I DON'T WANT TO SHARE!

"I don't want to share!"

Does that sound familiar to you?

With Nathan entering two and now at two years 5 months, we have been doing our best to inculcate good values and of course, many times to model the way. However, at this age when their cognitive development is very "caveman" and it is mainly about themselves and their needs and wants, it is not very easy. The power struggles that come with it haven't been too pleasant either. 

So today, we decided to use his favourite snack "honey stars" as a teaching tool for Sharing. :)

First we speak with Nathan about honey stars being his favourite food and he feels happy when he eats them. And it is good if other people can be happy too. So we can give them honey stars and let them feel the same "happy" that Nathan feels. :)

We took out some small zip lock bags and some animal puffy stickers from Daiso. We let Nathan choose a sticker for each of his cousins.

He chose an alligator for kor Kor ah rui; a lion for didi yisheng and a cat for Mei Mei   Beatrice. Then we guided him to stick them on the zip lock bags.

Then we let Nathan fill these zip lock bags with his box of honey stars!

Hahaha phoebe also wanted to join in!

Here are the end products!

Finally we went to Gardens by the Bay's children playground to meet the other cousins. Nathan then presented each packet to each cousin. (Minus yisheng cos he was asleep)

The concept of sharing is very difficult to grasp for young kids.. It's hard for them to understand why must they share their favourite toy with others esp just because the parents said so.

So we are going to continue to explain, model the way and guide our kids to do so...

Jiayou, everyone! 

Till the day we hear "I WANT TO SHARE". :)

River Safari: everything is just right!

I was trying to give this review a title but the one phrase that came to mind is: Just Right.

It was a very comfortable trip with everything just right. The walking is just right, the excitement is just right, the engagement is just right, the environment is just right and the whole experience is just right!

Just right is a state that all parents with young kids try to achieve as we always worry about the tipping point when kids are over tired and hyper and it can affect the remaining part of the day and if worse, the entire night. 

So for River Safari, it is JUST RIGHT. :)

This was the last excursion about 1month back before I ended my maternity. We were blessed with an awesome weather, slightly sunny but nice breeze. Thank God for MOE privileges, we have four adult tickets complimentary with boat rides!

Nathan was briefed about the pandas before that so he was really excited!

Family portrait at the entrance!

(Disclaimer: Phoebe was playing with the foam fan, she was not injured. She pulled out the whole blade. The fan was the one who was injured.)

What greeted us was tranquility! 

Never knew Singapore could still have space for a sight like this. :)

River safari is structured by major rivers and the entire walk to the pandas and passing through all the rivers is only 30min. It is fully covered and there is not much terrain. We had our girl in the stroller and there was no problem moving about. 

This crocodile is a monster. It is so huge that I was traumatized!

If your child likes the underwater world and SEA aquarium, he is bound to like river safari! This place is a combination of those two and the zoo! :)

The red pandas were really close to us. I love how the panda enclosures were. Up close and they were really tame and also showy.

As kids below 1.3m is not allowed on the boat ride, we had to stagger our turns to take it. What was impressive was they had a corner for parents to wait near the queue and do the exchange! 

Ok, the ride!

I LOVE IT! It is like night safari kinda experience which you sail through the animals homes. They are just right beside you! Only thing is, it is not very sheltered so be sure to have a cap on or slab on some SPF 1000000 sun screen. :)

This was how near the jaguars were from our boat.

The boat ride is located just at the half mark of the whole trail. It is about 30-40min from entrance, based on casual walking. 

Pls save some energy as the second part of the trail is as fun or more fun!

These monkeys totally freaked us out. My mother in law RAN out cos the monkeys were following the stroller she was pushing and trying to grab my hand bag. So please be very careful and alert when u enter this area and DO NOT BE COMPLACENT.

Then we went on to this beautiful and mysterious underwater ecosystem, aquatic animals swim and live amidst the trees and plants until the waters recede. 

We arrived just in time for the feeding and it was so interesting! It was about 1pm if I remember correctly. :)

The whole trail will take you about 1.5 hours with a casual stroll speed and stopping at all the exhibits and animals. But we stopped for lunch and had to do swapping for baby sitting and diaper changing etc, it was about 3+hours being out and learning something.

When we left at 1+pm, Nathan was tired but still not grouchy and the timing was just right for a long afternoon nap! :)

That's why I said from the beginning, this place is JUST RIGHT! :)

Ok, shall end with a unique selfie shot.

(Disclaimer again: I did not teach him that.)

Hidden gem: Jacob Ballas children's garden!

Was messaging my sister in law, kris, and we just suddenly decided to bring the kids out! So we packed our stuff and headed out to explore Jacob Ballas Children's Garden, a place I have been wanting to go for a long while! :)

Photo credit: digital_shutterbug

We arrived about 11am and went straight for the treehouse because there is a sand pit and Nephew YR and Nathan are crazy over sand play. They lugged their own sand toys there of course!

One special mention is that the sand is really fine and it felt awesome to have your toes wriggle in it. But my clean freak son felt he wanted to have his shoes on.

The treehouse was really fun too! Also very well shaded. Nathan and I went up and down the slide so many times! The stairs are wide and not too steep and made it rather easy for toddlers to climb up. 

The space in the slide is really big too! Spacious and airy! I took a video of our faces as we slided down with Nathan on my lap. It was hilarious! :)

After a few crazy rounds of the slide, I brought Nathan to explore other areas.

We went on a floating platform and looked at tortoise and fishes then to the man-made waterfall! Nathan was so fascinated by the splashes! :) you can be under the waterfall which makes it more unique I guess. :)

Nathan took up the challenge to take the log bridge and being safe, I didn't take any photos because I was holding his hands. :) 

Other than the slide, Nathan's favourite is the swinging suspension bridge! It is really wobbly and bouncy! I personally liked it too!

There are other interesting areas in the garden but it was lunch time and we decided to forgo water play and maybe come again next time.

The park is actually nice for even infants. Phoebe had fun looking at all the Kor Kor Jie Jie play and some fresh air is always good!

There are many areas to sit down to rest. :) we had our lunch at the kids cafe. They have some simple western meals and drinks. While waiting for the nuggets and fries, the kids had their home cooked porridge there first. Although no outside food is allowed there, the boss was nice and let the kids eat there AFTER check if there is any pork in it. Cafe is halal. :)

I strongly recommend this place although I'm slightly surprised that there aren't many people. If your kiddo knows how to walk, he/she will surely love this place! :)

CAN'T WAIT TO GO AGAIN! :)

Where: Jacob Ballas Children’s Gardens, enter at the Bukit Timah – Dunearn Road – Kheam Hock Road intersection. 481 Bukit Timah Road, Singapore 259769.

When: 8am – 7pm (last admission 6:30pm). Closed Mondays (except when it falls on a designated public holiday).

Admission: FREE. Open to children up to 12 years of age. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

For Phoebe: let's make a mobile mobile!

If you have the baby centre app, around 6-7weeks, it will share with you an activity for your baby called Leaf Peeping.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_lets-play-leaf-peeping-roll-over-plan_1498438.bc 

However, I find this very messy as dried leaves will crack and shatter. So during Nathan's time, I made another similar version that is not messy and yet colorful and long lasting. :) today I'm gonna share with all the new mummies! :)

This is how the end product looks like.

Basically you just have to get some felt and foam paper to cut out your desired shapes and paste them on the ribbon. 

However, felt and foam paper are super difficult to handle because the edges are not easy to cut them smoothly. You may end up trimming and trimming until it becomes so small and have to discard and start all over again. So I just grab ready cut ones from Popular or Daiso or even SKP! 

Some tips for making this are:

1) put one of the foam set on the bottom most so it will not fly or flapper too much in the wind but sway just nicely. 

2) allow the other end to be longer so you can use it at other places. You can tie or clip or pin! Or just hold it and dangle in front of baby! 

3) for the end that is with baby, to prevent the ribbon from fraying, you can burn the ends or tie a knot or double sew. I wasn't thinking when I taped the first set so the ribbon isn't long enough for me to tie a knot, so I burnt it. I actually think knots are good for more sensory experience. :) 

I think this best work with a pram. The baby can look at it as the wind blows and attempt to bat it. I have used it in my car during Nathan's time. I just stuck it in front of him from the car ceiling and he played with them like a kitten! Hahahah

Hope mummies find this beneficial! :)

Cheers!

Esther the mama 

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