77th week Dearest Baby TK

21feb - 27feb'12

525 days' old, you poo at a; used 0 disposable diapers in all; went to the market with Dardy and Marmy and helped carry the poh chai mee; went to the nearby CC to read the newspapers and went to pee at the washroom;
526 days' old, you poo at a; used 0 disposable diapers in all; took 0h nap in all; went t
527 days' old, you poo at a; used 0 disposable diapers in all;
528 days' old, you poo at a; used 0 disposable diapers in all;
529 days' old, you poo at p; used 0 disposable diapers in all; went to Lil' Grandaunt's house after attending Dardy & Marmy's Graduation Ceremony at SBF; gg to Grandmum's place for stay for a week
530 days' old, you
531 days' old, you poo at a;

77th week of motherhood

20feb - 26feb'12

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- made steamed-fried beehoon for lunch-cum-tea-break continuously for 3 consecutive days
- fetched TK home from mum's after brunch after hubby returned from a lunch meeting
- Pa came to visit on Fri after dinner with some ripe Thailand Honey mangoes

- went for Graduation-cum-Orientation Ceremony after Sat class, and reached there in time for dinner break at 515pm
- hubby came shortly after with TK and Ma, YY in cab
- missed the group photo-taking with the Venerables and lay-teachers when I took TK to the washroom to pee/change disposable diapers
- took cab to Lil' Aunt's place at $9.75 after event ended around 840pm

- took TK to the market to buy some dau gua and dau gay on Sun, but dau gay sold out at po po stall
- Pa and Ma came to visit TK after dinner, Ma came after lunch to get her stuff
- served seaweed after dinner

76th week Dearest Baby TK

14feb - 20feb'12

518 days' old, you poo at 845a; used 0 disposable diapers in all; celebrated your 2nd V Day; went to the market with Dardy and Marmy and helped carry the poh chai mee; went to the nearby CC to read the newspapers and went to pee at the washroom;
519 days' old, you poo at 748a; used 0 disposable diapers in all; took 0h nap in all; went to dine at nearby foodcourt and you pat your chest a few times after someone walked behind you and accidentally kicked the leg of the high chair (indicating you had a shock);
520 days' old, you poo at 7a; used 0 disposable diapers in all;
521 days' old, you poo at a; used 0 disposable diapers in all;
522 days' old, you poo at p; used 0 disposable diapers in all; not gg to Lil' Grandaunt's house; gg to Grandmum's place for stay for a week
523 days' old, you went to pay respect on Granduncle F's 100th day Death anniversary;
524 days' old, you poo at a;

76th week of motherhood

13feb - 19feb'12

- wish hubby a Happy V Day on the eve before midnight (for the second time this year I wish hubby first)
-
- made multigrain porridge with pumpkin, tomato, carrot, broccoli for TK's lunch on Tue

- hubby took TK for a walk at nearby supermarket in search for 'cheese' on Wed
- went to dine at nearby foodcourt with Pa, Ma and hubby and TK
- put TK to bed after asking if he needs to pee, and change to diaper pants
- replied emails after TK fell asleep
-

- made poh chai mee for lunch and multigrain porridge with broccoli, carrot, tau gua for TK on Thur
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Why does my toddler get angry when he doesn't get his way?

Some advice from developmental psychologist on how to handle a child when he doesn't get his way which may lead to a 'hitting' problem
1. Try not to take it personally. Your toddler is undergoing some amazing changes right now and needs to be able to express his emotions. In the beginning, he wasn't aware of himself as a separate entity, a person with preferences and dislikes. Starting early in his second year, though, as his language skills and intellect developed, he began to discover his individuality, realizing that he was a "me" and an "I." That "me" wants his way, but hasn't yet learned self-control.

Imagine someone thwarting you when you tried to get something you really wanted — a raise at work or a much-needed vacation. You'd probably get mad, just like your toddler does. But as an adult, you're able — at least ideally — to put your disappointment into perspective. Your child can't. Right now, every goal is important to him, and he doesn't understand that he may get what he wants later — but not right now, when he wants it. The promise of a future payoff ("We can't get you a treat now, but after we finish grocery shopping we can go to the toy store") doesn't soothe an impatient toddler since he has only a vague concept of time and exists primarily in the present.

Your child's reactions are a sign that his emotions are maturing as they should be. The intensity and frequency of his anger may also be a function of his temperament. Has he always been quick to take offense, fussy for long periods of time, or difficult to console? Some children are more easily upset and more difficult to calm down. Consequently, they may at times seem truly inconsolable.

2. One thing you can do as a parent is to pick your battles and let her have his way when it makes sense, so that he gets what he wants some of the time. For example, if he demands to bring his stuffed bear and wear mismatched clothes to school, and there's a rule at school saying toys aren't allowed, you can let him choose what he wants to wear and say no to the bear. At least he can feel empowered because he got to make him own decision about what to wear that day.

3. Try distracting him so he doesn't dwell on his feelings and becomes occupied with another task instead. If he is upset that you won't let him eat chocolate for breakfast, for example, make him laugh by taking a swig of milk and showing off your milk mustache. You'll be surprised at how easily distracted toddlers are.

4. Finally, talk to your toddler about what he feels, and why he can't have what he wants. Explain the reasoning behind your refusal. For example, instead of simply saying "no" to her request for a second helping of pie, tell her, "We don't eat two desserts because that might give us a tummy ache."

What's most important is that you are able to set limits for your child without ruling with an iron fist. When your child is conscious of having reasonable boundaries (and knows that manipulation won't help his get away with anything) but also feels free to express his desires, he'll be able to learn one of life's basic lessons: You don't always get what you want.

75th week Dearest Baby TK

7feb - 13feb'12

511 days' old, you turned 17m; woke up at 630a and went back to sleep after milk; used 0 disposable diapers in all; gg to Grandmum's place for stay and was really hungry at 12plus in the afternoon; took a bottle of milk once we reached;
512 days' old, you poo at a; p; used 0 disposable diapers in all; took 0h nap in all;
513 days' old, you poo at a; used 0 disposable diapers in all;
514 days' old, you poo at a; used 0 disposable diapers in all;
515 days' old, you poo at p; used 0 disposable diapers in all; couldn't play with your cousins at Lil' Grandaunt's house as you were taking dinner(2) when cou X arrived; return home after dinner at Grandmum's place; stayed over at Grandpa's
516 days' old, you splashed water as usual at shower and made Grandma 'wet' but happy;
517 days' old, you poo at a;

75th week of motherhood

6 feb - 12 feb'12

- sent TK to mum's early on Tue and arrived before 1pm
- mum and dad were at the supermarket nearby
- fed TK the porridge mum cooked and he fell asleep after that
- today is the 15th day of the 1st month lunar calendar (元宵) which is also known as the Eastern Valentine's Day

- updated the assignments received so far on Thur
- did some household chores in the morn
- accepted around 10% of the assignments
- did a draft(3) of my personal monthly expenses
- went to PS St**h*b to have a transfer of name for my mobile
- overheard a well-dressed lady sitting beside me on the MRT speaking calmly using her mobile
- she alighted at Novena, probably carrying a notebook in a black bag and a handbag

- hubby bought brown rice for dinner

- did a draft(4) of my personal monthly expenses on Fri
- shocking fact that a person like me (with no car, no condo, no maid, no fine-dining) is very poor i.e. living from hand to mouth
- cleaned and tidied the cabinet in my bedroom and sorted the clothes
- did household chores (laundry and folded the clothes, cleared some cobwebs on the window grills in my bedroom)
- took out the ingredients to steam-fry beehoon for lunch
- couldn't hear clearly when hubby spoke to me with his face away from me again (recent incident was 5 days ago at the Expo exhibition - A Moving Masterpiece)
- learnt not to criticise others before self
- warm in the evening and went for a dip before 5pm
- learnt that I saved $0.10 for every entry using a stored value card instead of cash payment of $1

- fetched TK on Sat at around 5pm
- left after early dinner and went to Lil' Aunt's place for a while
- had some fried sweet cake (年糕)
- packed some clothes for TK's #2 camping at Ma's place

- went to fetch TK after lunch
- updated the website for TT

TK went to 'The Moving Masterpiece' exhibition at 2 days to 17m

A Journey to view

A Moving Masterpiece 动感《清明上河图》

We left home in the morning to visit a Kindergarten at Eunos

before meeting Ma at Expo.

We bought take-away lunch at Vegan Burger

We prefer the pepper mayo to the tarta burger.

There were a long queue in the exhibition Hall, waiting to get their audio sets.

Many visitors stop at the entrance

to read the introduction on Song Dynasty,

including Ma and hubby.

I asked hubby to come and take a photo of the wall at the entrance.

Hubby commented that every time we take a photo,

many people will follow suit.

Quickly, I thought if 'chopping' the place before others crowd around

and called Ma (see if she'd like to come take a shoot).

She thought I'm hurrying her and said she's reading the poster..

before she could finish her sentence,

I heard ‘让她看完’。

 Fine, I said to myself, and proceeded to join the long queue inside,

as the people were 'shooed' in,

and someone was telling us that there's a long queue inside.

Sure enough, it was long.

Finally, it was our turn to get the audio sets.

It was fairly easy to use

(there's a monitor at the queue by the wall to explain how to use the audio set).

TK was awake all the time, even though he's not napped in the morning

(most of the time he'd nap by noon, if not latest 2-3pm).

I put him to sit in the baby stroller even though he refused

so I can feed him the multigrain porridge I've prepared in the morning.

 He seemed to be more interested in the audio set hanging from from my neck.

He was looking here and there,

sometimes pointing and saying words only he can understand.

I guess he's trying to tell us what he's seen and that he is feeling excited.

We started with the 5 Elements:
Fire, Wood, Earth, Water and Metal (火、木、土、水、金)

I stayed with TK till he was done with the porridge,

pushing him to each station, stopping for him to 'view'.

There were many exhibits at each of the 5 Elements.
The following are some of them:

 

Interesting facts and statistics in the Making of the the animated version of the Lengendary Chinese Masterpiece - Qing Ming Shang He Tu

Finally, we came to the highlights of the exhibition to view the ‘清明上河图’.

We didn't bother to view the different characters before entering

(as they all look similar).

Rather, we went into the viewing Hall which was quite dim
to be immersed by the spectacular magnified scroll
created by
Zhang Zeduan 张择端 , a native of Dongwu (Zhucheng, Shandong today) and
an imperial artist of the Northern Song Dynasty.
It captures the daily life of people from the Song period at the capital city of Bianjing (Kaifeng today),
in praise of the clean governance of Emperor Song Huizong's 'Qing Ming'
which means 'clean and bright'.

The original painting is now kept in the vaults of the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City, Beijing.

Strangely, we saw a queue before an exhibit of the ‘清明上河图’in a horizontal see-through case.

We wanted to join the queue, but hubby was more interested to see the 'moving masterpiece' instead.

 

We spent a long time there, walking, standing, watching the different parts of the projection

while listening to the audio explanation.

Luckily, there were some seats at the back for the tired feet to rest but still not enough.

I finally figured where the 16 different parts of the projected 'masterpiece' are (at each part there's a picture of the scroll on the audio set for you to locate before you press the 'play' button).

We saw a little boy jumping up and down on the little boat (picture on the right above is slowly moving towards the bridge from the right) under the ‘虹桥’

as the boat nearly hit the bridge (picture on the left above is the bridge).

We had a fruitful day, and our feet were tired,

and we rested briefly before hubby went for a final view from right to left.

There're some exhibits on the different parts of the scroll before the exit of the viewing Hall below:

To see more of the exhibits and read more about the moving masterpiece, click below.

TK went ‘Namo Namo’ with palms together at 5 days to 15 mths’ old

Since he heard the chanting
in the morning of his late Granduncle’s prayers,

he went ‘Namo Namo’ and chant along with a little bow and palms together.

That surprised us as we didn’t expect him
to pronounce a two-syllable word at 5 days to 15 months’ old.

Hence, we want to make sure
he gets the correct greeting
on the auspicious day as most people do not wish to be greeted as if in praying with palms together.

74th week Dearest Baby TK

31jan - 6feb'12

505 days' old, you woke up and went back to sleep after milk; used 0 disposable diapers in all; gg to Grandmum's place for stay and was really hungry at 12plus in the afternoon; took a bottle of milk once we reached;
506 days' old, you poo at a; p; used 0 disposable diapers in all; took 0h nap in all;
507 days' old, you poo at a; used 0 disposable diapers in all;
508 days' old, you poo at a; used 0 disposable diapers in all;
509 days' old, you poo at p; used 0 disposable diapers in all; play with your cousins at Lil' Grandaunt's house if early; return home after dinner at Grandmum's place
510 days' old, you poo at a;
511 days' old, you poo at a;

74th week of motherhood

30jan - 5feb'12

- hubby reminded that we've to constantly be more positive and say 'YES' to 'TK' so he'd be more confident and ready to learn compassion and wisdom

- rained heavily and was drenched even with umbrella
- sent TK to mum and had lunch

- blogged in the morning before breakfast on Thursday
- gg to mum's place for dinner and see my Lil' cutie
- did a summary of the phone bills and paying around $77+ a month for the mio Plan

- made steam-fried beehoon for breakfast and ended up taking as lunch
- updated household expenses and 2012 CNY expenses and the summary for the past few years
-

- gg to fetch TK home after dinner on Sat
- gg to visit the exhibition at Expo on Sun
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