Jay's 4th Years Old Birthday Cake

Nowadays, buying a birthday cake seems like a must in order to give your child a very good memorable childhood memory.

And of course, you get to take a very good family photo if you have a pretty cake.  (Note: Baby Kay's eye lid got bitten by a fierce mosquito from Johor Bahru.  So, it is swollen a bit).

Back in 2 months ago (i.e. August, during his little brother, Kay's birthday) Jay has already specify what is the theme of the cake.  Jay says "I want a Shinkansen cake, that has air plane, etc).  Of course, we knew what he wants, basically, he wants to remember his trip to Japan.  During that trip, we sat in Singapore Airlines as well as a Japanese airplane.  We sat in the "Green Color" Kodama bullet train.  We went to Otaru, and he was having fun taking photos with the train tracks as well as the train traffic signal light.  He loves to see that Japan flag.  He like to see the flowers in Furano.  etc etc.  So, I wrote a very long email to be sent to Cheryl Shuen.  And we leave it to her to design the cake.

Cheryl Shuen did not fail this time.  She has capture all the details we specified for the cake.  And it tun out to be great!

Got to love the flowers... and the lavender... and the grass... (some classmates ate the track)

And look at the "Rocks" on the train track, it feels real.. hahaha

Here come the Kodama Shinkansen... Oh no, the track is missing...

OK... all those tracks, flowers, rocks are so good that the kids are finishing up all the items... hahaha

And they really CLEAN UP everything.. hahahaha

Happy Birthday Jay Jay!!!

 

Travel Simulations

When Jay was 2 years old, we brought him to Kyoto/Hakata. When he was 2, he already know how to walk, understand what we said, and know how to enjoy and like the Shinkansen. That was piece of cake.

Kay is now almost 9 months old. He can crawl, and eat teething biscuits. I do have plans to visit Hokkaido this year, may be in August. So, I was not sure if it is a good thing to bring Kay to oversea or not. With two kids, what will it be like? Last time, we have our in-laws with us. So, it is quite easy.

So, we decided to "simulate" an oversea travel together with Jay & Kay. Here's the plan, tomorrow, we will be going to Kuala Lumpur on a Tiger Airways. A 40 minutes plane ride, followed by 20 minutes Bus ride and finally a 35 minutes KL Express ride. Then, we will check in into one of the Hotel @ Sentral.

So far, the plans are Genting Highland, Train theme restaurant, Time Square, may be Sunway Lagoon...

So, if this trip went well, then, we will go to either Japan or Taiwan in August. Yipee! If not, I am sure there will be a lot to share...

Sharing TV

One of the hardest thing to do is to decide whether you have two TV in the house instead of one. In my previous place, I had two. One in the living room, and the other in my bedroom. So, whenever, my son wanted to watch Playhouse Disney, it is either he watch it in the living room or on my bed. And usually, I will be on the other side watching my show.



In my new place, I have decided to have only one TV in the living room. I bought a new TV, bigger screen... and gave away my previous TV to both my in laws and the new owner of the previous place. And ever since, we have been teaching my son learn to "share" the TV. It was a great experience, where there is a need, he will come and ask, "PaPa, you need to share the TV, you know..." At the same time, we also teaching him "How many hours you have watch TV?" to give him a sense of time and limitations in regards of watching TV.

And I am no longer feel tired, as the TV is not in my room anymore. Because if it can be conveniently reached, then you will lie down there watching TV the whole time, do nothing until you are dead tired and sleep. So, I guess the Feng Shui is right after all. You should not put a TV in your bedroom unless it is necessary!

And now, the family bonding increases where we all watch TV together... Of course, when Jay is around, only Playhouse Disney is available for watching... nothing more...

Ken @ 6:24am

Jay Jay & LWPS Year End Concert 2009

It's that time of the year... I can still remember, my little Jay was crying when we sent him to the backstage last year... and he refuses to wear the bulky "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" costumes... and I remember he was having fun last year at the stage...

This year, the concert is held at Nan Yang Secondary School. And when we sent him off to the backstage, our Jay is smiling all the way, and no more crying... he has grown up...



Up in the stage, he is really performing for everyone to see, and of course, when he sees Lily doing the wrong thing (placing her little umbrella on wrong photos), he will complaint to Miss. Haz about it, even during the performance, but you can tell that he is having lots of fun.

After the show, he will stick around with his friends, chit chating, taking photos, etc etc... My little Jay is now 3 years old, and he is much much grown up now... and you time flies very fast...



you can watch the video of his performance here

compare to the last year one... it is here

Happy Halloween ...

Meet the Mr. Pumpkin Man 2008 (last year)...



Last year, we made a pumpkin man for Jay. However, we does not know the meaning of Halloween. We made a home movie to record down the special moment with Jay playing with the pumpkin man.

This year, he saw the Halloween home movie, and Jay asked mummy to buy a pumpkin for him just before the Halloween.

On Oct 31, the Mr. Pumpkin Man 2009 was born. Jay is very happy.



He was holding the pumpkin man to our balcony, and ask Mr. Pumpkin Man to guard our house tonight! He also asked the Pumpkin Man to guard our new home just across the block opposite.

So, making home video of special event is very important for young kids. It helps them recall their childhood. Jay can see the home movie again and again and remember all these details. When he watched the home movie, he will always "HaHaHaHaHaHaHa" very happy... a way to build memory...

Happy Halloween....

Jay Jay & His Birthday Cake

Cheryl Shuen is amazing. On Jay Jay's first year birthday, we asked for a Butterfly cake, but Cheryl said, how can a boy so cute as Jay ordered a butterfly... butterfly is for girls. So, she changed the butterfly to "Dragonfly" and Jay Jay is the only kid she is willing to bake the dragonfly for.

see http://www.cherylshuen.com/speTreats063.html...

On Jay's 2nd year birthday, Mom's friend bake a "Car" cake for him. Yes, the Lightning McQueen cake. It was a bit sweet, and not from Cheryl Shuen.
So, we skipped Cheryl Shuen.

This year, we decided to ask Cheryl Shuen bake a new cake. It was from Jay Jay's favourite Cartoon show on Playhouse Disney - the Chuggington. It was new show and they start airing it on Oct 2, 2009.

Got to say that Cherl Shuen really did a good job. Take a look at the train CoCo, and the train tracks, the ladybugs and the dragonfly, and the flowers details on the cake. It was a great and delicious cake, and Jay loves it so much. And all Jay's classmates likes CoCo and wanted to eat up the whole CoCo train. Some ate the ladybugs, and some ate the alphabets too...

Cherl Shuen's blog is here. Do check out her latest creations...

Every kid should have a wonderful childhood. Make something that he or she likes, and let he or she have the most wonderful and memorable birthday, and don't forget to take lots of pictures and make a home video so that they can always watch it and this helps them to remember all these happy thoughts.... You must always have to take the pictures such as below... see how great the big SMILE on Mr. Jay's face...

A day @ Central Fire Station

If your kid wakes up early on Saturday morning, and don't know where to bring him... Here is a great place -Central Fire Station.

You can park your car at Funan Center and simply cross the road from there. The open house is from 9am to 12 noon.





You got to be there early as the highlight is to sit in the bucket and the will bring you up to as high as 8 storeys. Of course, there will always be a long queue
That is why you need to go early.





See me and Jay up in the sky...






Then you get to play with the water gun.





You get to see firemen jumping down, take pictures with fire engines, and lots more... It's fun and kids are learning all the things about fire fighting... It will be a great trip for them...





Lastly don't forget to visit the fire musuem just beside the fire station and get some sovenir...


-- Post From My iPhone

The J-K Room

Its been a month that baby Kay has moved in with Jay. The very first thing you do is to rename the kid's room as soon as possible. Yes, we named the room as "Jay Room" when Jay Jay was born, this is to let Jay Jay to know that the room belong to him only at that time. That was in the past. Now, the two brothers have to bunk in the same room. Even if you have enough room, you still need to put them together, it is said that their bonding will be strengthen when they live together. So, we have to rename the room. It is now called the "Jay-Kay Room".



(Scene #1)

Jay: Why baby Kay come to my room? Can baby Kay sleep outside, can?

PaPa: Of course no. And this is not your room. See, this is not "Jay
Room" anymore. It is now called "Jay-Kay Room". So, baby Jay sleep here.

Jay: Oh. (he understood).



So, I guess we are successful in this. We do noticed that Jay know use lesser "my room", "Jay Jay room", instead, he says "the room".




(Scene #2)

Jay was sleeping soundly... It is 2AM in the morning. baby Kay was hungry, and started to make some noise...

Jay: (I believe still in his sleeping mode) Mommy... why baby Kay 很吵(noisy) ...

Both PaPa and mommy smile... and said...
PaPa: It's OK Jay. Baby Kay is still a baby...

Jay: (silent and went back to deep sleep mode)...



This happened on the first week the two brother sharing the room, and mommy have to feed the baby 8-12 times a day of breast milk... So, in out the room many times.

We are happy that Jay now has adapted to the slightly noisy environment. And he can maintain his sleeping mode. That is the greatest thing.



(Scene #3)

Jay promise grandma that when baby Kay is back, he is going to give the Pacifier away to baby Kay.

Grandma: Jay Jay, you promised ah-Ma that you give the Pacifier to baby Kay. So, ah-Ma keep all these Pacifier liao, ok?

Jay: (reluctantly) OK.



Ever since, Jay Jay never use the Pacifier again. And he never ask for it again too. This is also another great thing. Otherwise, he will still need to suck the Pacifier to sleep.



(Scene #4)



Kay: (nguweh... mguwah....nwah... crying)

Jay: (run to beside of Kay, use his hand slowly pad baby Kay) London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down, London bridge is falling down, mmmy var...ye ye (muffled, forgot lyrics)...




It is amazing how Jay Jay has become mature on his thinking process. He has accepted baby Kay into his family. And he has been very good to baby Kay. And he always say "I love baby Kay"...

Conclusion... making baby can be easy, but raising the kid is a different story. Sometimes, you are OK with raising one kid, but when you have another, then, you are the chemist. And your job is to make sure that the two can mix well, and no smoke and no explosion when mix them together. The result of the mixture has to be warm and harmony. It is a challenging job, and you can do it without thinking about it. May failed some times, but must have great patient to carry out this. I guess this is life.

Comparison: Jay Vs Kay

When baby Kay was born, we were very glad that the first thing we noticed, is baby Kay's features looks almost 99% like Jay.



We took the above picture when Jay Jay was first born. He was sleeping soundly. (first month of Jay)



This is baby Kay when he is about 8 days old. You can see a lot of similarity between the two brothers. I will keep on doing my comparison on week by week, so to see how these two brothers going to grow into the same face. hahaha and my next project is to select a few photos from Jay's library, and then dress baby Kay the same as in the photos and then do the comparison. It will be fun!!!



Stay tune...

Jay & Baby Kay

Raising a kid is easy, but raising two is a different story.



Remember I shared with you chapter 1 of the story, where Baby Kay giving Jay a present a day few days before he was born. That went very well. The intentions is to make Jay Jay believes that those presents really was given by Baby Kay. (i.e. Baby Kay asked PaPa to go buy these presents for Jay)

Jay Jay now has this huge thinking that Baby Kay likes Jay Jay a lot, that is why Baby Kay gives Jay Jay so many presents. Now, this is Chapter 2 - Story of the 2 brothers.



We placed the Baby cot in Jay's room. We also have a portable day bed setup in the living room. We have informed Jay that Baby Kay is going to sleep together with him in his room. Jay was very happy. But during the first night, you can see a slight jealousy there. Jay was not happy that mommy spent a little bit too much time with Baby Kay. So, a bit of crying here and there on the first night. Well, this is expected and manageable. Jay comments that night was: "Baby Kay can sleep outside..."... hahaha.... naughty naughty...

The next day, we continue spent a lot of time in explaining the importance of taking care of Baby Kay to Jay. Jay understood a bit. And Mommy let him carry Baby Kay. A about to turn 3 years old carrying a baby... sounds very unreal. And this is where further bonding was established. This is the first time Jay carry and hold his little brother in his arms. So, we took that pictures of him holding the baby... that night, we have a more peaceful night, as Jay did not cry too many times... The next day, Jay commented "Jay Jay very good, never disturb mommy yesterday..."...



So, we decided to let him carry baby Jay as and when... and I think we have achieve our purpose. Jay now has a little bit improved thoughts and now, let mommy feed baby Kay as and when... and asked him to hold and carry baby Kay, he is more than willing to help out.

However, the time is still early... there are still many many years to go ahead... so, always keep in mind to always build the brothers bonding .... What we hope to see in future is, Jay Jay sharing toys with his brother, Jay Jay not fighting with Baby Kay over things... Let's see what is the next development in Chapter 3.

Jay & Singapore

We bought a Singapore red T-shirt for Jay to wear. It was a "Singapore day" in his school. When he comes back... this is what happen next... It is amazing that what the school teaches him. I have no idea that he can remember all these little things... He will make a good Singaporean. :)

1) He came back with a face painting, a Singapore flag on his face. He is very reluctant to wipe
it off. he wanted to even sleep with it. We spent a lot of efforts to clear it off peacefully.

2) While we are eating dinner at the dining table, Jay suddenly shouts "Majulah"..... (very loud)
"Singa-pore" (he does not know how to say Singapura.) This comes very suddenly and
give us a shock... hahaha

3) The whole night, he was singing "One Nation"... "One People"... "One Singapore"...

So, the next day, I downloaded all the NDP songs for him. And he likes the "Stand Up for Singapore" very much. Every time he will stand up when he heard this song. Now some of these NDP songs are in our iPhone, our Apple TV, our iMac, our Laptops, etc....

So, we sent him to Auntie Betty so that he can play with Silas ko-ko & Eliza jie-jie. All of them when to the Hill Street Centre (my sister's Church) to see the fireworks and performance.

And he comes home with a big smile and "bom bom bom" (fireworks) and telling us all about the helicopters flying here and there with a big big flag...

I guess this is the first time the boy has enjoy the Singapore National day... an unforgettable National day celebrations... and me and my wife have a candle light dinner @ Patara first time without Jay too..

Jay & his old Car Seat

(Posted on Notes @ Facebook at Aug 14, 2009)



For 9 months we have countlessly exposing Jay to the concept of having a little brother... Concepts such as "Sharing", "you are now a big ko-ko (brother)... It is important to create that very first bonding, from the elder to the younger...

This is one of the thing that we taught him... his old car seat is going to be inherit by his little brother - baby "K" (to be born). So, get it out, ask him to clean it, help to reassemble it, and wala... his old car seat, if he can remembers it...

This is when you show his old photos and video clips of a younger him sitting in the car seat... of course, he will say "No... No"..."so funny"... but yes, that small little baby is you, my dear Jay....

not convince yet? Then, you ask him to try to jump into the car seat and see what happen, wow.. it is way too small for him now, and he is stuck... what happen? you have grown larger, and now become a big ko-ko liao... so, this car seat have to passed to baby K, and let him enjoy the seat.. so that the car seat can protect him also...

Immediately, he understand... so, make sure you make a small video funny video clips so to remind him that... he is too big for that... hahahaha....

concept learned...

- going to gave a baby brother

- car seat is for baby brother

- car seat used to be mine, but I have grown up

- must take care of baby brother

- must share share with baby brother

- no why because you simply are big ko-ko

Job done... now, we have done this for the baby bed, we have done this for the baby seat, the next thing that we almost forgot is breast feeding... let me think how to convey that.. hahahahaha must be a very genius way... and he will immediately understand...

Jay and the Bus

Aug 6 is the first day we put Jay onto a school bus. Jay has grown up and its time for him to take a school bus - to be independent. After almost 14 months of ferrying him to and from the school, Jay somewhat got used to the car ride... Everyday he look forward to either mommy or daddy come and pick him up...

So, in order to make the transitions very smooth, whenever I am free to pick him up, I will stay a little while longer and wait for the time where some of his classmates has to wait for the bus. I then asked, where are your friends going, Jay, simply answered "They sit bus". "Do you like to sit on the bus?" "You can see a lot a lot of 货柜车 (transportation trucks), Shell truck, and so on... This is to build the excitement of taking bus, this is to solidify the concept of "kids must take bus to school"...

So, when it comes the time - Aug 6, we let him take the bus on his own for the first time... and he loves it... and very excited when the bus comes. To make sure he really likes the bus ride, I went to the school that day, and observed, and guess what, Jay refused to take my car home, and instead, he wanted to sit on the bus... He wants to be with Gabi, TV, Lily and YouYou to sit on the best...

This is where we felt happy... as Jay really grew up and can choose what he wanted to do... after a few days later, he is still fond of taking the bus. Guess what the bus uncle said... Jay really likes to take his bus, and he had never see such a happy face taking the bus... hahaha

Now, Jay's mom can stay at home and rest and awaits for Baby "K" arrivals...

Jay & The Fever Centre @ NUH

(Originally posted on Notes @ Facebook at July 8, 2009)

Jay was infected by virus the other day. He was having high fever and running nose. His eyes started to discharge yellowish thingy. That is when we decided to go to the NUH the other day at night time.



A&E is really different nowadays. It has been converted to "Fever Centre". It is like, no matter what emergency you have, as long as you came to NUH's A&E, by default you are H1N1 carrier. So, this is the A&E which I am not familiar with.

Temperature check is a must. Asking a lot of questions. Only 1 parent allowed to go in, so mommy (preggy wife) have to stay outside. All wearing the protection mask, of course.

Once you are inside, I think they did greatly in the sense that, you get to see the doctor right away as my 2 year old is the patient. That is good thing. Young kid, preggy, old folks get priority first.

So, the doctor ask this and that, check here and there, and comment that it is virus infection. Need to take medicine, and eye drops to fix it. But as a precaution, they force you to take the Swine Flu test. Very simple process, stick the cotton bud into the nose and get the sample, and you will know by 36 hours. And guess what, it costs $250 and all fully paid by the government. That is another good thing.

Now, after the doctor, the nurse come and get readings for the blood pressure, and so on. And then, it is waiting time. This is the part where it is no fun. As we need to wait almost 45 minutes for the medicine to arrive. I have seen how the pharmacist work, it is as slowly as what I can remember. So, seeing doctor is efficient, but waiting for the medicine, is damn painful wait.

Why, look around you... and it is not hard to notice the harmony and synchronous coughing symphony. Ha Ha... one cough, and every body cough around you. So, I look at the nurse, and the nurse also shake the head and said "bo pian". Finally, they bring us along with another kid and her father to another waiting area, and telling us, it is better to wait in this waiting tent, and they will deliver the medicine to us. As too many people coughing in the fever center (a.k.a previous A&E center).

So, we went there, there are lots of fans and ventilations. Finally the nurse came back with the medicines. And we are all clear to go. But wait, a security guard must be present to escort me to my car. Why? because they have to make sure that you really drive a car, and really get on to the car and drive home. Otherwise, they will use ambulance to ferry you home.

Jay gets 10 days MC and needed to be quarantined at home. but next day, the doctor called and cleared that and tell us that it is just a normal virus infections, and it is negative of H1N1. So no need to quarantine. One thing puzzle me, if my kid gets 10 days of MC, why as the parent who take care of the kid. why the parent does not get 10 days of MC too leh?

Final thoughts...

1. 1 Thumbs up for the whole process.

2. 2 Thumbs up for the doctor giving priority to young kid.

3. 2 Thumbs down for the pharmacist. Still very very slow. The same every time.
During my last visit, the nurse is playing PSP. Can you imagine that?

4. As H1N1 getting worst, and you still go out shopping without wearing a mask,
there is always chances that you may get infected by it. But need not to worry,
many people in the hospital will care about you. The government is doing
everything to make sure that the H1N1 is spread thru controlled ways.

5. If you decided to not come to the hospital, I am very sure that at any GP clinics,
those doctor will not hesitate to call 993 for you. :) So, you end up in A&E or
fever center again.

6. always carry Dettol with you. Watch around, move away from people who is
coughing and sneezing.

Jay's Skin & the Culprit

(Originally posted on Notes @ Facebook, on July 4)

Got to thanks Erin for this tip.



When Jay came to this world, he is perfect. However, since young, he has this
problem with his skin. Quite sensitive and easily to get rashes. When you
touch the skin, is like uneven surface.

No doctor can explain what it was... and they simply said it is like that, some kids
born with this.

That day, we were having Erin, our good friend from Hong Kong, for dinner, I
brought her to West Coast plaza to get a herb roasted duck from Dian Xiao Er
(店小二) and guess what, she was having this comments asking me not to let
my wife to take it, as it is very toxic (好毒）

I didn't know what it meant, but told her that my wife was having duck for
lunch at least few times a month. Why is it toxic? Then, she explained to me
that eating duck is toxic to the new born according to the old folks. And
the duck will cause skin problem to the new born. And indeed, my first
reaction is to link Jay's skin condition to this myth, and indeed, my wife
does eat a lot of ducks lately... So, it could be the culprit that causes Jay's
skin problem.

Well, what has been eaten before cannot be gotten rid of, so, all we can do
is wait and see... If baby Kay came up with an uneven not so smooth skin,
then we can confirm this myth.

According to Erin, her brother's wife is very cautious in her dietary, and she
really follow the advise and 戒口, never eat any duck although the 深井烧鹅
is her favorite. Never drink coffee, tea (not include mint or camomile), never
eat crabs, oysters, etc etc. So, the two kids they have have very very smooth
and white skin, and very healthy too. And compare to Erin's sister, as her
sister loves to eat and cannot 收口 (cautious in eating). As a result, her kid
skin is not as smooth, etc etc.

So, let's wait and see.... if this myth is true or false.... Shall reveal the answers
with real experiment by September.

Jay Jay & the Castle Logix

At the world book fair, I also came across this building blocks logic game - Castle Logix.  It is a very simple sets that contains 3 castle block and 3 castle roof stick.  The castle blocks comes with holes oriented differently, and they have picture on each side.  The castle roof stick comes in 3 length.  So, there is a stack of cards where you are instructed to build exactly according to the pictures in the card.  

I think Jay will like this game as it is also innovative in a sense where it build your logic thinking.  It is a Belgium product.  Europeans are good in this.  and It costs about $48.

Jay Jay & the LUK Learning Systems

Today I went to the World Book Fair @ Suntec after work.  And I happened to see this small shop selling this learning system imported from Germany.  I found that it is very innovative

as it combine play and learn at the same time.

I bought the 2-5 years old version that has a learning system which consists of 6 small little square pieces that has easy to recognize picture on it, i.e. house, flower, duck, heart, apple and car.  The learning system will be placed on pages of the learning books.  first you transfer these square tiles to the top container on top of the picture and according to the items.  Then, you remove the tiles one by one by matching the picture on the book to the lower part of the book pages.

When I reached home, I immediately try in on Jay and he seems to love it.  I recommend this learning tool for toddler age 2-5.  It is not cheap.  5 books cost S$100 and the learning system (square tiles) cost $33.  

It's worth it.

Jay and the Dentist

One of the amazing thing about raising kid is you can plan and build the foundation since young. Jay is 2 years and 8 months old and it's time to set up routine dentist appointment. I remembered I as almost 7 when I get to see dentist. And I am very scared of seeing dentist.



For Jay, choosing the right dentist is very important. As I said I am afraid of pain and usually associate dentist with pain. Until I found this dentist Dr. Kenneth Lew. Yes .. Amosr the same name with me.



He is gental and his work does not cause pain. So when Jay as siting on the chair, Dr Lew comfort him, while checking, talks to him a lot so to make Jay comfortable. 15 minutes later check up completed. And Jay seems to love it.

And I am proud of Jay Jay.

-- Post From My iPhone

Jay's first tennis lesson

Today is Jay's first tennis lesson at AST Advantage. Jay used to visit the court and deliver 100Plus while I was playing tennis. Therefore the first sport words from him is tennis, tennis court and tennis ball. Therefore we decided to sent him to learn tennis.






At the school, they teach...
- warm up, hop, jump and run
- what base line, serve line and net
- holding racket and hit ball
- use swim paddle and hit ball
- and others

Short 45 min course.

Great workout and waiting patiently for him to play tennis with his dad...


-- Post From My iPhone

Jay's report card

It was the right decision to sent Jay to Lorna Whiston. He know can speak mandarin, especially 帮帮我 which he use the most...

I am very proud of him...




-- Post From My iPhone