Today, we brought Ethan to do a trial lesson at Berris. We had tried putting Ethan on Growing up Gifted when he was about 8 months old but we didn't really see him through the programme and terminated after about 1 or 2 terms. As Ethan seems to be less interested in terms of academic stuff at home (except for storytelling), we were kind of concerned with his progression as Caden seemed to have advanced much more at his age by now.
So we decided on doing a Chinese enrichment programme, as we converse in english with him everyday and the level of exposure he gets at home is through the time in his nursery class and the day-to-day conversation with his grandma, which we felt may not be sufficient. Both Berris and Tian Xia were fully booked out on weekends and weekday evenings and we were quite lucky to get a slot at Berris near Hougang mall. To be honest, I was not confident that Ethan would be able to settle into the class today as he had so much problems settling at Tots House and LSK (it took him abt 2 months!).
He was fairly opened when we first brought him into the classroom, there was a little girl seated and the teacher was going through her homework with her then. Ethan was encouraged to say hello to his classmate and teacher and was asked to sit at the back of the class.
After a while, when he lost sight of us, he started crying! and the crying went louder and louder. I had to sit with him in the class when the lesson was conducted and finally he calmed down.
It was just shortly after he actually responded to teacher's questions and answered them correctly (in Chinese). I took the opportunity to leave the classroom sometime in between the toilet break by telling him that I need to go to the counter outside to pay for his lesson and did not re-enter into the classroom thereafter. I made sure that he couldn't see me as I peeked into the classroom to check if he was looking for me (or crying), and he seemed to have settled in quite well by then.
Ethan was asked to identify the new chinese word he learnt and circled them correctly. It looks pretty impressive. And after today's trial, we decided to continue with this class from next week on and hope he will no longer have any issues by then... (PaPa met his ex-colleague in the centre and this friend of his actually started his child with Berris since 3!)
And as I was checking the availability of the places in other time slots, they were mostly full. It was quite alarming to see the intense attention parents now placed on young children like Ethan on enrichment lessons (of course I do admit that I belong in this cateory!).
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
KungFu Panda 2
Today marked my last day of leave before I start out on my new journey at work. PaPa has also taken leave to bring the boys out for their long awaited movie treat - Kung Fu Panda 2. Caden and Ethan enjoyed the show alot and chuckled at most times (cos the show is really funny!)
Thereafter, we had our coffee at Starbucks and tried their raspberry white chocolate cheesecake which was very nice. The boys had a busy time scooping off the foam from the Latte
Ethan's lips are lined with some residual of the Latte foam
Caden loved their cheesecake
I told Caden that I am planning to do a jog tomorrow morning and he asked to come along as well. Before he fell asleep tonight, he reminded me to wake him up so that he can accompany me tomorrow morning..but i doubt I am ever going to make it that early..
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
My date with Caden
Caden wanted to tag along with me when he knew that I am paying a visit to my long-time friend as she had just given birth to her baby. So I brought him along, with the condition that he has to behave in Auntie Glory's place.
So it turned out to be our official date out this school holiday :)
Caden was kept happy at my friend's place as he was treated with yoghurt and orange juice, plus unlimited time playing with my iphone. I had a quick catch up with my good friend and was glad that she's doing well as a first time mum..
Thereafter, as we were making our way out of the estate, Caden spotted a playground and spent some time there.
Then I brought him to Nex at Serangoon as I needed to adjust my specs at the shop. As it was 4plus in the afternoon, Caden told me that he needed to eat something so we had our afternoon tai-tai teabreak at Starbucks sipping Latte and enjoying their cakes.
We saw this polar bear advertisement for National Geographical
drinking my favorite coffee
Adding on to his trip today, I decided to bring him see toys at Isetan and coincidentally they are having a toy fair (which is ending tomorrow). Caden cast his eyes on some Iron Man lego sets and asked if I can buy that for him.. I decided to get them since they are not too expensive and he agreed to do his homework diligently during this school holidays.
Obviously the boy is really happy when the payment is done. So he can't wait to go home after the payment to open up and fix up the models!
Exhausted after climbing all the stairs instead of taking the escalator - my challenge in going out with Caden is to keep up with his pace!
I enjoyed my son's company as he wasn't too difficult to handle when we are both shopping alone. In the train, he would like me to take that one single seat together with him as he said "so Mummy won't be tired standing while I sit" (such a sweet boy)..since this is my one and only week on leave at home during this school holidays, I had to make the best of it and ensure that it's really enjoyable for both of them.
Enjoying the train ride cos it meant playing with my iphone again
So it turned out to be our official date out this school holiday :)
Caden was kept happy at my friend's place as he was treated with yoghurt and orange juice, plus unlimited time playing with my iphone. I had a quick catch up with my good friend and was glad that she's doing well as a first time mum..
Thereafter, as we were making our way out of the estate, Caden spotted a playground and spent some time there.
Then I brought him to Nex at Serangoon as I needed to adjust my specs at the shop. As it was 4plus in the afternoon, Caden told me that he needed to eat something so we had our afternoon tai-tai teabreak at Starbucks sipping Latte and enjoying their cakes.
We saw this polar bear advertisement for National Geographical
drinking my favorite coffee
Adding on to his trip today, I decided to bring him see toys at Isetan and coincidentally they are having a toy fair (which is ending tomorrow). Caden cast his eyes on some Iron Man lego sets and asked if I can buy that for him.. I decided to get them since they are not too expensive and he agreed to do his homework diligently during this school holidays.
Obviously the boy is really happy when the payment is done. So he can't wait to go home after the payment to open up and fix up the models!
Exhausted after climbing all the stairs instead of taking the escalator - my challenge in going out with Caden is to keep up with his pace!
I enjoyed my son's company as he wasn't too difficult to handle when we are both shopping alone. In the train, he would like me to take that one single seat together with him as he said "so Mummy won't be tired standing while I sit" (such a sweet boy)..since this is my one and only week on leave at home during this school holidays, I had to make the best of it and ensure that it's really enjoyable for both of them.
Enjoying the train ride cos it meant playing with my iphone again
Friday, June 03, 2011
Hong Kong Trip Day 5 - 1st June
Ethan ended up having a fever the night before and on the last day so he was lethargic most of the time. It could be due to the haze on the 1st 2 days of our trip which also triggered his cough and the sun was again scorching hot on our last day.
Our hotel room
We had planned to visit the Science museum which is fairly near to our hotel but ended up a wasted trip cos it was scheduled to be opened only at 1pm (all thanks to Mummy's poor planning).
outside the science museum
As we planned to visit the harbour city during the interim, we ended eating at DTF again for a quick lunch. Caden was instrumental when it comes to placing orders and had dictated Mummy as we fill in our order form. Ethan lost his appetite and refused to eat his lunch.
After lunch, it was already near 2pm. We then decided to check out the citygate outlet mall near the airport instead and gave the science museum and harbour city mall a miss. Anyway, the citygate outlet mall is not worth going, but least we have made a visit there.
We did not have too much time by the time we completed our check in at the airport. We had our dinner at burger king and had to finish within 25mins. Actually it is a pity that we did not have much time throughout our 4 days trip in Hong Kong to try out their delicacies
At the boarding gate, waiting for our flight which was delayed by half an hour... Ethan's fever subsided and he was running around happily with his brother.
We only reached our home at 130am and I ended up sleeping near 3am after settling the boys and unpacking some stuff..
It was generally a good trip for me, although tiring (since I walked consistently from day to night for the full 4 days!) to mark a stamp on my official unemployment period. Caden and Ethan seemed to have enjoyed quite a fair bit but probably the lack of the cool climate has slightly made the trip less enjoyable. We did not finished spending our HK Dollars so all was well within our budget (or probably my budgeting skill set was great!).
To date, both PaPa and Mummy are still recuperating from fatigue!
Our hotel room
We had planned to visit the Science museum which is fairly near to our hotel but ended up a wasted trip cos it was scheduled to be opened only at 1pm (all thanks to Mummy's poor planning).
outside the science museum
As we planned to visit the harbour city during the interim, we ended eating at DTF again for a quick lunch. Caden was instrumental when it comes to placing orders and had dictated Mummy as we fill in our order form. Ethan lost his appetite and refused to eat his lunch.
After lunch, it was already near 2pm. We then decided to check out the citygate outlet mall near the airport instead and gave the science museum and harbour city mall a miss. Anyway, the citygate outlet mall is not worth going, but least we have made a visit there.
We did not have too much time by the time we completed our check in at the airport. We had our dinner at burger king and had to finish within 25mins. Actually it is a pity that we did not have much time throughout our 4 days trip in Hong Kong to try out their delicacies
At the boarding gate, waiting for our flight which was delayed by half an hour... Ethan's fever subsided and he was running around happily with his brother.
We only reached our home at 130am and I ended up sleeping near 3am after settling the boys and unpacking some stuff..
It was generally a good trip for me, although tiring (since I walked consistently from day to night for the full 4 days!) to mark a stamp on my official unemployment period. Caden and Ethan seemed to have enjoyed quite a fair bit but probably the lack of the cool climate has slightly made the trip less enjoyable. We did not finished spending our HK Dollars so all was well within our budget (or probably my budgeting skill set was great!).
To date, both PaPa and Mummy are still recuperating from fatigue!
Hong Kong Trip Day 4 - 31st May
On Day 4, we decided to visit Ocean Park as Mummy had forgone her shopping time so that the boys get to see more of Hong Kong. We made our way to their local Cha Chan Teng for breakfast (localised HK eateries) where they served simple stuff like noodles, fried eggs, sausages, po lou baos and coffee/tea. We settled in one near our hotel and had a fairly simple breakfast which was not too bad.
I wanted to order their nissin noodles but ended with macaroni because of the complexity of the chinese words used in their menu.
I like this cup of theirs
Ethan loves their milk tea
Thereafter, we took a train to Admiralty and transferred to a shuttle bus which transported us directly to Ocean Park. It was really a very hot morning and I regretted forgetting the sunblock lotion. We were soon greeted by this dolphin mascot
We checked out their newly opened Aquarium and was quite impressed with the collection. This is definitely bigger than the underwater world.
hammer-head shark
Ethan started to cover his ears again when he heard artificial whale splashing sounds
With the Giant Spider Crab
Caden was so excited in the aquarium and started to relate to the shark book he had and explained to PaPa what each shark is like.
We went on to watch the Pandas and it was the first time the boys had seen a real panda. We had also have the chance to see this red panda which looked really cuter and smaller
Jia Jia Panda
red panda
We ended up taking 5 times of the carousel because the boys enjoyed the ride and there were not too many people in the queue.
We took a cable car up to the amusement area - the ride was scary but the boys were too young to be cautious of the height.
Pictures with various characters in Ocean Park
The weather was too hot for us to linger longer in the Ocean Park as there were not many trees or shelters to shield us from the scorching hot sun. So we called it a day by 3pm.
Ethan showing off his new found toy hammerhead shark before dozing off in the bus ride
Mummy continued with her quest on getting more shopping loot while the boys retire back in the hotel room with an afternoon nap. I ended up with some stuff from Zara at IFC mall (abt 15-20% cheaper than SG's retail prices) and bought some stuff from Muse (HK local designer) along Granville Circuit road (shop 20A) all within 2hrs!
As we were fully exhausted with all the walking in the last few days, I suggested having our dinner near the avenue of stars, hence we decided to try out the Jap food in Sogo. But it turned out to be small stores at the supermarket level so we made do with the simplicity.
Avenue of Stars lane - we missed the Symphony of Lights display cos PaPa got the timing wrong.
Back in hotel where the boys got busy drawing on the Hong Kong maps as Mummy was busy soaking her feet in hot tub!
I wanted to order their nissin noodles but ended with macaroni because of the complexity of the chinese words used in their menu.
I like this cup of theirs
Ethan loves their milk tea
Thereafter, we took a train to Admiralty and transferred to a shuttle bus which transported us directly to Ocean Park. It was really a very hot morning and I regretted forgetting the sunblock lotion. We were soon greeted by this dolphin mascot
We checked out their newly opened Aquarium and was quite impressed with the collection. This is definitely bigger than the underwater world.
hammer-head shark
Ethan started to cover his ears again when he heard artificial whale splashing sounds
With the Giant Spider Crab
Caden was so excited in the aquarium and started to relate to the shark book he had and explained to PaPa what each shark is like.
We went on to watch the Pandas and it was the first time the boys had seen a real panda. We had also have the chance to see this red panda which looked really cuter and smaller
Jia Jia Panda
red panda
We ended up taking 5 times of the carousel because the boys enjoyed the ride and there were not too many people in the queue.
We took a cable car up to the amusement area - the ride was scary but the boys were too young to be cautious of the height.
Pictures with various characters in Ocean Park
The weather was too hot for us to linger longer in the Ocean Park as there were not many trees or shelters to shield us from the scorching hot sun. So we called it a day by 3pm.
Ethan showing off his new found toy hammerhead shark before dozing off in the bus ride
Mummy continued with her quest on getting more shopping loot while the boys retire back in the hotel room with an afternoon nap. I ended up with some stuff from Zara at IFC mall (abt 15-20% cheaper than SG's retail prices) and bought some stuff from Muse (HK local designer) along Granville Circuit road (shop 20A) all within 2hrs!
As we were fully exhausted with all the walking in the last few days, I suggested having our dinner near the avenue of stars, hence we decided to try out the Jap food in Sogo. But it turned out to be small stores at the supermarket level so we made do with the simplicity.
Avenue of Stars lane - we missed the Symphony of Lights display cos PaPa got the timing wrong.
Back in hotel where the boys got busy drawing on the Hong Kong maps as Mummy was busy soaking her feet in hot tub!
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