Drewby

I asked Andrew what he would like to be called when he grows up. Andy? Drew? Drewby? (that's my pet name for him)

"Drewby!"

I couldn't resist asking, "Who calls you that?"

"You la!"

Smelly

Andrew wanted me to wind down the car windows on the way home from his Chinese class.

I told him it wasn't a good thing to do as the road was full of exhaust fumes, the exhaust was unhealthy, and also smelly.

He said, "When you smell smelly things, when you smell my toes, you'll be smelly right?"

Dino Drinker

Reading his dinosaur picturebook with his daddy, Andrew asked, "Why the coelophysis drink from the swimming pool?" It was depicted drinking from a pond.

Sean asked him, "How should it drink?"

Andrew replied, "From a cup!"

From The Mouth Of Babes

Sean had taken Andrew and his Maxi Micro scooter to the nearby Punggol Waterway, a nice place for jogging and cycling.

As one lady ran towards them, Andrew pointed at her and asked loudly, "Why some people take off their clothes?" She was wearing a sports bra and shorts.

I guess it's really not very different from the situation in Hans Christian Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes," except it's now called 'fashion.'

Dirty Things

From his car seat, Andrew annouced, "I'm eating dirty things, Mummy!"

I looked around at him, trying to see any potential source of "dirty things," but everything seemed fine. So I asked, "Where?"

"In my mouth."

"Where did you get it from?!"

"My nose."

Sugar Bread

When we went to the supermarket today, we discovered that the cheerful little confectionery on the side had been torn down. Andrew used to get a sweet butter bun there on our weekly grocery trips. Now, it was a desolation strewn with wreckage, puddles soaking the floor.

He looked on the scene quietly. Then he said, "No more sugar bread for me."

We packed the groceries into the boot and drove home. On the way back in the car, he suddenly said, "My sugar bread is lost. I feel very sad. I am going to cry."

How To React On Being Locked Out

"OI!! MOMMY AND DADDY!! OPEN THE DOOR!! IT'S LOCKED! CANNOT LOCK THE DOOR!.... Ah?!"

That would be Andrew on waking up from his nap.

Not A Cute Boy

Sophie said to Andrew, "You're so cute!!"

"I'm not cute! I'm clever boy. And hamsome boy. And angry boy!"

Not Working

Andrew stood in the bathroom, waiting to pee, but without success.

"Daddy, it's not working, my p****!"

Later on, while showering, he suddenly peed.

"It's working now!"

Mercedes Boy

"Mercedes Boy" is a song by Pebbles, released in 1987.

Sean played it in the car one day, while driving with Andrew. After listening to it for a while, Andrew asked, "Is that the Mercedes song?"

Sean said yes.

When the song ended, Andrew asked, "Can I have the Kia song?"

Serious.

One of our toys is broken and has been glued back, waiting to dry.

"Children!" *waving a threatening finger* "Listen ah! Nobody touch it!"

That would be Andrew, warning the rest of us. He had broken the toy, by the way.

Sean says to him, "Oh, you're being so serious!"

Andrew retorts in a stern tone of voice, "I'm not serious!"

Lo!

We were at the supermarket - Sean pushing the trolley with Andrew in it while I went around with a basket to pick up the vegetables.

Andrew suddenly asked Sean, "Is that your Lo?"

"My what?" Then he saw what Andrew was referring to and realised what Andrew meant. 

"Yes," replied Sean.

When I caught up with them, he told me what had happened. I couldn't help asking Andrew what it was.

"Daddy's," he replied.

"Daddy's what?"

"Lo."

"Milo?"

"Daddy's."

"Is that also your Lo?"

"Yes, Milo," placing his little hand on his chest.

Angrew

"I'm be angry!"

That's what Andrew says a lot these days. The slightest thing sets him off. When he says that, we'd tell him, "Okay!"

"Don't say 'Okay'!"

"All right."

"Don't say 'All right'!"

Nothing satisfies him. Then he catches sight of some passing car and goes "Volkswagen!" or "Ford!" or whatever it may be. That cures him in a jiffy. He's really mad about cars at the moment.

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Another time, Rachel was whining in the car because she didn't get the song she wanted on the stereo.

"Seriously, Rachel!"

We all stared! That was Andrew! He must have picked that up from Sarah, our latest teen.

Or he might go, "I suppose," if you ask him what he thought.

He might also put a knowing finger on his chin and say, "Hmm, let me think."

Are you happy or sad?

I asked Andrew, "Are you happy?"

He didn't reply, so I asked instead, "Are you sad?"

"I'm Andrew!"

Andrew's Sayings

If the kid doesn't get something that he wants very much, he goes, "Silly day!"

So if I tell him that he cannot play with my tablet anymore, he'll frown at me and say, "Tsk! Silly day! Mommy!" in very emphatic tones.

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We know that the rubbish truck is at the next block collecting trash when its unmistakable whine comes on. You can see it from the living room windows.

Andrew runs to the windows, calling out, "Ruddish truck! Give me back my pacifier!"

Way to school

Now that Rachel is going to a new kindergarten along Thomson Road, we drive her there every morning. Andrew often comes along and we sometimes take him for prata at the Casuarina prata place on our way home, since we have to pass it by anyway.

Sean being on a work trip, I was doing the sending one morning.  Somehow it got around to Rachel trying to get Andrew to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." She asked him to sing it a few times, but without success. She tried another approach.

Rachel: Andrew, Andrew! Sing "twing"!

Andrew: Kel.

Rachel: Twing.

Andrew: Kel.

Rachel: Li.

Andrew: Tel, star.

Rachel: How.

Andrew: I.

Rachel: Won.

Andrew: Der.

Rachel: What.

Andrew: Joo.

Rachel: Are.

Andrew: Star! Go eat prata!

Training

Sean is away on a work trip and Rachel began talking about him being on holiday. I quickly corrected her, telling her that 'Daddy is not on holiday, he's working, he's gone to Hanoi to teach people, and that's called "training".'

She commented, 'Oh, like training a dog right?'

I didn't think it would be quite correct to reply with a resounding 'Yes!', so I just repeated that he would be training people, and they would be using computers.

She said, 'Yes I know, training, like when you're training dogs and cats.'

Cats! I gave up.

Sorry?

Andrew clambered onto Rachel who was sitting on a floor cushion.

Sophie said to him, 'Say sorry to Rachel!'

Andrew retorted adamantly, 'No sorry Rachel!'

Then he turned to Rachel and said, 'Sorry Rachel.'

My Son Of Singapore

One of Andrew's favourite phrases these days:

"Stop it.... LAH!!"

And he'll say it over and over again when he's particularly displeased, to the verge of tears if it happens to be a case of him not getting what he wants.

The songs he asks for at bedtime now are:

1. Bicycle Som (songngngng!) a.k.a." Bicycle Race" by Queen
2. Dye-soar Som a.k.a. "Walking In Your Footsteps" by The Police
3. Gott Low a.k.a. "I Want To Break Free" by Queen

I love my samsengkiah!

Put To Bed

Halfway putting Andrew to bed after his shower, Sean and I had to leave to pick Rachel up from her Chinese enrichment class at Beijing Language Centre at Punggol Plaza, as we were running late.

I had already put his diaper on him but he was still not dressed, and still drinking milk from his bottle. The three older ones were with him and we left them to say prayers together, dress him, get his bottle and towel out of the room after he's done, hang up his waterproof rubber mat, lay him down, switch off the light, slide the door shut and hook on the latch.

When we got back I asked Sarah how it went and she said he was pretty good. She said he said something about 'chicken.' After laying him down, he tried to get out of the room, but she put him back and quickly turned off the light, and he settled down. As she left the room she heard him say, "Thank youm, Jiejie.'

Awww!