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Daphne

Theo

You’re 3, Theo!!

August 10, 2017

We’re still in the middle of moving madness (so exhausting!) but baby Theo turned 3 a few weeks back so today’s post is all about my littlest boy.

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Hey Theo,

You’re 3!! Look at you, all grown up like a big boy!

I know I’m supposed to love all my babies regardless but I need to tell you that you’re such a delight to have around. I like hanging out with you so much. Which possibly explains why you’re still not in school. All your older siblings were in preschool from 2 years old but you spent the last year hanging out with me at home, running errands, making sandwiches, going to the library, working on our very poorly done art pieces that nobody should ever be made to see. I’d pretend to call it homeschooling but the truth is that I liked having you all to myself so much, I just wanted a little more time with you before you started doing all that rapid growing up.

You are super advanced for your age. It’s very disconcerting looking at your tiny 3-year-old body when you’re telling me things because 3-year-olds don’t talk like this. You have a remarkable understanding of things and you’ve also got an explanation for everything.

In explaining to grandma why you had to go home yesterday, you said “I need to go home now to be with my family. I’ll come back next time ok?” FYI, grandma is your family, but I know, mommy is your entire world right now and I’ll have it that way for as long as I can.

Last week, I told you that I couldn’t bring you along to KK Hospital when Hayley was ill and you were like “but then I’ll miss you and you’ll miss me, so you should just bring me with you.”

You’re also actively working on overcoming your fears, which is incredible for anyone of any age. Like you used to hate the feel of sand on your skin; just a few grains of sand would drive you completely nuts. We’d try to bring you to the beach, but you would stay in the middle of the beach mat where it was safe. But after seeing how much fun your siblings were having playing with sand, you decided to give it a go. At first, you were like “eww eww eww why am I doing this?” but you powered through and now you even let your siblings bury your entire body in the sand. Achievement unlocked.

Look at this face. This is the face of someone who knows he took on his irrational fear and won.

Your favourite colour is green, and by extension, you like green frogs, green turtles, green lizards. I try my best to be a supportive parent, but really, who likes green things? You don’t see adorable green baby seals or green puppies or green unicorns; in fact, even the word green can go full on alliteration with gross, so that should tell you something.

But a boy likes what a boy likes so we got you a collection of favourite green friends, which you adore. On this note, I will cuddle your stuffed green frog but the line is drawn at an actual slimy, jumpy, very much alive green frog. You will not, under any circumstances, bring a real frog home, understand?? Your poor mother cannot deal with that. This momma loves her green-loving boy but if those green things are reptiles or amphibians, that’s where the line is.

You love hanging out with your older siblings but I know you have a soft spot for your baby sister. You’re really good with her too, always remembering to check in on her or running back to kiss her gently when you’re off having fun.

You will save some of your snacks for her, and even though some of the pieces were so tiny, I know how much it means to you and I suppose the thought (and tiny crumb) does count.

Last time I checked (this morning), you’re still a foodie and I still enjoy watching you enjoy your food. The highlight of your birthday was the chocolate cake that you chose on your own. We went to several cake shops to take a look before you decided on the nicest one. “This one looks delicious, let’s get this mom!” You looked so thrilled watching the lady write “Happy birthday, Theo!!” in squiggly white frosting (they didn’t have green frosting). Excellent choice, by the way, the cake was indeed delicious.

Being a 4th kid can feel like you’re lost in the crowd sometimes but mommy will always have time for you. Always. :)

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from around here

Moving day

July 25, 2017

These past few weeks have been crazier than usual because we’re moving this weekend. After being in this rental apartment for almost two years, the owners  have decided to sell the place so what this means is that we will have to vacate the premises at the end of the lease, which is in two days time.

Amazingly, we received notification that our new place is ready ahead of schedule and we’ll be getting our keys today (cutting it very close, I know!). This gives us no time at all to prep the new place before shifting but on the bright side, we won’t be homeless so that’s something to be thankful for. We’ll have to work on the minor renovations after we shift in, which is not ideal, but I’ll take it.

Since the start of the month, I’ve begun progressively packing stuff and clearing our furniture on carousell. The kids were like “MOMMMMM where’s the sofa and dining table and bed??? Where will we sit and eat and sleep?” and I had to tell them that minimalist living is all the rage these days. I don’t think they bought it.

This process of packing up my life into large boxes has been very cathartic. Shifting homes is an excellent time to go all out and ruthlessly declutter like Japanese cleaning guru Marie Kondo. I’ve been very inspired to Kondo my life after watching a video of this dude who has less than 50 items in his entire home. Like a spoon is 1 item, a tshirt is 1 item, a toothbrush is 1 item…the guy has a total of 50 items in his life. So I’m like, okay, I have 8 people living here, we are allowed 400 items, surely I can make it under 400.

I grabbed a large trash bag, double bagged it as a signal of intent, and went around my home looking for stuff to clear. First stop was the kids’ toy bin. I peered into the lego box and there were about 200 pieces in there, mixed in with random stray parts from other toys. This was going to be more challenging than I thought. Maybe if I build it into a large structure, it would count as 1 item? And then maybe if I stuff that and all their other toys into a large bin, it would also count as 1 item? Looks like I’ll have to improvise the nesting doll application of the KonMari method.

I also tried to explain the concept of decluttering to the kids, like “guys, we need to be ruthless. If you look at an item and it doesn’t bring you joy, we need to let it go to a better home” and Truett immediately went to his stack of 新天地 magazines and said “mom, I think we need to let these go, they bring me zero joy.” Smarty pants. I told him to consider if it would bring him even less joy to have to explain to his Chinese teacher why his homework has been sent away to a new home. That would be in the negative zone of joy.

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We’ll miss this place we called home for the past two years; it’s been good to us and we’ve made some awesome memories here. The next couple of weeks will be exciting though, but then new beginnings always are.

More updates to come after we settle in to the new place. :)

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Kirsten

8 is pretty great

July 21, 2017

This is a special birthday post for a really special kid. Yeah, this kid.

Hey Kirsten,

You’re 8!!! You were looking forward to turning 8 so much and I’m so thrilled that it’s finally here! :)

For your birthday this year, you wanted a huge party with fireworks and life sized balloons and a giant cake, but then I was all “WHAT??!! How about a day out at the pool, extra hugs, no balloons and a much smaller cake?” and you were immediately like “Yeah ok sure sounds fun!“, no questions asked.

You’re such a great kid and everyday, I’m thankful that I get to have you as my baby. I kind of miss having you as a tiny baby, you were so adorable and squishy with your crazy chubby cheeks. I had the best time munching them. I tried to munch your cheeks while you were asleep last week and I’m sad to say that they’re extremely unmunchable these days. Also, you swiped me away with your sleepy hand, so I get the idea. Ain’t no more munching for me. I guess 8 is where the munching stops.

Watching you grow up has been one of the greatest joys of my life. And it’s extra special because you’re so much like me. You and me, we’re cut from the same cloth. Rule followers. Overachievers (ahem, model pupil award, congrats again!). People pleasers. Problem solvers. Non-confrontational (most of the time). A little bit bossy but it’s only because it pains us to watch people doing it wrong when there’s clearly a better way to do things (although we try really hard to rein it in). We like people to like us, which is both good and bad. Big crowds make us uncomfortable and we’re most happy being with family and a handful of good friends.

I know all the potential pitfalls that come with this particular personality trait and I hope you make different mistakes than I did, because those that I made aren’t worth making again.

What kind of mistakes? So many. We’ll talk more about this but here’s one:

One time there was a sports meet in school and we were all grouped according to houses to cheer for all the runners. When it was my brother’s turn to race, I thought I was being cool and badass by jeering him instead of cheering for him. I was such a brat and that was a totally bratty thing to do, which I immediately regretted but it was too late because it had already been done. The craziest thing was that I liked my big brother and I secretly wanted him to win – I just didn’t want to look like a baby in front of all my friends.

If anyone ever tells you that it’s not cool to cheer for your siblings or whatever, do it anyway because taking stupid coolness advice from other kids is the very definition of uncool.

Although looking at how much you adore your brothers and baby sister, I think you already know this.

I know being such a good kid can be a drag. You’re always expected to do the right thing and give in to the little babies and be the thoughtful, responsible older kid. When the mayhem escalates, you have to wait your turn while we sort out everyone else. I’m sorry it seems like we take you for granted sometimes. I want you to know that mommy appreciates all the things you do and I’m so, so glad you’re my baby.

Actually now that I think about it, you’re also pretty different from me. You’re basically like a superior v2.0 upgrade with more awesome features. You’re not terrified of lizards and bugs. Lizards are the bane of my existence but you’re like “I don’t even care if a lizard climbs on me, I’ll just flick it away.” Just so you know, I’ll fight a lizard with my bare hands for you if I have to, but since you don’t mind fighting them yourself…well thanks!

Also, your pain threshold? Very impressive. When you fell and split open your chin, you were so calm even when it hurt and blood was pouring out of your face. You sat bravely through the stitches and at the end of it, you just smiled and said “Phew, that wasn’t so bad!” I had a similar stitching incident on my finger (while trying to cut frozen chocolate) when I was about your age and grandma will tell you that I was nowhere near as calm or non-screamy.

In a few years, we’ll have to navigate the teenage situation that parents of teens try to warn me about. Hey, promise you’ll talk to me ok? In return, I promise to listen without judgement. I will however, offer excellent advice and also ice cream.

I know I say this a lot but one more wouldn’t hurt – mommy loves you so much! Happy birthday, sweetheart.

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