Three Little Pigs

With much nudging, Rachel finally agreed to go into the classroom. This is her 4th Speech & Drama lesson at LoveKids. I observed her from the shaded round window outside her class. She remains a silent observer, not participating even when asked but I can tell that she's enjoying herself. :)

Today's story is about Three Little Pigs, Rachel's favourite bedtime story...

Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf
The Big Bad Wolf, The Big Bad Wolf
Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf
Oink Oink Oink Oink Oink!

I believe that Rachel will warm up slowly (at her own time) and start interacting and participating with the rest of her classmates.

CGH = Christ Gives Hope

My father was admitted to Changi General Hospital two days ago. He experienced severe chest pain in his sleep and was awoken by the sharp pain. He was sent to CGH in an ambulance and was under observation since. What he experienced is known as Angina Pectoris (Chest Pain).

He had to undergo three ECG tests including one to be done on a treadmill. When the results came out, he was informed that he can be discharged. As he was happily preparing for his discharge, a senior doctor stopped him and told him that his ECG test on the treadmill looked somewhat abnormal. (This senior doctor is the same one he saw when he was admitted at A&E Dept.) The doctor suggested that he undergoes a coronary angiogram. This is a test that uses an injection of liquid dye to make the coronary arteries easily visible under X-ray. The results from the angiogram will determine if any of his coronary arteries is blocked. If it is blocked, he can undergo a procedure called angioplasty. It is an operation where the narrowed coronary artery is dilated (opened up) with a balloon. A small tube called a stent may also be inserted into the artery at this time to help prevent it narrowing down again in the future.

I am still awaiting results of his angiogram.

In the midst of this incident, I keep praying for my father. I pray for his speedy recovery and he will be able to go home soon. I pray that everything will be alright and there is no need to perform any heart bypass operation. I pray that he will find peace and calm in the midst of this condition. I pray for Psalm 91 upon him. I believe my Heavenly Father hears my prayer. Many people see CGH as a hospital where patients are not properly diagnosed and doctors not having adequate expertise... I see CGH as Christ Gives Hope and if Christ is in charge, my father will be on the road of speedy recovery. :)

Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place,
10 No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands, they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
14 "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation."

I cant believe this!!
The moment I published this blog, I received an sms from my father.
It said. "Good news - no blockage in the heart. Can go back home about 2 pm."

Hallelujah!!
Praise the Lord!

Heavy Hearted...

Sigh, I lost my cool again!
Was feeding Rachel dinner last evening and ended up blasting at her. Mealtimes (esp dinners) with her is becoming more and more like a competition of tug-of-war.

First, it was about her being choosy with her likes and dislikes of food. Then, it became a coaxing game trying to get her to finish all the food placed in her bowl. Now, it has become a waiting game where she will walk around as she pleases when she eats her dinner and , I am getting really tired of waiting for her and it's such a waste of my time. She tested my patience to the limit!

I got so mad with her last evening when she refused to listen to me and walked about as she pleased. I told her to finish her food before she played with her toys. She simply ignored my words and walked away. That made my blood boil. I cannot tolerate this behaviour any longer. I shouted very sternly and loudly at her to FINISH HER FOOD!!! She still thought that I was joking. I went over and grabbed her by her arms and made her stand in front of me. I blasted at her one more time, " I AM VERY ANGRY WITH YOU!! STAND STILL & FINISH YOUR DINNER!!!!!!!"

She was shocked and for a moment, I saw that she was afraid and wanted to cry. But being the headstrong and stubborn her, she held back her tears as if a response of rebellion. In the end, the mummy "won" and she finished all the food.

I was so upset over this incident that I could not talk to her after that. I am really at a loss. I told myself not to raise my voice at her or lose my cool at her but I have not managed my temperament very well. Sigh... I am not sure how to discipline her.

It was with a heavy heart that I wrote this post. This is certainly not what I envision good parenting should be. It is my constant prayer that the Lord will give me the wisdom and patience to train up my child. The only consolation is that Rachel will probably not remember this incident when she grows up.

Frog Prince

I brought Rachel to her weekly Speech & Drama class at LoveKids. This was her 3rd lesson.
I was as curious as she was on what today's theme will be and it turned out to be Frog Prince.

As usual, Rachel insisted that I go into the classroom with her and I thought that I will just sit in for a while. If she's comfortable in there, I will leave the class. Jack's mummy (Christina) accompanied Jack in the class too.

Rachel was more at ease today. I guess it's because I reassured her that I'll be around. She actually wanted to dress up as a character in the drama - The Queen. So I put on her crown and gown. :)

Halfway through the class, Grace slipped on the lilypad and fell. (She was running about freely in class.) She hurt her right cheek and started crying for her mummy. Teacher Loretta then brought her out to wash up and look for her dad at the same time. Not too long later, Grace came back into the class with all smiles again. I thought she was a very brave girl.

Mrs Nonis carried on the story and all the children participated in the drama. Jack was the King, Rachel, the Queen, Grace and Marion were the Princesses and Matthew was the Frog Prince. Mrs Nonis wanted some pictures taken of the class so Christina and I were ducking away so that we wont be in the photos as this was supposed to be a class for the kids. :)

I can see that Rachel is getting more comfortable with the class and Mrs Nonis said that she will be ready to join in the class all by herself next week. I hope that this weekly enrichment class will prepare her for nursery classes next year.

Oh Where, Oh Where
Has My Princess Gone?
Oh Where, Oh Where
Can She Be?

With Love From Her
Will Break The Spell
Oh Where, Oh Where
Can She Be?

Ma Ma

To my pleasant surprise, Ariel called out "Ma Ma" as he saw me walking past him as I stepped out from the shower and on my way to drop the clothes in the laundry bag yesterday. I was elated. :)
I think this is purely coincidental as he is still too young to be able to call me but I still relish that moment of joy when he blurted out what he did.

I recalled Rachel murmured "da da" first when she was about 6 months old.

I am thankful to God that He gave me two healthy and happy children.

Ariel Boy

My Ariel Boy is 6 months old today. :)

He has grown so much in the first six months of his life. Weighing in only at 2.835kg at birth, he is now a hefty 8.4kg!! Thanks to the most wonderful milk supply that God has created! The best milk ever... Surviving totally on breastmilk, I must say that he is doing very well. (His weight falls in the 75th percentile among the other six-month-old babies in Singapore.) *big grin*

Ariel means Lion of God in hebrew. Ling and I like this name alot and we decided to name our boy Ariel despite the feminine intonation of the name and the popular Little Mermaid naming after it. We also want to continue the consistency of our children's names ending with "-el ". "El" means God in hebrew. Somehow we have very fond memories of our time spent in the Holy Land and would like our children to carry that special memory and meaning in their names.

Ariel is a happy and smiley baby. He is contented as long as he is well fed and gets enough sleep. I thought he was a much easier baby to manage as compared to Rachel when she was a baby. Rachel cries more than Ariel. She needed alot of comfort and spent most of the time at my breast. But then again, it could also be due to a lack of experience as we were first time parents then. So every cry from our previous little babe triggered a lot more anxiety in us. We believe in attachment parenting so we are naturally more concerned over our babies' cries.

Ariel likes to smile. Whenever I call him Ariel Boy, he will smile readily back at me. I like his smiles alot. He also enjoys being carried around the house. I like to carry and dance with him like in a waltz. I did that with Rachel too when we were in HaMesada. Ariel has also started to show interest in food. He moves his mouth as if he would like to eat when he sees us having our meals, and especially so when Rachel is having her breakfast. I will start him on semi solids once he is able to sit upright on his own. (I cant wait to feed him his first food.)

Seeing my darling boy growing up healthily and happily gives me great joy and content. It reaffirms the stand that I make to be a stay-at-home-mum. I think that's the best thing that I can give to my children and to myself. This would not have been possible without a whole of bunch of supporters behind me.

The past 6 months is a challenging yet a very fulfilling ride. Tending to a newborn with a two-year-old toddler running around craving for my attention is a BIG deal! I couldnt have remain sane if not for the relentless support from my ling, my in-laws and especially my mum. I really cant thank them enough.

My mum quit her job to help me out with my confinement. After the confinement, she comes over to my place every mondays, wednesdays and fridays. She was called upon to stay over on the days that ling is overseas. She is always there for me. She does the cooking, the cleaning, the carrying, the teaching (teach rachel mandarin) and much more... I really thank God for an amazing mother like her.

My in-laws have been a great help too. They came whenever we call for help! They let us use the car. They take care of Rachel on tuesdays and thursdays. They shelve their plans for us. They are ever ready to lend us a helping hand.

My dearest half is my rock. He gives me emotional strength. He listens to me, my grumblings, complaints, grouses... He puts things in perspective for me, he addresses issues, he brings out a better me. AND HE WANTS MORE KIDS!!!

:)

The Ugly Duckling

Rachel attended her second lesson at LoveKids today. Before we left for the class, we made a little pact and sealed it with our little fingers. The pact is for Rachel to attend the class by herself and I will wait for her outside the classroom.

When we reached LoveKids, Rachel started to become a little anxious and wanted me to carry her up the stairs even though she could walk on her own very well and climbing steps is one of the favourite things that she does at Grandma's house.

She held onto me really tightly and totally forgot about the little pact that we made. She insisted that I joined her for the session. After getting the approval from Mrs Nonis, I went in with her. Jack's mummy was also in the class and later I found out that it was also Jack's first exposure to a playgroup.

Today's story is about The Ugly Duckling. I remembered catching the Walt Disney's animated cartoon on this when I was a child and I was so moved by the show that I started to cry when I saw how sad the ugly duckling was when she was ostracised by the other ducklings and her "mommy duck".

Somehow I didnt pay alot of attention to Mrs Nonis this time round as I was too focused on getting Rachel to participate and get involved with the class. She needs alot of encouragement and takes a long time to warm up. She stayed close to me the whole time.

At one point, Mrs Nonis asked me if she could talk about what she learned the last lesson because when Mrs Nonis posed some questions to Rachel, she just stared blankly at her. My girl is definitely not the spontaneous type. (Both ling and I arent the spontaneous type either... ) She's the exact opposite to the other girl called Grace who kept wandering about the classroom looking for the star stamp. Mrs Nonis had to keep it away from her and dangled the star stamp like a carrot to get Grace to cooperate. But she soon went off doing her own things again. Kids are so innocent; it really takes alot of patience to get them to be engaged and doing the things we want them to.

I see myself in my little girl as I watched her throughout the class. She needs a great sense of security, a lot of encouragement and love. She slowly warmed up as the class was about to end. :)

An ugly duckling,
Not like the rest.
Was teased alot
He felt like a pest.

He went off with a waddle and a
Quack! Quack! Quack!

A Milking Cow

Sometime in the first week of june, an ex-colleague called me up and sounded me out on a part time job with my ex-company. I only need to go into the office on an average of 8 to 10 days in a month to handle the payroll for the company. From the payroll payout dates, that means I will need to report to the office in the first and third week of the month. The monetary offer was also rather attractive. I discussed this with ling and he encouraged me to take this up. I thought it was a good opportunity for me to transition from a SAHM to a part time SAHM. :P
I have great plans for my floral passion when Ariel turns 2 so I think this part time job offer comes in really handy. Within a week, I accepted the job offer. I thank God for this opportunity and I think He must have heard my prayers.

The next step is for me to start storing up on my breastmilk supplies for Ariel. My mum will help me take care of him on the days that I need to work and that means I will miss out on the direct latching moments. However, ensuring that he gets breastmilk remains my top priority. I was even prepared to feed him during my lunch breaks if he doesnt get enough from the stored supplies.

Expressing milk is not my cup of tea as I always preferred the convenience of my children latching on to me than feeding them from the bottle. But going to work leaves me with no choice but to start expressing milk all over again. I finally put my medela PIS back to good use. The last time I used it intensively was when Rachel was 2 wks old. I practically stuck to a regimental routine of expressing milk on a 2 hourly basis (even in the nights) in the hope of boosting my milk supply. But I ended up feeling so demoralised and it kick-started a whole host of breastfeeding woes. Well, this will be recorded in another post.

I was concerned of Ariel not having enough to drink so I decided that I should express after I feed him in the morning. Yesterday was my first yield. And I managed a total of 4 oz after two pumps. I know the supply will increase as I believe that our human body is really smart to know that now it needs to produce more, once for the baby and once for the pump.

So there goes the milking cow mooing herself happily after each pump.... :P

Rachel@LoveKids

I signed Rachel up for a 10wk Speech & Drama class at LoveKids.
LoveKids website caught my eye when I was browsing the internet for a suitable kindergarten for Rachel. (she will be turning 4 next year so I thought it'll be good to expose her to a nursery class)

It's located at Serangoon Gardens, a neighbourhood that I have grown to love. I used to take SBS Bus #73 when I was growing up as a kid, traveling to and fro Lorong Buangkok & Toa Payoh. The bus will make a stop at SG chomp chomp before it headed out to Lorong Chuan. And I will always look at the rows of terrace houses, semi-Ds and bungalows in that neighbourhood... admiring at some really gorgeous ones and getting puzzled over some that looked as if a forest is growing out of its garden. :)

I left my contact details via LoveKids' website and received a call from Margaret Nonis, the centre director the following day. The first impression over the phone was good and we arranged to meet at the centre on the saturday before the class commences the following tuesday.

We met on 27 Jun 09. I explained to Mrs Nonis that this will be Rachel's first exposure to a playgroup. She tends to take a long while to warm up to strange faces let alone being in front of a group of them. Mrs Nonis assured me that Rachel will have fun. LoveKids believe that children learn best when they are Happy and Relaxed! This notion sits in well with what I thought too. Rachel seemed to like the props and costumes at the centre and she starts to explore the classroom curiously. On our way home, she told me that she wants to go back to the centre again.

30 Jun 09 5pm - Ling (he took half day off specially for this) and I brought Rachel to her first enrichment class. I attended the lesson with Rachel as she gripped my hand so tightly that I couldnt bear to leave her alone in the class. Anyway, the other caregivers were also in the class so I stayed on. There are altogether 6 children in this class including Rachel. There was Grace (the super active girl who likes to wander off in search of new toys in the classroom; she came in with her dad), Matthew (the very well behaved boy who attends the class all by himself; whom I learned later that he was a nephew of Margaret), Marion (the spontaneous caucasion girl who is super eager to answer "Yes", "Me" to the teacher; she also attends the class by herself), Jack (another boy who is very well behaved; he sits with his mummy too), Wee Min (another girl who is attending playgroup for the very first time; she cries halfway through the class asking for her Jie Jie to join in; and she did; so the two girls sat with their Grandma) and there was Rachel who sits quietly next to me but observing intently at the teacher and the other kids. Today's theme was the Gingerbread Man.

"Run, Run
As fast as you can
You can't catch me
I'm the Gingerbread Man!"

Rachel was quiet throughout the class and not so willing to participate with the other kids. She prefers doing things on her own. When Mrs Nonis handed out a colouring assignment towards the end of the lesson, she happily grabs a colouring pencil and start to colour the Gingerbread Man's nose red. :)

The hour went by fairly quickly and it was time to go home. Rachel left the class feeling rather satisfied and started yakking all about her class when she's finally alone with Daddy & Mummy. I hope she enjoyed herself during the lesson. And I look forward to sharing more posts of her Speech & Drama class with you. Stay tuned!!

If you would like to find out more about LoveKids, here's their website.
http://www.lovekids.com.sg/lovekids/