October update

In the blink of the eye the month is almost over. My dear boy Liam is 16 months tomorrow.

It's been a busy month. At the start Anthony was here to visit, so that was a good distraction for us. I'm so grateful he came for the 2 weeks to be with the kids, and we spent the weekends at East Coast Park. Madison got to use her 2 wheeler during those 2 weekends, and so I'm hoping that once she can cycle she will not forget! I think we went cycling once after but it was seriously a major hassle getting the bikes on and off the bike rack on the car!

Madison has been busy with rehearsals in school for her K2 graduation ceremony. She's had 2 rehearsals at the Jubilee Hall at Raffles Hotel already! Because of that I've had to reschedule music classes for the past few weeks and and spending alot of time at United Square ( where Mandeville Music School is located).

Here's what our week looks like:

Monday: Bazgym for Annika and Vicky at 3pm. Madison goes at 5pm.
Tuesday: Swim class for Annika at 4, Madison has tennis for an hour at the same time. Once a month she has her golf course lesson with coach Shareen.
Wednesday: Berries Chinese class at 3-445pm at Regency House
Thursday: Music class at 1pm for the 2 girls
Friday: Swim class for Annika at 4pm and Madison at 6pm
Saturday: Tennis with Eli at 730am
Sunday : Tennis for Madison 3-5pm


So it's not that bad. And we don't do any other forms of enrichment/academic lessons. They get their mandatory hour of activity and sunshine at least once a day most days.

This month I've been trying hard to be a better parent. I realize that recently I've been really grumpy and impatient with the kids, partly because I'm tired, and partly because I'm a little sick of being 'the' parent around responsible for them. Then I came across this positive parenting thing, and reading articles online about positive parenting techniques made me feel guilty about how I've been doing things. So the past 2 weeks I've been trying hard to be more patient, to respond to the kids with more empathy. And I think it kinda works. Annika especially seems to respond better and she has fewer (? no more!) tantrums. I'm trying harder to explain why I want certain things done, and to make my expectations clearer to her.

My next challenge will be Liam. He's starting to throw tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants
( which is of course most of the time!) and it doesn't help that his speech is nowhere near where the girls were at the same age ( I think!). He's not the best sleeper either but he seems to get that he's supposed to be sleeping. So after an hour of being up at say 4 or 5am he will eventually go back down to sleep with some rocking or shushing. No more feeding at night. (also because he's a poor eater! )

I also don't know why he's got this habit of spitting food out. He's just starting to chew his food but still chooses to spit solids out. He's the only kid that at almost 16 months still needs his food chopped up finely. His older sisters were onto table food in pieces by a year old. Obviously it leads to a leaner 'scrawnier' kid.


I got the letter for Madison's orientation to SCGS. I'm not sure what we'll do next year logistically. I don't fancy driving to school every morning nor do I really want her to have to take the bus at 6am in the morning. Public bus is the other option. That and the other kids schedules! Then the same thing in the after noon at school pick up.

I've signed Madison up for the next mini swim meet at the club. I told her it was for her to practise at it, to show herself that she can do it right this time round. She's been ok. I think it's a good opportunity to build up her courage to do things.