I often tell people I dote on Renzo a lot because it's so hard to give birth to him!! Yes read my labour story here and you will know why, 17 hours of labour with no painkiller, assisted with vacuum cup with high chance of emergency c-section, made me believe that I have no reason to bring him up with tough loves while enduring all his grumbles about a mummy who often refuses to budge, instead I wanted him to think of me without any fear or uneasiness, but just love and smile.
But in fact, I know I dote on him a lot because of many many many other important reasons.
At the age of 6, he may still be somewhat uncoordinated and gawky physically, he's riding a bike with training wheels and he has not tried his first swimming lesson which I secretly wished to start 3 years ago. But he's definitely growing up very well just as the way we would expect and want him to be.
I love that he is very inquisitive and is always
willing to learn new knowledge (not really on the new skill part
though). We started coaching him at home since he was about 10 months
old when we discovered he's capable of learning new things very fast, and he
had never really struggled with that. He can spend hours studying a new topic such as Jurassic Period or Outer Space. Well
once a while yes he might dread to practice his piano, which obviously
he has no flare nor interest in. But never a time he refuses to
prepare himself for his weekly spelling or 听写 tests. He often spends
less than 10 minutes for that and passes with flying colors the next day.
And recently he's been telling me not to help with his spelling anymore as he feels what he learns in class is sufficient for him to handle that. And here's a test he did without any preparation. The last sentence with a star, is a random one from his teacher which is not even on the spelling list. We were truly blessed that he's very easy to guide and reacts very well
with our way of coaching at home. He set a great example and raised the bar really high as our first born, and influenced his younger brother in a very positive way. I love that he has eyes for details on everything that he's interested in. Friends who know me well often comment that I am a very observant person and he's only better. He often surprises us with details that no one has ever noticed. He could ask for a cup of milo and a few hours later, share with us about the expiry date of that sachet and the powder to water ratio required to make the drink, which he read on the sachet before throwing it away. And after hearing the story about how Daddy got injured in a hotel bathtub, he penned the story down in his own words and although he spelt a few words wrongly, Daddy was impressed that he didn't miss out any important details.
I love his perseverance in doing his tasks, although not all but definitely those he enjoys doing. Last week before Daddy went on a 2 days business trip, Renzo promised to try out drawing his favorite Gundam model before Daddy returns. Unfortunately the model is way harder for him to handle as compared to the usual cars or animals that he draws often. So he completed about 1/3 of it after 2 nights of hard work (about 20-30 minutes each night). But when I talked to him about his promise to daddy, he decided to try harder and 3 more nights later, tada, he did it!
I love that he is a sensible kid by nature. Renzo is no where near defiant by my definition and standard, though sometimes he could go a little overboard when things do not go his way. But most of the time, he is an obedient child who understands the boundary between right and wrong, and is willing to listen although we do not play the authoritative parenting style by forcing him to follow our instructions just because we are the parents. His relationship with his little bro isn't perfect at this moment but when he's tasked to borrow 2 books for didi, here's what he got for Rynus:
I think he put in quite a bit of efforts to choose something suitable for didi's age. In his eyes Rynus is a small baby wearing diapers who doesn't really communicate well. Hence the "Do you wear Diapers?" and "Boat and Bath (sharing sign language with your child)" books for him, bravos for being so thoughtful Renzo korkor!!
I love every bit of our little man though I know he still has a lot of room for improvement. Anger management is something he needs to work on seriously, as he gets easily agitated for minor issues, for that I can't really blame him much as I was exactly the same as a kid. But with positive influence from Daddy Chan, I've changed to a better person with great temper 15 years ago and I am sure Renzo will improve over time too!
Even though I look forward to seeing what the age of 6 brings him, as it's another milestone because he's going to enter Primary School, at the same time, he may even develop a bit of rebellious streak around this age. My heart still aches seeing him growing up fast and being more independent, because that also means he is not going to cling onto me like before. Well I am not complaining, I just wish he could still be generous with his hugs and kisses towards us when he grows up to a teenager, or even an adult!
Happy birthday our dear little Renzo Chan, enjoy being 6!! Loads of love from Daddy, Mummy and Rynus didi!!
Ending this post with an "Essay" from Renzo about what he wishes to do when he grows up. I got the idea from the famous Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech so I decided to let Renzo write about his dream on the day he turns 6, and for us, all we wish is to support him in whatever way we can for his dream to come true one day!
