As I was showering the Bub yesterday, I asked him if he would help to care for me when I got old. Immediately, this precious little boy started crying and said that he did not want me to grow old.

I hugged him and told him that everyone would grow old, and it is just another phase of life. I asked him why he didn’t want me to grow old and he replied by saying that if Mama Lim and I were to grow old, we would die and then he would not be able to see the both of us. The thought of not having us around is a really scary thought for him and it is too much for a 4-year-old boy to bear.

He said that if we were to die and go to Happyland*, we will be able to see him, but he cannot see us. And that upsets him terribly.

It warms my heart that my little Bub loves us so much and I hope one day he will read this and know that we love him as much as he loves us! 🙂

*We told Bub that Happyland is a place where all people go to when they pass away.

The Bub is a highly sensitive boy. He is super aware of his feelings and he is not shy to tell you if he is happy or upset with you. As his parents, we have learned to how to avoid his trigger points in order to keep him in a good mood.

For example, he does NOT like to be called a small boy. This is despite the fact that he is really relatively small in both size and age. As his parents, it is easy for us to avoid this. But we often warn friends or relatives in advance that he does not like to be addressed that way.

We have read that for kids like him, we will have to be very careful with our words and actions as they may leave a lasting impact on his mind. Therefore as his parents, we tend to be more mindful of what we do. But this does not mean that we avoid disciplining him altogether. We still let him know when he is in the wrong and sit him down patiently to explain why some of the things he does is unacceptable behavior. We also do our best to explain to him the consequences of his actions so that he understands that for every action, there is an effect and consequence, so that he is able to learn how to make the right decisions in life.

He is also very aware of our emotions and tends to pick up signals really quickly when we are feeling frustrated or agitated with him. He would stop us and ask us if we are happy with him. It surprises us that he is not only in tune with his emotions but also with the emotions of the people around him. Sometimes, he would just randomly blurt out phrases like, “I love you, Papa & Mama” just to let us know how much he loves us. We don’t really need him to tell us that he loves us, as we know that he loves us as much as we love him, but it is still so sweet to be hearing such lovey-dovey words from him.

We love him just the way he is, and we hope that he keeps loving us the way he does too. 😀

The Bub can get a little emo sometimes.

As the Bub was sick last week, we were unable to bring him to his weekly swim lessons. However, it is clear that he really missed splashing around in the pool as he woke up super-duper early on Saturday morning, reminding us that it is time for us to bring him to the pool once more.

With the early wake-up call from the Bub, we were able to have an early breakfast at the nearby hawker centre.  The food was really good and the Bub managed to gobble down an absurd mixture of bread, porgy, and my vegetarian noodles to fuel him up for his pending exertions.

Munchy Much! I am a glutton!

Mmmmmm!!! My breakfast is yummy!

By the time we were done with breakfast, we realised that we still had about 45 mins before his lesson starts. So we swiftly got changed and headed straight for the pool and started mucking around and test out the new arm floats that we got for the Bub from Toy”r”us for only $9.99! You can check out the link to the product here. Let us know if you would like us to do a product review of this float and perhaps I can do a short and quick review of it in the near future!

Lightning McQueen Arm Floats!

We quickly realised that the Bub is very comfortable with floating around in his new arm floats and he was able to keep his body upright with ease. So I allowed him to paddle around the shallow pool to build his confidence with his new swim gear. I wanted him to build the courage to jump straight into the pool but he was too careful and cautious to do so. Instead, he focused on swimming around aimlessly like a cute little duckling in the water.

He enthusiastically went for his swim lessons and his instructor said that the Bub is progressing well and is exceeding his expectations so far. I’m pleased that the instructor is reassuring me with the progress of my child and it is great to see the Bub having a great time during the class.

The instructor watching the Bub closely as he swims towards the marker

The Bub swimming confidently without the swimming board in the deep pool!

After his classes ended, we stayed around and continued playing in the water for another 45 mins before Mama Lim expressed her extreme hunger and we had to wash up and head for lunch before Mama Lim fainted by the poolside.

We love swimming! A splish splashing good time is the best fun of al!

By the time we were done with lunch, we were all throroughly exhausted, but not as badly worn out as the Bub as he passed out on the way home while we were still in the taxi. 😛

We hope you had as much fun reading what we did the other day and we hope that you’ll come back for more!

I’ve probably mentioned to my close friends and family members that I think that Bub is definitely going to win a Golden Horse or Oscars when he grows up. I guess I only have myself to blame for passing on my drama papa genes to him. This little fella is so overly dramatic that he over exaggerates every little thing.

I bet everyone remembers the antics of Neymar at the recently concluded World Cup?

Neymar doing em Neymar things~

Yeap. This Neymar. Lol~

Well, the Bub is at this level of acting right now.

As he was not feeling well over the weekend, we brought him to the doctors to get some medication for his upset tummy. By the time we got home, he was feeling a little doozy but we wanted to get him to finish his medication before we tucked him in for his afternoon nap.

But he was totally upset that he had to finish his medication and he started to throw a hissy fit. I causally tapped him at the back of his head to ease him into the kitchen so that Mama Lim could get him to eat his meds but the Bub reacted in the most Neymar way ever!

Firstly, he staggered a few steps before choosing a nice spot to land on the kitchen floor. *There is NO such spot*

Like a true artist that knows his craft, he landed his body softly on the floor, and carefully tapped his head onto the ground to create the *THUD* sound for a more realistic effect.

Then the tears started to flow freely.

Rolling on the ground and throwing a hissy fit in style

Rage face as the Bub attempted to kick me.

He realises that his attempt to win over sympathy is futile but carries on with his act nevertheless.

Within minutes, we managed to get him to calm down but we all know that it was just another dramatic act from him. When he calmed down, he continued his argument and told me that he had tears so it’s not acting. I told him it was just fake tears as this is not the first time that he did something like that.

I also reminded him we knew that he was tired but we just wanted him to take his medication so that he could quickly recover from his tummyache. Thankfully we managed to get him to understand our side of the story and hugged it out to make peace.

From what I understand from his teachers in school, the Bub is very well behaved in school so he might just be trying his luck on us to push our limits with him. Gotta teach this little fella that we are the boss and he’s not gonna trick us into giving him what he wants all the time.

As parents, there are times that we want to give in to his needs and wants, but we have to be rational when assessing and dealing with every situation in a consistent manner so he clearly knows the line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.

Hopefully he will also learn from his experiences and understand that the rules that we set are for his good and we can have less of these dramatic displays from him in the future. 😡