“It’s like food to the car; it needs energy to keep going. No petrol, and the car will not work anymore…” and somewhere along the way I had also shown her the low-fuel warning light that comes on.

Sometime last week, when it was just the two of us in the car, the light came on. She noticed, and we started talking about what to do.

“You’d have to get out and push,” I told Caitlin, “‘cos you don’t know how to steer, whereas I do.”

That was my logic, and after a lot of protest she kinda saw that logic, even though she was more concerned about the fact of pushing, than about whether it was even a viable option!

“But I know how to steer! Why don’t YOU go and push?”

“How do you know how to steer??”

“Remember this trip?” She asked…

… where in fact she did steer the car around the mall. In theory, she did steer around.

“Ya; but this is a bigger car, and you don’t know how to steer a bigger car…”

Silence.

We managed to get to where we were going, and that was it.

Last night when we were on the way home from Grandma’s, with Caleb and the helper also in the car, the light came on again.

She leans in and whispers, “Maybe we can get kakak and di-di to push, and you and I can steer ….”

The other day, while assisting with her pj’s, she noted “M” on the tag of her pj pants.

“Daddee, why am I wearing pyjamas for boys?”

“Huh?” Looking at the colour scheme of what she had on. “No, these are colourful pyjamas, both boys and girls can wear them…”

“But there’s a “M” written on it, and “M” is for Man.”

Caitlin was the last to finish her dinner; and Daddee had an engagement but came home to get the kids no-too-late that night. So I sat with her to chat and urge her to finish up.

An ant was crawling under the plastic sheet. Caitlin squashed it.

“… and the mummy and daddy will come looking for him and go AAARRGHHHH!”

It was funny but not really at the same time….

He’s been pronouncing; more like uttering, “words” beginning with “D”. Such as “duh duh duh duh…” or “den den den…”

Tonight, I kinda figured out how to “spell” something he’s been uttering for about a week now.

Ardent; without the “t” of course.

On a related matter of his development, his walking is a lot more steady now. It’s quite amazing how within 3 days of making the first steps, he’s now walk-chasing his jie jie quick briskly.

Mind you, Hot Mummee thought his style of walking reminded her of one she knows but can’t quite put her finger on, until I reminded her of it.

Orangutan. Yup, legs spaced apart, arms up.

Heh.

1..
2..
3…
4…
5…
6…
7…
8…
9……… ?”

“taaaaaaannnnnnn!”

Caitlin got her share of the spaghetti and got stuck into it. From what I can see she was quite happily digging into it from the start, eyes glued to the tv (we have failed in this respect of parenting in that our earlier habits of singledom of meals-infront-of-tv has now be passed onto the kids; where our fold-out pinewood tables from those days are now utilised more by Caitlin. TV, as you know, is an effective distraction tool..)

I went over to sit with her, a slice of extravaganza in hand.

Halfway into her spaghetti she looks to me and says, “Daddee, this is a bit hot…”

“Issit??” The Uh-oh’s running through my mind: Need to rush her a glass of water; replace the plate and offer her the pizza; Daddee has to be the food-disposal by consuming the left-over; the “local city-council waste management company”, if going by local vernacular..

“Ya, it’s a bit hot. But I can eat it- I’m a [nod] big girl [nod nod] now… It’s a bit hot but I’m a [nod] big [nod] girl [nod] now..”

She continues with her spaghetti, eyes back on the tv.

I can’t remember ever seeing her talk to me as matter-of-fact-ly as she did this afternoon. Straight faced, telling it the way it is.

Surprise, pride, admiration, nostalgia, sentimentalism, Please Don’t Grow So Quickly, I-wish-I-had-my-camera; all rolled into one.

I don’t know if she learnt it from school, or from Sesame Street’s podcast’s – this particular episode, but somewhere along the line Caitlin’s grasped the concept of family.

It’s a short work week this week. In fact, Caitlin’s school is closed this week as most of the parents had wanted it so, so that their family could get away and be with loved ones during this festivity.

Last night as I was putting her to bed, I was apologising for not being able to bring her shopping during the day as I had implied earlier in the day (she loves to walk about in shopping centres). I had suggested that perhaps Grandma can bring her along during the following days of supermarket-shopping; since starting school she’s not been able to tag along on these trips as her grandparents do these rounds in the morning, and picks her up from school afterwards.

Yay, she exclaimed.

Then I mentioned that Wednesday and Thursday are public holidays for all, and maybe then we could go out and do something.

“Mummee too?” she asked.

“Yes Mummee too..”

“YAY! Then Daddee, Mummee, Di-di (Mandarin for younger brother) and Caitlin can go out as my family !!

Wooo… this Daddee thought….

She understands the concept. She appreciates the opportunity. She looks forward to the outing as a family unit.

It’s just great!

No, no; “Jie jie…. JIE JIE!”
(Yes, even Caitlin now understands the prestige that comes with this!)

So, I had the pleasure of picking Caitlin up from school that day.

I had told her the day before that I would be able to pick her up; “Daddee will pick you up from school tomorrow, okay?”

You’d never hear a louder “Yay!!” than that! “I can show you to my friends!” was her first statement.

Hmm…

Anyway, she didn’t, but her expression when she saw me was quite funny-interesting.

It was a mix of apprehension and shyness…. maybe it was just because it was something new; Grandad has been the one picking her up from school everyday.

But she ran towards me anyway.

And the school entrance was already kinda empty; largely ‘cos she stays for an extra class and most of her friends have left. Either that or it’s ‘cos she was one of the first ones let out.

She asked if I had waited long, in toddler speak. Such mature thinking already….

This morning wasn’t the second time she’d asked me again if I could pick her up again. It wasn’t easy telling her no, partly because it’s slightly confusing for her to understand why our holidays don’t always coincide…

Got a similar simple-pleasures story to share too?

Grandma immediately brushed it off Caitlin’s chest, comforted her, and was feeling bad…

“Sorry!! Grandma naughty! Grandma didn’t make sure the noodles was cool enough; Grandma naughty! So sorry darling!”

Caitlin, I guess felt sorry for Grandma. Still in her tears, Caitlin comforts Grandma, “No, noodles naughty! Not Grandma!”

Caitlin says:

I can emulate Daddee and repeat myself LOUDER when he says “Pardon?”, just like he does with Hot Mummee when she says “Hmm?”

I can wear my socks and shoes on my own now, most times getting the left and right right, or right and left right. Haha I made a joke.

I can make pretty good observations already. Where I was already able to identify same models of Daddee’s, Mummee’s, and uncle’s cars (I started with Grandpa’s VW bug) on the road, now I can complain to Daddee that the streetlights needn’t be left on when it’s morning already.

I can observe and remember things. I still joke about Daddee cautioning Teacher Ng to be careful of the bird poop on his car, when Teacher was leaning into his car to help release my seat belt when he was dropping me off at school. I don’t know why but the prospect of Teacher Ng accidentally rubbing the bird poop onto her clothes tickles me.

I know how to switch between Mandarin and English when I am referring to things which both names I know. Like, Daddee! The ma-yi is coming to eat the ping-guo!

I am starting to see the power of changing the subject. But darn it, Daddee seems to catch it each time I start. I will try with my grand parents then.

I still remember my two trips to Sydney and what we did, even though I was only (almost exactly) 2 years old and 3 years old at those times.

I know how to spit out the toothpaste when Daddee brushes my teeth. And spit, and spit, and spit. This drives Daddee mad as he says I am wasting the toothpaste and that there’d be nothing left to finish brushing with. I may already know how to brush myself, but I ain’t telling Daddee this! Only thing I do know how to do is brush my tongue at the end; he says it’s to get rid of the yuckies after I had my last milkies for the day.

I already know what Mummee and Daddee are up to when they start acting suspicously when they evade questions of what they wanna do after dinner, or stop short of saying what’s next after dinner, on weekends. They go out to something called the movies. They think they can change the subject and I wouldn’t notice…

Caleb says:

I can roll over, and over, and over, till I fall off the bed!

I can grab things already, though not very securely. However, I do like grabbing my carrier’s hair, and I like hearing them shriek when I do.

I still like smacking the bottle silly, now not just with Daddee. And now also with much gusto since I am stronger.

Since I am stronger, my cries are louder too. That usually gets the adults to stop stuffing the teat in my mouth. I am full and sleepy, get it? Just get me back into bed or I will continue bullying you with my cries and wriggling, and leave you to clean up the milky mess of missing my mouth HAHAHAHAHA!

I look at everything. I look in the direction we are about to go (when I am being carried), even before the first step is taken.

I look by usually turning my head, but sometimes, I just look by shifting my eyes. Daddee thinks I am too young to have an attitude…

I look with my mouth agape…

PS: I have created a new category for these Milestones… Daddee

I know this is a macho-manly-man ground-shaking-man-belch type of blog, but since we have kids…

I got the following from an email from a friend; thought it was a funny one to share with you guys!

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1. She’s the only one who knows where the sticky tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mum just the same like he made me He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men’s bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other Mum?
1. We’re related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people’s Mums like me.

What kind of little girl was your Mum?
1. My Mum has always been my Mum and none of that other stuff.
2. I don’t know because I wasn’t there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did Mum need to know about Dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your Mum marry your Dad?
1. My Dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my Mum eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My Grandma says that Mum didn’t have her thinking cap on.

Who’s the boss at your house?
1. Mum doesn’t want to be boss, but she has to because dad’s such a goof ball.
2. Mum. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess Mum is, but only because she has a lot more to do than Dad.

What’s the difference between Mums & Dads?
1. Mums work at work, and work at home, and Dads just go to work at work.
2. Mums know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but Mums have all the real power ’cause that’s who you have to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend’s.
4. Mums have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your Mum do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don’t do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your Mum perfect?
1. On the inside she’s already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I’d diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your Mum, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I’d get rid of that.
2. I’d make my Mum smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

WHEN YOU STOP LAUGHING – SEND THIS ON TO THE OTHER MOTHERS, GRANDMOTHERS, AUNTS you know – and to anyone else who has anything to do with kids, or just needs a good laugh!!

Daddee? Where is the talker from the radio?
What do you mean?
Where is the talker on the radio; where is he?
……..

While playing with her Lego toys, we were trying to build a tall castle, which obviously kept falling over. Daddee suggested that instead of building it upwards / tall; “So that instead of making the people run up and down (the towers), let’s make it wider (with the limited blocks) so that the people can run left and right.”

Caitlin lays the existing tall tower on its side. “You mean like this?”

I was dumbfounded, but still kept my cool. “Yeah, like this…” My goodness, lateral thinking!

And the final word, from Caleb: aaaaahhhhhhgegegegegegegegegegege…