Starting Childcare

02 Dec 2013

We transferred Mr Galen to the Learning Vision Childcare at Changi Airport T1 once they had an opening. As expected, he was very clingy to us and did not like to go to school. Putting on his uniform every morning was a power struggle, and he would cry constantly... :(

There are 2 teachers assigned for his class "Dazzling Daisies", Teacher Serene and 陈老师.

During one session, he was holding on to his yellow car and Teacher Serene asked him to handover the car to her. He naturally refused, but went on to find another toy car to pass to her instead.

Mr Galen fell sick on the week of 15 Dec (2 weeks after starting school). High body fever, cough and runny nose. The doctor said that 90% of kids will fall sick upon entering childcare for the first time.

Daddy's car also sick (high fever), so he is spending his leave at home, typing all these posts in the blog :)

Teacher Serene's and Chen Lao Shi's photos and comments on Mr Galen on 12 Dec 2013

Hopefully Mr Galen adapts to school quickly.

Lizard Go Inside Papa's Car

18 Nov 13

Astonished Daddy when he said 'lizard go inside papa car'when he spotted the lizard disappear into papa'a car boot. It was the longest full sentence he has formed thus far.

His fav colours at age 21 mths are yellow and pink. And his favourite toy is the yellow rubbery car that looks like Shine (the Mercedes SLK in Tayo Bus cartoon).

When he went to childcare in December, he also picked up a yellow wooden car from the childcare play area, and claimed it for himself :o 

Raindrop Fish

11 Nov 2013

Mr Galen finally started to sleep through the night at a grand age of 20.5 months!! 

He also started to be able to play by himself with his toys, and mumbling to himself while playing.

Daddy brought him downstairs to eat his porridge as it was too boring to eat at the same chair at home. It started to rain and he stopped eating. Daddy used 'Raindrop Fish' to entice him to finish up his porridge. 

One particular Tayo Bus episode he has vivid memory of after watching, is the one on 'Making Friends'. He recalled that 'Shine' (the yellow Mercedes SLK) got 'stuck (in the) sand' and the 'chicken poop poop' on 'Shine'. 

Afternote: Daddy also used "Waterdrop Fish" (soup dripping down from the spoon) to entice him to eat. Can reuse the same trick on 妹妹 or 弟弟 next time :p

Pink and Yellow

13 Nov 2013

Got complained by Auntie Mummy that Galen insisted on wearing only yellow or pink clothes (he only has these colours for his pants, and no shirts). He refused to wear other shirts. Auntie Mummy let him wear the pants through his arms and asked if he can fit his head through the pants. 

On his hiao days, he also insisted to wear his nice Mickey Mouse shoes to Auntie Mummy's house

I don't want to go!

Around Oct 2013

Mr Galen was passionate about the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. He could complete the sentences very well and we had fun reading the story to him and him saying "hard" to everything (daddy bear's porridge is hard, mummy bear's bed is hard). He eventually got them after awhile :)

He also loved this book called 'I don't want to go'. He actually gets the storyline of this boy who has gone to stay with ah ta and ah neh and he is very unadventurous, saying 'I don't want to go' to everything. He refers to this book by 'dont want' and baffled ah ma who cant read when he picked up this book and kept saying 'dont want don't want'. 

Afternote: when he started school in December 2013, he also "don't want to go (to school)"!!!

Itchy butt

29 Oct 13

Mr Galen got his first bad nappy rash on his butt. This is also the period where he keeps scratching his genitals. It's hard to stop him and mummy's advice was to be gentle. Sayang, dont pull so hard!

Having it his way

29 Oct 2013

Whined in protest as he saw mummy cutting the banana and putting them into a bowl for him. Insisted that bananas should be eaten in a manly way - holding it in his hand

Refused to wear the apron nor the waterproof bib as if his life depended on it. Got scolding big time by mummy when he smeared his clothes with paint. But he quickly learned not to touch his clothes with his hands after that and said sweetly 'kaiyang's carrot. Mummy's carrot' while pointing to the respective one

Insisted that he eats from his 'car car bowl' instead of another bowl I had used to hold his porridge. Poor mummy had to swap bowl for him and he ate peacefully thereafter. 

Daddy brought him downstairs for a late evening walk and he came back telling mummy about lizards, ants, frogs! 

Ard 18 months

He likes to play the game of 'Jing Jing gets no fruit'. When asked to give JJ a piece of fruit, he will purposely walk towards JJ with the fruit and turn at the last minute to give it to ah kong or jiu jiu. Naughty boy!

Testing your limits

27 Sep 2013

At City Inn 2 pantry area in Taipei, Taiwan.

Mummy said don't throw the handkerchief on the floor. Galen tested the boundaries by putting the hkcf on his head and saying its a helmet, then subtly let go of it to let it fall to the floor, eyes watching your behaviour. He quickly picked it up.
Mummy replied no handkerchief on the floor. He then threw the hkcf on the chair, watching ur reaction again... :p

28 Sep 2013

At the cafe at Leo Foo village, mummy said hkcf only used to wipe the hands and mouth, not the table. Mr galen proceeded to give the water bottle a wipe down with the hkcf, watching ur reaction again...:p

Where's Ba Ba

Wednesday, 5 June 2013

Mummy witnessed a couple of sweet moments where Mr Galen kept asking for Baba. 

The first time was at Ah Neh's house. We were celebrating Mother's Day for Ah Neh and Daddy went to tabao 煮炒 from the S-11 across the street. Ah Neh was feeding Mr Galen his dinner and I was playing the role of the Clown, entertaining our little emperor. Mr Galen stopped numerous times, asking for Baba and pointing to the door. Mummy had to explain that Baba went to buy food, will be coming back soon. Mr Galen nodded and continued eating his food, waiting patiently for Baba to return home. 

The second incident happened on a Saturday when Baba had to collect his car from the workshop after the car went kaput on the way to work one day. Mummy stayed home with Mr Galen and again, Mr Galen asked for Baba Baba and looked around for him. Mummy explained that Baba went to collect his car from the workshop. Mr Galen nodded his head after my explanation and continued playing with his toys. 5 minutes later he asked Mummy again. "Baba Baba". And Mummy repeated the explanation. This cycle went on for a couple of times before Baba finally came home and saved me from his endless "Baba Baba". 

The third incident happens usually after Daddy left the room so that I can put Mr Galen to sleep at night. After Daddy exits the room, Mr Galen will keep pointing to the door and say "Baba". Tonight was special however. Just before he fell asleep tonight, he took out his pacifier and whispered something "Baba" which sounded very much like "我爱爸爸“ and after saying that, he promptly fell asleep within the next minute!

Such a Daddy's boy! Mummy's heart always melt when he asks for "Baba" like that. Mummy feels so glad and happy that Daddy has such a close bond with Mr Galen and Mr Galen is so lucky to have such a great Daddy!

Waving goodbye in his sleep

Tuesday, 4 June 2013

It was a fine Tuesday morning and Mr Galen was still snoozing when we made our way to drop him off at Auntie Mummy's place. As I passed Mr Galen over to Auntie Mummy, I kissed him on the forehead gently and whispered "bye bye Kai Yang, Mummy is going to work!" With his eyes still closed, he raised his hands up to wave bye bye in response. Such an amusing sight.

This was the second time that he waved goodbye to us in his sleep and made us wonder if he was really sleeping or pretending to be asleep. We all had a good laugh over it!

Escapes

Saturday 25 May 2013 GUG class

Mr Galen, was as his usual self, scampering all over class again today.

After the break, the trainee teacher took over the Zoo Basket segment, while Tang Lao Shi and Teacher Ash sat at the rear corner of the classroom, near the sound system.

Mr Galen escaped from my clutches and headed straight towards them. Tang Lao Shi scooped him up, and made Mr Galen sit on her lap to listen to the class, but he struggled and strained to get out. I signalled to Tang Lao Shi that I will take over, and so she released him to my arms. Mr Galen sat still for another 0.00001 seconds, and wriggled his way out again.

Again, he made a beeline straight towards where the 2 teachers were sitting. Halfway through, he seemed to realize that he will be captured by Tang Lao Shi again, and so he veered off to his left, narrowly escaping Tang Lao Shi's outstretched hands. He paused and giggled at Tang Lao Shi, and Teacher Ash commented "wah... so clever!"..

Expect lots of "escapes" by Mr Galen in the future...

借刀杀人

Saturday 25 May 2013

Another typical Saturday morning. Daddy and Mr Galen were in the living room while Ah Ma was cooking some pancakes for breakfast. Mummy was zzz...

Ah Ma brought in the first pancake, hot from the stove.

Immediately, the Greedy Mr Galen laid his hands on the hot pancake, only to withdraw quickly as the heat and pain registered. Nonchalantly, he placed his hands on mine, and dragged my hands over to take the pancake for him... Wahh......

Opps!

Friday 24 May 2013 (Vesak Day)

Mr Galen woke up early in the morning (at 6am!) as usual, doing his 360' spin around the bed and kicking us off the cozy bed. Daddy had no choice but to carry him out to the living room, so that Mummy could continue to snooze for a while.

Mr Galen still had his pacifier on as I set him down amongst in his toy corner. He picked up his plastic crab (the one for building sand castles with) in his left hand, and took out his pacifier with his right. In his usual mischievous self, he offered me his pacifier and withdrew it before it could touch my mouth. With both hands still in the air, he proceeded to put the plastic crab into his mouth! As soon as his mouth clamped down on the hard plastic (instead of the soft pacifier), his face changed and he realized immediately that he has chomped on the wrong object :)

Mr Galen quickly took the plastic crab out and stole a look at me, hoping that I did not see his 'Ooops' act. Of course I saw it and I laughed out loud. He was very sheepish, and started to laugh along with me, ahahahaha.....

This blog was setup to chronicle all the happy and unhappy moments of Mr Galen growing up, so that we, as parents, can recall them when we are old and forgetful in future.