A Pregnant Pause

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I had to grow up fast this month because my Grandpa passed away. The only parts I understand is that Grandpa has been sick, I cannot play my VCDs “loud loud” and Mummy has been fetching Grandpa to the hospital many times. I cannot follow them when they go.

Let’s walk down memory lane through my eyes, shall we? I promise it’ll be good memories only

SHARING A SANDWICH
Mummy bought a sugar-free blueberry and cranberry jam and asked if I wanted a sandwich since she had one. I agreed and then Grandpa came out. When Mummy asked if he wanted one too, he agreed.

Here we are happily munching a jam sandwich and watching a VCD - it’s either “Sound of Music” or “Polar Express”.

 DINING TOGETHER
Papa missed us a lot and wanted to take his family out for dinner. He wanted to give Mum a nice treat but since I’m a fussy eater, the best option was Sushi King as it had rice, taufoo and soup.

I had a good time arranging the sauce plates and wanted to move on to the pile of chopsticks but Mum hurriedly put the box away. On the whole, everyone had a nice dinner and I managed to stay in the booth the entire time

WEI, NI HAO?
Here we are back in China. Mummy had just renewed her prepaid card, which expired after more than 3 months of inactivity. She’ll probably have to do that AGAIN unless Papa remembers to use it to SMS her here.

Did you know that banks, businesses and everything else in China are open on Sundays? It’s amazing how hardworking they are and they have the labour to support this work schedule.

I was, of course, scampering running all over the place. I get away with murder here because Chinese folks *love* children, especially cute little boys! Poor Mummy always gets “tsk, tsk, tsk” or “Ker lian” whenever she scolds me loudly because they sympathize with me, not her

THAT MORNING
That fateful day, I was getting reacquainted with my caterpillar. It was also the only morning I wanted to put on the cute pair of Keropi-Keropi slippers she got me.

I missed my toy car a lot and ended up sitting on the caterpillar! When the wheels went squeaking under my weight, I giggled and giggled like crazy. Mum was unfazed since she places a lot of faith in Fisher-Price toys for the price she pays for them…if not, she’ll challenge them for it not being “toddler-proof” as claimed.

THE MATCHMAKER
Here we are in Coffee Bean where Papa downloaded all his work emails in our rush flight back. After he was done, he guided me as I matched the product tags with the correct products on display.

Mind you, I was closely supervised. My strict Mummy would NEVER allow me to roam around wildly and cause trouble to people. I was such a charmer that a nice ‘ang moh’ (Hokkien=white) lady praised me, saying that I was “such a handsome and gorgeous fellow” because I smiled at her charmingly and called her “Auntie”. [Mum rolls her eyes here]

NO FLIGHTS HOME
Papa wanted to stay for longer than a week and went to the airport to see if there were flights earlier in the week. Unfortunately, they were fully booked and the waiting list was full. Thus, poor Papa had to go back on Saturday.

I got to see Nemo and Dory at the airport aquarium though! Mum hopes that they are well taken care of, and not always “replaced” with new ones. There’s real coral in the aquarium…let’s hope the contractors are well-informed, commercial conservationists.

PACKING IN PENANG
In the weeks after the funeral, we were shuttling between Grandma’s house and their Penang house. Everyone had to evaluate what had to moved out, what could be moved in and what new furniture might be needed.

Sigh, this is Mum’s 6th time packing! I totally understand how she feels because when I heard the word pack, I couldn’t believe my ears…oops, eyes.

THE NEXT “BILLY ELIOTT”?
Mum *has* to share this video (sorry for the lopsidedness) of my imitating the ballerinas’ dance recital in the movie “Centre Stage”. It was a fantastic movie on classical and contemporary ballet and I agreed to watch it when Mum says it’s got dancing.

That morning, I decided to follow them and Mum had a good laugh as I did pirouettes, jetes and other barre exercises. I have to admit though that Amanda Schull’s pirouettes at the end wore me down a bit…

What do you think? Should Mum enroll me for ballet???

SPURRING SPEECH : I’ve been speaking a lot that people can carry on conversations with me, provided they ask me questions at my level. The best person to do this is of course Mummy. One, as I spend the most time with her, she understands most of what I communicate. Two, she’s an English teacher who knows how to question and challenge a 2 year old appropriately, most of the time anyway.

POWERS OF OBSERVATION: This is my remarkable trait that even Grandpa said I can be a part of the CSI team. I have an excellent memory and eye for details - I can remember exactly where each item is located and will NOT budge until each item is in its place.

Of course, slackers like Mummy, Grandma and the other females will protest and try sweet-talking me out of this military precision but I DON’T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER. Even my Ma-ma (Hokkien=paternal grandmother) had to suffer my yelling when she accidentally shifted Mum’s handphone from its regular location.

Grandpa and Papa are very happy with me about this because I keep these pack-rats in line!

POTTY TRAINING
This has gone backstage with all the moving around. I still maintain my daily morning bowel movements, for which Mum is very thankful. Since Mum wants to cloth diaper me as much as possible, I have NOT been very co-operative and insist on “Ha-jees!” (Huggies).

I sit on the potty and even read my “Potty Book for Boys” but I don’t sit long enough to pee or poo. At best, I can tell Mum to “wash bickside” when I’ve pooed and also when my nappy is very wet, I’d say “pee” with huge, staring eyes.

Next month’s update is a totally different story though…

BABYCENTER: Your child is more in control of his movements. Now he can hold and play with small objects easily, and can stack and knock over towers of blocks. He can also concentrate for long periods of time. Sometimes he’ll become so absorbed in his play that he’ll resent your interruption.

You can make transitions easier by warning him in advance, as in “you can play with the blocks for five more minutes, but then it’s dinnertime.” If you have a flexible schedule, you may want to give him a few warnings before you insist that he finish up his play.

He may be able to control his actions, but not always his emotions. At this age, he’s still prone to a fair amount of pushing, shoving, yelling, and tantrums. Don’t set your standards too high. You can’t expect perfect behavior from him all the time, and tantrums are his way of showing you when he’s so frustrated or upset he can’t think straight anymore.

Keep reminding him that talking gets better results than acting out — and make sure you praise him when he makes an effort to communicate with words. In the meantime, make sure you’re communicating well with him too.

Explain why rules are necessary. Instead of telling him that he can’t run out into the street without holding onto a grown-up’s hand, talk about why it’s not safe so he understands the thinking behind your admonitions.

How you’re changing: You may already have begun thinking about having another child. While some parents feel that three years is a good gap between siblings, others prefer to wait. Talk to your partner and see what he has to say.

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Tags: 2nd year, cancer, Grandpa, toddler