& It's Christmas

Drop-off routine June/ July 2012

Drop-off routine June/ July 2012

a daily journal...

• Day 2 (June 25) - Drop off was surprisingly easy.  Hardly any resistance.  He brought along An Pan Man.  TD wandered off into the classroom without much hesitation and started looking at toys etc, didn't say bye to Daddy, didn't turn back.  Daddy shouted out bye and that Kakak Wari till pick him at 11am (2 pointer fingers)

• Day 3 (June 26) - Went up to class and it was fine.  TD asked for his old teacher Jovanna.  Daddy explained that she was in another class.  TD then asked to go home and that Daddy carried.  TD started crying.  Daddy handed TD over while TD was crying.  TD wanted to go to the Book Room but it was not open yet.  Teacher Neelam carried TD into classroom.

• Day 4 (June 28) - Pretty rough.  TD cried all the way from home.  Wari had to go down with Daddy and TD to put him in car.  TD did not want to carry his schoolbag today.  Big cry at classroom..  Teacher Neelam said TD cried only for a while this morning, and then he was fine.  When Wari picked TD up, he was happy and told Neelam that TD was going to take a taxi to go home!

• Day 5 (June 29) - TD didn't want to leave home with Daddy only.  Wari had to go along to Daddy's car.  In the end, TD brought his favourite crab pillow.  Drop off was easy, teary eyes, but no crying.  In the car, he said "want to see teacher Neelam".  Looks like an improvement!

• Day 7 (Jul 3) - Drop off was okay.  A bit of whining but no crying.

• Day 9 (Jul 5) - TD asked Daddy "Are you ready to make pancakes?"  No fuss at all today.  TD went in and smiled and talked.  TD saw Daddy from inside class and smiled.  Walked in with a smile, turned around, saw Daddy and still smiled.  Daddy waved bye bye.  Daddy left quickly just in case.

• Day 11 (Jul 10) - TD was agreeable to leave pillow at home, but insisted on bringing a small lump of play-doh. 

• Day 13 (Jul 12) Mini whine, but otherwise ok

• Day 14 (Jul 13) Played sand with 老师 before class starts.  All good!

• Day 15 (Jul 16) No crying at drop off.  TD talked to Neelam, walked in and didn't turn around to say goodbye to Daddy!

• Day 16 (Jul 17) Zero resistance at drop off. TD walked in, turned around, smiled at Daddy as Daddy waved bye bye. 

• Day 18 (Jul 18) No whining or anything.  TD carried his bag and took the escalator with Daddy.  TD walked all the way.  Daddy hung up his bag outside class and TD walked in.  TD looked at Daddy and smiled on his way in :)

• Day 19 (Jul 19) After hanging his schoolbag outside class, Daddy heanded TD the plastic folder.  TD walked into class with the folder and gave to teacher.  Then Neelam asked him to sit on the mat and take off this shoes.  TD sat down and fiddled with his shoes.  Daddy left.

• Day 23 (Jul 25) TD walked into classroom, and went to the play area without turning around to say Bye!  Ran off just like that!

TD's first Independent Experience and Mummy's Emotional Experience with First Week of School

For TD's playnursery, there is a Parent and Teacher Communication Book so that we can communicate daily with the teacher, and vice versus should we want to.  On the first day of school when Mummy dropped TD off, he went into the playground area without even turning to say Bye to me.  I went in to tell him Bye and that Mummy & Kakak will pick him up at 11am.  Still he was fixated on the washing machine toy, asking me questions about what each button does... I guess he did not realise that this was an unaccompanied drop-off program.   

Well, following the right protocol, I walked off and downstairs to McDonalds to work.  I was certainly thinking of TD all the time, wondering how he would cope, and I missed him a lot.  Nonetheless, I kept reminding myself that this was a new journey that he had to go through now that he was older than two years old.  Kept reminding myself to concentrate on the work, just as I hoped that he would be concentrating in class. 

When I went up at about 10:50am, I heard my boy saying 'open the door, open the door'.  I think there were three new parents.  We were waiting like it was a scene outside the operating theatre.  I spoke to a mother and she said she heard her boy crying after she left him to pay for the fees.  Her eyes were red, well so was I, trying to hold it in.  Gotto be strong for the boy right?

Day 2, TD came home very happy, chatting & laughing a lot as usual.  He loves his new schoolbag.  Today, TD said, "Teacher Neelan says don't cry", and "Theodore wants Teacher Neelan to open the mouth."  TD started to string longer sentences while conversing at home, and Wari mentioned that TD is more independent at the playground. 

Day 3.  Teacher Neelan wrote that TD was sitting down, concentrating well during circle time.  Apart from anxiety during the first half an hour, the rest of the day activities went on very smoothly.  He did cry a bit in the morning but was diverted when the Teacher Neelan started to talk about the lift. 

TD did come home with his voice a little hoarse from the crying and talking.  Apparently, he was not happy with the last half an hour which was at the Music Room, as he could not see Teacher Neelam.

Day 4.  Cried for less than two minutes.  Hooray!

Came home, and while we were reading to him "sssh, he's fast asleep." Daddy puts his finger to his mouth.   TD said, "Just like teacher Neelam."

Hoping for a smoother Week 2!

TD Starts Playnursery at 2 years 3 months old

TD started an unaccompanied Playnursery program on Monday, 25 June 2012.  On Sunday night, Daddy & Mummy had to fill up a form about TD so that Teacher Neelam would get to know TD better.

Here's the gist which basically summarises TD's life and some of his loves at two! 

TD lives at home with Daddy, Mummy and Kakak Wari.

TD likes to sing, dance, play the piano, spin around and around, play the tambourine and read books.

TD's favourite songs are Wheels on the bus, Incy wincy spider, Twinkle twinkle little stars, Farmer in the Dell and Hush little baby.

TD can drink water by himself, ask to go poo poo, feed himself with snacks, and open & close his lunchbox.

TD needs help with taking his shoes off, open and close his schoolbag, and taking off and on his schoolbag

TD's favourite toy or comforter are a small pillow with crab pillowcase (spot on, and he did ask for it on the first day of school in class), playdoh waffle-maker, and kitchen equipment (washing machine & dryer, microwave, frying pan etc)

TD likes to watch the lift goes up and down.

That's it for now, as I would like to spend time with hubby rather than facing the computer now!

My Little Inspiration

So, they say life is different when you have a kid? I say life is very different. Maybe you would find yourself daydreaming about things you can do if you didn't have a kid. But in reality, once you have one, you know there is no turning back to not having such a special joy and purpose in your life.

You aren't as strange as you might think. Plenty of parents may complain about life with a kid, but most would continue to pop more. As for me, I am glad that my boy has turned two, and we celebrated this special occasion with a cosy family celebration at home.

TD Loves Balloons

Helium or non-helium, TD loves balloons. Somehow we always tend to have balloons at home, either through attending birthday parties or the in-laws would bring them from their own party, or the free ones from malls. For his birthday, I got him Elmo, which till today, three weeks later are still floating in my house.

TD's favourite people

I was contemplating between a big or a small party this year. I was too busy though with work, home, and the crazy Malaysia trip to have the time available at that point to plan. However, we invited TD's favourite people to the party. Seeing him really happy with his birthday party was all that matters.

At two, he talks non-stop. He likes to ask questions, "What is inside the sun? What is inside the stone?" He is a little manipulator too. When he wanted the coffee scoop from the kitchen and I said No, he said "Mummy carries Theodore"..so he ran into my arms "warmly", then he said "Theodore wants to see Ka Ka" (who is in the kitchen). So I said, you are a little manipulator aren't you? TD smiled widely and in a shy manner. I don't think he understands the word 'manipulator'; but still he knew he was exposed. Isn't he fun?

The trip...where everything went downhill

On March 2, 2012 TD took his first road trip. It was a 14 hours car road trip in total back and forth from Singapore to Kuantan, Malaysia and back in three days. He was fine with being in the car for about seven hours, although he refused his favourite pasta for lunch (probably out of excitment).

The wedding was what pushed his limits. The entertainment singer and her microphone was going at about 96 decibel. That is the equivalent of a hand drill (a normal conversation is at 60 decibel). At 95-96 decibel, sustained exposure can hearing to hearing loss. I am glad that TD chose to stay out of the restaurant 95% of the time.

After the wedding dinner, we still had to drive back in the dark for about 30 minutes with no street lamps, but occasional oncoming traffic with their incredibly bright flashlights were glaring, and probably intimidating to a 23 month old. This was not well-received. TD wailed really loudly and asked to sit on Mummy. This was extremely rare, as TD seldom cries and wails. We stopped the car, and I went to back to sit with him.

On Saturday, TD caught a cold. I knew he was going to catch a cold, but I also knew that if I put on a jacket FIL would comment that its too warm, so I didn't and indeed he caught a cold. In the night, he had a fever. I didn't bring a thermometer, not any medication for him as TD seldom fall sick in Singapore, and I didn't think he would within a three days span. My bad. Indeed he did, and the nearest clinic was 14 km away. We were so desperate. I used cool towel as he slept, and chanted Green Tara, hoping the fever would go away. In a way, we didn't really trust seeing the doctors too. It was a miracle, his fever went away.

On Sunday, we drove back. Lunch was at 3pm, and the lack of breaks during the seven hour car ride led TD to wail again.

He didn't eat much during the trip, and all he had appetite for was apple and bread.

When we returned to Singapore, TD's flu was mild so he didn't require medication. It took about a week to recover. My helper caught a cough too due to lack of water. My MIL and FIL were sick. I had to work extra hard as I was away from work for a few days, and now that TD and helper were down. In the end, I caught flu myself. Luckily, I recovered within a day.

Alas, my FIL came to visit with a cough. On that very night, my helper who was recovering well, started to cough, TD started to cough with fever (!) and I had fever and cough (!!)...

With no choice, I had to feed TD medication. He was recovering slowly but well. All in all, TD and my helper recovered fully in two weeks.

As for me, this is my second week of cough, and I am still coughing. I have seen two different doctors. With no luck tonight, I will see another tomorrow. I usually recover within a week for cough, but this time it is different. I would wake up hourly at night from the coughing...

Sorry, this isn't the usual positive and optimistic post. Irwin and I learned lessons the hard way. We will only travel with others if we have control of the timing in future. We had no idea it was going to be a 7 hour car ride each way. We had no idea that we couldn't plan his meal times appropriately. Having coughed for two weeks, and seeing TD lose weight and coughed in the night, and as we battled with his fever which went up to 39, all I can say is Health is the most important. Treasure it and take steps to build a healthy body. We will not compromise health to appease anybody else in future. We need to make responsible decisions from now on.

TD's Instructions

Since young, TD does not really like to be directed. Now, we realise he is actually a little bossy! While it is definitely positive that he has a mind of his own, Daddy and Mummy are often directed by his instructions.

Here is one example. Well it is not a very good example, still every piece below was made under his instructions!

Playdoh

First, TD asked for the vacuum cleaner, then he played with it for a few seconds like he is vacuuming, and asked for a pillow for the vacuum cleaner. Then he asked for a blanket for his v.c.

Next he asked Daddy for a lamp, which Daddy volunteered a lamp that comes with a side table. Then he asked for a blender on a table.

Then a bus, and lastly, the moon.

I guess that very much sums up TD's favourite things at 22 months and three weeks old!

TD loves to read




That's Daddy and TD at the library. We have meant to attend the Dinosaurs Stomp mini concert at Forum, but the loudspeaker was unpleasantly loud. We have decided to hide at the library upstairs instead. Somehow TD was not in a reading mood that day. He was more immersed with the different coloured stools, and asking Daddy and Mummy to sit on the green, the red or the blue stool. Yes he loves to give instructions.

Mummy makes half an hour before bedtime a reading routine. I hope that can calm TD down before bed, and hopefully he would ease into sleep with less effort...athough these days he can take up to one hour after his last milk.

When TD is in the mood, he likes to complete the last few words of every page. That makes reading to him easier!

Last Day of Chinese New Year

It was the last day of Chinese New year yesterday, so we went to Ye Ye's house for dinner. Only Tai Por came. This year's Lunar New Year felt a little crazy with a 22 months old toddler. Juggling between his meal times, nap time, and being wary of individual or children who are sick. We also invited Ishitani-san and family on the sixth day of Lunar New Year. Celebrated with champagne and beer rather than the traditional chinese tea.

Seventh day of Lunar New Year, there was a dragon dance downstairs. We thought TD might be scared, but he acutally enjoyed it a lot. He kept saying 'See dragon, see dragon' when we wanted to cut the walkabout short.

Ok, this has to be a short entry...it has been a little crazy these days... hope to have more time to do reading, and to post an entry from time to time!

Theodore Learns



At 20 months, TD attended the holiday program at Julia Gabriel. This video is of him on the 5th consecutive day when he had lossened up and decided to particpate!

After weeks of no classes, and today was his first in 2012, he was a little difficult this morning.

He knows his name is 'Theodore' and says it many times at home, but would refuse to say his name when the teacher asks him so.

When the teacher asked him which colour card to choose for his fun pass between red, yellow, blue and green. He said 'purple', as Jovanah's nails were purple. Jovanah asked TD again, which colour, and TD said 'fun' as he recognised the word 'fun' on the card. Jovanah was very surprised that he can read words; but anyhow TD still did not choose a colour.

The letter of today was 'h' for helicopter. When the teacher turned on the remote helicopter, all the kids were thrilled and took turns to take it from Jovanah and place it back to the centre of the mat after taking off; but TD said 'off, off, off'.

Slowly, slowly, I hope with routine, he would be back to how he enjoyed class during the holiday program!