About Edison

1
Mar
Sand Art

It was Saturday and V had to work. So, I brought Little Edison to the library at Compass Point together with my helper. After our reading session, we went down to Basement One for some kiddy rides.

We walked pass the children’s art and craft corner and Little Edison was showing some interest. I asked the lady if there is any art or craft suitable for a 3-year-old like him. She recommended the sand art to me.

So, we picked a picture to start. It’s actually quite easy but requires a lot of patience. All he needs to do is to peel off a die-cut piece of paper to expose the adhesive beneath, pour colored sand onto the adhesive until the artwork is completed.

I help him to peel off the die-cut piece of paper. He decides on the colors. It wasn’t too crowded that day, so he got a whole table and variety of colours to do the sand art all by himself.

It took us slightly more than half an hour to complete the art work. His concentration and interest really amazed me. And I really like that sense of satisfaction on his face after he completed his art work.

This is his first sand art! I proudly display it in my kitchen today.

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24
Feb
Approaching 3.5

Our Little Edison is almost 3.5 years old. He is attending his Nursery class in a church kindergarten from 8am to 11am, Monday to Friday. I know most children behave differently after they started preschool. As for Little Edison, he becomes more chatty and sociable. He greets the neighbours, security guards and cleaner aunties every time he sees them.

No doubt, his language skills and vocabulary have improved significantly. He’s able to express his needs very clearly and his words flow easily with less efforts. Recently, he likes to talk like Swiper the Fox. He says phrases like “Oh mannn!”, “You’re too late” and “You’ll never find (something) now.” He makes me laugh.

He is still as fussy as before – especially when it comes to food. He doesn’t eat skin at all. We have to remove the skin from meat, fruits and even bread for him. He doesn’t like sands in his sandals, he doesn’t want to wear certain clothes, he wants to be changed immediately when he is wet or dirty and he fusses over trivial issues.

Tantrum becomes a daily affair now; it ranges from a short ‘easy-to-soothe’ to a long ‘full-blown’ version. It takes a lot of patience to reason out with him and to explain to him why he is wrong. When he realizes his mistakes, he will apologize to me. I give him a big hug and assure him that I still love him as always.

He enjoys writing, drawing and coloring now. I leave his pencils, crayons, markers and drawing blocks on his desk. Every night, he will sit at his desk to write and draw all sorts of things. He can write number 1, 4, 7, 9 and 10 but he’s still trying very hard on number 2, 3, 5 and 8.

Motherhood is not easy. Although I’m often exhausted with work and motherhood duties, I still feel privileged to be given the opportunity to see him growing up, to guide and teach him, to take care of him and to share with him the joy of our life.

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26
Jan
Viral Infection

My poor boy has been sick since Sunday evening. It’s a combination of cough, runny nose and low-grade fever. When he is down with fever, it’s enough to wear me out as it means I have to wake up in the middle of the night to check on his temperature and feed him with paracetamol or sponge him to bring down his temperature.

We brought him to the general practitioner on Sunday as his pediatrician was not available. He was prescribed medicine for his cough and runny nose. He didn’t eat much during dinner. After taking his medicine, he was drowsy and fast asleep.

In the middle of the night, he woke up and vomitted all over his bed. The next one hour was mad cleaning, changing the bed sheet and calming him down. He was crying when he said, “Mama, I’m not feeling well.” These words totally broke my heart. I pat him to sleep and I assured him that he will be fine tomorrow.

Monday morning, I called my boss to inform her that I’ve to take urgent childcare leave to take care of my son. She immediately responded that sick kids come first and she will help to cover my duties when I’m out. I know that I’m very fortunate to have such an understanding boss. She is a mother of two boys; she understands that work absolutely has to take a backseat when the kids are sick.

I’m glad that I can work from home too. When Little Edison was napping, I quickly check my e-mails, churn out my reports and follow-up on urgent issues. In the afternoon, he seems to feel better. He was back to his usual active self again, running around in the garden and spraying water everywhere.

Unfortunately, his fever returned at night. He was crying again and he couldn’t sleep well. Tuesday morning, he vomitted twice after taking his milk and medicine. His appetite has been very poor. Something is not quite right. His low-grade fever has been lingering for the past three days. So, we brought him to the pediatrician.

According to Dr. Ratna, he has symptoms of viral infection. These viruses are easily transmitted through contact with the secretions of infected people. The first symptom to develop is usually irritation in the nose and throat, then nasal congestion, sore throat, coughing, and runny nose. Nasal secretions are thin and profuse initially, but become thick and yellow as infection progresses.

She gave him a thorough examination on his lungs, ears, nose and throat. She assured us that he is fine and the viral infection usually stops in 4 to 5 days.

Hope he will get well very very soon.

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27
Dec
Haircut? No more fear…

It’s time to get a haircut before the school re-opens in January. It’s good to look neat too on his first day at school.

We brought him to our usual place – Okinawa $10 haircut salon at Compass Point. I’m so glad it all went well without any crying or objection. He has finally overcome his fear of haircuts.

A child’s natural fear of haircuts is very common. For Little Edison, the worst part of his fear isn’t those looming scissors but the panicky feeling of being confined in a big plactic cape and on a high odd-looking chair.

To make haircuts as pleasant as possible, I usually bring his favorite toys and some snacks to distract him. Instead of using the plastic cape in the salon, I bring his own towel. For the past few occasions, I sat on the chair, covered with plastic cape before he sat on my lap and had his haircut. Gradually, he becomes less tense and able to stay calm throughout the process. I guess it’s also due to his familiarity with the salon and his friendly hairdresser after a few visits.

During his most recent haircut, he has completely overcome his fear. He sat on the high-chair all by himself and he surprised us by allowing the hairdresser to put on the plastic cape on him. He sat still for the entire ten minutes and the hairdresser gave him the best haircut ever.

I’m so proud of him. Well done, Little Edison!

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11
Dec
Edison – 3 Years, 3 Months

Little Edison turns three years and three months old today. If you were to ask me how to describe him at this age, I would say that he is extremely active, enjoys talking and loves to ask questions.

On being active

He is on the go all the time – no matter how much he runs around, he never tires. Considering the fact that this fussy eater eats so little everyday, I really wonder where his energy comes from.

He prefers energetic movement play rather than games that require him sitting still. He is also more adventurous with play equipments now. Two weeks ago when he was sliding down a spiral slide in an indoor playground (I think the slide is quite high for his age), he told me, “Mama, no need to hold me. I’m big boy already.” I was amazed.

Enjoys talking

He enjoys talking nowadays, even when we would rather have some peace and quietness at times. He combines words, gestures and facial expressions to make his accounts more vivid and interesting. His words flow more easily with less efforts.

He is now able to use language more efficiently, partly due to his increased vocabulary and partly due to his better listening skills. He learns a great deal about language just by listening to us. His sentences become longer with more gramatical structure and they carry more meaning too.

Recently, he likes to pronounce long words with four or more syllables. He finds them very challenging and fun. He pronounced chrysanthemum as ‘chry-san-mum-mum’. When I laughed, he thought that it was funny.

Asks lots of questions

This is the toughest part to deal with. Why this, why that? His questions are more penetrating now as he seeks more detailed information from us.

Little children are naturally curious. When he asks questions, no matter how trivial the questions are, or how busy I am, I will always answer his questions in an appropriate way. Asking questions encourage thinking. Answering questions encourage further thinking. That’s how he can extend his knowledge and make sense of the world around him.

Last but not least, he is no longer so dependent on me. He strives to manage things by himself. I love to hear him say, “Mama, I’m big boy already.” But in my heart, he will always be my baby.

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