Tangled

Nathan and I visited the Kids Arts Village at the Esplanade Park yesterday, and the boy had a ball of a time getting tangled! In "Tangle", the children were given the opportunity to help create a visual art installation. Each of them were given a ball of stretchy string which they were supposed to tie / weave around poles. Nathan was pretty good at going over and under the strings that other kids had already woven, and did not need much help from me. Tangle happens at 4pm, 5pm and 6.30pm, and will run till Saturday, 2 June. Registrations are required. Just turn up at the booth near the installation itself, and you will be given an arm band which entitles you to participate in all the activities in the Kids Arts Village.

There were other craft activities for the kids to take part in. Nathan got to decorate a mask using highlighters, and we got to bring the mask into this dark room, where he saw it glow in the dark. He also made a crown using envelopes and string. He was really proud of the two items he made, and wore them all around Esplanade and all the way home.

If you have not visited the Kids Arts Village, it runs till Sat, 2 June. I say it is worth making a trip down. There are stage performances from 5.30 to 6.30pm as well. Most activities are outdoors though. So probably not a good idea if it is raining. 

Let's Go to the Zoo!

I was looking for materials to teach Nathan phonics, and was really glad when I found Julia Gabriel's Alphabet Zoo. The songs are catchy, the book is well illustrated, and Nathan loves everything about it. He's been asking to listen to 'the animal song' EVERYTIME we get in the car. I think we must have listened to it about 5000 times now. He knows a good chunk of the lyrics by heart, and can also remember quite a few of the animal sounds. He's also been asking to go see the animals at the zoo, but I just didn't get round to bringing him to the zoo.

A few days ago, Nathan was with me when I went to drop Noah off at the daycare. He saw some of his old friends getting ready to go on an excursion to the zoo. Nathan loves excursions - riding on a bus, and going on an outing with his friends. Well, this time, he didn't get to go since he doesn't attend that daycare anymore. So, he decided... 'let's go tomorrow'... 'mommy, daddy and Noah will go on the bus with me, and we'll go to the zoo'! And we did... just that we didn't go by bus.

The zoo is a lot more fun now that both the boys are older. They are excited about seeing the different animals, and are able to sit through the animal shows. Nathan got to ride on a pony now that he's 2... and several days after our trip, he still talks about his pony ride. Since Noah wasn't old enough for the pony, I bought a ticket for him to ride the Wild Animal Carousel. He enjoyed it so much that he cried when it ended!

If only Singapore was less hot / humid... then we wouldn't be all hot and sweaty after a day out at the zoo. :) We'll visit again soon... maybe when the River Safari is ready in the later half of this year.

It's the School Holidays!

The holidays are here! There was a mini party in school to celebrate the last day of term 2... And that means almost half the year has flown by. Since we had the morning free, I decided that we'll bake chocolate chip cookies. Nathan enjoyed measuring out the sugar and flour and watching me mix everything together with the electric mixer. I had to keep myself from getting too fussy about the small mess he made when he was helping me measure out the ingredients. Generally, he was careful, and didn't make a big mess... but small messes by small hands is inevitable. The end result... YUMMY!

I love baking with Nathan... We'd read the recipe together, and he'd help with the scooping, measuring, pouring... He's already decided on what we are going to bake next... GINGERBREAD MAN!

Reflections on being a SAHM

It has been about 2.5 months since I left my full time job, to spend more time with the kids. Just thought I'd pause, and think about how the last couple of months have been. I've taken Nathan out of day care. He goes to school for 3 hours in the morning, and I get to spend the rest of the day with him. He comes home after school, has lunch with me, takes a shower, and we'll spend some time reading/crafting/writing/playing before he takes his afternoon nap. After nap, we either run errands, go for enrichment classes, or spend more time reading/crafting/writing/playing. Noah still attends day care, primarily because I cannot cope with having him with me at home the whole day. He clings to me like a koala bear when I am home with him, and starts whining when I venture more than 1 metre away from him. He was down with HFMD a month ago, and it was tiring caring for him because he wanted to be carried ALL THE TIME. That said, I believe that having friends to socialise with at day care, learning to take turns and play nicely with his peers, and having structured activities to keep him occupied is good for him, so I'm planning on keeping him there for the time being. He's just started crawling and crusing confidently, and is less clingly now that he's more mobile. So thankful for that!

A good part of my first month at home was spent researching on enrichment classes for Nathan, as well as finding materials and ideas for us to use in "home schooling". I've gotten our materials in order, signed him up for some enrichment classes and we've gotten a good routine going. I am insprired by the numerous creative activities that other mums have done with their kids, and I hope to introduce more varied activities in the months ahead. It's been great that I can spend more time with him. He's picking up new words everyday, and cracks me up with his comments sometimes. I enjoy snuggling up with him at nap times, and having him in the back seat of the car, asking for the same music CD to be played over and over again. Even though it means having to plan my day around him, I wouldn't want it any way else.

Having just moved to our new home, I was also busy with unpacking and getting our new house in order. We had about 100 boxes (of which about 85 are packed by me) for our move. Till date, I think we still have about 10 boxes left waiting to be unpacked. They are left sitting in what's supposed to be the kids' playroom. I hope to be able to unpack and tidy up that messy room, so that we can begin setting up a playroom for the kids. It has been tiring packing, unpacking, meeting contractors, getting furniture, etc. Am glad that we are slowly settling in, and most glad that we are now living so much nearer my parents, who are a great help with the kids. :)

And of course, a good part of the last 2.5 months has been spent on setting up Mama Shoppe. It is almost like having a new baby. Giving birth to the idea, learning the ropes, consulting with the more experienced, stumbling along... and now, finally, the store is live. Read more about why Mama Shoppe was started here and have fun shopping at our webstore. If you / your friends are expecting a new baby, get them to set up a gift registry. I did not find any online store / department store that offers a gift registry service when I was expecting my boys. It'd be so much easier if one existed then. :)

There's lots more for me to do to get Mama Shoppe in order... uploading products, sourcing for more products, marketing etc. I'll get round to that after I pick Nathan up from school. It's easy to get caught up with work, and I have to constantly remind myself that my main reason for quitting my full time job, is to spend more time with the family.