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Thirty-Three

Noah arrived late to the whole talking thing, but he sure seems to be making up for lost time now. Honestly, I don’t remember when he first started speaking, and when he began using complete sentences, but these days, we can actually have conversations with him, and it’s been quite entertaining, to say the least. Of course, his logic is often flawed, but that’s what makes these conversations so hilarious!

I was just telling C the other day that even though we have videos of him when he was younger, I really can’t remember what he was like as a baby and toddler. Where has my baby disappeared to? Who is this preschooler who sounds so grown up? Just the other day, I gave him some water in his cup, and walked away to get something from the room. A while later, he appeared at the doorway of the room with his cup, looked at me and said, “Mummy, I spilt some water on the floor. Don’t worry, k? I will clean it up later. It’s okay.”

I was stunned (like vegetable, so they say these days, haha). “What? Who was that? That couldn’t have been my baby boy, could it?” The best part? After he had finished his cup of water, he went to grab some sheets of tissue paper, and proceeded to wipe up the puddle on the floor. He missed some spots, of course, but still! He’s into cleaning up these days, and loves sweeping/wiping the floor, unlike both his parents, may I add, so hopefully, he will continue to be helpful and enthusiastic about cleaning up his own messes.

Cleaning up yet another mess that he made


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At 33 months old, Noah is officially weaned, and that is something that I still feel very conflicted about. We’re starting on our next round of IVF soon (more on that in another post), and in order for that to happen, I had to wean him. I miss nursing him terribly, and I know he misses it too, because he still asks to “drink milk from mummy’s breast” every now and then. It breaks my heart to have to lie to him when I tell him that he finished it all the other night, and even more so when he tells me, “No, I think that side (points to one of my boobs) still got little bit more. You sleep, then tomorrow you’ll have more milk, okay?” SOB. I admit that I caved once, two days after I resolved to stop nursing him, because I wasn’t ready, but since then, I’ve been very good about saying no to him, and making up for it with plenty of cuddles instead. I even took some photos of that last session, on 2nd April 2015, just a reminder to myself that THAT was the very last time I would nurse Noah. Don’t worry, I’m not going to post those photos here, except for this one, with his little legs resting on my fat leg, as he suckled away, clueless that it was the last time he would be drinking milk from mummy. Sob sob.

It took Noah a while to get used to the idea, and he coped with the weaning process by putting his fingers in his mouth a lot during that period. It really bothered me that he was sucking on his fingers so much, and when I mentioned it casually to his teacher (Mrs L) one day, she gently told me that it was because I was weaning him. I felt so bad for not figuring it out on my own, and for scolding him whenever he put his hand into his mouth!

The last time I nursed him


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Noah is now on a mix of fresh milk and Pediasure, the latter because his PD recommended it when he noticed that his weight gain was non-existent. He used to be 9-10kg, but after I started him on Pediasure, he has gained 1-2kg, which is a lot, considering how he hadn’t been putting on weight for months.

I also used to nurse him to sleep, but now that I’ve stopped nursing him, it’s been quite tough getting him to settle down and sleep early. We still go through the usual bath-story-bed routine, but he has plenty of stall tactics, including asking for more stories, more milk, more water, more hugs from daddy, more kisses from mummy, you get the idea. Noah loves co-sleeping with us, but we really dislike getting kicked throughout the night, so I insist on putting him in his cot at night. I sit on my side of the bed to pat him to sleep, since his cot is right next to our bed, but it still takes quite some time for him to settle down. He begs to nap on our bed, and loves snuggling with me for his naps, so I usually oblige. Treasure the little moments, right?

Napping with mummy


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This is how he sleeps on our bed


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Ready for bed with all his cuddly friends


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Sexy Tarzan woke up in a good mood


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School is still pretty good for Noah, and he seems to be learning lots of songs in school. He’s been like a walking jukebox, and loves singing all the songs that he’s learnt in school. We’re happy that he can now sing more than two Chinese songs, although we still can’t figure out the lyrics to the Chinese prayer that he sings at mealtimes. I also love that he tells me all about what happens in school every day, including the “naughty” things that he does. Mrs L says that it’s because he doesn’t think that he has done anything wrong, and is therefore very honest about what he does in school. One of his classmates is a tad rough when she plays with the others, so Noah picked up the habit of pushing others when he’s running around with them. We’ve had to remind him daily that “hands are for hugging, not for pushing”, and when I pick him up from school, he is quick to tell me, “I didn’t push anybody today.” or “I pushed somebody today.” Thankfully, Mrs L is extra vigilant about this whole pushing thing, and steps in to stop the children from pushing each other, even though they’re just playing, because it’s not very safe.

Showing off his Easter craft from school


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Noah had a school holiday (I can’t remember why now), so I took him out on a date. We visited an indoor playground for a few hours, then had lunch together, before heading home to rest. He was so happy, and I really enjoyed our special date as well. We used to be together 24/7 before he started school, so now that he’s away from me for a few hours each day, I think these special days are a rare treat for both of us. I’ve missed having him with me constantly, even though he drives me crazy sometimes!

At the indoor playground


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He loves using binoculars these days


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Entertaining himself during lunch


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Speaking of driving me crazy, Noah has entered the “Why” phase, although previously, he used to ask, “How come?” instead of “Why?”. I’m really struggling to answer his questions, because they’re way beyond what I know (and apparently, I don’t know very much). Here are some of the conversations we’ve had recently:

Noah: Is it raining? Me: No, not really. Noah: Is it drizzling? Me: I think so. Noah: Where’s the thunder? Me: Oh there’s no thunder when it drizzles. Noah: Why? Me: Erm… I’m not sure. Maybe we can ask Daddy about it later. (I mean, how do you explain something like that to a kid?)

Noah: What do dinosaurs eat? Me: Well, some dinosaurs are carnivores, and eat only meat. Some are called herbivores, and like eating vegetables, while some eat both meat and vegetables, and are called omnivores. Noah: Wow, that’s so interesting. (He said this in a monotone, which made me feel as though he was just humouring me.) Do dinosaurs eat broccoli? Me: Erm, I’m not sure, but I think some of them would, if they found some broccoli around. Noah: Why (do) some eat broccoli? I think they all like broccoli, you know.

Noah: What do butterflies/cockroaches/lizards eat, mummy? Me: I think they eat nectar from the flowers/rubbish/insects. Noah: Why? Me: I think they think it’s yummy. Noah: Why don’t they eat broccoli? It’s very nice also, you know.

*I have no idea what his obsession with broccoli is. He previously asked me to tell the troll in The Three Billy Goats Gruff to eat broccoli instead of the goats as well. Erm, okay…

I find myself scrambling to look for answers to the questions he asks, and often take the easy way out by either checking with Mr Google, or asking him to ask C instead. I’ve also been looking for books to help me explain things to him, and one very interesting book that I got is this See Inside the World of Dinosaurs

book, and Noah has been exploring it every now and then, whenever he goes into one of his dinosaur phases.

We watched the movie ‘Home’ together, and he was so amused by the main character, Oh. He would recount some scenes a few days after we went to the cinema, so I think it left a pretty strong impression on him. He’s still rather short, so we didn’t have to purchase a separate ticket for him, though we found an empty row after the movie started, and plonked ourselves there instead. Noah sat through most of the movie on his own, on a booster seat of course, and only climbed into my lap towards the end of the movie.

Excited about watching ‘Home’


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Not tall enough to require a ticket!


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Ever since we got back from Taiwan, Noah has been into playing with his torchlight, and hunting for insects with it. He exclaims excitedly when he spots a lizard, and runs to get his torchlight, so that he can shine it on the poor lizard. Noah has also been interested in looking at the world map, which I got from this Lift-the-Flap Picture Atlas, and points out the countries that he knows, such as Taiwan, China, Philippines, and Singapore, every night.

Looking for lizards under the sofa


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Studying the world map as he drinks his milk


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Noah loves dogs, and in particular, my aunt’s dog, so he was thrilled to be invited over to her place for a playdate with her dog one day. C and I took the opportunity to leave him with my mum and her sisters, so that we could have some couple time, and he was more than happy to stay there and play with everyone. My mum said he spent a lot of time following the dog around, and sent me these photos of him harassing the dog. Haha.

Harassing the dog (yes, it’s a dog, not a mop)


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This month, Noah played his first ever game, called Perfection

, which my aunt bought for him. I didn’t expect him to know how to play it, but he insisted on opening the box when he received it, so we played with it together. He jumps whenever the board pops up before he’s done putting the pieces in place, and laughs heartily after that, so I think he likes the game quite a bit. I’m so excited, because that means I can start getting more games to play with him!

Playing the Perfection game


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Noah still likes playing with Playdoh, although he prefers asking us to make things for him, rather than experiment on his own. My mum is his favourite Playdoh kaki, and he always tells me, “I want to play Playdoh with Grandma later, okay?”

Playdoh fun with Grandma


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Painting is another all-time favourite activity, and he is perpetually asking me if he can do some painting. I got him some Do-A-Dot Art Markers

, which he loves using, so I let him play with them when I don’t have time to let him paint.

Painting


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Sometimes, washing the paintbrush is more fun than actually painting


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Using his new Do-a-Dot markers


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We got Noah to buy his own you tiao from the hawker stall the other day, because we finished eating the first one we bought, and he wanted more. He was so shy, and practically whispered his order to the lady, despite having rehearsed it a couple of times with us before that. We made a big fuss over how brave he was, and he was so pleased with himself! It was a good first attempt I think, and I’m going to try getting him to place his own orders when we eat out next time.

Buying you tiao on his own for the very first time


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We’ve had quite a few ‘firsts’ this month, and I can’t help but get teary-eyed whenever I think of how much he has grown. He’s growing up too fast for me, and I’m glad I’ve been taking photos of him daily since the day he was born, as they help me remember what he was like. I do need to take more videos of him, especially now that he’s so chatty. He mispronounces quite a few words, but soon, he’ll be saying them correctly, so I must try and capture those words now!

Happy 33rd month, darling. Mummy loves you very, very much.

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