We attended Caden's classmate (Benjamin) birthday party at Explorer Kids on Sat and was surprised to see Caden's school teacher, Mrs Goh, being present as well. Caden was utterly shy when he saw his teacher at Explorer Kids and did not greet her and went ahead to play on his own with his classmates (Ben and Daniel). My ah lou kept pestering me to speak to Mrs Goh and ask about Caden's behaviour and performance in school. And when Mrs Goh saw me (she recognised me since I picked Caden up from his Sports Day), she came up and started a conversation with me abt Caden. We learnt that Caden is very shy in class (he usually doesn't like to talk to adults besides us and his grandma) but interacts well with his classmates. Caden is also able to follow instructions very well and can do the assignments independently in school. Honestly, it's quite comforting to hear these direct from the teacher..
Today is the start of School Holidays and I have planned to continue with the usual routine of homework for Caden on a daily basis. I thought the current Shark Sticker book can help to motivate him to complete his homework on time since he gets to stick 2 stickers each night after we are satisfied with his homework. Caden didn't finish up with the 4 pages that I have assigned and explained that he cannot work on the English homework cos Grandma cannot explain to him what needs to be done. Ok, reason accepted. As he happily work on his drawing at night when I was working on my office work beside him, he talked abt the movie scenes of Iron Man and it was decribed so vividly, I then realised that maybe he had watched it recently, otherwise, he won't be able to remember the details of Iron Man show so well. I asked Caden whether they watch the movie at home when we are at work and it took him a long time to admit the truth. He then explained that Sam and him did not watch Iron Man today but the movie Transformers. I was so upset with him since I have instructed him on many occasions that he cannot watch any of the recorded shows without our permissions. And he also admited that Grandma is not aware that they are watching the movie (which I cannot believe how this happens since she is at home)..
sigh.. I hope i can still instill the discipline in him since he is still young now.. hopefully he listens going forward.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
I don't want to go to school
Caden has been whining badly these 2 days in the morning for not wanting to go for his classes. We had a hard time trying to get him wash up in the morning and today we probed in many occasions for the reasons on not wanting to go for his classes. He cited that Kimi has been tickling him during the school bus rides and he doesn't like it. Hopefully this is the only reason for the resistance, otherwise, we have to brace ourselves for another day of whining tomorrow morning for the last time before the school holidays start next week.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Caden's half year report card
Since Caden is still in K1 this year, it's not so nerve wreaking compared those parents whose children are in the primary school during this period when it comes to receiving the half year report card from school.
Caden happily showed us his past half-year school work which was compiled by his class teacher and overall summary of his performance in the last half year. There were only 3 types of ratings:
1) S - satisfactory
2) I - improving
3) N - needs help
For all the maths and english related areas, Caden has scored "S" (which I think it's quite comforting) but all his chinese related areas, Caden has gotten an "I" rating. My ah lou reminded me not to be too disheartened as Caden used to have some "N" rating in Chinese areas last year end. So it is considered as an improvement from last yearend.
I went through all the worksheets that he has done in school and was quite glad that the work done in his school, least for english and maths were pretty aligned with the books that I have asked him to work on in his spare time. So possibly this may be the reason why he is able to work on the worksheets in school without too much help from the teacher..
Ethan has also learnt to read some of his favourite books on his own (he memorised all the words!) when we had the time to read to him before his night sleep.
It motivates us to spend more time on the boys in terms of academic aspects since it's starting to show results (although the grading is only 3 simple tiers) and hopefully the boys don't have too much of a problem in their primary years.
Caden happily showed us his past half-year school work which was compiled by his class teacher and overall summary of his performance in the last half year. There were only 3 types of ratings:
1) S - satisfactory
2) I - improving
3) N - needs help
For all the maths and english related areas, Caden has scored "S" (which I think it's quite comforting) but all his chinese related areas, Caden has gotten an "I" rating. My ah lou reminded me not to be too disheartened as Caden used to have some "N" rating in Chinese areas last year end. So it is considered as an improvement from last yearend.
I went through all the worksheets that he has done in school and was quite glad that the work done in his school, least for english and maths were pretty aligned with the books that I have asked him to work on in his spare time. So possibly this may be the reason why he is able to work on the worksheets in school without too much help from the teacher..
Ethan has also learnt to read some of his favourite books on his own (he memorised all the words!) when we had the time to read to him before his night sleep.
It motivates us to spend more time on the boys in terms of academic aspects since it's starting to show results (although the grading is only 3 simple tiers) and hopefully the boys don't have too much of a problem in their primary years.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Caden's Sports Day 2010
Today is Caden's sports day. We were fairly late, reached the school at abt 8.25pm and the multi-function hall were already 75% filled. The best seats were fully occupied and we were left with the seats at the side aisle. Nevertheless, Ethan and us were waiting patiently for the event to start. It's quite heartwarming to see Caden marching into the hall with his classmates playing with the music in a systematic manner.
Caden's task was to first collect the wheel barrow from his classmate and place his share of building blocks and push them to an obstacle point. He then balanced on the bridge with the building blocks and reached the finishing point to build in his portion of the blocks. His classmates then perform the same task to complete the whole puzzle.
looking happy after completing the task
Caden sat along the front row to cheer on for his classmates till they finish their segment
The finished construction
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Happy Mother's Day
We had a simple celebration on Sat night at my Mum-in-law's place with pre-ordered food from Wee Brothers and had a get-together with my ah lou's family. As my mum passed away when I was 14, I barely had any memories of how I used to celebrate Mother's day when my mum was around.
Caden and Ethan both gave me an artwork done in school during the week and presented the flower and card to me saying "Happy Mother's Day". While I suspect they probably don't know the significance of Mother's Day but know it's something to do with me, the excited look on their faces as they gave me their artwork lifted my moods...
We went to the beach on Sunday evening at East Coast (the sand was horrid, compared to Gold Coast!) and had an relaxing outing there. My ah lou as usual didn't prepare me with any gift to commemorate this event so naturally this day will be forgotten since I suffer from short memory..
sigh..
Anyways on both Mother's day and my mum's death anniversary will always trigger my memories of my wonderful mum. I vaguely remembered the days when she brought us out to shopping at Chinatown's OG and those bus rides where there were still bus conductors clipping on your bus tickets and her working at home as a seamstress to support us. The food that she cooked are still one of the best foods I ever tasted and will continue to rank as the top. If only she's still alive and enjoy the company of my 2 sons at present, that will be icing on the cake for my life.
Caden and Ethan both gave me an artwork done in school during the week and presented the flower and card to me saying "Happy Mother's Day". While I suspect they probably don't know the significance of Mother's Day but know it's something to do with me, the excited look on their faces as they gave me their artwork lifted my moods...
We went to the beach on Sunday evening at East Coast (the sand was horrid, compared to Gold Coast!) and had an relaxing outing there. My ah lou as usual didn't prepare me with any gift to commemorate this event so naturally this day will be forgotten since I suffer from short memory..
sigh..
Anyways on both Mother's day and my mum's death anniversary will always trigger my memories of my wonderful mum. I vaguely remembered the days when she brought us out to shopping at Chinatown's OG and those bus rides where there were still bus conductors clipping on your bus tickets and her working at home as a seamstress to support us. The food that she cooked are still one of the best foods I ever tasted and will continue to rank as the top. If only she's still alive and enjoy the company of my 2 sons at present, that will be icing on the cake for my life.
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Gold Coast - Day 8: 29th Apr
Last day in Gold Coast was a mad rush in the morning. We only finished packing the night before till 1am and was dead tired when we woke up at 7am to shower.
This was the view from our hotel room before we check-out
The bus picked us up at 920am to send us to the Brisbane International airport. We reached there only at 11am and had to find lockers to safe-keep our luggage while we rushed on to DFO (Australia's retail outlet) near the airport. The boys were kept occupied with their bionicles throughout the whole shopping trip and thankfully there were many sitting sofas around to keep the kids centrally seated with one adult guardian.
We completed our outlet shopping by 4pm and had a few good buys. Roxy and Quicksilver stuff were quite cheap but sizes are limited for me and ah lou. Both of us only got an item each and I got a hat from Quicksilver for Caden as well. We took the free bus back to the airport again and had a great difficulty passing our time as our flight back home was scheduled only at 2345pm. It was freezing cold in the airport after you hang around there for an hour but the boys didn't display any signs of discomfort. We were all dead beat by evening and wanted to take a short nap but couldn't cos we need to keep an eye on the active boys who were running around.
My face went pale from the coldness
By 10pm, Ethan fell asleep after his night milk feed and lying comfortably on the sofa while we waited to get onto the flight.
Overall, it was a good trip and I was certain that the boys enjoyed themselves, from the plane ride to the theme parks, zoo trips, farm trips and beach outing. But because the cost of living is as high as Japan, I would rather spend the time and $ in Japan next round (provided the boys are much older) but Australia is still a place which is very child friendly and safe.
It was a very tiring trip for both of us since our boys were quite active by nature. Luckily we were not on a organised tour package so it was not too rush for us.
Back in SG, we had so much difficulty adjusting back to our own weather!
This was the view from our hotel room before we check-out
The bus picked us up at 920am to send us to the Brisbane International airport. We reached there only at 11am and had to find lockers to safe-keep our luggage while we rushed on to DFO (Australia's retail outlet) near the airport. The boys were kept occupied with their bionicles throughout the whole shopping trip and thankfully there were many sitting sofas around to keep the kids centrally seated with one adult guardian.
We completed our outlet shopping by 4pm and had a few good buys. Roxy and Quicksilver stuff were quite cheap but sizes are limited for me and ah lou. Both of us only got an item each and I got a hat from Quicksilver for Caden as well. We took the free bus back to the airport again and had a great difficulty passing our time as our flight back home was scheduled only at 2345pm. It was freezing cold in the airport after you hang around there for an hour but the boys didn't display any signs of discomfort. We were all dead beat by evening and wanted to take a short nap but couldn't cos we need to keep an eye on the active boys who were running around.
My face went pale from the coldness
By 10pm, Ethan fell asleep after his night milk feed and lying comfortably on the sofa while we waited to get onto the flight.
Overall, it was a good trip and I was certain that the boys enjoyed themselves, from the plane ride to the theme parks, zoo trips, farm trips and beach outing. But because the cost of living is as high as Japan, I would rather spend the time and $ in Japan next round (provided the boys are much older) but Australia is still a place which is very child friendly and safe.
It was a very tiring trip for both of us since our boys were quite active by nature. Luckily we were not on a organised tour package so it was not too rush for us.
Back in SG, we had so much difficulty adjusting back to our own weather!
Gold Coast - Day 7: 28th Apr
Today is Caden's birthday. And it's also one of our F&E time in Gold Coast. Since this is almost the last day in Gold Coast, we have decided to hang out at the beach R&R for the day.
The current was very strong on that day, there was a warning sign written on the board for all visitors to note on the high tide and currents which may pull you out into the sea if you decide to venture too deep out. The sun this morning was not too strong but hot enough to get us a sunburnt.
Ethan as usual was very contented staying dry
Mummy prepared jelly to the beach to make the whole experience better for the boys
After the jelly, Caden requested to go out to play the water again
Our messed up hotel room, it has 2 double beds so it was big enough to house us comfortably for 7 nights
We went for Japanese teppanyaki on our last night in Surfers in Sushi Gallery (yes, back there again for the 2nd time)
Ethan was trumatised by the fire from the hot cooking plate and he didn't want to sit along the teppanyaki table. I had to bring him out to the open air area and eat dinner with him without the company from the rest (since the show has not ended)
We couldn't find birthday cakes in Surfers so Baskin Robbins ice-cream was used as a substitute. Special guests, Aidan and Eillot helped to sing birthday songs for Caden on that night
Gold Coast - Day 6: 27th Apr
We had planned day 6 to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary (Zoo park). The entrance fees cost us AUD 114 (approx S$150) for 2 adults and 1 child (Ethan gets in free).Ethan vomited during the bus ride all of a sudden and we had to buy a new t-shirt and pants to make him clean.
one of the rare couple pic we had nowadays
At the park, we decided to take the tram ride for a round trip to familarise ourselves with the surroundings before spending time at each section.
This tram ride is rather fun to sit on - feels like riding a real mini train in London
We saw this wild island and decided to make a stop here - it turned out to be a huge playground and picnic area for the visitors
they had fun playing flying fox
The chameleons were roaming around freely in the park, and there were ample
We watched the totally wild and snakes alive show before lunch and the boys had the courage to take a picture with the snake without the father's presence. I bet they didn't know that the snake is so damn scary to begin with
One of the show stars - Golden Brushtail Possum
After lunch, we went to the Kangaroo feeding sessions and the boys were so excited seeing so many of them roaming freely around. Ethan was full of delight and joy whenever the Kangaroo eats the food from his hands
Emu running around too
Scary and deadly crocodiles
Before we left the park, it was Lorikeet feeding which is held at the entrance. I am not sure if it's the bright color that PaPa was wearing on that day which attracted quite a number of birds to land on him. So we managed to get a few shots of them. I had one landed on my shoulder while I was taking the picture and the feeling was horrid! cos you don't know when they will start passing shit onto you!
Superhoney is just opposite Currumbin Wildlife - where we spent alot of $ on buying honey back home for our family. A 250g Manuka Honey cost AUD 31.45 and 500g Manuka honey costs AUD58.80. This honey is suppose to build antibodies to fight against flu bug.
At the bus-stop on our way home, Ethan looked all right throughout the whole day but he vomited again at night in the hotel room
one of the rare couple pic we had nowadays
At the park, we decided to take the tram ride for a round trip to familarise ourselves with the surroundings before spending time at each section.
This tram ride is rather fun to sit on - feels like riding a real mini train in London
We saw this wild island and decided to make a stop here - it turned out to be a huge playground and picnic area for the visitors
they had fun playing flying fox
The chameleons were roaming around freely in the park, and there were ample
We watched the totally wild and snakes alive show before lunch and the boys had the courage to take a picture with the snake without the father's presence. I bet they didn't know that the snake is so damn scary to begin with
One of the show stars - Golden Brushtail Possum
After lunch, we went to the Kangaroo feeding sessions and the boys were so excited seeing so many of them roaming freely around. Ethan was full of delight and joy whenever the Kangaroo eats the food from his hands
Emu running around too
Scary and deadly crocodiles
Before we left the park, it was Lorikeet feeding which is held at the entrance. I am not sure if it's the bright color that PaPa was wearing on that day which attracted quite a number of birds to land on him. So we managed to get a few shots of them. I had one landed on my shoulder while I was taking the picture and the feeling was horrid! cos you don't know when they will start passing shit onto you!
Superhoney is just opposite Currumbin Wildlife - where we spent alot of $ on buying honey back home for our family. A 250g Manuka Honey cost AUD 31.45 and 500g Manuka honey costs AUD58.80. This honey is suppose to build antibodies to fight against flu bug.
At the bus-stop on our way home, Ethan looked all right throughout the whole day but he vomited again at night in the hotel room
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