Art Garden at the Singapore Art Museum

Calvin decided to take a day off and we wanted alone time with each of them.

We took Joanne to try Saveur at Purvis Street. 

Very good quality food at a very reasonable price. 

She had a lot of fun trying new food like the Ebi and Pork Angel Hair Pasta and the mashed potatoes. 

Took her home after that for a break... and picked Rei up after class. We decided that he'll forgo his daily nap for today and we went to the Art Garden at the Singapore Art Museum. It was really really fun... for the past 3 years I wanted to take him, but he was took young to appreciate it. And now finally.... we made it this Children's Season! Yay!

That's us with Walter rabbit..... Rei and Calvin thinks its ugly.

Handson session creating stamp art and flowers and pasting them on the wall.

He was really into the stamping.

Admiring his work.

There was this booth where we can play music for 1 minute and do a dance to be broadcasted. That's us there!

And playing dress-up.

He had fun piecing them together.

Walking through the enchanted forest....

And we had to wear these coverings for our shoes.

It was a really good experience. Even Calvin enjoyed himself!

I strongly encourage everyone to go!

Rei's Trains

Rei's uncle bought him many many trains. 

I lost count. 

Some were given to him for good behavior, some were given 'just because', and I made him save up to buy one at discounted price.

He really really likes them, and there's nothing he likes better than to line them up and stare at them all day. This part of his play is most ASD-ish. I've told him and he knows he's not supposed to line them up and stare at them. When I ask him why he does that, he says that the trains are 'resting', or 'waiting for their turns'. We consulted the psychologist and she says that this is different from just staring at them in his own world, there's reason so its ok.  

Whatever the case, I limit his train play to only during his down time.  Free play time, I tell him he can do whatever he likes, he can line them up, he can look at the wheels... whatever. It's his down time, but out of that time, the trains have to go on tracks or do something and have a storyline. 

I am thinking of getting a track cum scenario system (the whole island of Sodor!) so that they won't just be lined up.

Fun with paint

Painting session outside our house. The theme was "A rainy day", Rei and I painted the clouds and rainbow and people and rain... then he got bored and left to clean up.

Mei mei got more engrossed in the paint and smearing it all over everything! 

It's a mess, but it's water soluble paint so its very easily washed off with a bucket of bath water.

Mei mei getting a foot print.

She says "SMILE!" to the camera.

Very happy to be a mess.

Was really fun to get dirty and paint all over!!

Monday Night Special : Vietnamese Rolls gỏi cuốn and Chicken Phoa

Tonight we made Vietnamese Summer Rolls. It's the healthiest thing on Earth! 

Vegetables, chicken and prawn and dipped in fish sauce with garlic and chilli padi.

Unfortunately, it is an acquired taste. 

My mum tried it, she initially refused but when Rei says "Por por! You got to try new things ok?" she had no choice but to try one. She doesn't like it. 

Calvin wanted phoa. 

But this is tricky, the broth needs to be very power. 

I think mine was not flavorful enough, but it was not bad...

This is our Vietnamese summer roll.

Calvin trying his hand at it... and failing. The rice paper can be quite tricky.

Dilema 2 ! - Breastfeeding C

I am very unashamedly proud that Rei and J were fully breastfed babies.

But I would at the same breath have you know that it came at a cost.

Sleep.

Breastfeeding makes babies sleep wonky.
Like J wouldn't go to sleep without having my boob in her mouth. And you would think that we would be wiser the second time round, but in reality that is very very hard to do.  I have come to accept that that is just the way God intended breastfeeding to be. The giving of self and time to nurture a baby.

But the third time? How?

The thought of this sleep issues really puts me off. No proper sleep for almost a year!?
Always having to think about the breast milk... it affects diet, clothes that I can wear, it affects our outings, sleep patterns, it affects time with the other children.

I need C to sleep and eat well or else I don't know how I'm going to have time for all the others. But at the expense of breastfeeding?! I'm not sure!
I tell myself , its only temporary struggles.

The benefits of breastfeeding are lifelong. But I don't know, would I do it all over again ?!!!

Dilema 1 !! - Sleeping arrangement!

Ok, I've spent many nights thinking of this problem. 

And I need it to be solved... so I'm throwing this out to the readers of this blog.

I need to create a sleeping arrangement for the 3 kids in 92 sqm, 3 bedrooms. 

We are not ready to upgrade anywhere and we really like this location.

 I just feel we need better space organization!

The Criteria : No kid sleeps with the helper. 

I cannot bear it. 

I rather we all sleep in the living room than have any of them sleep with the helper because the night sleeping bond is the strongest. 

So here are the rooms.

1. Helper currently sleeps here.

2. Joanne sleeps here.

3. Rei sleeps with us in his own bed.

Option A : Create a divide in bedroom 1 using shelves, screens or whatever, and Joanne sleeps there. I'll still handle any action at night myself, minimal contact between helper and Joanne at night. 

Only problem is that the bedroom is quite small.

Option B: All go sleep in my bedroom, C in bedroom 2, because newborns are noisy! Problem? It's very hard to synchronize their sleep, and basically Calvin and I will have no space in the house anymore. We can't do our own thing - like read or work. Very Jialat.

Option C: Rei sleeps in divided bedroom 1, J sleeps with us , and C sleeps in bedroom 2. Problem?  Everybody is moved....

Ok, anyone can think of a better solution gets a KFC treat from Calvin ok.....

Books we read

I just got round to updating Rei's reading corner.

A mixture of early readers, religion, non fiction fact types, Chinese.

I strongly recommend the green book on the right if you are looking for a gift for Christian parents. "Stories Jesus Told" - it is very well written for toddlers, Rei loves it, especially the stories on The rich farmer, The eye of the needle,  The rich merchant. 

Very good takes on bible stories.

Unfortunately, it needs to be ordered from Amazon.  But it is worth it.