn’t see anything.  C: There! I’m starting to get worried. C: See the dog!  Oh, I realise he’s pointing to the soft toy Eevee behind me. Phew! C: Ah Ma, I hear sound.  Me: huh? What sound?  C: sound. Scoring .  Me: No, I don’t hear anything.  C: yes, there’s sound. Ah Yen scoring ..,  Me: Oh , you mean snoring ? No,  I don’t think so (Cayen is in another room ; no way he can hear him from here amongst this white noise) Anyway, moral of the story. Don’t ever tell kids before that there’s monsters in the house or watch too much Y...

I was teaching Cayen about helping other people like distributing food to the people living in rental flats. He had some questions:  C:  But I have no strength to carry the pot of food  Me: No, it will be in pre packed boxes , like the chicken rice and duck rice that we buy.  C: Oh.. Like the foodpanda ? But I don't know how to ride the bike.  Me: No, no , we will just walk and distribute door to door. But wait, how do you know about foodpanda ? I haven't ordered it.  C: Oh, I see it when I'm with Cayson looking at buses (from the planter box). Me: You mean you can see foodpanda from 31st floor?  C: Yeah!  Me: (disbelief) what colour is the bike? C: Orange!  I'm not that sure myself but well, if he's correct, then his eyesight is more than perfect. Amazing is their sense of observation.  (Post the article, I did a google, seems their corporate colour is pink). 

Today, Cayen did the unusual. He was super fast in all the steps in the morning ritual - from breakfast to changing to brushing his teeth. Usually this would take a lot of persuasion and hurrying as he's trying to wake up from his blurry state and will drag his feet.  Pleasantly surprised, Ah Pa asked him why he was so good and fast today. He promptly replied it's because it's holiday today and tomorrow and hence, he's getting ready quickly to watch cartoons on Okto .  Ah Pa told him that it's a school day today but he didn't believe. He said, "we were at the pool just now and I overheard someone say it's public holiday today and tomorrow!"  Haha, he was actually dreaming , literally. There's no poolside conversation - he just woke up.  Perhaps this is a result of the long weekend. What one must applaud is the power of motivation and the power of the dream. 

Today, he told me he wanted to marry his special friend again. So I asked him what is the meaning of marry ? And here's the whole exchange:  C: after you marry, you have a baby.  Me: so give me an example of who's married ? C: you and ah pa!  Me: ok .. then tell me who's my baby? C: Cayson . You pop Cayson,  Me: that's right. Then who pop you?  C: Ah Po  Me: huh??? You are not Ah Po's baby. What gave you that idea? C: I thought one mummy can only have one baby.  Me: No, both of you are my babies. You are big baby and Cayson is small baby.  C: no, I am not a baby anymore.  Me: ok, let's try this. So who's Ah Po's babies?  C: hmm .. Me: who calls her mama? C: you! Me: correct. Who else? C: erm ... don't know Me: let me give you a clue .. who comes every week?  C: cleaning auntie !!  Me: no !! Guess again. Who looks like me? Who calls Ah Po mama ? And then he went on to guess 5-7 things including Ah Pa,  Ah Gong, Nai Nai (奶奶）...

We were standing at the balcony, just looking down at the roads. Cayen suddenly turned to me and looked very serious.  C: Ah Ma, I want to talk you something . Me: yes?? C: Don't tell me scary things. I will remember it for very long, like for one year.  Me: Huh? What scary thing ? One year ? What did you remember for one year ? C : You know, if you tell me something in December 2016, I will still remember it in November 7 2017, I can remember very long.  Me: Oh .. tell me what was so scary from 2016 December ?  (Feels a bit worried about what's upcoming .. hope he doesn't tell me something too scary like ghosts or what )  C: you know the scary thing is that Pokemon called cxx (I forgot the name) . That's scary. You know I call this Pokemon Xxx Yyy, and Pokemon Aaa Bbb..  Me: Oh !!  * very relieved *  Me: Anyway this is called code name  C: Yes code name  And I'm glad that's the only scary thing that has plagued him for one year .. ...

Read this article online about the  banana slicer  and remembered about our own spectacle at home. Usually, after we buy our bananas, the entire bunch would be hung on the fridge door for easy access.  That day，I saw one banana on the floor. I asked my mum why it was like that. She said perhaps the cats did it.  I was puzzled but since no one saw, I just ignored it.  Then, a few hours later, I saw two bananas on the floor , where part of it was peeled already. I was rather annoyed by the waste. I then went to take a plate to see if I could salvage any part of it . Just I was brooding, suddenly I saw one more banana peel itself from the bunch realtime. I was shocked ! I quickly extended my hands to catch it before it hits the ground again.  Thankfully, my reflexes were trained from young (困难球) during basketball training and I managed to catch. Moral of story:  - don't blame everything on the cats  - big bananas are heavy and when very ripe, can pee...

(At the restaurant) 四个大人，我不用 baby chair  ------------ Since Cayson was down with HFMD, we decided to stay home. Since life threw us lemons, we decided to make lemonade by singing some karaoke at home.  Me: keep bleeding , keep keep bleeding love ...  keep bleeding , keep keep bleeding love ...  C: what is bleeding ? Me: when you get cut, you bleed. Like if a knife or scissors cut you, blood comes out.. (Resumes singing) Me:  keep bleeding , keep keep bleeding love ...  C: why is she bleeding? Me: someone cut her  (Returns to song) Me: keep bleeding , keep keep bleeding love ...  C: who cut her?? Me: erm .. Someone . I don't know.  (I figure he's too young to start learning  that love can hurt!) ------- He caught a cough after the holiday. It's a pity as I've managed to keep him cough free for three months with cordyceps supplements. Anyway, this time, I think his nightly suppers of biscuits , cheese or milk was causing his phelgm to cont...

For a lazy Sunday morning, I decided to let Cayen take the lead in packing for his short trip. Me:  how much  clothes we should pack.  C: ( Without hesitation) :4! Because we are going for 4 days. 4 shirts, 4 shorts and 4 underwear.  (Pause) And oh, 1 set of pyjamas too!  Whoa, I don't even recall when I said we are going for four days. Anyway, he proceeded to pack clothes and pyjamas. He pretty much got the count right , he only forgot about the swimwear. And I reminded him to pack some extra change of clothes and pyjamas in case he dirties them.  Next, I asked him to help me fold the clothes before packing and he obliged so readily. He was very methodical in his approach. So I can't help but ask.  Me: whoa, you fold so well. Who taught you ? Teachers in school? C: No, YouTube. I watch on YouTube , they teach us folding. So don't need to go to school , just watch YouTube can already.  He said it so matter of factly. C...

Ah Pa and Cayen were in a crowded lift. As usual, everyone was looking at their phones or looking rather bored or aloof. As Cayen took his exit from the lift, he grandly waved and exclaimed, " Good Day everyone ". Everyone was taken aback. They quickly regained composure and all became friendly and quickly tried to reciprocate his greetings.  I never thought I would see this day. Haha.  There was a long phase where Cayen wasn't so friendly to strangers, particularly in crowded lifts. Somehow I think that phase might just be officially over.  --------------- Today we went for a party . When Ah Pa brought him to say Hi to his friends, he obliged and say Hi to everyone . Then he said , "ok, job done!" And he made himself at home and sank into this corner chair to watch the Nic junior cartoon that was playing on TV.  ----------------- As we're doing bedtime reading today, he suddenly said, " Bobo bear , Bobo bear, what do you see? I see an Ah Ma looking at ...

Ah pa: come, you haven't kissed me today  (And Cayen kissed him on the cheek) Me: how about me ?  (And Cayen kissed my tummy) Me: no , not here. No baby inside here anymore..  C: huh? But why is it still so big ? Ah Pa: baby is out but it will take some time for it to be smaller.  C: I help you push (or something to that effect)  Me: no , it's ok. Another Auntie will come and help me make it smaller..  ------------------------------------- While building his magnetic house .. C: my house has coco cola and some salt ... Me: it's Coca Cola .. C: ok, my house has some Coca-Cola and salt .. Me: who taught you to add salt to Coca Cola ? (Secretly amazed that he knew this home remedy)  C: no one! But I'm sure it will be nice!  ------------------------ C: 阿爸，吃饭了！ 去洗手！ 不要玩 game ! (Under no one's prompting ..)

After his clay outing , I asked him if he napped in school after he returned. C: no , I didn't because I slept in the bus already ...  Me: how you sleep in the bus ?  C: I just sit and sleep  Me: like this ? (I demonstrated)  C: yes, something like that but no baby ! (Hahha, he meant he looked like me but he's not sporting a baby bump !)  ---------- Me: Cayen, can you sleep with baby in the other room ?  C: no .. Too noisy ! (How did he know??)

I only asked him to say Happy Father's day and he had improvised accordingly with all the muaks etc. But the first 2 renditions were the best , the rest just went downhill thereafter. Haha. 

Recently he was into Millions. So whatever you ask him, instead of tens and hundreds, he would go into Millions. That day, we were just using numbers to teach him to read hundreds and thousands where he kept challenging us to go up to Millions, Billions and Zillions...  Then we decided that we should inform him about Infinity and about the calculator not quite working when the number is too big and he was super amused.

Ah Po only got her chance to sing her birthday song and blow out her candles after Cayen did. 

Cayen went into the lift yesterday and saw a neighbour that we haven't bumped into for a very long time .  For some reason he thought she's Ah Bu (my nanny whom he has only seen a few times) , so he affectionately went over to hug her. And he did it not one time but two times.  She exclaimed that she's very touched ...and in fact she was so pleasantly surprised she forgot to press the button to her level..   (my mum did try to explain Cayen's a bit erratic, usually he doesn't really even say hello).  Nonetheless, he's getting a lot more cooperative in school so now I have more time for non naughty updates ...