Owner: Twins Beautiful Life URL:http://www.twinsbeautifulmind.blogspot.com Join Date: Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:09:03 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Get a glimpse of Twins' Life! What to expect for twins in the first few year.... Also sharing parenting tips, children's books review and kids reading resources.
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The Dreadful Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease 2008-04-04 02:36:33 There is an outbreak of Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease (HFMD) recently at my twins childcare centre. 5 cases were reported in the last two weeks. And it seems that country wide Singapore had reported about over 700 cases of HFMD last month, mainly infected by pre-schoolers and young kids under the age of five. It is definitely a viral season.Am I afraid? Certainly. Though my twins had unluckily contacted HFMD last September, they are not immune to the next infection.What's so terrible about it?The young children will usually have the following symptoms :mouth ulcers, Rashes (flat or raised red spots, some with blisters) on their palms, soles or buttocks; maybe some fever for 2-3 days, sore throat and runny noses. Vomiting and diarrhoeaPoor appetite (mainly due to mouth ulcers)Tiredness and weakne
Sharing Jennifer Lopez Twins Joy! 2008-03-23 22:06:30 Seems like twins is the latest fashion statement. Jennifer Lopez
is on the latest People Magazine cover with her twins, Max and Emme. Her twins boy and girl were born last month on 22 February. I share Jennifer's twins joys when my twins, Asher and Gwyneth was born on 12 October 2004. It is a indescribable feeling but it is marvellous. You felt incredibly blessed with a girl and a boy born to you at the same time. See Lopez's tired eyes and glowing face and you would probably understand what I meant.Amazingly, Jennifer Lopez is not the only celebrity having twins. Angelina Jolie is pregnant with twins now; Marcia Cross from "Desperate Housewife" is also happily blessed with her currently 13 month old twins girls. Even Dora The Explorer, one of my twins' favourite TV show, had caught up wit Read more:Sharing
, Twins
Teaching my kids to be offensive to School Bullies 2008-03-17 23:22:31 The last time I wrote about my twins being bullied in preschool, a website "Coffee Grounds", primarily discussing about school bullies, picked up my story to relate to his readers. I find that interesting as finally some parents congregate to share and hopefully seek some practical solutions in a common issue that they faced with their young kids.Perhaps as a first time parent, it amazes me that school bullying could occur at such a young age (my twins were only about three years old when the incident happened). At that time, I was thinking hard if my parenting skills could have gone "hay wired" in anyway? Maybe as parents, we could have entrenched such a strong mindset of good behaviour in our kids that when school bullying occurs, the kids did not know how to deal or react to it.So rece Read more:School
Are kids having fun? 2008-03-10 11:56:11 In our daily and busy life, we often sent our kids to the childcare centre early in the morning before we went to work and brought them home after work in the evening. The kids followed a routine almost daily for 5 days.Sometimes, they would ask,"why do I have to go to a childcare, why do I have to take a nap in school, why do you have to work?". These are questions that are easy but also difficult to answer. In this "cat eats dog" society coupled with rising inflation, a dual income in a family is almost ascertain to ensure some quality of life. So talking about kids having fun? Are they? Perhaps on the weekend only where you would bring them to the zoo, parks, excursion for some fun. You can see the delighted faces smiling at you for the whole day.But I pitied the new generation of pres
Can happiness be inherited? 2008-03-06 21:13:46 Yesterday, I read a very interesting news article on the topic of happiness
. It is discussing about a latest study of nearly 1,000 pairs of identical and non-identical twins in which they found that genes control half the personality traits that make people happy while factors such as relationships, health and careers are responsible for the rest of our well-being.So it seems like if we inherited
the "happy" genes, we may tend to be a happier person. But what if we inherited the "sad" genes? Perhaps then we should "breed happiness thoughts" to these people since young? So that they could have a stronger inner emotional support later in life?I was intrigued by these thoughts as I observed some difference in the emotional state of my fraternal twins. By the way, what this new study also sho
Comic Strip on Preschool Children 2008-03-04 23:27:33 Although the comic is about a five year old boy who has a blog where he shares his life and thoughts to the world, the scenario portrayed here actually happened to my three and a half year old boy who is in preschool.I totally had a good laugh, it's really what happened to my kid who sometimes find excuses not to go to school!
Read more:Comic
, Strip
, Preschool
, Children
School Bullies in Preschool? 2008-03-04 00:56:08 Think that school bullying will never happen to preschoolers?My twin son just told me last night before he slept,"Mommy, Jarren used a duster to hit on my head.....and also on Gwyneth (his twin sister)." He was also showing the action of the duster hitting his forehead concurrently.I asked him immediately what his reaction was. He said he had told his teacher and Jarren, his preschool friend, got a "scolding". I commended that he did the right thing and should inform the teacher should such incidents happen again.In anyway, this is not the first incident since the twins joined the preschool. End of last year, both of them were beaten (on the chest and face) by a bigger size boy in their class, though they were not physically hurt. Apparently, another boy in that class had joined the action Read more:School
, Preschool
Terrible Twos' Comic 2008-03-03 02:40:26 terrible twos The above comic strip is done by Australian cartoonist John Cook.I thought it was really funny and look like one of the many challenges that parents faced in raising a toddler. It got me laughing......at least.....what about you?
Read more:Comic
4 Useful Tips to Get Your Child to Read! 2008-02-29 10:56:08 My twins love to read.Start Young : Thanks mainly to their daddy who had been reading voraciously since they were 8 months in my tummy. *wink*Find a specific time daily : We would borrow or buy either infant or toddlers books and read to them daily in a specific hour, usually before bedtime. It has became a routine. Such that if we would consider a miss session on that night, the twins would throw tantrums (a justified one) and refused to go to bed.Previously, one of their favourite English child author is Eric Carle. Recently, Dr Seuss and Jane Simmons' books are on the hit lists. Particularly Dr Seuss's "Hop on Pop" - the words just rythm, good illustration & it's funny; Jane Simmons's "Daisy" and "Ebb & Flo" series. For chinese books, they seems to prefer this "Xiao Tai Yang" se Read more:Useful
What's so funny about Dr Seuss's books? 2008-02-29 10:50:44 My twins had fallen in love with Dr Seuss
's book and I don't know why? Maybe the books are silly and funny. To me, the story line might be a little nonsensical and the pictures a little wried. But as long as the kids love to read, it is what really matters.We first read Dr Seuss's ABC:An amazing alphabet book and Hop on Pop during their toddler's years. The pictures are colourful, the words are huge and rythmed. I believe that's why they were very attracted to it and were generally able to sit through the session. But for toddlers who do not have long attention span, like my twin daughter, I would recommend that you read the books in a few session instead of one.After repeated readings, my twins started to recognise the alphabets and soon able to read simple words! I discovered that when t
Develop Multiple Intelligence through Nature Discovery 2008-02-26 00:25:17 Since Asher and Gwyneth started to walk, we often brought them to the gardens near our flat for some "educational fun" walk. We bought two toy-like magnifying glass and let them do some "discovery". They watched the ants crawl in line, the birds & butterflies flying around the trees and discovered the different type of leaves and flowers in amazement.Even till today, as we walked to their childcare centre nearby, we will often do "snailies watch" and "mimosa teasing".There are simply lot of snails around that garden near the centre, particularly after some morning rain or drizzling. Asher and Gwyneth would then love spotting snails crawling and searching for foods around the muddy sands or wet floors. We would label the snails -"Ah gong", "Ah ma", "daddy", "mummy" , "Jie Jie"(older si Read more:Multiple
, Discovery
Separation Anxiety - Are twins alike? 2008-02-26 00:14:58 This morning when I brought the twins to preschool, their new classmate of two weeks, Rannon, was crying out loud for Ms Michelle, their form class teacher. He refused to go to his class and insisted on waiting near the door for her. Rannon reminded me of Asher when he just joined 6 months ago, but Asher merely had tears in his eyes and was chokingly telling me that he wanted Ms Lily, then form teacher. Toddlers or young kids tend to look for familiar faces when separated from parents.Actually, Asher occasionly still tears when waving goodbye to me. He is such a "sentimental" boy, or you would rather call "emotional' like what his teachers did. I would consider him having some forms of mild but prolong separation anxiety.Often, Asher needs a lot of assurance and encouragement before going Read more:Separation
, Separation Anxiety
Can you avoid tantrums? 2008-02-26 00:12:43 After reading books on managing tantrums in toddlers and kids, coupled with some experience, I thought that tantrums for my twins could be minimised. But today, I learn that some tantrums are rather difficult to avoid.Asher thrown his tantrums over a 'minor' incident after he came back from the childcare centre. I immediately knew that he did not nap well in the centre and will continue with the tantrums until he sleeps. That is the issue here. If you send your kids to a childcare centre, you could not have control over the causes of the tantrums, which is lack of sleep here for Asher.So what should you do then if you could not "remove" the cause or causes of the tantrums? Distraction? Yeah, work most times but for a short time frame. So got to keep your cool till the kid settles his 'mood
The twins' curiosity about Insects 2008-02-26 00:08:48 "Hey, an insect, mummy......an insect!", the twins shouted. They had just spotted a bee which somehow flew and "stuck" outside a window panel. They are often very amazed and curious about this group of animal kingdom. Perhaps they had seen the daddy catching flies, bees, lizards etc. Then "shaking and dancing" the "cong cong" (insects) before he lets them had a free fall from the window.Anyway, this silly bee had really been "helpful". At least the twins got a chance to see a close up view of the eyes, body, wings and other parts of the bee, which they would otherwise not get to see at all.
Read more:Insects
The twins excursion to Chinatown 2008-02-26 00:07:52 The twins had an excursion
with the school to Chinatown
today. It is the first time that I am not tagging along since they joined the childcare centre last June. Previously, I followed the twins for a few excursion as they were still settling in the new envirnoment. And the way the twins, especially Asher, waved good-bye to me from the bus today made me felt so proud of them. I think they had truly grown mentally besides physically since joining the school.But I "trail" them at Chinatown for a very short while, just to keep my promise to the twins that I shall meet them at Chinatown if they are well-behaved.As Chinese New Year is approaching, the streets are decorated with the festive decors and new year's goods 'sprung' in all shops along a few streets. The twins are a little fascinated w
Baking Cupcakes with the Twins 2008-02-25 23:42:02 Occasionally on a Saturday weekend, the twins and I will do some bakings. We just did one baking session yesterday - making cupcakes. Kids love cup cakes and they are fun to make.Ingredients (make 12)120g butter, softened120g sugar1 tsp vanilla essence]3 eggs180g flour1 tsp taking powder12 cup cake papersMethodCream butter and sugar until pale, light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla essence. Add eggs one at time. Fold in sifted flour and baking powder. Fill cupcake papers or tray 1/2 ful with the mixture and bake at 180 deg C for 10-15 mins until the cakes spring back when touched. The twins love the process of baking. Off course as young kids, they are there for some fun and "messing around" at times. But most importanly, baking with kids is a good time for bonding and you can also see the sat Read more:Twins
, Baking
Touched by the twin beautiful soul 2008-02-25 23:33:33 The twins woke up today and realised that their daddy is still sleeping at home. Gwyneth asked curiously why was the daddy still at home and wanted to wake him up. I stopped her and told her that the daddy is sick and needed some rest. She asked politely if she could "pet" his dad's leg to show empathy in his dad's "condition". I declined and she did not pursue further.And so the twins went to the childcare centre. As I could not bring them back home today, the daddy went to pick them up.During dinner, my husband told me that he was caught by suprise when he went to pick Gwyneth in the centre. She had actually asked my husband,"Daddy, are you feeling better?". My husband said that he was so touched by this beautiful soul of her.
Read more:Touched
Amazed by the twins' dialogue 2008-02-25 23:33:02 The twins got a mild flu infection yesterday. And when they woke up early this morning, the first thing that Gwyneth said,"Mommy, I have a flu, so I don't need to go to school today........Di di (her brother), you'll go to school alone today."Asher retorted by saying,"No....I am also sick, so I don't need to go to school too!". I was a little intrigued when I heard this dialogue
. This two young kids actually knew that the "outcome" of being sick was that they could rest at home. And they were thrilled!Have they not settled in the childcare centre and enjoyed their friends' company? I wondered. Or they just simply love the freedom they have at home of not following a time-table? Maybe I would have the answer much later?
Should young kids watch TV? 2008-02-25 23:30:24 I guess the reply would usually be,"why not?". But some parents were cautious on this, especially for toddlers below 2 years old. Perhaps due to some reports by experts saying that young
toddlers expose to TV at an earlier age could threaten their attention span. Some recommended that only toddlers after 2 years old be allowed to watch
TV and that parents should also limit the time spent on TV for only an hour per day.Actually I have also been limiting the twins' time spent on TV for an hour a day. But since 8 months old, I had allowed the twins to watch educational video for the most half an hour daily. Sometimes, mommy just need to take a break, so the TV comes in handy in this case, and particularly for taking care of twins. Nevertheless, being selective on TV programmes or videos is go
The Twins' Curiosity about Pets 2008-02-25 22:34:44 Recently, my neighbour bought a hamster, probably for their two schooling kids as a pet or maybe for some auspicious reason in the year of the rat (Chinese calendar year).They happened to put the hamster outside their house and next to the shoe rack. So my twins, Asher and Gwyneth, discovered this little cutie thing inside a big "cage" and ignited their curiosity. Actually, even the mommy finds it too "irresistable" not to look at what the hamster was doing.The little hamster is so smart and cute - it saw my twins and kept staring back at them. Then it struggled to stand up for while before crawling up the "stairs" of the cage and sniffed for attention. (As in the picture) My twins "squealed" for delight and were obviously thrilled by this action of the hamster.As we couldn't bring the li Read more:Twins
Oh, when the twins are sick! 2008-02-25 22:34:15 What a rat year this is! On the first day of Chinese New Year, Asher was down with fever and vomiting, and we knew that our house visiting is going to end on that day.He was running stubbornly high fever, despite continuous 3 hourly alternate doses of paracetamol and Ibuprofen (an NSAID). So on the third day of Chinese New Year, when one of the clinics are opened, we quickly brought him to see a paediatrician. At certain time, Asher was running about 39 - 40 deg C fever, it was terrible for us and him. The paediatrician said he caught Influenza ("the potent flu") where some of the symptoms are fever, vomiting, diahorrea, muscles ache, lethagy, running nose and cough. Asher got all of these symptoms with mild vomiting and diahorrea.The Dr said that the fever is going to run for around 5-6 d
Twins' Chinese New Year Celebration 2008-02-25 22:33:42 It is the fourth year that the twins are celebrating their Chinese
New Year(CNY). But this year, at nearly three and a half years old, is supposingly the year where they began to be more aware and "conscious" of the real happenings around them. It was quite a good start, with their pre-school teaching them some CNY songs, and the twins were singing days long before the first day ("Cu Yi") of CNY. On CNY eve, we had reunion dinner with the twins' paternal grandparents and their 3 uncles plus families. They both receive the first CNY red packets ("Ang Pow") from their grandfather during the dinner.After reunion dinner, we went to pray at the Waterloo Street's Kwan Yin Temple, near my parents' place. (See Pic) Later the twins visited my parents with whom they also met their uncle and auntie Read more:Twins
, Chinese New Year
Weekend Outings 2008-02-25 22:33:13 During weekend, we usually bring the twins to certain places that they will enjoy, mainly places where they could play and splash with water.Swimming pool, a few shopping centres like Vivocity and Millenia Walk(in picture) where there are real shallow water pool to let the kids have some fun.Sometimes doing something different provide new stimulation for the twins. And just like any kids or adults, they always love new places and things.
Read more:Weekend
The twins' friends call me Mommy! 2008-02-25 22:32:31 Everytime I went to the childcare centre, either to send or bring the twins home, their group of friends will all crowd around me and start talking to me.They will begin calling me,"Mommy
, mommy,....... I have this or that at home" or sort of complaining to me,"Mommy, mommy, Asher and Gwyneth used the crayons to draw on my T-shirt.....". One or two of them will even piggy back on me when I happened to squat down. It is kinda of interesting because their friends simply do not call the other parents the same. Once a grandparent even asked her granddaughter,"Is she your mommy, why did you call her mommy?".Actually, I do not have a clear reason or idea why the twins' friends called me Mommy. Perhaps in the initial period when helping the twins to settle in the childcare centre, some of their f
3 Most Effective Ways of Managing Tantrums for Busy Parents 2008-02-25 22:19:31 From experience and reading books on managing tantrums, I find that the 3 most effective ways or methods of managing tantrums are as follows: 1. Prevent or avoid it : The best way to manage tantrums is actually to prevent tantrums from happening. The key is to find out the cause or causes of your toddler/kid's tantrum. What are the factors triggering the tantrum? Is it hunger, tiredness, lack of sleep or perhaps simply an inability to express or communicate their needs? For example, if you know that your toddler/kid is going to flare up or throw a tantrum after switching off his/her favourite TV program, then pre-empt him/her about 10 minutes before that. Give your toddler/kid another reminder 2-3 minutes before you switch off the TV. Young children basically do not like sudden changes or Read more:Parents
My twins:"We are husband and wife" 2008-04-08 23:22:41 My husband and I burst into hilarious laughter earlier this week when my twins claimed strongly that they are husband and wife. They were apparently trying to "emulate" what we had told them about our relationship."Both of you are brother and sister", we said."No! We are husband and wife!",they both said simultaneously. Despite several other attempts to explain the different kind of relationships, they had chosen to ignore what we had said.It is kind of interesting here because in some ancient Chinese beliefs, they believed that twins of different sex are reincarnation of husband and wife in their past life. That's if you also believe in reincarnation. I began to wonder if that's true for my twins........though it sounded silly. *smile*In any way, we decided to let this little "husband and
My First Mother's Day Gift 2008-05-20 01:00:14 I received my first mother's day gift last week - a card made by my three-and-a-half-year-old twins each! The twins' preschool had taught them how to make the cards. My girl, Gwyneth, made a green card & her twin brother, Asher, made a red one. On the cards, they put on some decos with Chinese words typed on it,"I love mommy! Happy Mother's Day".I was very touch by this little gesture, though Read more:First
Flying at the Singapore Flyer 2008-05-27 01:17:03 The SingaporeFlyer
is the latest tourist attraction here and we brought our twins and their grandparents for a ride last week. As the 'capsule' of the wheelbarrow moved higher, we got a breathtaking view of Singapore city; might have been better in the night with the city lights up but the day view is equally scenic. Thankfully it was a clear day and we managed to take some "postcards" shots of t Read more:Flying
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