My Mouth is a Volcano!

Browsing through amazon.com and I found this book; My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook.

This is a book about Louis who has a habit of interrupting people.

"All of his thoughts are very important to him and when he has something to say, his words rumble and grumble in his tummy, they wiggle and jiggle on his tongue, and press firmly against his teeth, right before he ERUPTS (or interrupts). His mouth is a volcano! "

I received my copy today and planned to read it to him tonight.

Its a book with simple words, some of them repetition, especially the part where Louis' mind start think/racing and thoughts transforms into words which he eagerly want to share with every one. I tickled Little DinoEgg's tummy when I read the part about "his words rumble and grumble in his tummy" , this makes reading more interactive and exciting. The book recognizes that a child's words and thoughts ARE important, he probably can't wait to share with the whole world but it is rude to interrupts n chatter non stop, disregarding every one. It teaches the child in a fun way to show respect for others and to wait for their turn to speak.

You guessed it. Little DinoEgg is like Louis. He can go "mummy, mummy, MUM-MYYY!!" when I'm in the middle of a conversation/discussion, on the phone or in the midst of doing some work. No amount of teaching, explaining, scolding or what-so-ever drills the idea of DO NOT INTERRUPT into his head. He does this to every one and any one. Some people gets frustrated or feels irked at this rude boy. Some people are understanding and patient. Its time to teach him to be patient n wait for his turn to speak. Otherwise I fear that when he starts primary school he will be distracting every one in the class.

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Look What am I up to

Its 9pm+ and Little DinoEgg just "threw" me a task..... To transform this heap of vehicles into a robot.

10mins later, after trying to be a smart alec to fix it without looking at the instruction manual, thinking that its just simple job of linking 5 vehicles into 1, I gave up. Took the instruction manual, look at the picture, follow the steps and 5mins later... VIOLA!

One "gigantic" Transformer Robot

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Father's Day gift 2011

Lovely key chain

Little DinoEgg's gift to daddy for Father's Day, finally a "decent & useful" gift for daddy ^^, he made this in school. Daddy was clearly very happy with the gift. He keep saying he got nothing from him during the past Fathers' Day.

Earlier I whispered into Little DinoEgg's ears, telling him to give a hug to daddy and wish him Happy Father's Day. He was so excited n giggled. Then he tippy-toed into his room (while giggling which obviously gave him away), hide inside the room, peep at daddy (who is sitting at the study table just outside his room), then creep up to him and shouted "SURPRISE! Happy Father's Day, daddy!" follow by a big hug.

He is so funny! Of course daddy already saw him, have to act surprise and play along with him

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Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

Earlier this week I was at Kinokuniya looking for some books that will help me teach Little DinoEgg to control his anger and temper when I come across this book; Have You Filled a Bucket Today? I read it through before deciding to get this for Little DinoEgg. I know this will help in to be a better person and in a way control his outburst of temper, actions. To show some love, thoughtfulness, gentleness, respects to others.

At the back of the book, it says "Through sweet, simple prose and vivid illustrations, this heartwarming book encourage positive behaviour as children see how very easy and rewarding it is to express kindness, appreciation and love on a daily basis."

A little bit about the book. We all carry an invisible bucket that contains our feelings. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When our bucket is empty, we feel sad. A bucket filler is someone who says or does nice things for other people. By doing this, they are filling other people's buckets and filling their own bucket at the same time.

On the other hand, a bucket dipper says or does things to cause other people to feel bad. A bucket dipper empties their bucket when they say and do mean things.

The cheerful bucket with its rainbow colored hearts and stars attracts Little DinoEgg's attention. He sat there quietly listening to me reading, only interrupted me once (when we got to the bus driver), which is good coz he always interrupts me when I am reading or he will be distracted by something else or the picture on next page.

I guess he really like this book coz the next day when its Bedtime Reading, he get this book out for me to read again (he only have a handful of books that he fancy).

Now every morning after we usual hugs n kisses before I head off to work, I will tell him "Remember to fill some one's bucket today alright?" And when I reach home I will ask him "Did you fill some one's bucket today?" " Who's bucket?" He will proceed to tell me what he has done or who has emptied his bucket by dipping into it etc etc.

A chat with his teacher yesterday gives me some pleasant news. She says he no longer shouts or scream or protest loudly when some one is doing things that he does not like, snatched his things, teacher punish him etc Instead he will be calm and behave himself. Well, is this the work of the Invisible Bucket? I hope it is but we still have a long way to go to determine it. As of now, I am happy that he is no longer showing those bad attitude n temper tantrums. Hope he keeps it up.

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Angry Octopus

I was browsing the net for some books that help children deal with their anger n temper when I came up this book; Angry Octopus by Lori Lite.

The book's introduction says these;

"Children love to unwind and relax with this fun exercise known as “progressive muscular relaxation”. Children relate to the angry octopus in this story as the sea child shows him how to take a deep breath, calm down, and manage his anger. This effective stress and anger management technique focuses awareness on various muscle groups to create a complete resting of the mind and body. Muscular relaxation can lower stress and anxiety levels. It can be used to decrease pain and anger. This engaging story quiets the mind and relaxes the body so your child can let go of anger and fall asleep peacefully."

The many reviews in various site by many readers who bought this book to help their kid(s) or little patients (they are doctors, psychologist :P) are good. Thus I decided to give it a try. Plus I like the colorful pictures (saw the preview in amazon.com). Its bright colors should attract Little DinoEgg to sit down and listen to the story.

I got this book today and couldn't wait to read it to Little DinoEgg. We sat down at our Reading Time and I started to read it to him.

The story started with this page, give us a feeling of calmness, serenity, peaceful, the feeling of waking up fresh n happy in the morning. This already sets us in our relaxed n calm mood, we snuggle to get us into a more comfortable position while I read on.

The words the author uses are very expressive. When I read it, I feel that I am the Octopus getting pent up, frustrated and angry, then feeling the energy going out of my body, releasing the tight feelings in my chest out from my mouth then finally feeling calmed n relaxed.

"Now close your eyes and take a deep breath. Breathe in through your nose and let out the air out of your mouth..." AAaaahhhh~~~

We follow what the Sea Child told the Octopus to do, Little DinoEgg find it so much fun! Curling his toes, tucking himself into a ball, squeezing his face etc etc. At the end of the book he was giggling and laughing away and wanted me to read the book a second time!

This book is great for both kids and adults. Inside the book, the author wrote "Follow the Octopus along as he learns to calm down as he relaxes his mind and body. Notice how he learns to be the boss of his own feelings, body and anger." Sometimes we forgot how to relax and kept our frustrated feelings inside us. We inevitably vent our anger on our loved ones, which are no good. Learn how to be the boss of our feelings, body and anger. We will be a better person n have better relationship with others.

I hope Little DinoEgg benefits from this book. I would very much like him to better control & manage his anger n frustration. No more sudden outbursts from him, no more shooting high blood pressure for me and daddy. *keeping fingers crossed*

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Swimming 2011 Month#6 Lesson#1

We left the pool barely 10mins into the lesson.

I did not see what happened but Little DinoEgg was in the water doing the warm up laps. I just turn my head away from the pool to talk to Catherine when I hear him screaming for Coach R. I turned back and saw him struggling in the water, Coach R walking towards him. Then Little DinoEgg shouted "Its D!!" He has accused D of pulling his legs when he was swimming BUT D was sitting on the ledge at the other end so it was definitely not her. Coach R tried to explained to him but he was not listening, starts to wail n raises his voice and he sends him to me.

I tried to calm him down, make him lower his voice etc but it does not work. Getting frustrated and fed up I dragged him away, telling him that we are going home RIGHT NOW! Of course when he realized that I was not only verbal threatening or warning but REALLY leaving the pool, he fought back, refusing to stand or walk. So I dragged him along ignoring his pleads, wail, cry etc etc. I am very tired of such things happening again n again on every Sundays. It makes him cant enjoy and learn swimming (which was my intention), and turns my Sundays lousy.

When we reached home I told him very clearly n sternly that he is not going for swimming lessons any more since he chose to show his bad n rude behaviour during the lesson. Later that night i text Coach R that we will be stopping swimming as I think I need to deal with his temper tantrums n anger issue before anything else. I was exasperated n dejected. Most of all I was tired of all these, it makes my scream at him more often, something that I would not want to do it. Its time I settle this once and for all, otherwise it will get out of hand (it is actually going out of hand but still within control).

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1st meal using Shutter Chef

I cooked my 1st dinner with my new toy; Themal Shutter Chef, and we are very satisfied with the results.

I cook herbal chicken soup in 1 pot and stew pig pork belly in the other pot. Both turns out very good, tastes the same as I have cooked over the stove fire for 2.5 - 3hrs. Our dinner consist of these 2 dishes, steam cod fish and stir fried kouji leaves with prawns. The fastest dinner I have cooked so far; dinner ready in 30mins

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My 1st GSS 2011 loot

I've heard about "magic thermal cooker" earlier this year but knowing that its a pricy item, I've decided to wait till GSS (Great Singapore Sale) to see if I can get a good deal.

Well, its worth the wait. I went to Tangs (since I have a $10 voucher) with the intention of getting either an Endo or Tiger brand thermal cooker. To my dismay, a Tiger thermal cooker cost $299 AFTER DISCOUNT! Same goes for Zojirushi. The price is only for a 1 pot cooker, I am looking for 2 pots cooker. On top of that the design is bulky, with the handle sticking out. It will occupy more space in my tight kitchen counter plus the handle will create some kind of hindrance to me (I'm no lady in any ways).

I was very interested in Endo and La Gourmet as their price is slightly over a hundred for a 2-pots cooker. Was very curious about the price, asked the sales lady and was told that even though the brand is Japan & Germany, it is manufactured in Malaysia. She then recommends me Thermal Cookware, Shuttle Chef. The price is a hefty SGD299 after discount, usual price is SGD400+. I decided to part with my cash *painfully* and purchase this coz its compact thus does not take up alot of space, it does not have ugly "ears" sticking out at the side and most important it has 2 pots! Of course the freebies of x1 6litre pot and the frying pan of XXcm (no idea how big it is) makes me veered towards "go ahead and buy".

Yesterday night I tried out with water, put the 2 pots of water on the stove for about 10mins n then put them into the container. This morning when I open it, the water are still hot, this makes me very eager to try out with the soup. Now that it passes the "keep warm" test, will it pass the "cooking" and "tasty" test? We shall see about it.

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