blue bus driver...

small talk in the bathroom

Dad: What do you want to be when you grow up? (Guess all "big" people like to ask "small" people this question.)
Son: Errr... I want to be a bus driver! (Dad was disappointed, nothing close to a doctor!)
Son: I want to be an airport bus driver!
Dad: You want to be a bus driver who drives in the airport. (Daddy was trying to be as encouraging as he could.)
Son: Yes, and the bus is blue (in) colour!
Dad: Aha, you want to be a blue bus driver!

So there you have it, meet Bryan - the future blue bus driver!
Bryan is a 32+ months pre-schooler who thinks he wants to be a yellow bus driver the next day....

if you're happy and you know it...

clap your hands! *Clap! *Clap!
Yes, it is happening: Kristin is learning this song quickly. She's only eight months old. Bryan could only respond to this when he was almost a year old.
But this same little girl has been giving her parents lots of sleepless nights. My guess is that Kristin is beginning to enjoy attention and she doesn't even want to be left alone at night. Hopefully this phase will pass quickly.

Hong Ying...

another new friend for Bryan
Daddy was catching up with the former Centre Director of Frankfurt, while his son was toasting his new friend silly with Sake... no lah, plain water in Yakult cups.
酒逢知己千杯少！

my birthday...

Thanks Alan for the wonderful strawberry cream cake! It still tastes as yummy as six years ago when you first baked it for me!!! And now, you've got a little helper - Bryan!:)
Kristin, the best birthday present for Mommy is SLEEP! When will I get that from you? Can't you see how tired I am here?

friends at last...

Bryan had company for lunch today. He ate well: Steamed egg, Chinese cabbage & carrot soup, carrot sticks, apples and fried wantons with prawns!
Jacqueline and Lawrence are from Taiwan. They've been in Frankfurt since August last year, 3 months before us. Jacqueline attends the American school where Bryan goes to twice a week for day-care. Bryan can relate well to her because of similar language background. Bryan must be thinking," Finally someone who speaks English, Mandarin, a bit of Hokkien like me! No more eins, zwei, drei and funny German words that I don't know." Actually, we speak more Teochew than Hokkien. But there's not much of a difference there.
It really is a good idea to have the children over for lunch and play. At least her Mommy and I can rest and relax a little, while the children entertain themselves with toys. Actually, not much time to relax. I had to read three books to them, one of which had encore!
There'll be craft work the next time we meet. Now I need to scramble some materials for art & craft. Got to start collecting stuffs for some sticking fun :)

separation anxiety...

Kristin's catching on a lot of things. My mom has been teaching her to wave bye-bye. And this morning, she waved and said, " bye-bye" to Daddy!
She's also quickly developing separation anxiety: A good sign. This means she can tell between the familiars and unfamiliars.
My mom and I took her to Bao's place. (Bao is the wife of Alan's colleague, Vig.) I thought Kristin knew it wasn't her home. I wasn't quite sure until we reached home and Kristin let out a big laugh, like... "Eh, this IS my home."

lunch at Vapiano

We've got Bryan serving us a pizza here.
Fabulous spring weather: blue sky, not a single cloud, although it got cloudier at the later part of the day. Walking around in shirt and t-shirts... no jackets! It was 17 degrees in Frankfurt!!!! It's not even as warm on a wet summer day.

blessing in disguise

Strangely, I think Bryan is finally settling into some form of a routine. He was grounded at home for the week he was sick. And I had to feed him stuffs that he didn't like to eat. If you have a two-year-old too, you know these little people just don't like anything, basically. I was fooled for 10 months when Bryan said "No" to whatever I tried to feed him. Books always tell you that it's a losing battle if you start a food fight with your pre-schoolers. But I finally learnt that it's the old grandmother's method that works: OPEN YOUR MOUTH! And then you stick a spoonful of wholesome nutrition into his mouth. O yes, he cried. But wait there, just listen to that: He was just complaining. He wasn't in pain, munching the food, and cried no tears! In fact, I think he's secretly enjoying the new tastes!
At the same time, I've done lots of stuffs to get him distracted, e.g. I read him a book while we eat. We colour some pictures. We play games: e.g. What does an elephant eat? etc We talk about food: Actually, this book is a life-saver. "Good enough to eat" from Lizzy Rockwell. Suddenly, Bryan realises that little children eat the same types of food too.
It's amazing now that he expects an afternoon nap! In his room, in his bed!!! :) Praise God!!!
So with a wholesome diet and afternoon naps, we should see his weight picking up again. He lost two good kilos when he was sick.

kristin's first tooth...

I was wrong to say that she was cutting her first tooth. Actually it's already out. I felt it with my finger and saw it with my eyes today!!!! The other one is beginning to cut through. So maybe that should explain the poor appetite and restlessness at night. She slept very little last night, with a record number of night wakings, i.e. every 45 minutes to 1 hour. I lost count. Good thing that Alan didn't sleep in the same room with us last night.

back to daycare...

Bryan's fever finally subsided on Monday. One whole week of sleepless nights and days for Mommy and Grandma. We were so worried that we visited the uni hospital on Sunday evening. The doctor was also worried on hearing about the long persistent high temperature - since last Tuesday evening. So she did a saliva test, an urine test and a blood test just to make sure everything was fine.
The hospital was so crowded! So many kids were ill... so we weren't the only sleep-deprived parents out here. It's usually like this: changing of seasons, temperature fluctuates like your shares prices! A week ago it was still 1 to 2 degrees, but last Sunday was so humid and warm that the thermometer recorded a reading of 16.5! How not to fall sick???!!!! Some nights in summer might not even be as warm!
Kristin is cutting her first tooth. So still no hope of decent sleep for me. She's recovering from her cough... I have been thinking of giving her a bottle of formula at night in the hope of better sleep. On the other hand, I can't bear to give up breastfeeding so soon. Big dilemma now... coz introducing formula will definitely lower breastmilk supply.
What else can Kristin do now? She can: Crawl backwards, clap her hands to music, sort of wave bye-bye, babble, scream when her toys are snatched away, complain when her brother comes too near her, shake her head when she doesn't like something. She likes to go out, even if it's to the balcony for some fresh air! She has shown signs of separation anxiety way ahead of her brother when he was her age.

at the playground

It's Kristin's second try at the swing. She did a lot better than Kor-kor. I think Bryan is bit afraid of heights.
Mom and I have been taking the kids out to a playground nearby. About 20 minutes walk from our place. We usually get the kids to nap first and then leave around 4 plus in the afternoon.

stomach flu...

Please pray with us! It all started with Bryan. He's down with stomach flu and now it has been passed around to Mommy and Kristin. And Grandma is beginning to feel unwell. Bryan isn't getting any better either. Poor boy, he's not been eating much. We've got to go back to the paediatrician tomorrow.

exhausted...

Just got back from our Stuttgart/Munich weekend. Alan was there on business, while Mom and I took the kids out for a change. At least they were happy to be out of the house and staying in a hotel has always been a great adventure to Bryan.
It's been a tiring journey back home.
Poor Kristin was feeling uncomfortable along the way. Actually she's only complaining that her stool is getting a bit harder. Well, it's not the type of soft, watery stool from breastmilk only. So she needs to get used to the new feeling in her diaper.
Bryan had a rough time too. But I told him he asked for it coz he insisted in finishing his sweets. So Daddy gave the sugar a good churn on our way home along the Autobahn when he saw the "no-speed-limit" sign. And guess what Mommy got when we arrived home?
Kristin went poo-poo twice and shortly thereafter... Bryan threw up his dinner!
Well, that's a Mommy's job - no over-time pay, while Daddy's so exhausted from driving that he fell fast asleep on the couch!
No time to unpack yet! Watch this space for more travel stories with the kids!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Dinner: Beef rice, steamed to-fu and fresh salad.
No cake but three big candles! Only symbolic ;)
And Bryan sang the birthday song in English, Chinese and German. Encore!
It's a quiet birthday celebration for Alan. Just us!
He's got a busy week ahead.

small talk in the kitchen

"Hello, Mom! What are you doing? "
"I'm slicing the meat."
"Are you cutting it?"
"Yes, I am."
"How about a tea-pot?"
"What's with the...?"
Mom has not even completed her question and Bryan came over with his little tea-pot and poured some imaginary fluid over my beef slices!
"Hmmm, I'm sure the meat will taste very nice!"
A broad grin on Bryan's face! :)