Tuesday 28 February 2006

Hey!

Our latest challenge is getting Sarah to stop saying "Hey!" when calling out to others, especially Matt. We reminded her last night before putting her to bed, and she sweetly agreed: "Cannot say 'hey'".

This morning, while the rest of us were getting ready for work and school, she took out her little pad of ink stamps and began stamping away happily. Until Matt noted: "Hey Daddy, Sarah's pressing her thumb onto the ink!"

Indignant, the little girl retorted, "Hey! Don't 'hey' me!"

The brainwashing continues...

Thursday 23 February 2006

Kidtalk

Overhead conversation between Matt (nearly 5) and Sarah (nearly 3). Background: she's supposed to stop sucking her thumb and everyone's constantly reminding her.

Matt goes, "Sarah, don't suck thumb!"

Sarah promptly pulls it out and asks, "Is it... cute?"

"No!"

"Is it... funny?"

"No!"

"Is it... dirty?"

"Yes!!!"

Wednesday 22 February 2006

House, car, baby.

No, we’re not starting out all over again. Just another cosmic thing that they’re all happening at the same time, once more.

4th bedroom is nearly ready. They just need to install the door and window and paint it all up. We need to get the furnishings (IKEA, where else) and put them in place. The living room has become a lot smaller but the layout somehow still works. Can’t believe our 5-room flat now has four bedrooms! Even when we stop needing a helper next time, the fourth room will be a real bonus to have. Makes me even more reluctant to think about moving now that our place is so optimized.

Honda Edix is being processed. We’re waiting for the bank to approve the loan, the Ford Focus to be sold, and the Edix to get kitted up according to our specifications. Hopefully delivery will be mid March. It’s a little unnerving to be buying from a parallel importer, after hearing so many bad things about PIs in general. Horrors from our first-time car-buying experience come to mind, but I don’t think we could ever get it nearly as bad again.

Baby is growing: last checked 1.1 kg at 28 weeks, nice average size, and kicking lots now, mostly when I’m trying to go to sleep. 10 more weeks! We pray she’s normal and healthy, and a great nurser and sleeper to boot. Nothing seems quite real in this waiting time. It’s rather nice actually, to feel so remote from the usual annoyances. Oh they’re still there, but they’ve lost their effect, somehow. We’re just coasting along...

Wednesday 15 February 2006

U-Turn

D'you often have to make U-turns on what you said?

I remember many instances openly declaring in the past that we will / won't be doing this or that (esp. regarding the kids), but even in these few short years we already see ourselves changing our minds and doing the exact opposite.

One U-turn is the “kids no go school until 5 years old” one. We eventually sent Matt at N2 – 4 years old. In a few weeks, Sarah’s going in at N1 – a whole year earlier than Matt.

Another U-turn we’re right in the midst of navigating now is the “change car waste money only” one. In a couple of months we’re going to have to move 3 child seats and 3 adults around on weekends. We’ve considered getting a 2nd car on an off-peak licence, to catch the spillover from our current Ford Focus. A Kia Picanto has been on the cards since end last year, when we calculated that it actually works out cheaper to run 2 cars than to sell the Focus and get say a Mazda 5.

Amazingly, prices of >5 seater cars like the Toyota Wish and Honda Edix have fallen by over S$10,000 since we last did our sums. All things considered, we’re actually going to save money if we swap the Focus for an Edix now. Incredible! or should I say Providential?

All the more when a big chunk of the cash top-up just got wired over to me for a scholarship I won way back in 2000! Did somebody upstairs know that we’d have blown the scholarship money on a holiday or something, and so wisely withheld it until now, when we really need it?

Thursday 2 February 2006

Chinese Zodiac - year of the ...?

Matt often gets distracted and keeps food in his mouth during meal times instead of chewing and swallowing. He just did it again, so I said, rather tersely, "Matt, chew your food. You're not a hamster."

His reply: "I'm not a hamster because I'm a snake, I'm born in the Year of the Snake right? I'm not born in the Year of the Hamster."

I managed to continue looking stern for about 2 more seconds.