Eugene's very own Computer

23 October 2011

Yep, the kid's got his own computer.

This small notebook is a freebie when we recontracted our Starhub cable a while back.

Eugene is adept at using the mouse and so we bought a mini mouse for him as ours was kind of big for his fingers to wrap around.

He's using it to manoeuvre the "Starfall" website which we have subscribed to.

Stick, Stick

18 October 2011

Eugene stuck stickers on daddy's back

The stickers were from the calender on my desk.

Doll House

02 October 2011

I was reading one of the post from  "Our Baby of Love" and realised that Eugene got a similar doll house (or is it the same? looks the same to me) - just that the roof is of differen colour.

Hi, parents of Darius - yes, Eugene likes playing with the doll house and he likes to play "kitchen" too ! :)

Grandma's Birthday

1 October 2011


Ok, it's been awhile since I had posted anything. As I've said, no mood lah.

But seeing so many stuff to blog down, think I had better start before the year is over.

Even though it's now December but I'll blog the post according to the months that it happened - this is for my own record.

So first up is my mom's birthday.



Eugene waiting to blow out the candle (yes, so long it's a cake with candles, he'll want to blow it)

Why 2 cakes? one is from my mom's colleagues and one is from my sis-in-law (the mango one)

My dad - the best dad. Quiet, proud and very responsible.

The 4 pics below was shot by Eugene!

No. 3 - the youngest - a mischievous monkey

 No.2 - so different - quiet and studious

No. 1 - the eldest - the sportsman

The 3 grandsons pooled their money and bought my mom a handbag. Aww.... so sweet......

Brain Freeze

............. yes, that's right, Brain Freeze.

Just in a lazy mood, too lazy to blog about anything......... just no mood .........

I promise I'll be back soon.

Till then...........

Lantern Festival @ Toa Payoh Garden

10 September 2011

Organised by the RC.

We got a goodie bag which consisted of a plastic lantern, a small moon-cake, a set of stainless steel spoon and chopsticks and a bottle of water.

There was a long queue for the pop-corn so we didn't bother. But we got a potong ice-cream for Eugene.

We had actually brought our own lanterns. I bought the paper ones where you have to light a candle to put inside the lantern. Wah, I really cannot stand those plastic ones with light bulb and irritating music (more like noise).

Well, was Eugene interested in carrying the lantern ?

NO............

He was more interested in the below.........




This gazebo was very popular with the kids, not so much becos of the lanterns but becos the kids were enjoying themselves lighting up candles to place around the gazebo.

Eugene just wanted to blow the candles and this nice gal was nice enough to keep lighting up a candle for Eugene to blow.

All the kids in a row.

We would have stayed longer but it started drizzling and then it got heavier and so we decide to leave.

Chinese Lessons

I've decided to terminate Eugene's chinese lessons end of this year (fees paid till end of this year).

Why?

- the children are been taught new topics every week (once a week lesson).

A booklet of what have been taught that day will be given, including the flash cards being used - so that the parents can revised with the kids at home.

When they return the next week, the teacher will go thru the previous week's lesson on a one to one basis before she starts a new topic for the week.

Problems :

- Hubby and I are not good in Mandarin. Not good as in really, really bad, at least for me. I can converse but can't really read Mandarin.

The first few booklets brought home was easy but subsequently, hubby and I are unable to read the Mandarin words. So how? I can't be going to my neighbour and asking them the words all the time.

My family or my hubby's family - nope, none can read Mandarin.


- I feel that the way the lessons are conducted are not easy for the kids to immerse into the language, well, at least for Eugene.

Every lesson is a different topic. So whether you know the previous lesson or not, the teacher will just carry on to the next topic. I feel that there is no continuity to the topics being taught.


I think Eugene learnt more Chinese words and how to use them by watching "Ni Hao Kai Lan"
instead.

Paint, Sharpen, Ruler

5 September 2011

Lotus root soup was on the menu and I cut off some of the ends of the lotus root to use for stamping. Thought I'll do some art and craft with Eugene.

I remembered when I was young, my teacher would make stamps out of carrot, potatoes and lotus root and I really enjoyed painting and stamping on paper.

So I was rather excited to show Eugene what to do and I was sure he was going to enjoy it.

When he woke up from his afternoon nap, I declared that we're going to do some painting and I quickly brought out the lotus roots and showed him how to paint and stamp it.

Yes, he was excited ......... for less than 10 minutes.........


He looked at me and said in a soft tone : mommy, I don't want to paint anymore. 

I guess it was not much of a challenge to him. 

Paint and stamp, paint and stamp......

He was more interested in sharpening his pencils and drawing straights lines with his ruler.

Bro-in-law had bought for him a pencil case with pencils, ruler, eraser and sharpener in it and he was excited to try it all out.

He was meticulously sharpening his pencils..........

and learning to use the ruler......... I guess it's more interesing and challenging to him.

See him sharpening the pencil and using the ruler.

To 'Fight' or Not

(1) At the Mister Maker play corner, he had a girl who shouted at him. Another girl also snatched the toy car from him.

(2) At the toy store at Ngee Ann, two older boys who're brothers kept pushing his train away from the tracks so that they will have the whole train set to themselves.

For the above incidents, I did not immediately go to 'rescue' Eugene. I wanted to see how he will react.

For (1), when the girl shouted at him, he was stunned.
And when a girl snatched the toy car from him, Eugene ran to me to complain and I told him to take it back.

Eugene tried to take it back but the girl was older and stronger than he was.

I told him to tell the girl that she must share, which Eugene did, but obviously it fell on deaf ears.

I didn't want to create a fuss as we were leaving already.


For (2)at the toy store in Ngee Ann, two boys kept pushing Eugene's train off the track as they wanted to whole track to themselves, Eugene told the boys that they must share and to be gentle. This caught the eye of the two boys' father who disciplined his kids there and then.

As a parent, as with all parents, I try to instill and teach my kid to have good values and principles. And for his age at this moment - be nice to others, tell the truth, share, must address your elders etc.

Of cos, he has his moment when he's a little devil like being defiant but generally he's a good kid.

So when I see him being bullied, what am I to do? Do I tell him to fight back or to be nice about it? If I tell him to fight back, it will contradict what I had taught him. If I tell him, never mind, he will be stepped upon.

I've been trying to find a 'solution' and at the moment, this is the best I can think of.

I will tell him : talk to the other party nicely, if the other party still persist in being nasty, then he can retaliate.

Of cos, I want my child to be a good kid but I want him to learn defensive skills too. If the other party is going to hurt him or being obviously nasty, I don't see why he has to stand there and turn the other cheek.

I am not going to always be there for him and I'll rather he be street-smart than book-smart. It's a jungle out there, not everybody's gonna play nice and I want him to be able to defend himself if the need arise.


I'm a 'late mother' and I guess maybe, I worry that I'll not be around for him when he is going through adulthood phase.

Am I teaching him the wrong thing? I don't know. I'll act accordingly to each situation that might arise.

Maybe I'm thinking too much? I guess as a parent, you will worry for your kid the rest of your life.

Mister Maker @ Forum Galleria, Singapore 2011

27 August 2011

Got a free invitation to a workshop by Mister Maker, courtesy of StarHub. Well, not exactly free, 200 points to be deducted from our Hub Club account, I think for admin fee.

Before the workshop begins.

Hello everybody!

Packed!

I've got to use the glue!

With Mister Maker and the spider that was made (with lots of help) during the show.

Starhub : Mister Maker, Channel 303 Cbeebies

There was a play corner and Eugene had fun playing with the toy car.

The goodie bag from Mister Maker and the spider that was made during the workshop.

I tried to stick the felt ears, nose, mouth etc for the sock puppets with the glue provided but it won't stick. The only way is to sew it. 

Even the spider made during the workshop won't stick. But I guess they have to use a normal glue as it's safer for the kids.

On the way to Takashimaya.

At a toy store in Ngee Ann City. Very nice wooden Thomas train set.

When Eugene was playing with the toy cars at the Mister Maker show and with the Thomas train set at Ngee Ann City, he encountered rude and aggressive kids.

What to do? I will post this dilemma in the next post.

1st Swimming Lesson

22 Aug 2011

Today was Eugene's first swimming lesson. Well, how did it go?

He cried.

I thought that he was afraid of the water but not leh, he was playing happily before we started the lesson. Also the instructor said, from his observation, all the kids do not really fear the water too much.

Eugene only cried if the swimming instructor have the kids lined up to do some stuff like queue up to learn how to go into the water or sit side by side to learn how to kick with their legs under water.

Hah, Eugene is the type who don't operate well in a regimented structure. He likes the play and learn type of way. He don't like to have to being told and made to do it. Show him how to do it and he will do it in his own time. 

I guess I'll 'teach' Eugene the instructor's instructions by implementing it in such a way that it's not an order. Guess I'll have to go early before the lessons and stay a bit longer after the lesson.

Well, I'm mentally prepared that he'll be mostly just splashing around and not doing much for the next couple of months liao.

One good thing is that he'll be so hungry that he'll eat a lot after the swim lesson (he's kind of underweight for his age).

Hmm.... I get very hungry too.... hope that I'm not the one who will put on weight instead.

Eye-Lashes

Eugene has long eye-lashes which unfortunately is causing a problem for him.

Every morning, he would complain that his eyes are painful - why? - well, it seem his eyes' dirt will get stuck on his eye-lashes and when he rubs his eyes, some of the dirt will get into his eyes.

Sometimes, his top and bottom eye-lashes got kind of glued together too, lol

Curry Day

In support of "Curry Day" ! For those who do not know what's it all about - please google to find out.

Didn't  cook a pot of curry but had roti-prata with fish curry.

 

As the saying goes, "when in Rome, do what the Romans do".

Foreigners here in Singapore, please respect the different races and cultures. We are a multi-racial country.

And to the PRC couple and the countrymen who thinks like them :

This is Singapore, not Chinapore

Holding A Pencil Correctly

Eugene came home and said he wanted to draw. Yes, sure and he went to take his colouring book and his container of colour pencils.

Then I noticed it. He's holding the pencil the correct way! Yay!

I had tried teaching Eugene to hold the pencil correctly (see here) but most of the time, he will still hold it the "fist-grip" way. I've never really insisted that he had to hold it the correct way as I do not want to put him off holding a pencil.

So, really, this came as a surprise to me.

He can grip the pencil properly but he tends to try to draw/write without resting his hand on the table for support. 

So he's using his arm to move the pencil instead of his fingers and thus cannot control the pencil properly - though sometimes he do rest his hand on the table for more support.

Me : are you going to write alphabets?

Eugene : no, I'm drawing shapes

So here're his attempts at drawing circles and triangles.

Hmm.. he just wants to draw inside those margins and not anywhere else on the page - don't know why.

I'll teach him to use a ruler to draw straight line so that he can draw inside - waste so many pages like this right?

I checked with his teacher and she confirmed that she's been teaching the kids the correct way of holding a pencil.

And the teacher has been also teaching the kids the correct grammar to use. And I was again surprised that Eugene was able to use the past tense in a sentence appropriate to the situation.

Dinosaurs VS Humans

 

Just read this in the newspaper recently :

Purchase of 3 dinosaurs at risk as donations fall short of target 

Less than $2m of immediate $8m needed raised as new deadline looms

By Tan Dawn Wei, News Editor

The deadline set by its sellers has come and gone, but the money to buy three dinosaurs for Singapore’s upcoming natural history museum is still not in the bag.

Since it embarked on an intense race to raise $12 million for the fossils from Wyoming in the United States a month ago, the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research has managed to collect only $1.89 million through several donors and public donations through its online portal.

It has since negotiated an extension of the deadline – originally July 31 – with its American sellers and now has one to two months to raise the rest of the money.

The immediate task is to collect $8 million first to secure the three dinosaurs. The remaining $4 million, to be used for transport and to mount the exhibits, can be raised later.

$12 million! to buy 3 dinosaurs for our museum.


Please! why don't you use this amount of money to help the poor, elderly, disabled etc in this country?


We've being seeing and hearing about the plights of all these people - why don't you channel the money to help these people?


In my neighbourhood, I always see this old lady pushing her big trolley of cardboards which she is obviously collecting to sell. It's heartbreaking you know. 


And today, an elderly man took the cover off a dustbin and starting rummaging thru the bin to collect cans.


Yes, I can understand that the dinosaurs are a part of a fantastic history. The dinosaurs are valuable but are these bones more valuable than a human?


You guys got the cheek to even ask the public to donate for this. 

Please lah, get your priorities right.

Bl#%dy   Sh#@

Interactive Phonics

Eugene is not the type where he will sit 'quai quai' for you to read books to him. His idea of reading to him is that you have to narrate the story in your own words,  not read out what's written.

If you read out what's written, his eyes will look here, look there and then he will refuse to look at the book.

Animations is what will hold his attention (isn't most kids?) and he had learnt a lot from kids programmes.

Now, regarding phonics, Eugene learnt his phonics from the "Leapfrog" series which are very good to hold a kid's attention 'cos got nice cartoons to portray the sounds (Thanks to "Our Baby of Love" who introduced "Leapfrog").

Then I read in some mommies forum about this website and it's really good for interactive phonics - http://www.starfall.com/

I guess most of you parents would have known about this website but I've only found out about it (ya, me slow). But for those who do not know, do check it out.

 


>

Art Garden @ Singapore Art Museum 2011

29 July 2011

"Mummy Dearest" room. 

Dress up the dolls and

decorate a cake - using velcros.

"Paramodelic-Graffiti" room

Eugene wanted to touch everything there but it was not for touching. 

The kids are supposed to fix the tracks themselves (of cos with help from a museum assistant to guide them) but the tracks were already laid when we got there........

The toy trains were battery-operated. 

After a while, Eugene got bored with it.

No fun and no challenge just looking at the trains going round and round on their own. 

Eugene actually picked up the train that was given to him to play and put it back into the bin and said he wanted to leave.

he much preferred it here..........

He can fix the tracks and accessories himself and to get the trains moving, you have to wind it up.

There were no other kids in this room and so Eugene had all the attention of the assistants there who helped and played with him for awhile.

He had the whole table to himself. I guess this was more challenging to him. More accessories like tunnels, bridges etc to add to the tracks and also to have to wind up the trains to get it moving.

He was scared of the elephant at first but later warmed up to it and kept asking to be given stickers to stick onto the elephant.

"Fruits" - er, boring lor, paper fruits
"Tree of Love" 
"Dancing Solar Flowers" - can see, cannot touch
"Superhigh" - can push the coloured blocks around and can sit or stand on it - but Eugene don't find it fun leh.

Went to the Chapel to watch some films for kids and also to take a short breather and light snack. Ok, the breather was more for me, ha ha.

I find that there were less interactive stuff to do.

I much preferred last year's and I'm sure Eugene too.