Relatives Wrangling

Since last weekend, our house has been a popular stop over for visiting relatives.

There was the Sabah relatives that came to stay a few days before and after their Vietnam holiday. On the day they arrived back from Vietnam, another aunt from across town put a night up at our place too. She stayed a night because of some supermarket sale near our place the next morning. Home makers will be home makers! They are usually Super Shoppers at the supermarkets too! The whole place was a buzz. Honestly. Not to be clan-ly rude, but Hakka's talk really loudly. Of course I just get a faint idea of their boisterous chatter because some words sound familiar in my dialect, but they sound like they are arguing all the time!

The day the Sabah relatives left, my sister from Singapore arrived about 3pm (and she comes attached with 2 babies). I picked her up, brought her straight to our place and she stayed a night. The next day we were heading to the Science Center. We did the Science Center thing alright, and we were so glad that the day passed by without any major "drama". Just too exhausted by the time we all hit the hay.
TODAY
Sister and babies (one 2 years and 3 months, and the other is 6 months) are now staying with Ah Ma. This morning I let the boys take their time to warm up to the day. Then about 12 we left for a friend's place in PJ. We picked up my sis and her babies along the way (the friend we were visiting is an old friend of ours and we all now have kids about the same age) and played for 3 hours there. On the way sending my sis back to Ah Ma's house, Max fell asleep. Micah wanted to go down to play at Ah Ma's. So Grandma suggested we stay there for the rest of the day (we had agreed earlier to have dinner there that night).

While preparing for dinner, I chatted a bit with my mom. Ah Ma said it's like a circus in her house. I laughed... because I know exactly what she means. While she was fixing delicious Bak Kut Teh and Hokkien Mee, I was running the circus with the 3 older kids (my 2 boys and Sister's girl). We were doing the trapeze in Ah Ma's bedroom: I tossed them, swung them around, swung them around up-side down, gave them horseback rides and became the hungry monsters that wants to eat toma-toes and pota-toes and fish-fingers and cherry noses. We all had fun, and boy, am I glad we didn't have any "drama"!

By the time we were done and got on the road it was almost 10pm. Micah fell asleep in the car because he didn't take his afternoon nap. Max got home, talked to grandpa, asked for daddy (who was still at work) nursed and fell asleep almost immediately. What an early night for me!! Now I want to make my hot drink and play some PSP before I sleep.

Today is one of the best days for the boys. And such an "early" night for me!!

Kindy Stress

Micah will be 4 next June.

Everyone (all the grandparents and grandaunts and granduncles) is saying Micah should go to school already. Only one friend and our paediatricians said it's not necessary yet. I spoke to my older sis who is very familiar with young children and pre-school education, and she said maybe not yet, but 4 is a good age to start. My younger sis: Just do what you want.
Daddy: You decide. I will support your decision..

The complication:
Micah has very serious separation anxiety still. Even when at home and he does not see me for half an hour, he will start calling for me and looking for me. Sometimes, if he gets no response from me, he will start crying. When he has finally found me, like 3 minutes after, he will tell me he had cried looking for me.

The one time we tried him out at a Montessori, he ended up with nightmares. Seriously. He woke up middle of the night and between sobs said to me, " Mommy, I don't want to go to school, ok? I don't want to go anywhere. I just want to learn at home." If he had cried when we left him and had come back happy, or at least don't think about school for the rest of the day, I would have just continued sending him. But a nightmare obviously means it was traumatic for him.

I have dreamed of Micah going for kindy so that I will have more time to nurture and teach Max on a 1-to-1 basis. Yeap, this is my Guilty-Mom syndrome showing. I feel like I have done so much more with Micah than with Max because of the lack of time and the competition for attention between the 2.

But I had also dreamed of picking him from school to hear exciting and interesting stories from him. To hear stories of his class buddies and have them come over to play on Saturdays. To have him take part in school concerts, etc (I think to have to practice and put up a show at such young age does something for discipline and to take pride in what you do) and be there to celebrate his achievements with him.

Aaargh! I feel like I'm cracking my brains on a "small nut". Honestly. We are not even talking about school proper yet. This is just Kindy and I am already so torn. Don't ask about school proper, ok? I still have not figured that one out and not at all keen about losing more sleep over that.

OK. This is my take...

FOR kindy:
You grow as a person in a community that is beyond your comfort zone. The world does not revolve around you.

You learn a lot about give-and-take, and encounter different kinds of people.

You learn to be independent.

You learn to take instructions and advice from other adults apart from those living under the same roof. Others may have approaches that strikes the right chord in them.

You learn to listen and have respect for others. Hearing the same lecture from others sometimes help them hear a message better.

You have friends!

You learn some discipline regarding keeping time and being responsible for your own stuff.


My NOT-For Kindy:

They pick up bad habits and languages from other kids.

They pick up germs and fall sick more frequently.

Boys learn to fight and be violent. Girls learn to be vain and jealous of others.

Parents of the kindy kids are more competitive then the kids are.


****
PLEASE don't say anything about Homeschooling right now... Not right now, thank you.
Let me sleep on this a little while more... Sigh...


p/s - I loved my kindy days. I loved the lessons, the singing, the crafts, the concerts, the Teachers... everything. As far as I remember, there was just one bad incident which had to do with a fight in the schoolbus which was traumatic, but everything else was great.

p/p/s- This was inspired by Infant's comment asking me to read a certain mom's post about no kindy for her 5 year old.

Simple Fun

The boys love playing with this laundry basket. It's really a display of their wonderful imagination.

They could fit into it...

Ride in it like a boat and pretend they are going for an adventure...

They could pretend to be hermit crabs or hamsters in a nest...

Or just an egg they will suddenly pop out of.

Isn't it fun, fun, fun?

The funny bit is when they ask Mommy to climb into the "boat" with them to go for an adventure...and of course Mommy will have to disappoint them coz she can't fit into the basket. So she gives them some pretend goodies and wave good-bye.

Jelly Funny

One of the songs we sing at playgroup goes like this:

Jelly on my plate,
Jelly on my plate,
Wibble, wobble, wibble wobble,
Jelly on my plate.

Jelly on my spoon....
Jelly in my mouth...
Jelly in my stomach...

The other day, Micah wanted to play in Ah Ma's house but Max was already asleep in the car. We had helped Ah Ma run an errand in town and we were sending her home. So to pacify a wailing child, Grandma said we would get him his favourite jelly from the bakery near Ah Ma's house. He settled for that.

While eating the jelly in the car, Micah started singing the "Jelly on my plate (cup)" song. However, he could not get beyond jelly on my spoon because it kept "wibbling" and "wobbling" off the spoon before he could get it into his mouth. After a few rounds of no success, Micah declared:

"This is not a good song to sing."

Then he scopped a spoon of jelly straight into his mouth. We have not heard him sing that song for 2 weeks now.

National Science Centre - Part 3

I had wanted to put this up a little earlier, but the last few days we have been really tired and at the end of the day it seems almost too much "work" to take the chip out of my handphone to transfer the photos into the comnputer and then have to resent the phone all over again. Anyway, got that done now and ...

...here are more exciting things to do at PSN (Pusat Sains Negara).

There's actually a bird park further down from where the rabbits and butterflies are. At the aviary you can see an ostrich, which strangely is in the same enclosure as some sheep. Then there are some peafowls and turkeys, plus ayam serama (miniature chickens) and some other fowls.


Beside all the birds, there's a great water-hazards obstacle course. Here is also a display of physics at work involving water and gravity. Boy, did the boys have fun!



We actually saw a toad swimming in one of those hydro-science wonder thingis.

A week later, we went by and this time we discovered that there's actually an aquatic farm at a little corner (Seems there's always a new discovery everytime we come by this place). Here is where they keep other interesting fishes that are not out at display, plus, I think, a place for breeding and growing the fries. They also grow some water plants here.



Then there's a playground that's just by the rabbits which we take a ride on the swing now and then. There 's also this liquid density thingi (sorry, don't know the right name for it) that swirls and makes beautiful patterns when you turn it. It's one of the boys' favourites there too.
It's really the best place to take your pre-preschool kids. Go on a weekday and almost the whole place is yours. Here there is no worry of too many strangers swarming over you and the kids. They can almost run free. Also there's no pressure or temptation to have to spend money as in a shopping mall. And we get some extra vitamin K running in the sun.

So take up an annual membership of RM60/year for 2 adults and 2 kids (age 3-12, babies go in for free, Sr citizen's fee is RM3/entry) and you get to use the library too! So glad for the friend who persuaded me to join in. And now we go there regularly for playdates. All that is worth the hassle, considering that we have to travel almost 30 minutes without jam to Mont Kiara!

Tagged: The Number 38

The number 38!

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night.
Micah. He did a crazy dance which ended with sliding onto the floor.

2. What were you doing at 0800?
Having my shower.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Arranging my sleeping babies so they won't roll over each other and use the other as a bolster.

4. What happened to you in 2006?
Got a new nephew... The rest was pretty much the same.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
Whispered: "Come Max, wear your pajamas so you won't be cold middle of the night."

6. How many beverages did you have today?
Kind: Neslo, Leong fun and soya bean.
Cups/glass: lost count.

7. What color is your hairbrush?
Brown and black

8. What was the last thing you paid for?
Parking ticket at a mall today.

9. Where were you last night?
Home sweet home.

10. What color is your front door?
Light green.

11. Where do you keep your change?
Some in my wallet but mostly in my pants pocket.

12. What’s the weather like today?
Sunny at first, then cloudy and cool. No rain.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Of late all I get to take is vanilla coz the boys don't like stuff in their ice-cream. But I think I miss Rum and raisin, Almond prelaine and Rocky Road.

14. What excites you?
Meeting old friends, especially former school mates.

15. Do you want to cut your hair?
Think I should soon. Beginning to shed like a dog.

16. Are you over the age of 25?
Yes. 25 is quite a marker. I remember after that age, I actually felt my metabolic rate slowing down and it was harder to awake for 36 hours which I could do quite easily before that.

17. Do you talk a lot?
Mostly, yes.

18. Do you watch the O.C.?
Nope. No time for these nonsense. If I ever get to watch anything other than PHDC or WLT, I'd choose CSI (all 3 different series), Animal Planet and Frasier.

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
Yes. I can already think of 3 but I'm sure there are more if I'm to work my brain a bit more at this hour of the night...but I'll leave it as that.

20. Do you make up your own words?
Adebomm! It's onomatopoeic for "falling down". We coined this word with Micah when he fell down the stairs in my mum's garden when he was about 19 months old. We still use it now and max is learning to use this word too.

21. Are you a jealous person?
Almost never. Sometimes envious, sometimes a little insecure, but not really the jealous type.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
Ann, Annette, Ally, Ashley, Adrian, Alfred, Audrey, Azline, ... can't decide which one to name...

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
Kim, Kim Mei, Keith, Ken, Kurt, ... brain don't want to work too hard.

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
My mum.

25. What does the last text message you received say?
A friend recommending some guy to come clean our mattress.

26. Do you chew on your straw?
Nope.

27. Do you have curly hair?
Wavy..My dad had curly hair and 4 out of us 5 siblings have curls.

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
Dunno yet. Tomorrow is a new day. No plans so far.

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
I'm sure there's someone...but don't remember these kind of things...

30. What was the last thing you ate?
Egg tart. Well, the shell of 2 egg tarts. They boys had the fillings, so mummy ate whatever's left.

31. Will you get married in the future?
That's in the past.

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
Meet the Robinsons. Hubby got the DVD and I finally saw it.

33. Is there anyone you like right now?
Crazy about Mike. Adore Micah and Max.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
2 hours ago.

35. Are you currently depressed?
No.... sometimes a little stressed,but not depressed.

36. Did you cry today?
Nope.

37. Why did you answer and post this?
Coz Ann tagged me.

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey.
Mummy-yeoh
Fern
Neomi
Lynn
Ray

101!

Hey, This is my 101 post!

It's a little celebration for us. When Daddy set up the blog site for me (you already know how not-techie I am!) he wondered if I could keep this up. Honest. It was about a few months after when he noticed that I had about 30 entries that he mentioned he was surprised. Hahaha. So SURPRISE, Darling! I made 101 before December even!!

It's been good for me to put all these adventures I have with my kids down. It's really a record for us all to see how they grow. Some moms keep a record book, some dads do video recordings. Me, not techie enough to handle a video camera (it's all the editing and conversions into CDs etc actually, that I can't do), so I blog.

Sometimes I wish I could put up some really funny pictured I had taken, but I guess having them stored in the computer is relatively safe enough.

To all my friends and relatives who have enjoyed my updates, whether you leave a comment or not, I am glad to have you in our lives. God has blessed us with you who love us so much. You are the treasures in our lives. God bless you.

I Still Want to Play

Micah is asleep.

10 minutes ago I scooped Micah up to brush his teeth.

"Come on. Time to sleep. Your eyes are going to pop out!"
"But I still want to play."

30 minutes before that, Grandma had come up to scold him, and indirectly, Mommy.
"So late already and still not asleep. Running around and waking up the neighbours (and her too)."
Micah still fixing some train tracks. "But I still want to play."
"No. Sleeping time. Where got children don't sleep one."
"But I still want to play."
Since Grandma was around, Mommy slipped into the bathroom to get a quick shower.

50 minutes before that I was in the kitchen. Finally able to do the dishes since Daddy got back and took a bit of time to talk to Micah before he knock out after a long day at the office. Micah came down and asked for something to eat. He got a few biscuits and started fiddling with a plier in the kitchen. Grandpa was reading the newspaper there.
"Go to sleep Micah. Don't spoil all the things!"
"But I still want to play."
"Go sleep. So late already-ah."
"But I still want to play."
At last Mommy got all the dishes done. Made herself a cup of hot drink and called to Micah to go upstairs.
"I still want to play, Mommy."
"OK. A little while more."
We made some tunnels and a train station with some building blocks and he started looking for his trains. Since Max and Daddy were asleep in the room, I made him play in the back room and after a while he started running to and fro between the two rooms. In the quiet of the night, he must have sounded like an elephant stomping around. Grandma showed up after a while.

We always start telling Micah to get ready to sleep when it's about 10pm - usually after Mommy finishes dinner and has done the dishes and had a little bit of time to play. But it really takes him about 2-3 hours to finally get into bed and sleep. Even that sometimes Mommy ends up scolding and threatening because her eyes are going to pop out if she does get them shut soon!

Now it's my turn to hit the hay.

Ladybugs Spotting

While Micah was napping the other day, Max and I took a little walk in the back lane. Max found an old flower pot stand and fancied himself in a walker. That was so cute.

I automatically went into bug hunting mode. But since Micah wasn't around, I thought it'd be good to just spot some bugs but give them a break for once and not "imprison them", as Micah puts it.

While I was busy scanning under the leaves of the bitter-gourd creeper, I spotted 2 ladybugs. So instead of capturing them in a container, I captured them with my camera phone.

Then I noticed Max found another interest: pulling at the vines of the creeper. He seemed really thrilled just uncurling the vines and then see them snap off in his little fingers. I know, not very kind to the vines, but it's a new discovery for him.

Spending almost all with my boys finds me looking out for things of their interest almost all the time. This is so true, like when I drive out on my own even, I will be looking out for trains, double decker buses, excavators, bulldozers and tractors and cement mixers.

Such are my preoccupations these days.

Me-First Nonsense

The first time this took place was a game between Daddy and Micah.

Daddy would say, " Let's see who touches the green pillow first." And both would race to the pillow yelling, "Me first! Me first!"

Daddy: "Lets see who hugs Mummy first." And both would race towards Mommy yelling, "Me first! Me first!"

Daddy: "Lets see who touches Max's toes first." And both would race towards Max yelling, "Me first! Me first!"

Max was just a few months old then. It was really funny and quite a good game...or so I thought.

Now it's a constant competition between the two boys which often result in shouting and ends with one or both crying for not being "first".

Grandma thought enough was enough and told us never to use that phrase again. Unfortunately we also find that that's the phrase to get the boys moving in the direction we want:

Lets see who put on their shoes first!

Lets see who finishes dinner first!

Lets see who pick up the toys first!

Lets see who... first!

Of course we don't get the same kind of results with some other things like,

Who wants to shower first?
Micah: Max!

Who wants top brush teeth first?
Micah: Max!

Who's coming out of the bath tub first?
Max: Max.

Who wants the medicine first?
Micah: Me.

So often than not, Grandma is also guilty of using the phrase " Who first? Who first?" So while there is a set back to that "Who first?" we can't seem to quite do without it for now...

(In fact, when I took Micah out on our own today, he said to me he wanted us to be the first on the road. I explained that that is never possible because there'll always be someone else who had started the journey earlier than we did, plus, we are all going different places, so you can't quite be first. His response was, "Ok... but I'd like us to be first at the traffic lights." Just then I was following a long queue to pass a traffic light and we made it just by a nip. Good thing he didn't notice the light changed as we were passing it, or he might have asked me to go back!)

Of late there was been a evolution to this phrase:

"I win!" shouts Micah.
"Win," says Max pointing to himself.

More often than desired, I find I am automatically appointed the judge to decide who won - climbing up the stairs, running around the sofa, bouncing on the bed, racing at the porch...

Aiya! There is just no end to this nonsense.

While I think it can be fun to have some competition now and then, I hope this will not contribute to more sibling rivalry than there is already between the boys. *Sigh*

Chewing My Nails

If I were they type to chew on my nails, I would have lost a lot of my finger nails today.

Max had quite a fall today at Ah-Ma's house. He had had a soft candy which he held in his hand and when done he said "sticky". He headed to the sink to wash and I went along side him as fast as I could (he's running really fast these days). He pulled out a stool which Micah had just used to wash his hands and climbed on it. I went up beside him, made sure he stood on it steadily and turned on the tap.

Then the next thing I knew "swoosh" and "Waaah!" Some how the whole stool slid off and he landed with his head on the floor. I appeared as cool as I could as I picked him up and tried to comfort him but I knew it was a hard fall and crash on his head. He refused all distractions and even refused to nurse. I was really scared. After what seemed a like eternity, he started to pay attention to what we were showing him outside the window. I asked him a few questions of his interest: What color is Lightning McQueen? Doc Hudson? Sally? Dory? Nemo? He answered them correctly and with a smile each time.

Half an hour later he nursed and fell asleep and we went home. I prayed all the way home and was contemplating if I should call Daddy to let him know (I am the type who will feel better by just talking about my anxieties, even in situations no one can do anything about). I watched him carefully the whole day. He is alright. By night time still no vomiting so He is all ok. My mum called to check on him too. We are all relief and thankful.

I don't take anything for granted. A friend of mine was mopping the floor when his then 3 year old son woke up and ran out, slipped and landed on his head. He was unconscious and woke up half an hour later at the hospital, vomiting. He fractured his skull. He is all ok now, Thank God, but that's one scary story too close to home.


Later in the evening, while playing with some of my old sports medals (plastic and it's not sharp at all, more like a hockey puck), Micah slipped and hurt his finger. I did not see what happened exactly as I was in the kitchen, but his uncle brought him to me and his left middle finger was bleeding. He was of course screaming and crying, but allowed me to hold a kitchen towel over the finger for a while and then put a plaster on. I have yet to take a closer look, as he was quite traumatized by the pain and shock. I think he flipped and broke the nail right in the middle. Ouch! Poor baby.

A few weeks back, Micah fell down the stairs. He rolled down 6 steps and landed on his back at the mid-section of our stairs. I must have screamed, because Grandma rushed up and said she heard the yells, but I really can't remember doing that. Of course Micah was screaming and crying. He and I were both in shock. I didn't see how he fell, except the last bit of him landing on his back.

Before that I was feeding Micah and Max some soup on the landing upstairs. They were bouncing on an up-side down basket and I was scolding them because it was such a potential for accidents. As I bent down to pick the basket up, Micah ran behind me and Then he was at the bottom of the 6 steps. Everyone freaked out, and until today when Max walks down the stairs, he will occasionally remember and say, "Koh koh, bomm." (Big bro fell.)

There was this boy at the playgroup who broke his arm because he fell down the stairs, and that was just a three step fall. Just thinking back of Micah's fall makes my heart pound and gasp for air.

Maybe because they are boys, or it's boys at this age, but there is sure to be some kind of accidents ever day. Either one or both the boys would have bumped their head, or knee, or scraped a knee or clipped a finger. (They are running and jumping about almost all the time, so what would you expect, right?) Most of the time it's really quite minor and nothing that a cuddle and a little rub or a plaster could help sooth the pain. But there are so many scary stories of children and bad accidents. So far I am just so thankful to the Almighty God that my boys, despite their accidents everyday, are OK.
(Heart pounding still.)

"Smack Me On The Head"

"You smacked me on the head!" Micah cried.
"What?" I didn't do that!" replied a shocked grandpa.
"No, no. I thought you smacked me on the head. I made a mistake," giggled a cheeky Micah.

For the first couple of times Micah said that I was wondering where that came from. Then I realised that he must have picked it up from our conversation. It was like this:

The day Mike was coming back from Singapore was also the day my brother would be at my mom's for the evening. We had hoped to meet for dinner, but he and his wife had other plans. So it ended up the boys and I had dinner at my mom's and then we went to Parkson together with my other bro for ice-cream at McD's. After a happy dessert, we walked about and just as we were leaving, I caught sight of a father hitting his son (about 7 or 8), slapping him on the head across the face. He did it twice in succession. Later as we were going up the escalator towards the car park, we heard some wailings on another floor. We got distracted at the toys section and by the time we got to the car, I saw that That family had parked their car a couple of lots from our car but the carpark was almost empty, so they looked like they parked next to us. The child was standing by the car, sobbing uncontrollably, traumatised for sure. The father stood a little distance away from the car smoking a cigarette.

I was very disturbed by the whole incident. While we drove out of the car park, I spoke to my mum in Hokkien about what I had seen. She also mentioned her disapproval. Still, it did not release my distress. An hour later, I picked Mike up at the train station and that was when I related the whole "Smack on the head" incident to him. Until now I feel a great unrest, still able to see the poor child looking too traumatised to get into his car.

So now I have to look Micah in the eye every time he said "Smack(ed) me on the head" and tell him that that is not a good thing to do and to never do that. It may sound funny when he says it cheekily, or should teenagers sarcastically say it to tease each other out of jest, but after a witness of that kind of child abuse, it is no where near a laughing matter.

I still feel awful now, that was a 3-days-ago incident.

Sleep! Sleep!

My boys don't like to sleep. It doesn't help for the fact that Daddy and I are night birds, and of late Daddy's been getting back from work about 11pm.

This evening, after their nap, both the boys got on to the internet to play some games on the Thomas and friends website and also another kids' activity site. Then I managed to get them off the computer to get out for some fresh air. We walked about the back of the house, they spotted some new kittens, caught a ladybug, got wet playing with water and then had their bubble bath. After dinner their uncle and his wife came over and played with them while I showered and made a phone call.

Then it was "Finding Nemo" the whole night, watching the cartoon, bouncing on and off the bed (on to a mattress on the floor), dancing to the song, more scene selections, more bouncing on the bed... By the time I got Max to brush his teeth it was already 10.45pm. Coaxed him to nurse to sleep.
"Sleep, Max. Sleep!"
"Downstairs. Swing"
So we went down. While i was putting on a nursery rhyme vcd, they got distracted and climbed about the sofa. So I took Micah away to brush his teeth. Came back and grandpa was helping Max into his hammoc swing. I put Micah into his.
"Sleep, you guys. Sleep."

After like 7 songs, with Micah talking all the time, Max requested, "Upstairs. Nan-nan"

So we all went up back to our room. Micah asked for more computer time. "No." was the answer immediately. He asked for milk in replacement.

Finally both boys in bed and ready to sleep...or so it seemed! Pillow fight - started by Micah.
"Sleep! Sleep!"
Max gave in to sleep at last. While he was nursing, Micah asked for a video clip on the PSP. Got Max off to dreamland at 12am.

Micah was winding down when daddy finally walked into the room, just got back from work. Mommy went down to fix Daddy his dinner and Micah quietly slipped downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Micah, go up now. I'm coming up already."
No reply. He had found some other distractions in the kitchen.

Walking up the stairs, with daddy's dinner, I felt like a Mom of a teenager : nag, nag, nag... "Sleep!"
Gave Daddy his dinner and lay on the bed with Micah. He started quoting obscure lines from some cartoons, and humming to himself. It took a bit more scolding (Sleep! Sleep!) before he finally fell asleep. 1am!

This is just one of those days I feel like I should had held a whip at 10pm. Now all is asleep and I have to do the dishes and some final preparations for a be-early Christmas party we are attending tomorrow.

...still feeling worked up. Maybe I'll just play a game on the PSP to cool down after the dishes...

Astronauts

Micah woke up this morning and the first thing he said was:

Micah : We are home.
Mommy: Where did you go?
Micah : We were in outer-space. You did not come with me. Just the 2 boys.
Mommy: Wow! What did you see? Did you see the planets?
Micah : Yes. We were with the astronauts. Then they brought us back.
Mommy: Wow.
Micah : That was amazing.

Yes, that was amazing. He has told us many of his dreams before but this is the first that Mommy's got recorded.

Bugs Bugs Bugs

These are some of the things we have caught in our backyard. The bugs we catch are kept in transparent lunch boxes which are not air tight. This makes it easy for Micah to carry the bugs around and view them.

Micah's all time favourite is the ladybird/ladybug. We usually keep them for not more than 30 hours as we can't get any aphids to feed them. Only once he had insisted on keeping a lady bug longer than 48hours and the poor thing died of starvation.

Of course we still keep a ladybug grub (yellow and hairy) or two whenever it's in season and we are all thrilled to release new ladybugs into the backyard when they have come out of their crystallizes.

Sometimes, when we can't find any ladybug, he will settle for small grasshoppers. The most we had was three in a container and we fed them quite well for a few days. Then I persuaded him to let them go.

Once grandma caught a big katydid which was a real rare treat. You can really explain camouflage. But it did not want to feed on any leaf so we had to let it go after 36hours. It was still alive!!


Other creatures Micah takes captive for pleasures are spiders and millipedes.

Guess the old rhyme of "What are Little Boys Made of" is true in this aspect, "frogs and snails and puppy dog tails", and bugs too!!

Sleep Talking

I sleep with three boys. All the boys talk in their sleep.

I don't know if sleep talking is deemed as a disease, as in the case of sleep walking. Sleep talking is of course less dangerous than sleep walking, but it is probably just as amusing.


Max was sign talking in his sleep before he started talking. Once while we stayed over at my mum's, My sis and I were chatting right through the night. So we were absolutely amused when we saw Max sitting up, eyes still firmly shut, and gesturing "nothing" with both his hands! Max's first words spoken in his sleep were, "Car, car." He once tried saying "thanks" and it came out as "Tans, tans, tans," in his sleep. These days he will cry out "Mamee, Mamee" and also "nan-nan, Nan-nan" when he wants to nurse (more of comfort sucking).


Micah usually replay his every day stress in his sleep. Often he will cry out, "No, Max!" or "Not like that! Not like That! Waaah!" One in a while we get quite funny quips like, "Yah, yah. That's right. That's right." Sometimes he giggles in his sleep too.
Just now, as he was drifting into dreamland, eyes already firmly shut, he started telling me, "Centipedes can bite you. Millipede cannot bite you. Even the big millipedes cannot bite you. Scorpions can sting you. So can hornets and bees..." Those were his preoccupations for today.


Daddy talks in his sleep too. Often he seems to be still working on what a friend called "screen saver mode." Even though he is physically asleep, his brain seems to be still at work. (Is this like The Matrix or what?!) He would be saying things, all the computer and IT jargons, that I can't even repeat. Occasionally he seems to be holding conversations with foreigners and he speaks "American". Only once he spoke in Cantonese. He must be dreaming of his badminton buddies. Often I would mention to him that he was talking in his sleep and he would ask me what he said. Duh? Of course I can't repeat those stuff. can't even remember what they sounded like.



When I was studying Linguistics in my TESL degree, I remember the lecturer mentioning that your mother tongue is the language you dream in. Guess our mother tongue is English-manglish.