Bed wetting

It's been two months since we started weaning them from pampers (diapers). We've been waking up the two elder children at around 1am every morning to let them take care of wee-wee business, so that they won't do it in bed.

There are ways when we miss by a few minutes and it's too late.

One night, I went over to their bed and touched both to see if they are still dry.  Both were.  I picked up Domu and brought him to the toilet.  When we came back to bed, I picked up Pia, and she had already done her thing.  In bed.  Since then, I've started to pick up Pia first.

Current score since we started the program:

Pia : has wet the bed 6 times

Domu: 1 time.

How long will it take?

Painting class, Music class

We enrolled Domu in a painting class at his school.  It's his first time to use watercolors and he's enjoying it.  Meanwhile, so that Pia doesn't feel left out, we bought her a coloring book. 

They're both attending music class, singing Cantonese songs, which I'm sure they have no idea what it's all about.

Vaccination

Sammy got another round of immunization shots.  This time round it's for polio, and DPT (Diptheria, Pertussis, and Tetanus).  They advised us to expect some fever.  So far, he's alright, although he seems to lack appetite.  He used to finish 6 oz fairly easily.  These days, 3 oz is enough for him. 

The talking baby?

Sammy is only eight weeks old and he's already saying his first word. 

Probably.

We always greet him 'Hello Sammy! Helloooo' , and being the sociable baby, he smiles the cutest gummy smile possible and tries to reply back 'whooo' or 'whaaaugg'.

Recently his reply' becoming more and more clearer.  He's saying "hewoo".

Could it really be?

Domu and Pia started attending their extra-curricular English class.  Their former teacher was Mr. Marvin, who we understand has left for the Philippines.  So we were curious who their new teacher is.

Q: What's the name of your new English teacher?

Domu and Pia: Mr. Snake.

Birthday card

Pia received a special card on her birthday.

 

  

The photo doesn't do justice to the card's stunning craftsmanship and very finely detailed work.  How was it done? 

We don't believe it was made on earth; we think some kind of alien advanced technology was used to build it.

Really unbelievable. 

And now we wonder if the rest of us will receive similar cards on our birthdays.

Thanks Auntie Thelma and Uncle David.

Differences in bottle-feeding

We were remarking about the difference in feeding styles of the 3 children.  Domu was the most frustrating to feed, taking up to an hour to finish 30 ml of milk.  He would fall asleep between each ml.

Pia was easier, even knowing (even during her first days!) how to pause and regain her breath while trying to finish 30 ml. 

But Samuel is the fastest, now finishing up to 150ml in just 15 minutes.

How not to make donations

One Sunday not long ago, I brought Domu to Mass.  When the time for collection came, I found out that I had forgotten to bring any paper bills -- all I had was a single one dollar coin.  Situations like this are  embarassing, especially during those days when the collectors happen to be the teens we teach at catechism class. Oh, look teacher Trump is donating a whole dollar!  Wow!  A Guiness record!

So I passed the coin to Domu.  Hopefully he knows enough to be discreet when dropping donations into the collection bag.

Wishful thinking.

As the collector passed by our pew, she starts angling the bag towards us, but way too soon Domu tosses the coin at the bag like a basketball player attempting a 3-pointer...and failing to hit anything. 

The coin misses the bag, falls on the marble floor with its distinct '1-dollar-donation-from-a-cheapskate' CLINK!, then the rules of physics kicks in and rolls the coin under other pews to the spot where it is hardest to reach.

People all around started looking and bending trying to look for our super-generous donation.

Mass Confusion, 1

We went to Mass last Sunday.  Domu has a former classmate who is always present at Mass, and she and Domu are always at play during Mass.  It's fun to watch them play because they don't really speak to each other.  Domu doesn't speak Chinese, and the girl (Mei mei) mainly speaks Chinese, although she knows English and Domu knows a little Chinese.

When the two play, they can really get going.  At first, they quietly run from the back of the pews to the middle aisle almost halfway to the altar and round the pews back to the back again.  Sometimes, they get carried away and become noisy, and we remind them with a stare and a Sssshh!

There is a section at the back that is partly enclosed.  If they spend their playtime there, they're most unobtrusive.

In last Sunday's Mass, the consecration bell dingding'ed at the wrong time.  Usually it will do a ding-ding-ding at consecration, but this time the dinging was in the middle of the homily.  A soft, but audible dingdingding.

I looked at the back, and as expected, Domu had the bell in his hands and ringing it softly. I gave him the stare and he let it down softly.

A few seconds later it was ringing again.  Dingdingding It was Mei mei this time.  Nothing I can do about that.  She's not my child.

Near-miss Vowels

Domu pronounces 'candles' as 'candols'.  I've been correcting him for over a year now, but he forgets.  Pia, not wanting to make the same mistake, overcorrects herself and mispronounces 'candles' as 'kendals'.

Spelling Adventures

We've been teaching Pia and Domu how to spell.  The first word for them to spell is PILLOW.  They were quickly able to recall.
Last night, we taught them how to spell TRUCK.  Pia had a hard time trying to recall the spelling.  Just after she'd spell T-R-U-C-K, I would ask her to spell again and she would forget T-R-C-D.

To help her focus on the task, I told her to stand up, and that she won't be able to sit or lie down until she's able to spell TRUCK.
It took a while.  When she finally remembered the spelling, I asked her to repeat it ten times, to seal it into her memory.

Once she knew the spelling, I showed her the word truck and she was instantly able to recognise it.  She can pick it off very quickly now from paragraphs. 

Tonight the next word will be RAIN.

Reading Mis-adventures

While researching for techniques on how to teach reading to children, I discovered www.starfall.com, a site that offers lots of games that help teach reading skills.

At lunchtime today, Pia came to visit the office.  I showed her one of the screens.  On the screen is a drawing of a tin can, and the incomplete word _AN.  The child is supposed to pick the correct letter from a group of four letters, to complete the correct word 'CAN'.

The selection of four letters are: F, P, C, and R.

I asked Pia, which letter is the correct one?

Pia: (Confidently, and pointing generically to the screen) 'B' !

Australia or Hong Kong?

We told Domu and Pia we will be moving to Australia in December.   (Both of them we know prefer Hong Kong).

Domu : Are we coming back to Hong Kong?
Me: No.
Pia: But we want here in Hong Kong
Me: Why?
Pia: (Trying to find a reason) Because there are many c*ps here.  (I could not figure what she meant)
Me: c*ps?
Pia: Yes, there are many c*ps here.  There are no c*ps in Australia
Me: Oh, cups?  For drinking?
Pia: Yes.  And we will be tired if we go to Australia.

My Chinese Baby

Samuel applied for his Hong Kong ID and passport today.  He's qualified to obtain a Hong Kong passport because he is Chinese.  How did we end up with a Chinese son when both parents are non-Chinese?  Was there a mix-up at the hospital?

The rule in Hong Kong is that anyone born in Hong Kong who is of Chinese descent is automatically Chinese (whether you like it or not).  If the parents aren't Chinese, the burden is on the parents to prove Chinese lineage, if they want the government to recognise the child's Chinese nationality.  In our case we believe it is beneficial, so we like that arrangement. 

Our family can trace its roots back to China, therefore Samuel has Chinese descent and is Chinese.

Pia in Sydney

Pia enjoying herself in front of the camera.

When she's in the mood, she's a joy to photograph. When she's not in the mood, it's impossible to get her to produce a simple smile on a normal face. You'll get all sorts of facial contortions that she can come up with.

Taken at Castle Hill.

Going to the movies for the first time

To celebrate our wedding anniversary last month, we decided to bring Dominic and Pia to the movies (Samuel also came along as well but didn't see much since he was still inside his Mommy's tummy).

It was their first time to go to the movies. Choices were limited as the family-oriented shows running at the time were only Superman Returns, and Cars. I decided that Cars might be the better choice, although we were worried that at 128 minutes, it's a bit too long. We didn't know how they would take to sitting in the dark for so long.

Dominic and Pia have just been introduced to Superman via old Superman videos available at archive.org and, very recently, the original Superman I movie, starring Cristopher Reeves, which was shown on Sunday TV movies.

We went to UA Cinema at Windsor House in Causeway Bay. Being cheapskates, we went for the 10:20am showing. It costs only $30 at that time. All other shows for the day was at $45.

The ticketing lady looked at Pia and sized her up as less than 1 meter tall, thus she gets to go in for free. That was a pleasant surprise. We picked the seats we wanted and then proceeded to go inside.

But when we were about to enter the section where the theaters were, the young teenager who collects tickets stopped us and said she thought Pia should have a ticket. When we tried to explain in English, she backed off, probably it wasn't worth the trouble of talking in English, and just let us pass.

It was the children's first time in any theatre, but it was the first time for the adults to this particular theatre. Compared to what I recall of theatres in Manila, this cinema was about half the size, perhaps even only a third.

The theatre had two columns of seats, divided by only one aisle . Each column had only 6 seats, I think, so the theatre was only about 12 seats wide, plus the aisle. This was only 1 of two theatres showing Cars in its original English. The rest were showing the Cantonese dubbed version.

Domu enjoyed the show and was able to follow some of the story, laughing at the appropriate places. I tried to explain the important points. Pia looked bored and just concentrated on eating the snacks we brought in.

At just the worst possible moment, Pia declared it was time for her to visit the toilet. My wife missed the climax of the show (the final moments of the final race) because she had to bring Pia (I had brought Domu a little earlier -- I can't recall at which point so I wonder how much I missed).

All in all, it was an ok movie. Perhaps a little too long. A few scenes had me bursting out loud: the punks playing mellow music while Mack was trying to stay awake come to mind. The cow tractors were enjoyable.

After the show, they were pretty happy at the experience.

Why Are You Laughing?

When Pia and Domu watch cartoons, some scenes will cause them to burst out in guffaws of louad laughter. Sine their outburst comes at the same time, I presume they both find the scene funny, and for the same reason. 

But I have my doubts. 

Because in the middle of their outburst, while still laughing, Pia will ask Domu: "Why are you laughing?"

I don't know how to understand her question.  Which one does she mean?

"Why are you laughing?"
"Why are you laughing?"
"Why are you laughing?"
"Why are you laughing?"

Schoolyear Closing Presentation

Domu and Pia's school year ended on July 18. They both participated in the seaprate presentations. Pia was part of a dance number. Domu played a role as a soccer player. Both amazed us, and it was my first time to see either one participate fully. Dominic had been part of a song number before, but did not open his mouth during the actual presentation.




Near the end of his presentation, Domu dropped his ball. Without losing a single moment, he went off after it, returned back to his place and continued off with his presentation, unfazed, capping it with an acrobatic routine that simply impressed me. He laid the ball between his two feet, grabbed hold of the ball with his two feet, jerked the ball up quickly, letting it go, so that it flew above his head, and then grabbed the ball with his two hands.




Pia was equally impressive, dancing without mistakes in a multi-partnered dance routine.

Popeye

I downloaded several old Popeye and Superman and Betty Boop videos from archive.org.  I wanted to see if my children will take to it. Surprisingly they did, even though the videos are grainy.  They just spend their summer vacation days watching these shows over and over.  Spinach has become a by-word to them.  But just as in previous generations, children aren't big fans of spinach.

Pia's question is fascinating: What does Bluto eat?

They also particularly enjoy a rather macabre Cinderella version of Betty Boop.  I didn't see Betty Boop when I was a child so this is a first time for me as well.

Ssssh...we're going to Australia

I spied Pia and Dominic up on a chair and trying to open an elevated cabinet, which they are not allowed to do.

Me: What are you doing!
Pia: W'ere going to Australia by ourselves!