The little storyteller

After dinner at Suntec last Saturday, we chanced upon a stall selling children’s books and toys, and Daddy decided to get these animal tales for Jay. Since then, we’ve only managed to read these 4 books probably twice to Jay.

But he has a strong memory recall (and an active imagination to boot), and so he decided to “read” the story to me.

Jay: Do you want me to read to you, Mummy?
Mummy: Hmm? Sure, baby.
Jay: Okay. Sit up straight and listen to me! No laughing, no fidgeting, Mummy. Di di, listen too.

After swallowing my laughter, I managed to catch a snippet of Jay’s “storytelling” here.

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Jay and his art

 

Jay loves to scribble on paper, and loves it even more when doing it with non-child-friendly mediums like Daddy’s pen or Mommy’s permanent marker.

One day he got his hands on this and started doodling.

Can you guess the animal?

Let me give you a clue, and a close-up.

It’s a four-legged mammal. Has spots. And an udder.

Mooooooo……

His penmanship has improved, and  he has come a long way from drawing a squiggly line and calling it an elephant, and another squiggly line and calling it a lion! Haha!

 

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Christmas comes early!

… especially with my little prince in da house!

He’s getting togged out for his party at Little Big!

 

I think he would have ADORED a real Santa costume, but I couldn’t get my hands on any!

Even the prince gets camera-shy at times…

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My Little Santa

We went to this small little restaurant at Albert Court Hotel, called Kichn, to give a pre-enlistment farewell dinner for Jingye. It was a cosy little place, and our huge group of some 20 people overwhelmed the small kitchen crew at Kichn.

Nevertheless, there was good company and fun and laughter to fill in the waiting time.

And of course, there was Jayvon. Who slowly but surely warmed up to all the adoring aunties and uncles.

He was offered a Santa hat, and he had an initial aversion towards this furry red thing. Till I pointed out that this was Santa’s hat, and even sang two lines of “Santa Claus’ coming to town…!” which sparked off his interest in it, and he loved the hat!

 

Oh he really, really adored it!

My adorable little Christmas elf. (But don’t tell him that. He is Santa, you see. Elf doesn’t cut it.)

 

And he started belting out Christmas songs to entertain. Me, mostly, but still I appreciated the distraction from my rumbling tummy! Haha!

Here’s Daddy with Uncle Jingye. Happy NS life ahead!

 

And Jay totally loving his vantage point from way up there!

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A strange farm…

Mommy, can I read to you?

This is my storybook.

 

It’s a very strange farm.

See, Mommy?

There’s a lion in this farm!

(Disclaimer: It’s a book on baby animals, except the book goes on to talk about sheep and lambs, horses and foals, chickens and chicks and the like – all farm animals! This lion sticks out like a sore thumb!)

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Yakkity-yakkity-yak

My son is a talker. And he says the funniest (and sometimes super-embarrassing -causing-Mommy-to-want-to-look-away-and-make-like-she-didn’t-hear-anything), and at the oddest of times.

With new faces or in new situations, however, he takes some time to warm up to the crowd before, you know, warming up the crowd with his antics.

So if you’re feeling blue about the weather or the huge traffic stall-ups due to F1, here’s my little yakking boy to bring a smile to your face!

***

While Mommy and Jay were waiting in line to make payment at a supermarket…

Jay: (Pointing to a stranger with a huge potbelly) Uncle has a baby too?

Mommy: (Red-faced, and pointedly trying not to see the abovementioned pot-bellied uncle) Don’t say that, Jay.

Jay: Why?

***

Grandmother trying to coax Jay…

Grandma: Do you want to play with my handphone, Jay?

Jay: Your handphone got games?

Grandma: … (She has an old ricketty Nokia, totally old-school, meant for, you know, plain calling! Haha…)

***

This is not about Jay’s yakking. But about his amazing wrestling ability.

It’s Daddy’s fault, see? In their rough play, Jay has developed a sure-fire win method. Yes. This small 14-kg boy can immobilize a much bigger-sized Daddy.

He sits on Daddy’s face. And Daddy’s usually at a lying position, right smack between some smelly pampers and the floor/bed.

I kid you not.

I will try to take a shot to prove this. But usually I am rolling over in laughter at his ingenuity to think of such a move, and the sight of such a scene!! Totally brilliant.

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Whatcha’ looking at?

Sometimes it’s really hard trying to get THAT shot of my little boy.

Which shows him the way we know him so well – cheeky, talkative and our bundle of joy.

It’s not for want of trying, my endless photo folders in my hard disk attest to that.

But it is hard trying to get him to smile nicely into the camera.

I find myself crouched in weird uncomfortable positions trying to get that shot.

It’s really tough, I tell you.

He is one camera-shy boy.

But then a gem pops along.

Making my bodily contortions worth while.

Or at least, I can find comfort in living to try again another day.

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“The doors on the bus goes open and …”

Jay is into his singing songs out loud stage.

He absolutely loves to belt out songs. Anytime. Anywhere. Particularly in public locations.

He loves to sings “I’m a little teapot” and “Twinkle twinkle little star” and Barney’s “I love you” and “Oh
Mr Sun”…

One of his loves has got to be The Wheels on the Bus. He watches different variations of this on Youtube, on my iPad.

Once, we were in a lift, and the doors accidentally closed on someone trying to exit.

Jay looked at me and ask what happened.

My brain was probably still sleeping. I don’t know how else to explain what I explained to Jay.

But I told him, “Oh, the doors giap-ed the uncle.”

Sigh. Giap-ed?!?! I could have slapped myself.

Jay: “Why the doors giap-ed the uncle?”

Double sigh. It would figure Jay would pick up that word instantly.

Mommy: “Maybe because he walked too slow?”

The conversation had a few more “Why? Why? Why?” from a quizzical 31-month-old, and a few half-hearted replies from a stumped Mommy.

But at the end, Jay never fails to remind me of my verbal boo-boo.

Now when he sings The Wheels on the Bus…

And when he comes to the part when the doors go open and shut, he sings with great gusto, complete with hand actions too!

The doors on the bus goes open and giap the uncle,
open and giap the uncle,
open and giap the uncle.
The doors on the bus goes open and giap the uncle,
all day long!

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Abstract Art

Jay loves the Drawing Pad app on my iPad. Me? I am glad he is expressing his creativity.

He sometimes tests our drawing skills by asking us to draw him a purple elephant or a pink lion or a blue tiger.

This is Jay’s abstract art.

Can you see what it is?

The pink is the elephant’s trunk. He even tried to “colour” it in!

And the brown dots?

It represents the elephant splashing water with its trunk.

Hahaha! Such an amusing photo by my little fella!

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The thing about baby boys…

… is that they have some strange notion of fun.

I brought Jay to the beach on Sunday, and he had fun with his new sand set!

Pouring, packing, digging, throwing sand and water all around.

He had on white pants at the beginning.

At the end?

Absolutely DIRTY!

The reason? He was making chocolate.

Yes, he was scooping sand into the pail of water, turning it into a nice shade of murky brown.

And when his fingers moved too slow, he brought in the big guns.

Da spade.

 

My dirty little fella!

It was a beautiful morning at the beach!

What a postcard perfect shot. :)

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“No need to bathe!”

Jay has a little bath-time habit.

It may be because he is a boy, and we know how all boys can be pretty disgusting.

I mean little boys, of course, but hey, if the shoe fits... :)

He would implore me, "No need to bathe?" and work those big round eyes of his. Any softer-hearted person might have relented.

But Mommy-tyrant? No way. A strong "Bathe" in retort ought to do it. For any lesser child.

Jayvon the sweetie will try his luck again, seeing how all Mommies are deaf to the first request. "No need to bathe, Mommy?"

Mommy: "Yes, bathe."

Jayvon: "No?"

Mommy: "Yes."

Jayvon: "Yes?"

Mommy (thinking the battle has been won, yippee!): "Yes, baby."

Jayvon (sensing a weakening, comes back even stronger): "NO!"

Mommy, by now still bleary-eyed and caffeine-deprived snaps: "Go. And. Bathe. NOW."

Jayvon (petulant lips and all): "No need wash hair?"

And the verbal battle resumes from the top....

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Sing me a song, Mommy…

Now that World Cup fever is well underway in our household, it means that Jay either has to sleep at 930PM sharp. Or Mommy takes over bed duties.

I consider it my wifely duties.

Give my man his space with the TV.

Side note: Even in between the matches, he is contented to leave the TV tuned to the World Cup channel. I know, it cost him an exorbitant $70+ (no thanks to Starhub). But maybe I can catch a few episodes of Desperate Housewives or NCIS? Just a thought, dear.

Making Jay sleep is a test of my vocal prowess.

Mommy is one mean storytelling machine. Jack & the beanstalk? Goldilocks & the 3 bears? Been there, done that, spun the tale!

Now, his favourite phrase is…

Sing me a song, Mommy.

It would be easier if he allowed me to sing any song.

Just the Animal ABC song.

I am happy Jay loves animals. I really do.

But singing this every single night may be a bit too much to bear. He would even tell me off if I try to skip the lion roars or the wolf howls. Haha! He knows how to sing this entire song too. Of cos the lyrics may be a bit garbled and pronunciation off, but listen carefully and you can hear him go…

A is for the alligator, with a mouth so big.
B is for the beaver, who likes to build and dig.
C is for the camel, with a hump upon its back.
D is for the duck who always goes quack-quack-quack-quack.
Quack, quack, quack, quack.
E is for the elephant, the biggest one is he.
F is for the fox he’s just as smart as he can be.
G is for giraffes, with a neck that’s oh-so-long.
H for hippopotamus, so big and fat and strong.
Du-du-du-du.
I is for the ibex, he’s the cousin to the goat BLEEEH
J is for the jaguar, with spots upon its cat.
K for kangaroo, he’s from the land down under.
L is for the lion king, his roar is just like thunder.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAARRRRRRRR!
M is for the monkey, he’s the cutest little thing.
N is for the nightingale, who always likes to sing.
O is for the ostrich, he hides his head in the sand.
P is for the pelican, his bill holds more than his belly can.
Du-du-du-du.
Q is for the quail who has a little bitty tail.
R is for the rabbit, he’s swifter than a gale.
S is for the skunk, to tease him is to fumble.
T is for the tiger, he’s the terror of the jungle.
GRRRRROOOOOWWWWLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL…
U is for the urno, an animal from Brazil.
V is for the vulture, always waiting for the kill (AAAH!)
W for wolf, a mean and heartless cur.
X is for the xerus with a tail of tuffly fur.
Du-du-du-du.
Just 2 more letters and the story will be told.
Y is for yellowtail, a fish that’s painted gold.
Just 1 more letter, and class will be dismissed,
Z is for the zebra, the last one on the list!

Ta-da! I always thought about penning this down, and I’m glad I had the chance too now. These lyrics were honed through hundreds of times of listening through the video, and as the volume isn’t the clearest, this is the best we’ve got. The letters S and X were the hardest for us to decipher. If your kid has a soft spot for animals, I promise this video is a sure-winner!

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