Biting (again) and lots and lots of singing

Oh dear... In the last week Matthew has reverted to the very nasty habit of biting again. Both at school and at home. I thought we'd put a stop to this but not so. In the span of a few days, he's bitten 2 kids at school and attempted to bite other kids as well. As his teachers are aware now of his tendency to nip at other kids in frustration if he doesn't get his way, they've been extra vigilant during class. It's almost always due to frustration that Matthew will lash out, eg not wanting to share a toy, wanting a turn on the bike or slide etc. In one instance, he took two bites at a girl because she was in his way when he was trying to wash his hands at the sink. All very negative behavior which I hope he will grow out of quickly. It's one of the downsides of being a parent to an over active, short tempered, bossy and impatient toddler.
On the upside, he's also equally happy, affectionate and sweet and his moods will yo-yo between the two to drive me absolutely mental. We've definitely hit the terrible twos.

Words

There's been so many new words in Matthews vocabulary lately and lots and lots of singing. He likes to sing 'Twinkle twinkle little star' in toddler babble (the tune is unmistakeable and I'm proud to say he's not tone deaf like his Dad!) and 'ABCD'. He'll recite 'A, B, C' and if we are lucky 'D' and 'E' as well but after that it's a jumble of letters mainly consisting of 'Bs' and 'Cs' for the remainder of the alphabet. We are also up to 4 word sentences and have heard him say 'more block toys please' without any prompting and 'more Buzz please Mummy'. As Matthew now understands lots of words and direction, we have to remind ourselves to watch what we say around him.

Edited to add: Duncan just reminded me that he also sings 'Row row row your boat' and another song that I like to sing to him called 'soft kitty'. For those of you who are fans of the TV show Big Bang Theory you might know it.

Poh Poh and Goong Goong have left Singapore to continue on their vacation to China but their visit left a lasting impression on Matthew. He greeted them both with a warm welcoming cuddle each and enjoyed having the added attention lavished on him. He loved especially to hovered over, sit next to, hug and crawl up on his Goong Goong frequently. He also enjoyed copying what Goong Goong was doing like taking out the batteries from the keyboard or what Goong Goong was eating for breakfast (and how he ate it). I enjoyed having my parents around as my Mum cooked, helped with housework and did all the laundry! It gave me lots of time to ponder over the issue of Matthew's biting :(  Pictures from their visit will be uploaded soon.

Into the 22nd Month...

little General is just that much closer to two. Lately his obsession seems to be Buzz Lightyear from the Toy Story movies. He simply adores him and as such we've had to endure countless hours of watching Toy Story 1, 2 and 3 over and over again. His sudden obsession started about 2 weeks ago, prior to this TV watching was an absolute minimum. He's had his Buzz Lightyear and Woody dolls since Christmas so I really have no clue as to how this fascination with Buzz started.

'NO'
is his answer to everything. It's driving us nuts.

Bintan 25 to 28th March
...was great. It's the most relaxing holiday we've had in ages. Matthew had a great old time playing by the beach or swimming in the pool any chance he got. All that playing meant 3-4 hours of napping every afternoon too which was wonderful for Duncan and I to kick back and relax and do absolutely nothing for a change.

First (professional) Haircut 29th March
I got a call from Matthew modeling agency on Tuesday to ask whether he'd be available today for a photo shoot, to which I'd said yes. So I quick trip to the hairdressers was in order. I wasnt going to chance giving him on of my 'Mummy Specials' and botch the job right before a shoot. Matthew didn't budge or whinge during his haircut but you can tell by the pictures that he wasn't too happy. Here are some before and after shots.

Before/During

After.

The Photo Shoot 31 Mar
went real well. Our day started at 930am on location on the Singapore East Coast Park. First up was make up and styling. Matthew refused to have his eyelashes curled and the stylist only managed to put some gel in his hair.  There were a few 'Nos' thrown about :( The biggest 'Diva' moment was when we all had to wait till Matthew finished his raisins before we could start shooting. The second biggest 'Diva' moment of the morning was when the stylists assistant had to fawn over Matthew with more raisins and gummy bears.

Matthew was paired with a Brazillian model as his faux Mum for the cover of Motherhood Magazine. His faux mum, Nadia was really lovely and great interacting with Matthew, so I think we got some really great pictures and the editors have a few choices to select from for the cover. The assignment was for 4.5 hours but Matthew managed to get his shots over with in less than 2. His agent was super impressed at how quickly Matthew completed his assignment. I'm glad it was over with quickly as jumping out of bushes to elicit a smile and a giggle out of Matthew on cue is tough work. Magazine is out May 2011. Will keep y'all posted.

Poh Poh and Goong Goong
are here. Thank goodness.

Not ready for potty training

we attempted to potty train Matthew a couple of weekends ago without any success. The only success we had was making Matthew afraid of the loo.

Matthew has kinda been showing us he's ready for potty training - telling us when he's done a poo in his nappy and we can tell when he's about to do one. Not so consistent with telling us he needs to do a wee but we'd thought we'd give it a go anyway, as the thought of getting potty training knocked over before the new baby arrives sounded very appealing. During the weekend in question, when Matthew indicated that he was about to do a poo, we'd place him on the potty. The first time he just sat there and looked around, at us and at everything else. So we thought, maybe not this time and keep trying. About 10 mins after we'd put Matthew's diaper back on he indicated that he needed to do a poo again, this time, to preempt us, he ran away from us when we tried to put him on the potty. We eventually managed to get to him in time before he did his business to pop him back on his potty but still no poop and this time very reluctant to even stay seated there. After a few attempts it's escalated to Matthew crying when he needs to poo (before and after) and refuses to sit on the potty. Not a good start at all :( Perhaps we'll leave it for another month before trying again.

Oh yes... for a change, Matthew was the 'bitee' at school. Some other toddler actually bit him so hard on his thumb that it left little red teeth marks and made Matthew cry. Matthew's not a crier, not even for vaccination needles, so it must have really hurt him. Part of me thought, well at least now he knows what it feels like to be bitten but the other part of me felt really awful for him. According to his teacher, it was completely unprovoked, the other child received time out, apologised to Matthew and Matthew graciously accepted his apology and continued playing together. Wish adults could behave the same way. 

Here's a picture of Matthew taken last night practicing his fake smile. His face seems to have changed so much in the last month!

Just a quick note about visitors and travel.
Matthew's Poh Poh and Goong Goong have confirmed that they will be in Singapore for a visit from the 30th Mar to the 6th of April. Looking forward very much to having some family around. Duncan's business trip to Zurich has been postponed so instead, we've decided to take a short vacation to Bintan, Indonesia for 4 days and will be away from the 25th to the 28th of Mar.

The sad new and the good news.

Firstly some sad news.

Our beloved labrador Socrates passed away on Saturday. After a long and happy nearly 14 years with our family he sadly had to be put down as his body was failing him. Socrates was a beautiful loving member of the family, loved equally in return by all of us. Rest in peace old friend, we miss you. Sweet Matthew has been hoovering quietly over me with a tissue on hand to dab away my tears. I've not told Matthew that his 'whoa whoa' is gone...

The good news.

We (I am) are pregnant. Currently in our 15th week of pregnancy and safely in the 2nd trimester. All is progressing smoothly, with all the usual early pregnancy tests and scans returning with results that were literally off the charts, in a positive way. I'm also over my bout of mild morning sickness and have resumed my usual pre-natal routine of regular yoga and exercise. We are all very excited to be welcoming a baby sister or brother for Matthew. Matthew is non the wiser as to what all the fuss is about and looks at the black and white ultrasound pictures with curiosity. The newest Baby Bradey will make his/her grand entrance this Sept. The official due date is the 4th of Sept.

More generally, Matthew has well and truly settled into his new routine at school.  I can say with confidence that he really enjoys it there - he happily waves goodbye to us in the morning and never fails to greet me with a big smile and cuddle at home time. He enjoys the classes and activities, particularly music which is held every morning at 1030am and never fails to garner lovely comments from his music teacher. Matthew has also picked up a few Chinese/Mandarin words - 'Good bye' - Zai Jian, 'Apple' -  Ping Guo and 'Thank You' - xie xie. He's learning to be gentle with his friends as he has a tendency so play a little rough which gets him into trouble with his teacher. Matthew is no stranger to the 'quiet spot' both at school and at home.

Around the home Matthew is your typical (nearly) 2 year old toddler. 'No' seems to be favourite word of late, even when he really means 'yes'. As if for extra emphasis, Matthew likes to shakes his head when he says 'No'. I must admit it was very cute for about a day.

Each evening as bedtime draws near, Matthew will invariably try a few of the following three tricks in an attempt to avoid going to bed for as long as possible. He will plead for 'more books, please Mummy' and if I don't submit to his demands, then it's 'please Mummy, please Mummy, please Mummy'. And if that doesnt work, he'll ask for his Daddy. The second is 'Tissue' or 'Nose', which means that Matthew would like a tissue so that he can blow his nose, even though there is no reason for it. The last trick and the most frequently used, is 'Water', he'll ask repeatedly for us to fetch his water even though the bottle is right next to him in bed. All of his little antics provides us with much humor but also frustration. Fortunately though, once he's off asleep, he'll sleep soundly till a very respectable 730am the next morning or when we wake him.

Here is our Matthew, looking extremely cheeky posing for the camera.

bye for now.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Wishing our friends and family a Happy Lunar Rabbit year. May your dreams hop and bounce all the way to great heights.

On Tuesday, we were invited to Matthew's school for Chinese New Year celebrations to help welcome in the new year. Matthew was at first confused when I stayed at the school rather than giving him the usual goodbye kiss and quick exit. They'd organise all sorts of kiddie and parent activities like, paper dragon making (our paper dragon now hangs proudly in our lounge room), dumpling making (lots of eating by Matthew and I), tea appreciation, face painting and an array of new year goodies for refreshments. Matthew loved showing off his 'space' - dragging me around and showing me the different rooms.

Matthew has been on a break from school since then, so the following day I took Matthew with me to do a final shop before our Chinese New Year Eve dinner or what is commonly known as the reunion dinner where family members get together to share a meal on the eve of the New Year. I'd forgotten how trickly it could be to juggle a toddler and try to get the grocery shopping done at the same time. Since Matthew's at school in the mornings, I take advantage of my 'me' time to get the chores done, so this was a not so gentle reminder of how much of a juggling act it could be to complete the simple task of grabbing a few last minute items at the shops. Even though Matthew was strapped into his stroller, his arms and legs were swinging wildly trying to swipe anything he could reach off the shelves. Sometimes I really miss the days when he just a tiny little baby.

School & travel update

As we near the end of Matthew 3rd week of school, here's some of the comments we've received from his teachers. He's attention span is lengthening, Matthew will sit still at his desk for up to 10-15 mins (I've yet to actually see this with my own eyes!). He loves his food which is so true, he's also the only child that will feed himself using cutlery during mealtimes - probably because he's too impatient to wait to be fed. He appears to be showing signs that he may be a lefty, although from my observations at home he uses both left and right hand to draw, including toes and feet to move things around. During his first week at school, he was intrigued by his classmates water bottles and was helping himself to sips from each of them, which his teachers had to put a stop to. Since then Matthew has learned to match each water bottle to it's rightful owner and is his job to hand out the water during breaks. At 19 months old, Matthew is also the youngest child in his class of 7 children. All in all, Matthew seems to be fitting in nicely and enjoy going to school. Over the past 3 days, we've not had any crying when I've dropped him off and this morning he actually smiled when he saw his teacher instead of panicking :)

As mentioned in one of the previous posts, there's much movement over the next few months - Matthew's passport is filling up quickly!

February 8th to 14th  - Duncan will be in Sydney to attend a wedding.
March 12 to 20th - Matthew will be on school holidays and we will most likely spend the week in Zurich with Duncan as he will already be there on a business trip.
April 14th - Aunt Liz and Uncle David visiting from Perth.
May 4th to 20th - Nana & Pop (Chris & Geoff) visiting.
May 8th to 15th - Phuket with Nana & Pop.

The only travel to be confirmed is Poh Poh and Goong Goong's visit at the end of March/early April.

Matthew's Model Card

Matthew's current model card (wearing the orange polo) taken in Nov 2010, compared with the one taken in July 2010.  Doesn't he look cute!!!

Happy New Year! and Matthew's first day at School

It's been a very busy start to the new year. So much so that I've not had time to blog! If we havent been in touch with you over the holidays here's a quick recap.

Christmas was spent in Hong Kong with our good friends Paul and Dina and their 2 kids Charlie and Lizzie and their 3 four legged kids Bruce, Toby and Lucy. They live in a very serene and beautiful part of Hong Kong called Sai Kung. The landscape is very hilly and green with lots of hiking trails surrounded by the sea and reminds me of the New South Wales Central Coast except greener.  It's a 45 min to an hour trip into town by public transport. We really had a wonderful time with lots of good company, good food and wine. We even managed to catch up with a few of our cousins during our visit and squeeze in a brief shopping trip in the city. Though I must say the trip wasn't entirely without some misadventures, but mostly there were lots of fun and excitement. Matthew caught a really bad cough while we were there which in turn made Duncan and I sick. The New Year came and went without much fanfare for us as we declined all social invitations over the last week to recover at home. Because of illness, Matthew missed his entire first week at school. I'm glad to say that the worse seems to be now over and we are all back on the road to recovery - YIPPEE.

Matthew had his first day at school yesterday, and admittedly I was anxious about leaving him in the care of his teachers. When we arrived at the school we were greeted by a staff member who did a check of Matthew's temperature and a once over of his hands and feet. (Foot and mouth disease is just as big problem here in Singapore as it is in Australia) We where then shown Matthew's classroom and cubbyhole where he could leave his schoolbag. His teacher, Ms Jesslyn then did a run through with me about what would happen over the course of the morning. After that Duncan and I said our goodbyes to Matthew as he was ushered through the gates of his room to be with the 6 other children there (about half of them were crying). It was only as I was waving to him through the gate and saying my final goodbyes that it dawned on him that we were leaving him there...

The plan had been to drop our little guy off at 830am and pick him up early at 11am (we are only sending him for a half day) to ease him gently into his new routine without Mum. When I returned to pick him up, Gwen the principal informed me that though he cried at the beginning, he still participated in all the class activities and was playing very well at the moment and suggested that he's stayed till after he'd had his lunch with the other children.

Matthew never fails to surprise and remind us how resilient and independent he can be. The report back from his teachers yesterday was that he did really well. This morning when we dropped him off, he walked right into the music class to join his teacher and other children without a backward glance at Mum or Dad :(

January and upcoming travel and visitors....
I might as well add that it's going to be a busy few months ahead for travel, Duncan is extremely busy at the moment as his counterparts from all over the globe has descended upon Singapore to keep him occupied for a while. Once that's over, I'm sure something else will crop up as it always does. In early February, Duncan will be flying to Sydney to attend our good friends, Josh & Bec's wedding as Best Man. I'm still undecided as to whether I'll make the journey home with Matthew to visit for a week, especially now that Matthew is enrolled at school. Sometime in March and possibly into April, we are planning a family trip away,  most likely to Europe.  We are also expecting visitors from Perth and my parents to visit us again during April which will be very fun. We are planning a trip away to Phuket in early May and possibly a trip to Hong Kong again or Tokyo for Matthew's 2nd birthday on the 28th. That's what's on the cards for now. Will update with firmer plans as the dates approach...

Matthew 101220 Water Play

Toys Toys and more Toys

it's nearly Christmas and I've been looking for the perfect present for Matthew and we've decided to get him a balance bike based on the reviews from other parents and watching the kids play around the park. At 18 going on 19 months, he's the perfect age for it. Watch this video. There are so many different brands and variations it's very hard for a parent to choose which one. Hopefully we can decide which one before Christmas!

I thought this morning that it would be good to document/remember what kind of toys Matthew's 'into' at this age..

Blocks (Megabloks & Duplo) - loves these, plays with them daily for the last few months. Stacks them then knocks them over or pulls them apart and starts all over again. He gets lots of enjoyment from these.

Shape sorters - we have a few different ones (Tolo, Fischer Price and ELC) He plays with all of them, especially the Tolo one (great eBay bargain for $3!) and works the shapes in and out and opens the case to get the shapes out with any problems. Also plays with this daily.

Stringing Beads (see pic on left) - he loves these, even though the packaging says suited for children 36+ months, perhaps they could be choking hazard, but Matthew does not swallow anything he can't eat. We were introduced to these when we were at a friend's place for the playdate. They have a 3 children all of varying ages so it was great experience for Matthew to try out different toys before buying! (Sadly this family is moving away to Melbourne)

Wind up toys - Cheap and small but highly entertaining for Matthew. We have all sorts of these pint sized toys - cars, walking shoes, chattering teeth, a Mexican riding a horse etc. They are great to just throw in my handbag before heading out for a meal as after about 20 mins or so of waiting for food or for us to finish our meals Matthew can get very fidgety.

Cars/Plastic Animals - he's building a small collection. He got his first set of cars his 1st birthday and animals during his first visit to the zoo.  Plays with these often too and amazingly looks after them well. Keeps them on display, lined up on his toy shelf.

Books - lots and lots of books. We have lots, close to a hundred children's books and counting. Some, which were given as gifts I've put away because he's too young for them. We've been 'reading' books together every day since he was born and he never tires of looking through them. He'll often sit on his own and flip through the pages. Our favourite or rather my favourite is this one (see right pic) called 'Kisses' by Barney Saltzberg. The best ones for small children are the hard board books with plenty of textures, colours and things to do (pull, touch, press, squeak etc). In Sydney, there is a great children's bookstore in Beecroft which organizes readings by the book's author. I havent been able to find anything like that in Singapore, even at the libraries. The consolation though is that books are much cheaper in Singapore, sometime up to 50% less than Aus!

There are lots of other toys that he likes to play with semi-regularly, like kicking one of his many (many) soccer balls or giving his drum kit a bash. But the best activity for an active toddler like Matthew is plenty of active play, singing & dancing, playing at playground with other kids and swimming. Makes them sleep really well ;)