Happy 4th Birthday

Enjoyed cake and party with friends at daycare.

First few books

Enjoyed reading at a very early age.

Supposedly Iron Man

So cute! The background and setting are just toppings.

Feeding the seagulls

Picnic with Harbour Bridge in the background

First real bed with wheels

The best Christmas present ever!!

25 July 2010

Meaningful Conversations

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On his 3rd birthday night while lying on my bed, I told him he's really a big guy now.
T: Don't make me another room, because I like sleeping in this bed.

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M: You know, I love you?
T: But you didn't pick me up at school today. Daddy took me there and you didn't pick me up.

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M: When you're a big guy, are you still going to let me kiss you?
T: No, because I'm going to kiss you.

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T: I want to drink water again.
M: No, because you might wee on the bed.
T: I won't! (with attitude tone)
M: I don't want you to use that tone to me.
T: *** rolled his eyes ***
M: Rolling eyes is not good either.
T: Sorry Mum. I won't use that tone anymore.

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I have a big guy now (celebrated his 3rd two weeks ago - no camcorder to record the occasion, just photos) who thinks like an adult. It's not easy because he thinks he is one of us so he does what we do.

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Learning Phonics

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On The Tatapilla's 3rd birthday, we decided to teach him his alphabet, not just singing it but be able to identify and read it. I've been doing some research on what better way to teach our kids to read - and phonics come first. It's reading the letters through their sound. I found this Jolly Phonics dvd that are very good tools in teaching the kids. I then borrowed one from the library. The down side though is, it is a bit boring. And Jens as a very active kid, is not very drawn to it. Maybe, if we play it over and over again, he might. Besides, learning things don't just happen overnight like printing club flyers.

Here are some snippets of the DVD.

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10 July 2010

Random It Is

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You Are Having an Awesome Day



You feel a bit overwhelmed by the changes doing on in your life right now. You don't have a good anchor.

You are a flexible person. You tend to take life as it comes.

You are prioritizing your family life right now. As usual, family comes first for you.
Deep down you crave acceptance and love. You need good relationships to be happy.




Yeah, because I don't really feel those that have been described. I do have an awesome day today not because I got a good deal on term life insurance quotes online but because I'm with my family and we're happy.
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Legal or Not?

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My colleagues at work have given me some information on how to ripped DVD movies and then convert them to format compatible with Iphone. I bought some music from IPhone but no movies yet. They’re quite expensive for me. But with the information that my colleagues told me, I then can load some of my favourite movies to my phone and I can watch them over and over again while I’m commuting.

I actually asked them if isn’t it illegal but they said, it depends on how and where you use the program determines if it is illegal or not. I suppose if you are just ripping the DVD’s that you own, it is okay.

I’m just quite happy now that I can load movies to my phone and can save some moolah for something maybe like Blue Cross Blue Shield NC.

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Dear Diary

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It might be a bit late but better late than never, eh? I read a story in the Australian Family magazine of a Mum who had a nice time reminiscing her children’s childhood through dusty diary she found. And I thought, hey, I want to do that too. And I think, I have a perfect timing to start. On Jens’ third birthday. This blog should be that diary but I can’t be online all the time that Jens throw his clever antics so an actual diary will still come in handy. I’m excited to do it but I haven’t bought a notebook yet. I want it to become special too because I am not going to write my stretch marks cream history but the life of my precious one.

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Jens’ 3rd

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It’s final, we won’t have anything big this year for The Tatapilla’s 3rd birthday. It would just be a tea party at school. I already ordered two boxes of cupcakes and 2 cakes. Balloons just need to be inflated. I have bought balloons, banners and what-not two weeks ago. I’m taking a half day off to attend to the matters at hand.

Jens is quite excited about it. He said he’ll have two parties, one at school and one at home. And he’s raising his three fingers and said, I’ll be this many. We already bought his present two months ago – a size three bike. But I might be buying some small toys that I can wrap up (no not diet pills that work).
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Busy Week

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We were not sure if we’re going to E’s birthday party today at 11am. Mcj said, the Abbey Medieval Festival is on this weekend so there was a possibility of going there rather than to the party. I asked The Tatapilla and he wanted to go to the “festivol”. Mcj said that if he’s not busy tomorrow (that acne treatment is out of the picture), we’ll swing there. I don’t want to get excited because I have so much stuff to do this weekend – you know the usual chores.
Anyway, we went to the party and Jens’ had a blast. Of course, there was this huge play structure for all the kids to get around, who wouldn’t get excited when you’re below 10YO?

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04 July 2010

Food

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In our family, we don't like routine and serving the same everyday - like cereal in the morning. I'm not a cereal person so is Mcj. The Tatapilla have his cereal at least 3 times a week. But sometimes, its hard to determine how much food a toddler can have.

Here are some tips from raising children network.
Children over the age of four need to eat a variety of nutritious foods, in the right proportions. They should also eat items from each of these five food groups on a daily basis — unless they have a food allergy. Foods high in unsaturated fat or sugar should be eaten only occasionally and in small amounts.

Daily recommended serves: 4-8 year olds should eat: fruit - 1-2 serves; vegetables -2-4 serves; dairy - 2-3 serves; bread and cereals and grains - 3-7 serves; meat - ½-1 serve; other foods - 0-2 serves. Variations in serving sizes reflect children's different body sizes and activity levels.

Drink plenty of water: Children over the age of 5 should drink five glasses (1 litre) of water a day. Fruit juice can sometimes be served as an alternative to water and can be diluted with water. Soft drinks should be avoided.


With The Tatapilla, I just give him healthy food as much as he likes - no strict guidelines at all. I believe that one knows how much food can he eat. Using hydroxycut isn't in our plan.
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In Public

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The Tatapilla is fairly a happy toddler. He throws tantrums but not really in a grand scale. Sulking is common and I haven't experienced him doing it in public until yesterday. We were at the shops and he wanted to wear the slippers that we are buying for him and I told him not yet as we haven't paid for it. Then, all of a sudden he was angry at me and to the display counter. I reprimanded him and he went to one corner and sulk telling me, I'm not his friends anymore and to leave him alone. Whew! What I normally do is talk to him - lower down to his level on the floor and look him the eye and tell him why I was reprimanding him and what should we do. Normally it works. When at home, I just distract him of something and in a snap, he's out of it.

When in the car, he is particularly good as I have always been telling him that I need to drive very carefully as it is dangerous to be distracted while driving. And he is really good - sometimes giving me orders to go when green light is on or when to stop. Thank God we haven't been to a situation that we have to call roadside assistance.

So yeah, we are in for the horrible three now. We're bracing up for it.

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Coming Up

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The Tatapilla's 3rd birthday is coming up. It's on a weekday so we decided to have a simple celebration in his daycare and another one at home. The daycare gig would just be about food and baloons, etc. At home, it would be the same. We'll plan a big celebration when he's a bit older and when he's birthday falls on a weekend.

So far, I already bought baloons, banner and party hat. I don't bother with the cutleries for school as we'll just have cupcakes. I am thinking of just buying some at the super market - it might really not healthy but nothing that would require the best weight loss pill to shed the founds.

We already bought The Tatapilla his birthday present almost 2 months ago - size 3 bike that he now enjoys. I thought of buying some little ones. When asked, he said he wants The Wiggles and last night, it changed to Jiminy Cricket. I'm thinking of buying him Woody or Buzz.


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I Don't Know About That

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You Are Endearing



You are outgoing and friendly. You always have something to be excited about.
You are conscientious and savvy. You enjoy the healthy things in life.
You are a person of complex taste. You like how different elements go together.
No one would describe you as awkward. You are a smooth character!




Well, the excited part is true or else life would be boring, isn't it. I'm the person who always need to be stimulated physically or mentally yet also want to be in control. I do have complex taste and with that, I haven't thought about wrinkle creams yet - I can't imagine if I ever find any. I'm the sort with lots of idea and have to find that specific thing before I buy it.
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