Hubs and I recently started attending a new parenting course called Growing Kds God’s Way. It follows the same series as the Preparation for Parenting a.k.a. Babywise course we had done a few years back in the B.C. (Before Children) era before two became three . True to form, prior to the course, I checked out various forums and reviews on the book and programme to find out more about what to expect, especially since encountering various criticisms on the general content and philosophy of these programmes. As with all things, there are both good sides and bad sides to the story. There are just too many parenting books and philosophies to choose from in the world nowadays, so why this one? But after some discussion and reflection, we agreed to attend the course not because we want to become perfect textbook parents, but primarily for the interaction and dialogue we can have with the other parents attending the course so we can journey along together with them and be honest with...

Hubs being like any typical guy doesn’t often get emotional over touchy-feely moments. So I was surprised to see him emerge from Nathan’s bedroom moist-eyed after putting him to bed the first night after we arrived back from KL . I guess he was feeling a little more nostalgic with his sister being married off and being with his family and all. He told me that as he sat there humming Nathan’s bedtime lullaby, it suddenly hit him how fast Nathan was growing up. He experienced an almost a piercing sadness and pain realising how fleeting the years are. In a blink of an eye, before we even have time to realise it, he’ll be all grown up. "Young boys should never be sent to bed... they always wake up a day older, and then before you know it, they're grown" (J.M. Barrie, ‘Finding Neverland’)

This week as I was jotting down notes for Nathan’s daycare, I decided to include a list of some vocabulary updates for our carer’s reference. After all, it’s been over two weeks since she saw him and there are a number of new words he’s picked up since then. So I thought to jot them down here too for memory’s sake. Nathan will turning 18 months old in one week. He develops so quickly and learns so much every day that it’s hard to pinpoint exact moments when he learns something new. But here are some fairly new words he’s recently added to his vocab over the past couple of weeks… Poo-poo = Poo (i.e. #2) Pappy = Nappy Wice = Rice Joop/Toop = Soup Fok = Fork Po-po = Chinese term for grandma (my mum was really pleased with this one) Tock = Clock Tak = Stuck Twak = Truck Tar/Kar = Car Pok-pok = Poke (referring to the pom-pom poking game I made for him) Noma = Thomas (as in Thomas the train) Doys = Toys Bop = Drop Doh = Door Dwoh = Draw Waiht = Write Weht = Wait Waip = Wipe (he will actua...

I know for a fact that my son is a boy. But it wasn’t until this recent trip back to Malaysia when I realised how much of a ‘boy’ he really is. At home with me, mummy the playmate, he likes to hang around the kitchen with me and play masak-masak (cooking) with pots and pans, ‘help’ me hang up laundry by handing me pegs, read story books together. Sure sometimes he likes to play with his ball or zoom around on his toy-bike… but somehow this trip really unleashed his boy adrenalin (maybe it was always there but I just never saw it in full throttle like this with hair plastered in sweat and all). Cars were a big thing throughout this trip. I was amazed at how he instinctively knew how to ‘zoom’ them across the floor or any flat surface. He could get so engrossed in them until he would not bother about eating his meal. Sigh. Boys.

So we’re back from a two week family trip to Malaysia. The main catalyst for the trip was to attend my sis-in-law’s wedding. After that we took a road trip down to Melaka and Batu Pahat with my parents and my aunt + nephew + niece. Travelling with a nearly one and a half year old toddler was a totally different experience than our last trip with a 10-month old . As his schedule was complete different now, I anticipated that he would be awake for most of the flight. I armed myself with a busy-bag filled with all sorts of things to keep him occupied as I didn’t want to be the target if glaring looks from fellow passengers with a cranky, fidgety toddler in tow. Clockwise from left: Snack trap filled with nibblies which Nathan can reach into without spilling the contents out'; Activity/colouring/sticker books; Favourite story books; Play-wallet – I filled an old purse with unused cards which he can fiddle around with; Pompom popping game – an old container with a hole on top and a fe...