Y'know that little pirate I talked about yesterday? Well, he's really been getting up to some mischief lately.
He's been trying to raid my drawers and cupboards for anything that might become a new toy. He just sieves through everything, looking for something or other of interest. One day, he got into my secret hiding place for all the Thomas activity books. He sure thought he stumbled upon treasure that day! (Don't worry, there is nothing dangerous that he can get into. Its just a pain having to put everything back.)
Another day, while I was busy blogging here, he was being extremely co-operative. He said he would "work on his scrap book". All the supplies and stuff were on the floor behind me and I could hear him humming away. When I was done, I turned around to find that instead of glueing his cutouts into his scrapbook, they were all stuck fast to the floor!
Then today, while Iwan, our driver, was in the house playing with Aaron a little while I found that all the pegs had been pulled apart. I thought they were sturdy little things but he somehow managed to pry them all into two.
Iwan just let out a big laugh at it. He seemed to pat Aaron on the back a little, sort of in a congratulatory way. Then he says to me "He's just going to get more and more naughty. Its great! Much better than if he just sat there being quiet."
He said it with so much enthusiasm and pride that initially, I looked at him and thought to myself "Sheesh. Only a guy would say this. Someone who doesn't have to spend the day with the children!". I know that its good for children to be curious about the world around them and of course, that was what Iwan was getting at anyway. He just put it in a way that I didn't expect.
Anyway, the attitudes of people here towards children have always made a very strong impression on me. I always marvel at how almost everybody you meet is a child friendly person. Everyone seems to have a way with kids. And, all of them appear to be incredibly tolerant of all sorts of behavior. I frequently hear them saying "Oh, he's just a child" or "Kids are kids" no matter what the child is doing. They just seem so understanding of all the development that children go through. (By the way, I doubt there is such a thing as controlled crying of any babies here. If they have trouble sleeping and cry, they're just immediately picked up and soothed.)
So, while Aaron gets more mischievous by the day, I'm trying to take a more light hearted approach to it and laugh at most (not all) of his antics. Its less stressful for everyone and he does see the reasoning most of the time. I don't want to be one of those mothers that throws a fit over every little thing. I'm still not Indonesian though so if its anything defiant or unreasonable, there will still be consequences. Ha! Ha!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
He Thinks He's A Pirate!
Over the past week, Aaron has developed this new habit of running out whenever he hears other little kids outside. Sometimes, they are down the road and don't see him. He doesn't see it as a problem, he just stands there and knocks the padlock against the gate to get their attention.
The first time I asked him what he was doing, he said he was trying to warn the kids not to fall into the drains. It puzzled me but I left it at that. They were actually playing in the drains. So he kept yelling out in Indonesian "Awas! Awas!". Eventually, one of the kids came over to chat with him.
So each day, he hears kids, runs out, and bangs on the gate to get their attention.
A couple of days ago, there were two girls outside. He tries the same trick and eventually they come over. They know he speaks English so they said "Hello baby".
His answer completely take me by surprise. He says "Hello there me hearties!". My little almost three year old.....*LOL*
He then starts talking some sort of gibberish to them and they just giggle. Later on, he tries to put on some pirate accent and ask them what their names are only he doesn't understand their answers. I think he's getting this from watching Captain Feathersword on The Wiggles.
Perhaps I should start giving him pointers now on how to talk to girls. Otherwise, he'll start thinking that all this pirate talk must be the way to go since these two were highly entertained by him.
The first time I asked him what he was doing, he said he was trying to warn the kids not to fall into the drains. It puzzled me but I left it at that. They were actually playing in the drains. So he kept yelling out in Indonesian "Awas! Awas!". Eventually, one of the kids came over to chat with him.
So each day, he hears kids, runs out, and bangs on the gate to get their attention.
A couple of days ago, there were two girls outside. He tries the same trick and eventually they come over. They know he speaks English so they said "Hello baby".
His answer completely take me by surprise. He says "Hello there me hearties!". My little almost three year old.....*LOL*
He then starts talking some sort of gibberish to them and they just giggle. Later on, he tries to put on some pirate accent and ask them what their names are only he doesn't understand their answers. I think he's getting this from watching Captain Feathersword on The Wiggles.
Perhaps I should start giving him pointers now on how to talk to girls. Otherwise, he'll start thinking that all this pirate talk must be the way to go since these two were highly entertained by him.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Jaws vs Alien
My body is making me think of two particular movies at the moment: Jaws and Alien. There is something in there, but I can't quite feel it yet. Sometimes I think there is a nudge, like Jaws brushing innocently against a leg or a boat. And then, the thought of having something growing in me reminds me of the bursting-through-the-chest scene from Alien. I should really change that image in my head to perhaps being a Trill except my symbiont is a fresh being with no memories or experiences.
Sometimes its like a squirming movement in my belly. I think I feel it but I can't be sure. And, I've forgotten what those early fetal movements feel like. The ones I remember are the solid kicks and elbows when I least expected it. Or the uncomfortable shuffle for a better position similar to what Richard does after being squashed in economy airline seats.
Surely its just a matter of weeks now before I can prompt some movements. This is the part I've been looking forward to. Its amusing as well as reassuring. As long as the baby is moving, everything should be fine. I never really found out if it was ok to be doing this but I've got my torch ready again. I imagine it making some sort of sun on the inside. That always got Aaron jumping about.
Even though I'm being reminded of these two movies, I haven't and will not be watching any scary movies. Under normal circumstances, I already find it so difficult to watch any movies with things that may suddenly jump out or, the opposite, movies with too much suspense in it. I have to mute the TV if the suspense builds too much! Imagine all the stress hormones I'd be releasing to the baby! So, I'm avoiding them all and sticking to humour, drama and trash.
Sometimes its like a squirming movement in my belly. I think I feel it but I can't be sure. And, I've forgotten what those early fetal movements feel like. The ones I remember are the solid kicks and elbows when I least expected it. Or the uncomfortable shuffle for a better position similar to what Richard does after being squashed in economy airline seats.
Surely its just a matter of weeks now before I can prompt some movements. This is the part I've been looking forward to. Its amusing as well as reassuring. As long as the baby is moving, everything should be fine. I never really found out if it was ok to be doing this but I've got my torch ready again. I imagine it making some sort of sun on the inside. That always got Aaron jumping about.
Even though I'm being reminded of these two movies, I haven't and will not be watching any scary movies. Under normal circumstances, I already find it so difficult to watch any movies with things that may suddenly jump out or, the opposite, movies with too much suspense in it. I have to mute the TV if the suspense builds too much! Imagine all the stress hormones I'd be releasing to the baby! So, I'm avoiding them all and sticking to humour, drama and trash.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Learning To Write Chinese Characters
Richard went to a Chinese primary and secondary school where he learnt to read, write and speak Mandarin. I am extremely envious of this because my reading, writing and speaking is probably at the Grade 1 standard. Even my parents regret it a little that they didn't send us to Chinese schools.
So, we're trying to have Richard speak only in Mandarin at home. It will help me as well as allow Aaron to grow up hearing the language whenever Richard is around. Recently, we've seen a slight surge in Aaron's speaking with Richard. At least he no longer answers in English whenever Richard says something in Mandarin.
Richard spends around 3 to 4 hours with Aaron each day and a lot of that time is spent playing or out on walks. This has left very little time for any sort of writing or even introduction to writing Chinese characters.
I think Aaron is pretty good with the pencil now and can do all his English alphabets and numbers decently. I've started trying to teach him how to write some simple Chinese characters but this is so hard!
The problem isn't so much recognizing the characters. At his age, I think everything still looks like a picture. But, learning to write them is a whole different story.
Each character has a number of strokes, the strokes have to be written in a certain order, and each stroke needs to start at a particular point. Take the character for hand for example.
It looks simple enough. Yet, you have to remember to do the three "horizontal" strokes first before the "vertical" one. And, the top most "horizontal" one needs to go from right to left, whereas, the other two go from left to right. Oh, you also can't life your pencil when moving from the "vertical" stroke to that slight up tick.
Thankfully, there are quite a few simple characters I can go through with him before I reach something like "dog" which is not terribly complicated but still hard for a 3 year old:
I know that in the Chinese schools, children are made to write a page or more of each character. I have one of those exercise books here and there are 195 squares to a page! Its not the most imaginative way to interest a child in Chinese but I guess those that went to Chinese schools had no choice and knew no better.
Bilbo has a post today on the dying art of handwriting. Yesterday, I read an article on how the number of internet users in China is more than the entire population of the US. I wonder if writing of Chinese characters will one day also become a dying art. Its not unthinkable since keyboards can be used to type out characters. All you would need to do is remember what the radicals look like and where they are on the keyboard (and maybe make a selection from proposed characters). So, you'd still need to be able to read and recognize characters but maybe one day, people won't remember which strokes come first or which direction they go in. I think there is an even simpler way too where they do it by typing the pinyin which is basically Romanized Chinese. So, I think its unlikely, but not completely unthinkable that people may eventually forget how to write the characters. Or at least forget how to write them correctly.
I get really frustrated trying to teach Aaron how to write but I think its something thats worth persevering with. I'm not giving up yet but I've told Richard that he's the Primary Chinese Tutor in the house!
So, we're trying to have Richard speak only in Mandarin at home. It will help me as well as allow Aaron to grow up hearing the language whenever Richard is around. Recently, we've seen a slight surge in Aaron's speaking with Richard. At least he no longer answers in English whenever Richard says something in Mandarin.
Richard spends around 3 to 4 hours with Aaron each day and a lot of that time is spent playing or out on walks. This has left very little time for any sort of writing or even introduction to writing Chinese characters.
I think Aaron is pretty good with the pencil now and can do all his English alphabets and numbers decently. I've started trying to teach him how to write some simple Chinese characters but this is so hard!
The problem isn't so much recognizing the characters. At his age, I think everything still looks like a picture. But, learning to write them is a whole different story.
Each character has a number of strokes, the strokes have to be written in a certain order, and each stroke needs to start at a particular point. Take the character for hand for example.
It looks simple enough. Yet, you have to remember to do the three "horizontal" strokes first before the "vertical" one. And, the top most "horizontal" one needs to go from right to left, whereas, the other two go from left to right. Oh, you also can't life your pencil when moving from the "vertical" stroke to that slight up tick.
Thankfully, there are quite a few simple characters I can go through with him before I reach something like "dog" which is not terribly complicated but still hard for a 3 year old:
I know that in the Chinese schools, children are made to write a page or more of each character. I have one of those exercise books here and there are 195 squares to a page! Its not the most imaginative way to interest a child in Chinese but I guess those that went to Chinese schools had no choice and knew no better.
Bilbo has a post today on the dying art of handwriting. Yesterday, I read an article on how the number of internet users in China is more than the entire population of the US. I wonder if writing of Chinese characters will one day also become a dying art. Its not unthinkable since keyboards can be used to type out characters. All you would need to do is remember what the radicals look like and where they are on the keyboard (and maybe make a selection from proposed characters). So, you'd still need to be able to read and recognize characters but maybe one day, people won't remember which strokes come first or which direction they go in. I think there is an even simpler way too where they do it by typing the pinyin which is basically Romanized Chinese. So, I think its unlikely, but not completely unthinkable that people may eventually forget how to write the characters. Or at least forget how to write them correctly.
I get really frustrated trying to teach Aaron how to write but I think its something thats worth persevering with. I'm not giving up yet but I've told Richard that he's the Primary Chinese Tutor in the house!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
I Promise To Travel
One of my single friends mentioned recently that she thinks she may be too selfish to have any children. She likes her lifestyle, her home and all its furnishings and has an addiction to travel. Yes, kids are costly and time consuming. And some fleeting moments, even though she has a work life that I wouldn't want, I do envy her Friday nights of hanging out with friends till the early hours of the morning.
So maybe her rewards for all the hard work she puts in are the nights out, trips abroad, meals at fancy restaurants and of course, professional status.
But, what about SAHMs? Like me, for example. Supposedly, the reward is that we watch these little miracles take their first steps, say their first words, go potty, etc etc etc. (I guess working people will say that I get to slack around all day long.)
I sincerely hope this isn't all there is. I mean, I once had that lifestyle. Y'know, the one that involved traveling? Its the traveling that I'm most "worried" about. I've got another one on the way! Anywhere I go, I'd like to go as a family but soon, its going to be a family of F.O.U.R. Hard to imagine...the money, the extra organisation involved, the extra tantrums perhaps, but surely there will be extra fun.
Since Aaron was born, we've "travelled" a lot but we haven't really been on any major trips to places we've never been to (except Bali, which was easy). Firstly, half our trips were back to Ipoh. I felt I had to do that because my grandparents are all around the 90 year mark and its important for Aaron to get to know them now. The other half of my trips were to Brisbane and that was always when Richard couldn't get away from work and I needed a break from Palembang.
Do I sound like I'm complaining? Well, I'm not. I know I'm lucky to get to change location as often as I do. But, I'm making a promise, here and now, to travel to those destinations on my "Must Visit" list. I've got to work out the money, and the time, and balance it with time (and money) spent going back to Ipoh.
I think my first target is Kyoto, Japan. That one is going to cost me extra because its the place I've been wanting to take my mother to. I'm planning!
So maybe her rewards for all the hard work she puts in are the nights out, trips abroad, meals at fancy restaurants and of course, professional status.
But, what about SAHMs? Like me, for example. Supposedly, the reward is that we watch these little miracles take their first steps, say their first words, go potty, etc etc etc. (I guess working people will say that I get to slack around all day long.)
I sincerely hope this isn't all there is. I mean, I once had that lifestyle. Y'know, the one that involved traveling? Its the traveling that I'm most "worried" about. I've got another one on the way! Anywhere I go, I'd like to go as a family but soon, its going to be a family of F.O.U.R. Hard to imagine...the money, the extra organisation involved, the extra tantrums perhaps, but surely there will be extra fun.
Since Aaron was born, we've "travelled" a lot but we haven't really been on any major trips to places we've never been to (except Bali, which was easy). Firstly, half our trips were back to Ipoh. I felt I had to do that because my grandparents are all around the 90 year mark and its important for Aaron to get to know them now. The other half of my trips were to Brisbane and that was always when Richard couldn't get away from work and I needed a break from Palembang.
Do I sound like I'm complaining? Well, I'm not. I know I'm lucky to get to change location as often as I do. But, I'm making a promise, here and now, to travel to those destinations on my "Must Visit" list. I've got to work out the money, and the time, and balance it with time (and money) spent going back to Ipoh.
I think my first target is Kyoto, Japan. That one is going to cost me extra because its the place I've been wanting to take my mother to. I'm planning!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Photostory Friday - Determination & Team Work
I really wish I knew how to take a better photo of this. It was fascinating to watch. Seriously! Even Aaron was interested in them.
We've got the ant situation enough under control so they don't come to the kitchen or onto the dining table. BUT, for food dropped anywhere else in the house, they're the super cleaners.
This little army of ants worked on two good sized crumbs for over 12 hours. As you can see, the hole they were trying to take them down was way too small. They just kept maneuvering in and out, backwards and forwards, left and right, over and over again. I wonder what they were saying to each other the whole time??
I noticed them around 4pm the other day. A couple of hours later, I noticed that they were still at it. Thats when I took the photos. As we watched TV that night, they were still hard at work.
I saw them drop the crumbs numerous times but they just went back down to the floor, picked it up and started all over again. I checked on them before going to bed and they were still working at it.
The next morning, they were all gone! Crumbs too! I'm sure they didn't figure out an alternate route. I think they nibbled as they worked and finally, it was small enough to take down that hole. Talk about determination and team work!
Here's a link to some interesting ant facts. I've cut and paste a few of them here:
If a man could run as fast for his size as an ant can, he could run as fast as a racehorse.
Ants can lift 20 times their own body weight.
An ant brain has about 250 000 brain cells. A human brain has 10,000 million so a colony of 40,000 ants has collectively the same size brain as a human.
Some worker ants are given the job of taking the rubbish from the nest and putting it outside in a special rubbish dump.
The Slave-Maker Ant raids the nests of other ants and steals their pupae. When these new ants hatch,they work as slaves within the colony.
Some ants sleep seven hours a day.
Some ants care for and "farm" other insects.
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek
We've got the ant situation enough under control so they don't come to the kitchen or onto the dining table. BUT, for food dropped anywhere else in the house, they're the super cleaners.
This little army of ants worked on two good sized crumbs for over 12 hours. As you can see, the hole they were trying to take them down was way too small. They just kept maneuvering in and out, backwards and forwards, left and right, over and over again. I wonder what they were saying to each other the whole time??
I noticed them around 4pm the other day. A couple of hours later, I noticed that they were still at it. Thats when I took the photos. As we watched TV that night, they were still hard at work.
I saw them drop the crumbs numerous times but they just went back down to the floor, picked it up and started all over again. I checked on them before going to bed and they were still working at it.
The next morning, they were all gone! Crumbs too! I'm sure they didn't figure out an alternate route. I think they nibbled as they worked and finally, it was small enough to take down that hole. Talk about determination and team work!
Here's a link to some interesting ant facts. I've cut and paste a few of them here:
If a man could run as fast for his size as an ant can, he could run as fast as a racehorse.
Ants can lift 20 times their own body weight.
An ant brain has about 250 000 brain cells. A human brain has 10,000 million so a colony of 40,000 ants has collectively the same size brain as a human.
Some worker ants are given the job of taking the rubbish from the nest and putting it outside in a special rubbish dump.
The Slave-Maker Ant raids the nests of other ants and steals their pupae. When these new ants hatch,they work as slaves within the colony.
Some ants sleep seven hours a day.
Some ants care for and "farm" other insects.
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Thursday Thirteen - Things I Learned
Its been awhile since I did a Thursday Thirteen so, why not? Anyway, here are the 13 things that I learned with Aaron. At least they won't surprise me in this second round.
1) It is not a waste of money to buy maternity clothes. At least you'll be comfortable and don't need to look too frumpy. I made a few of my tops but had no clue with the pants and ended up buying at about 7 months.
2) Don't worry about the fat you put on. Its required, and breastfeeding should help take care of it. I hope it works again this time.
3) You don't forget all about labor pains once its over. Memories. VERY VIVID. Not looking forward to next January.
4) Breastfeeding does not come naturally. Many painful lessons taken by both parties. I have also heard that just because we eventually worked it out the first time doesn't mean that breastfeeding baby #2 will be easier.
5) A breastfed baby's poop is NOT sweet smelling.
6) You don't need to worry if your breastfed baby does not do a No. 2 for 10 days. It will come when its ready, YOU just need to be ready for it.
7) There is no point trying to schedule breastfed feeds. Instead, adopt open 24 hrs, on demand, free drinks mentality.
8) The easiest way to put a baby to sleep is to feed it to sleep. Forget about all that sleep training and controlled crying. I was really hung up on this one and felt like a total failure when I couldn't get Aaron to sleep. Then I just gave in and life was restful.
9) Buying a baby all white things may look angelic before the baby actually arrives but it gets really boring. This time round, I'm going to find out the sex and do my shopping here in Indonesia where baby clothes are quite affordable.
10) Cloth nappies are great for the environment. BUT, when you're short of sleep, specifically, long stretches of sleep, the disposable kind may be the answer. After the first month, we did this during nights.
11) Nail scissors are much easier to use than nail clippers.
12) Don't be shocked to find your 3 month old balding and dropping hair all over his little mattress.
13) Finally, a mother not only needs time to rest but time to get online! It keeps her sane :)
I promised myself that I wouldn't let this blog become a pregnancy blog. I do try to keep things balanced here (baby, life in palembang, life in general etc) but I've been dying to announce this for weeks and now that I have, there are all these queued posts in me. Don't worry, I'll space them out. Different topic coming up tomorrow.
1) It is not a waste of money to buy maternity clothes. At least you'll be comfortable and don't need to look too frumpy. I made a few of my tops but had no clue with the pants and ended up buying at about 7 months.
2) Don't worry about the fat you put on. Its required, and breastfeeding should help take care of it. I hope it works again this time.
3) You don't forget all about labor pains once its over. Memories. VERY VIVID. Not looking forward to next January.
4) Breastfeeding does not come naturally. Many painful lessons taken by both parties. I have also heard that just because we eventually worked it out the first time doesn't mean that breastfeeding baby #2 will be easier.
5) A breastfed baby's poop is NOT sweet smelling.
6) You don't need to worry if your breastfed baby does not do a No. 2 for 10 days. It will come when its ready, YOU just need to be ready for it.
7) There is no point trying to schedule breastfed feeds. Instead, adopt open 24 hrs, on demand, free drinks mentality.
8) The easiest way to put a baby to sleep is to feed it to sleep. Forget about all that sleep training and controlled crying. I was really hung up on this one and felt like a total failure when I couldn't get Aaron to sleep. Then I just gave in and life was restful.
9) Buying a baby all white things may look angelic before the baby actually arrives but it gets really boring. This time round, I'm going to find out the sex and do my shopping here in Indonesia where baby clothes are quite affordable.
10) Cloth nappies are great for the environment. BUT, when you're short of sleep, specifically, long stretches of sleep, the disposable kind may be the answer. After the first month, we did this during nights.
11) Nail scissors are much easier to use than nail clippers.
12) Don't be shocked to find your 3 month old balding and dropping hair all over his little mattress.
13) Finally, a mother not only needs time to rest but time to get online! It keeps her sane :)
I promised myself that I wouldn't let this blog become a pregnancy blog. I do try to keep things balanced here (baby, life in palembang, life in general etc) but I've been dying to announce this for weeks and now that I have, there are all these queued posts in me. Don't worry, I'll space them out. Different topic coming up tomorrow.
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