Anytime, Anywhere! ABC time!

If you have met my son Nathan, you will know he is obsessed with ABC. He can literally be singing ABC song in his sleep. HILARIOUS because we witnessed it a few times!

Ok.. Topic of the day is:

How to entertain a 2-year-old at the table while waiting for your food

All you need is a piece of paper and some colour pencils! Or just a pen!

First, just write out A-Z on a piece of paper.

Next, sing the ABC song while pointing to the alphabets.

Then play "word" search! Give the kiddo a pen/pencil/crayon, have him circle (or shade if he doesn't know how to circle) the alphabet you call out! 

This should take you about 5-10min to finish one round and the food should be served already! If not, do another round! Hahaha.. 

You can change the activity a bit by writing out 1-10. Or if your child already knows upper case and lower case, you can do some matching by drawing lines!

Hopefully with this more meaningful and educational activity, you will have no more screaming bored kids at the table, playing with utensils and attempting to throw them at the waitress trying to take your order. :)

Cheers!

Esther the mama

Let's learn in the CARPARK!

Each time we park our car at the higher levels, Elvin will go and drive the car down while Nathan and I wait at the ground level.

The wait is usually a few minutes. Sometimes Nathan and I will sing and stomp our feet on the drain cover. 

Sometimes we will play this little alphabet game!

These painted signs on the floor are awesome learning tools!

I will tell Nathan to get ready and once I say an alphabet, he must quickly go and jump on it!

"Nathan! Go jump on the A!"

It helps him to recognize the alphabets and to also learn to listen and react. :) AND like what I mentioned before, CELEBRATE SUCCESS! Cheer for him, clap for him and if he did really well, reward him with his fav cookie! (I always have his biscuit or cookie in my bag!)

Try it! It's fun! :)

Cheers!

Esther the mama

HEALING! :)

THERE IS POWER IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!

today is the 7th day Phoebe hasn't pooped. The PD said his highest record is 13days while his professor had a case of 21 days. It is apparently common for breastfed babies but I'm not gonna settle for "COMMON". 

Similarly, this lil one has caught mild bronchilitis from Nathan and is quite chocked up. Doc prescribed ventolin nebulizer and we had to rent the machine home. And doctor said could only let her recover on her own which can usually take a few days to weeks. Again, I'm not gonna settle for "USUALLY".

So last night my in laws came and prayed. As parents, Elvin and I also prayed and we claimed healing for the cough and flu and purging for the poop!

Praise The Lord that my little phoebe did not cough at all today AND she pooped one whole almost leaking diaper full of golden yellow grade breast fed baby poopie! :)

(After poop cuteness)

If today you are a parent and you are in a situation that you cannot handle, or cannot understand, call upon the name of The Lord! He heals and He restores! :)

Next miracle in line is my sore throat! Come onnnnnnn!!!!! :)

Lifesaver: Lascal Buggy Board :)

Now with two kids, the rear seat and boot of the car are always so packed! Everything is DOUBLE!!!

First thing I did was to combine the two diaper bags and have the kids share wipes and cream when we are out. However, for Nathan's toys/books, I let him carry himself in his small giraffe bag. :)

AND the treasure I found!!!!

Lascal Buggy board Maxi!

As we cannot be pushing two strollers all the time when we are out and we also cannot be carrying Nathan always when he wants to run around or when he is tired, SO we need a solution! 

This is a universal attachment standing board for strollers. 

There are of course other attachments you can purchase from overseas websites but in Singapore, this is one of the best I could find which is also not too bulky. :)

Nathan loves this and now when we are out at shopping malls, he will ask to be on it because it is fun and he won't feel too small and lost when it's crowded. For us, he is "locked in" and near us, which makes crowded places so much safer and manageable. :)

If you are worried that your feet will end up kicking the board or obstructing your movement, no worries, Elvin and I are huge and our legs are quite long. The board is tall and wide enough and distance is just right. :) 

I got this from babytown.com.sg and their sales person is very helpful. She asked for my stroller model and checked for me if it is compatible. :)

Sorry guys, I'm not famous enough to get you a discount from them, like xiaxue! 

Hope this information is helpful! :)

Cheers!

Esther the mama!

Preparation for Phoebe's thanksgiving party

If you know the Tan family, you will know how we LOVE events planning and running. Having no more weddings to plan and execute in the family made us so sad! Hahaha we need excel spread sheets! Programme rundown! Job description for everyone! Walkie-talkies! Briefings! So now we shift our focus to birthday celebration for family members!

Elvin had his Star Wars theme party when he was thirty! Boy both Nathan and Elvin got their Jedi costume and light saber. Everyone had a mask of the different characters in the show and we had games! My sister was yoda and she spoke with the inverted sentence structure the whole night! 

Ok, And also the yearly graduation ceremony for our family's Childcare centre. :)

For Phoebe's full month celebration, we have been thinking of a theme and we decided on a crown. A princess crown. 

Firstly, a song that spoke with our hearts the most and saw us through the whole delivery process as well as when I had to be re-admitted for another surgery, is called Victor's crown. God will rule and reign over every situation because He wears the victor's crown! :)

Also, Phoebe's Chinese name is 玺恩. 玺 (Xi) means the imperial seal, also royalty. :) 

With this in mind, we had the invitation card! 

**Tip: just print the card with any photo printing shop! Only $0.25 per piece and 4R is a good size, paper also not so flimsy. :) I am a member with Harvey Norman photo centre so it's only $0.18 per piece!

Next is door gifts!

Previously at Nathan's 1st birthday, we had keychain making station using shrinking paper. This time we decided to give something useful!

Shower lilies!

Preparing these was surprisingly manageable even though we prepared 140pcs.

We got the shower lilies from Japan home. Man.. Digging for the preferred colours were TEDIOUS. 

The tag and crown were all easily cut out using paper punches. Best invention ever. :)

Love the words: from Phoebe's shower to yours!

(Baby shower!)

For the photo, we did a mini photo shoot for phoebe. Hahaha she was so uncomfortable because the lilies were slightly scratchy on her delicate skin. 

NG 片段

I used meitu to edit the colours and add in the words as the app has my favorite Chinese font and fuzel to collage.

Then again, head down to photo centre and print!!! 

We also prepared bubbles bottle for every kid at the party! :)

As, we didn't want to have a big cake and have to cut for everyone, so we ordered muffins. To add some personalize touches, we did these!

My circle punch comes with the stamp so when you punch the paper, it stamps at the same time! But for 80 pieces, the more time efficient way is punch all the circles you need, THEN stamp on it separate. 

Lastly, we did a guest wish card! :) got the idea from Pinterest.com

 We got the funniest responses from the guests! Of course some are really heartwarming. Nonsense ones too, from our most beloved friend, Jason Oon! :)

These are just some ideas for your party! I have another friend who is really good with craft and I love her blog!

Visit http://flowerinthewilderness.blogspot.sg for more vintage and interesting craft ideas! 

Cheers!

Esther the mama

For kids: New recipe! Potato pumpkin balls!

Nathan has been extremely picky and fussy with food recently. Could be the big T two, could be the many changes with Phoebe's coming, or he is slightly unwell (runny nose for weeks)..

He seems to enjoy flinging food out of his bowl with his spoon (he thinks he is David) and also like to use his fingers to pinch the food on his plate.

So I decided to do something different today. Something he can just pick up and EAT.

Ingredients:

1) pumpkin

2) potato

3) spring onion

4) shallots

5) minced meat 

6) cheese

7) broccoli 

8) egg

9) corn flour (when things go wrong)

STEPS:

1) dice the pumpkin and potato and steam them until mash-able

2) while those are steaming on top, use the water below to boil the broccoli 

2) while it's steaming, fry some minced shallot and when fragrant, stir in minced meat n fry until meat is cooked

3) when the pumpkin, potato and brocoli  is ready, mash them together with a slice of cheese.

4) if it is too mashy or watery, stir in some corn flour.

5) you can roll them into balls or cookie shape or put them into rice moulds. 

6) Coat with egg and pan fry them! DONE!

Nathan enjoyed the food despite having a fever. :)

Have fun trying! It tasted really good! :)

Activity for Nathan: Sorting!!

Nathan and I enjoy doing all sort of activities at home as crazy playing of toys, ball shooting and dancing is too tiring for the mother. Yes, honesty is the best policy. The kiddo is never tired so sometimes these calmer, sit-down activities benefit not just the kid's learning but allow some rest for the mother too!

Today we did sorting!

Basically, I cut a portion of the egg carton. They are the best for sorting activities. :)

Depending on your child's ability, you can decide how many types of beans you wish to sort. For Nathan, he has tried 3 types. So today, I upgraded him to 4 types! :)

You start with putting one type of bean in one hole and do the first round with the kid, introducing the colours. 

Then just let the kid continue!

Key to note: CELEBRATE SUCCESS! 

(What cause kids to not want to continue is parent focusing on when the kid sort wrongly)

So each time Nathan put one bean correctly, we cheer and dance! :)

So, have fun with this activity!

Here's some photos!

Finally! The first entry! :)

Have been contemplating (and procrastinating) to have a blog documenting our parenting journey. And today, as I was settling bills online and surfing a lil, I decided this shall be the fateful day! :)

Haven't really decided what I can write in this space but it can be anything that has to do with hubby Elvin (#myawesomehusband), son Nathan (#surprisingmeeveryday) and daughter Phoebe (#3weekslookinglike3monthsold) and anyone our ill family of four interact with I guess! :) 

Here's our first family portrait, 5 days after I gave birth to lil Phoebe! :) 

(and before I was re-admitted for haematoma surgery)

Don't ask me what Nathan is doing. Like his hashtag says, he surprises me everyday. :)

Back to feeding! :)