elliot's new phrase

This weekend Elliot has Mae and I in stitches with his new catchphrase... he'll bring something (like a piece of bread or his cloth) to his nose, inhale deeply then say: "It smells like GOOD!"

sharing is good...most of the time

mae's entry:

I was putting Elliot to bed tonight and I could just barely see in the dark that he had most of his hand in his mouth - it looked like he was sucking on all 4 fingers, and I'm sure if there were space for his thumb, he would have included it too.

So I gently removed his hand and said not to suck on his fingers.

Before I knew what hit me, I had a couple of wet fingers halfway in my mouth, with Elliot exclaiming "You try!"

Blech. Not surprisingly, he found my disgust amusing (I attribute this to his being male) and tried his luck again. Ah, wet fingers with germs. The gift that keeps on giving!

getting air

I love this photo of Elliot in mid-jump. He was kind enough to oblige me in repeated jumps until I managed to catch him in mid-air.

mom, interrupted.

mae's entry:

As Aiden wolfed down a muffin today, I saw a sleeve-ful of crumbs.

He has recently started a habit in the last month of wiping his mouth on his sleeve, to my chagrin.

So I start with my Parent Voice That is Firm:
"Your sleeve is not a napkin. Please use a tissue to wipe your mouth. There are heaps of crumbs on your sleeves when I do the laundry. Clearly, you are..."

"...HUGGABLE!" Aiden interrupts with a wide crumb-encrusted grin.

I stop in mid-sentence. We sometimes play a game called "You are huggable" but this clearly wasn't playtime and I was using my Firm Voice no less.

And yet, I feel...myself...smile.

Aaarrghs. Parenting Mistake #392 is smiling when you're supposed to be disciplining.

Sheesh. Thrown for a loop by a 4-yr-old.

the wordsmith

mae's entry:

Aiden loves using big words to the point where Andy & I sometimes wonder where he picks them up since we don't use the words in everyday conversation (and we can't take credit for teaching him those words either.)

He sometimes doesn't use the words correctly (he's just 4 after all), but it does make for interesting conversation with him.

Here are some words which he's used recently:

1. Voyage

When we went on the Singapore Flyer (it's like the London Eye), Aiden said, "We're going on a voyage! We're going to the top of the world!"

2. Discard

He has a collection of CDs, and as he thumbed through the folder he picked one out, "It's scratched and I should discard it. But I still want it in my collection."

Ok - this one got me. If Andy or I need to throw something out, we'd say "ditch it", "bin it", "chuck it"...anything colloquial really. But we sure don't say "discard".

3. Betray

As we were heading out of the house yesterday, Aiden wanted to take some of his craft work to the car, but Andy asked him to leave it at home.

Aiden replied: "Daddy, I don't mean to betray you, but I just thought you might want to look at it in the car."

I guess he meant "disobey" but he got the essence of it I think. Andy and I definitely don't use "betray" in everyday conversation, so we have no idea where he picked this up from.

4. App

Short form for "Application" (i.e. software), and used in the context of apps for my iPhone.

Aiden saw the Apple/Mac logo as a decal on a car and said, "Look, there's an app on the car"!

I guess it would make sense that he thought App was short for Apple instead.

5. A synonym for big

We were in a toy store and of course the boys gravitate toward the large toys with bells and whistles and in this case, a pseudo laptop with a voice prompt and a microphone.

The friendly American female voice said: "Now say the biggest word you can think of!"

And Aiden gleefully responds: "ENORMOUS! GIGANTIC!"

So we explain that the question is asking for hardest, longest word one can think of, not a synonym for big.

And Aiden thinks a while before offering: "Circulatory system? Respiratory system?"

As he's been learning about the human body in school, it wasn't so surprising. But what did amuse me is that he had to add at the end that his favourite system is the urinary system, because he likes the kidneys (well, someone's gotta love them kidneys).

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And now for not so big words, but ones that surprise us nonetheless:

1. "Gimme some skiiin"

He put his hand out too (for some skin, dude), so I reciprocated and it had me in stitches.

I have no idea who replaced him with an American teen for those moments, but thankfully it just happened once last week and we haven't had a repeat performance since.

2. Of course

Aiden uses this in lieu of a plain "yes", most of the time as a way to launch into a lengthy response.

3. Loyal

There has been a lot of pretend play where Aiden rolls around a large inflatable ball around, like his favourite Playstation game, Katamari (the aim of the game is that the player roll up items in the path of the katamari ball, and these items stick to the ball).

So Aiden rolls up to Andy and says, "I'm stuck on you, I'm loyal."

We did explain the right meaning of loyal, but I did enjoy seeing the word 'loyal' in a new way, as though someone's stuck on you.

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And lest we forget Elliot, we do delight in the babytalk and mispronounced words that we know won't last for long.

1. Constable - i.e. Comfortable

2. "L" is pronounced as "W" in most words:

Eh- yut - Elliot

Gowilla -Gorilla

Pway-gwoun - Playground

3. "R" is pronounced as "W" most times:

Gwandma, Gwandpa, Gwanny Eh-yee - last one is Granny Ally

Bea-tuhs Wock Band - Beatles Rock Band

Can't weech it - a favourite phrase when he can't reach something that's intentionally put up high.

spot the sleeping child

When I went to wake the boys this morning, it took me a while to find Aiden... he was well camouflaged.

birthday suggestion

I was chatting to the boys a couple of days ago,

actually, mostly to Aiden, but Elliot was there

we were talking about it being the end of October, and soon it would be November.

And I said "Hey, Mummy's birthday is coming up...

"what do you think we should get for her present?"

"what would she like?"

and elliot piped up "COFFEE"

I said "you think we should get coffee for Mummy for her birthday?" and they both thought that was a good idea.

Sweet boys.

writing

Recently Aiden has learnt to write his name. He takes great care to get the shapes right - joining up the little parts of letters that didn't get closed properly.

a&e, b&w

aiden turns four

Aiden was almost too excited to sleep on the eve of his birthday. He had a really nice day opening all of his presents including a CD player from Ian & Mei and a bicycle from Mae and I. He's yet to really get confident on the bicycle - it's much taller/heavier than the Muji trike he's used to. Elliot didn't miss out, and was given a scooter by Ian & Mei.

tree climbers

One of the parks we frequent has this wonderful tree that's just right for climbing - lots of horizontal branches and smooth bark. Aiden loves seeing how high he can go, and of course, Elliot wants to be doing what his big brother is doing.

clever clogs

For National Day at Aiden & Elliot's school, they were asked to dress as their "Dream Occupation". Aiden wanted to be "a Baker, a Performer and a Teacher" which we narrowed to performer (Rock) complete with gel-filled hair and fake tattoos. Every Rockstar needs a Roadie, so Elliot got nominated for that role.

Both Aiden and Elliot are growing up so quickly. We haven't been great with keeping track of all of the milestones that they've been achieving. This blog is partially for their benefit in the future, so excuse me while I list a few of the things that they've been doing. We recently had Granny Ally for a visit, and on her last day, she left a couple of rubber-band-powered wooden boats that the boys have enjoyed playing with in the tub. Thanks to Granny Ally (and the boats), Elliot uttered his longest sentance yet. (Pointing at the boat) "Shark is swimming in the water". He's also recently learnt to count to 10 in Chinese, and Aiden can count to 100 in both Chinese and English - though he needs a little more help to get there in Chinese. At the moment they're both enjoying Lego, though I think Mae and I are getting equal enjoyment out of building things for the boys. Aiden is bringing drawings home daily from school, though recently they are taking the form of books. He also really loves building things with one of his teachers Ms Caroline, and come home with cereal-box sound systems complete with CD-tray and two-pin plug!

the 2-year-old fibbed!

mae's entry:

Look at that cute grin! Elliot is standing in front of our veggie garden in his bumble-bee gum boots gifted by Paul & Kim for his 2nd birthday.

Yup, he's only just turned 2 and he's already on the fast-track on committing a felony. (Seeing how what he does now is clearly an indication of how he will be as an adult....As some parents declare when their kids do anything good i.e. "oh, he's good at building blocks, he'll be an engineer," or anything bad i.e. "oh, he fibbed, he's going to a maximum security prison.")

This morning, Elliot wanted to play a PlayStation game before he even had his breakfast (he's usually allowed some game time in the afternoon). So naturally, I didn't let him, and put him at the dining table to eat. Aiden was dutifully polishing off his breakfast, knowing full well that game time was not a possibility.

Elliot threw a tantrum and I brought him to the kitchen where he tried to run out, the whole time shouting "Pay-stay-SHUNNNNN!". And the whole time I was sitting in the doorway blocking him, and I kept repeating "No playstation, Elliot. Breakfast time."

And here was when it got tricky. He stood in the doorway, with me blocking, and then he pointed to his pirate ship a few feet in front of us in the louge, and said quite plaintively, "Play?" Hmmm. I paused. His little voice chipped away at my resolve. I figured if he was not going to eat at all, I'd prefer that he play with a toy (that didn't need a screen) and goes hungry. So I said OK and let him through the doorway....and instead of running to the ship, he took off as fast as his little legs could carry him, to the left, straight for the PS2! HE FAKED ME OUT!

What the...? Elliot fibbed?? We're still at the stage where his babytalk isn't always decipherable...What just happened?

Sheesh.

I ran after him and intercepted the play for the PlayStation, and yes, there was a little tantrum, and yes, breakfast soon went down because he was hungry.

So no big drama - just some insight that Elliot is a little cleverer than I gave him credit for.