Spectacular Nightlight

Meimei bought a fancy nightlight for the kids and I got to experience it today. It's back to night calls again for me so I've not been sleeping with the kids the past week.

The kids were very excited to show off all the fancy designs. I especially like the whales in clouds.

A Fishy Celebration

 Meimei purposefully 3D printed a red and white basket for Nabby to celebrate National Day together .....

3D Printing At Home

I vaguely recall Meimei telling me that she got a 3D printer from Courts while I was in hospital. I guess it's another new toy to relieve the stress she has been enduring with my illness. I'm glad at least there is something that keeps her mind off of my condition. It seems fun but am concerned if the plastic is really harmless ... oh well time will tell. I suppose with the technology being several years old it should be more stable and safer now? 

AirPods Pro Max!

I've been deliberating on getting a pair of AirPods Pro Max for a long time now. With an upcoming trip to McAllen I finally decided to get one. It was definitely a whole lot more expensive than the Sony MX but it rests better on the head. For a long 30+hrs journey it would make a difference on comfort.

The sound isn't really terrific nor outstanding. But I like that headband and how it rests on my head. It does not have a weighted feeling like the Sony. But anyways the real test would be on the trip to McAllen. We'll see if I still hold the same view after the tiring journey.

Gearing Up For Next Round

$35 to boost up my firepower for the next water play. Well worth it in my books. It hurts to be hit by the guns ... both physically and on my ego haha. No more little piss-piss pistol. 

Another Broken Ride

Right after the fire truck, the original first ride our kids had - The Giraffe - broke too.  Glad it lasted for 3 kids but sad that it's gone now. That's how things goes I guess. Kids are growing up so fast and in a blink of an eye, it's changed.

Thankfully in our era we have digital photos so we can reminisce the old times.

Goodbye To Fire Truck

阳阳 was very sad when the right rear wheel first came off. I tried my best to fix it but the plastic thread holding the wheel has worn out. I tried using the toilet pipe tapes but it only worked for a few days then the wheel will come off again. Nyaong tried with tissue paper and again it worked for a few days.

This is one of 阳阳's favourite toy. He would zoom around the house in it. He uses the storage space in the seat as his own stash box.

Even 萱萱 knows how much 阳阳 loves his car that she drew this picture of it to try and comfort him.

After those few precious days when we "fixed" it 阳阳 has finally come to the realisation that it's time to retire the "fire truck". It's like the last relic of his preschool childhood. It took him a while to come to terms with it but I'm glad he was resilient and strong to face it. His last request for the truck was to take a picture with the wheel. Our little boyboy has grown up!!

阳阳 And His Battery Powered Train

Best buy of the year. It's the dream of every child. It makes me want to be a kid again.

The battery powered train has also brought life back to the train set. And makes it so much more fun to figure how to make it go loops. Helps with creativity and imagination!

 

New Apple Toys

I have to make another trip to Bangalore this weekend and decided to upgrade my gear for the trip. Make sense since I would be traveling quite a bit this year. 

The first item is the new Macbook Air which is on the new M1 chip. Feels much better weight distribution than the old Air.

To help with the noise on the flight I got a pair of AirPods Pro which has noise cancellation so I can rest my weary eardrums from the loud blast of the aircraft engine the entire journey. Another plus is that they fit tightly in my ear and doesn't drop when I jump. Very important feature as I had to constantly push the old AirPods in when I went jogging at the gym at the hotel.

Building A Lego Fire Truck

This Lego set is meant for 5+. I'm glad to see that 阳阳 can work on it on his own without assistance. Its important milestone that he can follow the instructions in the booklet and piece all the lego together. I like how he is very focused and determined to get it done.

A Ikea "DollHouse"

I think we need to stop buying dollhouses for 萱萱. She has more fun using a climbing stool to play make-believe. This was how we played back in our day when we don't have fancy toys and everything was a 'pretend' toy. Love her creativity.

Rail Track Fun

We bought this track set some time ago and kept it hidden in the children's wardrobe. There is a saying - the more dangerous it is, the safer it is. The children's eyes are so sharp that they can catch any 'changes' to the studying room and notice even the edges of toy boxes in a sea of stuff.

Today we brought it out for playtime because if we don't we might continue to forget about it and when we do remember the next time the kids might already have outgrown them.

As with all things new, 萱萱 and 阳阳 were super excited to play with the rail tracks. We probably need to top up with more tracks as we were lacking a few more to complete another rail route.

DIY Fishing Game

Another one of Meimei's genius ideas for fun for the kids. They loved the challenge of fishing and playing water, more so when the weather is so hot this month.

A Truck For 姐姐

Since 萱萱's saving for the watch, she has not been spending on any other toys. You can tell though she is tempted to spend some, especially when 阳阳 has been using 2-3 stars regularly to get small trucks and cars. I think 阳阳 notices it too and he did a very nice thing today for 萱萱.  

He asked for two of the fire trucks. When questioned why he is getting two, he simply said, "one for 阳阳 one for 姐姐”. I then told him that I would take away 6 stars since each cost 3 stars. He replied with "姐姐 stars" "No, 姐姐 is saving for the watch, if you want to get a truck for 姐姐 you have to use your stars". He stared at the trucks for a few seconds and nodded. To make sure he understood I replied it a few more times that I was going to take 6 stars away from his chart and he kept replying ok.

So I crossed out 6 stars from his chart and gave him the trucks. He was very excited and ran to the living room to pass one of them to 萱萱. Awwwww ... such a sweet gesture.

Stars For Toys

A few weeks ago, Meimei started a new stars reward scheme to promote good behaviour and teach 萱萱 and 阳阳 the value of money at the same time. The stars can be exchanged for a variety of toys, stationery and trinkets from a 'Mama shop' booth above the star chart.

Some of the key behaviours we are encouraging:

• No videos during meals
• Potty everyday
• Keep toys after play
• No peeing in pampers at night
• Sleep early at night

I would say it's been a success. The kids are behaving better in anticipation of the nightly stars reward. Also they have been able to 'buy' toys from the shop and that keeps them motivated. 萱萱 has been very prudent with her stars as she has her eyes set on a watch which cost 50 stars. It's good they are learning to save their stars and evaluating which items are more worthwhile for exchange and which are probably over-priced.

Spraying Like A Fireman

Diaso just released a range of water guns. Amongst them is a very good quality fire extinguisher one which has a built in pump. The kids were beyond excited to play with a water gun. What's not to love when you can spray at flora and insects?

Paw Patrol Parade

The kids love the Paw Patrol cartoons. They will regularly sing the theme song and ask for youtube videos on them. As doting parents we bought them a lot of Paw Patrol toys, so much that 萱萱 was able to put together a parade for the pups.

Train Parade

Every night before 阳阳 sleeps, he has to bring in an entire suite of vehicles. He is such a boy, naturally fond and fascinated with everything that has a set of wheels.

Its so crowded that there is no space for the milk and hot water. But I guess if these helps him to sleep, why not. I think it gives him a sense of satisfaction and calms him for the night.

A Slide For Home

We got a slide as a gift from buying Friso milk powders. We've had it for some time now and have tried not to bring it out, fearing that the kiddos will go crazy over it and hurt themselves.

That said, if we don't bring it out soon, the kids will probably outgrow it soon. So we decided to brave our concerns and brought it out. 萱萱 and 阳阳 were over the top excited to see their very own slide in the living room.

We made them promise to share it and play nice. I wonder how long that would last before they get into interesting antics around the slide.

Animal Gathering

I love it when OO plays and gets creative. It reminds me when I was her age and would line up my stuffed toys.