To My Dearest JJ

To My Dearest JJ,

Having enrolled you at the Small Apple Kiddie is one of the greatest decisions I have ever made. Enrolling myself as an Enrichment Program teacher there is the greatest decision following the first. :P

Within a short period of 2weeks, you have grown up so much! There, mommy learns to let go of you so you can be more independent, though gradually, but it is so worth the effort. Growing up together at the centre is definitely one of the greatest experience I could ever have in my lifetime.

Before going Small Apple, I sometimes doubt that you are mischievous at times though I still find you sweet. But now, I'm assured that you are a 100% sweetheart and good boy. All the aunties are praising what a good boy you are! And comparatively, you are well mannered and obedient amongst most of the kids. You will not disturb and you will not turn things upside down. Likewise, you have become a favorite at the centre, all the children love to play with you. You are like the leader amidst the big and small toddlers, they follow everything you do and enjoy your companion. I am so proud of you.. :o)

Everyday during dinner time, despite being told not to go to the kitchen by the teachers and aunties, you will still go all the way to the kitchen to bring me a chair and put it beside your seat at the table. Seeing you - a small and tiny child - carrying a chair almost your size just for Mommy makes my heart melt!! Then, you will look for me, hold my fingers and drag me to the chair and said "Mommy chor chor." My heart melted, completely!!

There are many many many many more incidents at school that have my heart melted. I want you to know that most of the time, I just feel like holding you and give you lots and lots of tight hugs and kisses.. You are such an adorable sweetie pie.. Yup, I still remember when I told you that and you point at yourself and said "JJ sweet pie". Hahaha :o)

You know what, everyday, I am assured that I made the right choice is when you tell me you wanna go to 'school'. Whenever I took out your Small Apple shirt and pants, you will say 'ngor oi small apple shirt pants". Whenever I said it's time to school, you will stop everything else and start putting on your shoes.

As for myself, I really enjoy teaching at Small Apple. I have learned so much not just on teaching the Enrichment Programs and Helen O'Grady drama class, but also as an understanding Mommy too.

Nevertheless, it's the best choice. :o)

Quote of the Evening

I have always been readings blogs of friends mentioning the quotes that their lovely children said from time to time.. Have been wondering when my little baby is gonna give me a nice quote for me to laugh at, though he has been always making me laugh.. :o)

Finally, it came!! On yesterday evening, while I was about to feed the doggie, he (the doggie) got so excited (as usual) and jumped so high that it looked like he was gonna jump over the window.

Jayden peeped thru the window on his wooden stool and kept saying: "Wow!! wow!!!"

Then I asked my little previous: "Can you jump that high J?"

There he went down the stool, made a few attempts, and replied: "No.... Too Big!"

What a silly boy to think that he is too big to jump.. I assume he means too heavy?? :P

Seperation Anxiety @27months

Today, I brought Jayden to school as I have to conduct the Helen O'Grady session. During the many previous times, I left him with Daddy, and left him with MIL once. However, this time around, Daddy was super busy and MIL was away. Hence, I had no choice but to bring Jayden to school while Arbel got TaoTao's nanny to take care of Jayden.

Prior to moving upstairs, I informed my sweetheart Jayden that I needed to go and conduct a class while he has to remain downstairs. He could play the toys while waiting for mommy and mommy would be back in just an hour.

He dropped all his toys and started crying, hugging me and kept saying 'mommy come back'. I assured him that mommy would come back in an hour time. To cut the story short, I left and he cried. Good news is, I didn't hear his cries after few minutes so I assumed all is well. :o)

After the class, the nanny told me that Jayden was really a good boy. She told me that he really behaved well and very good mannered, not disturbing others and only concentrating on his own toys. I was proud of Jayden. :o)

I personally don't quite like this nanny as I know he doesn't really like TaoTao (though she is his nanny). Secondly is because she always scolds children and sometimes beat TaoTao's hand when he does something naughty. But I guess I can understand why as TaoTao is really a very very naughty and aggressive kid. He doesn't listen and never follows. So I think it gets her on her nerves.

On our first week encounter at school, she didn't quite like Jayden cuz she thought Jayden liked to hit friends. After the first week, she told me Jayden was a good boy cuz he hardly hit friends and and usually the other kids hit him first. I guess her observation has sent her a paradigm shift. :P She also kept saying that Jayden was well behaved and good tempered, the only setback could be he always wanna stick with me. I was glad that she found Jayden good. :o)

And now, in the second week, she is telling me how a good boy Jayden is and how easy it is to look after him. I like it when she keeps the praises and compliments flowing. I am definitely a proud mommy.. :o)

Dear Jayden,

Mommy is so proud of you. I feel so blessed to have such a good little boy. You're such an angelic baby. :o)

And I'm so touched that I feel like crying now.. Yeesh.. :P

School Life @ 2nd Week

Lately I found out that Jayden has grown up a lot more, physically umm.. maybe just a little bit.. but I think it is more on mentally and emotionally.

He has been going thru a lot at school. From being bullied by the two 'cili padi' at the centre, one is TaoTao (4mths younger) and SiuZi (3mths older), to being loved and taken care by some of his good friends (ErynSoo especially, she is 4y/o).

2 weeks is coming to an end, and yesterday, Jayden was playing cheerfully with all the gorgor and jiejie. They repeated everything he did and said so he was very amused and entertained until he finally ran out of words. It was sooo funny to look at them playing together. :o)

The good news is, Jayden is no longer hitting or hurting his friends namely TaoTao (boy) and SiuZi (girl), he used to because they always hit him. It's more like protective instinct I think. Haha.. I guess he did listen to me after several times of warning and explaining to him. Second good news is, SiuZi seems to like Jayden lately, hardly hitting him anymore, but playing together. :o)

But, the bad news is, TaoTao never learns! He is still hitting friends, snatching toys, and disturbing everyone. He is really an aggressive toddler, but I think a little more firm warnings and explanations to him will get him out of troubles. :o)

Naptime

JJ is such a good boy!!! :o)

I told him that it's time for naptime soon.. He just looked at me, then continued playing his Thomas tracks.. After 10min, I heard the engine was shut off.. Next, JJ came out from the room with Thomas, Percy and Terence. Then, he held my hand and walked to his room for naptime..

I'm blessed.. :o)

Dreams

Suddenly I remember something that I wanted to put down but.. well, let me just record this down so Jayden will know how much he loves Thomas and friends when he grows up. :P

Lately, Jayden always screams is his sleep.. Thomas!! Percy!!! Sometimes are with pathetic cries, sometimes are with emotions that give you an adrenaline rush.. like someone snatch something from you.

It is funny and cute to see how a young little toddler has so much interest in something of their.... interest! :P

We Survived!!

We survived the first week at school!! Opps.. I mean daycare.. :o) Moving into the second week, Jayden is still telling me that he wanna go to school! I am glad.. :o)

Starting from this week onwards, I will work till 8pm instead of 730pm as the school break has come to an end. This also means that we might only reach home at 9pm. Oh dear.. I hope it is not too hectic for my little boy.

Jayden had been looking restless whenever we were on our way home from school, especially when we were just 10-15min away from home. I really hope he won't fall asleep in the car else we might have hard time. Let's pray.. :o)

Life @Daycare

Remembering on the first day and before, Jayden was always saying "No School!" In fact, we both refer the daycare center as school..

Fortunately, drastic changes has taken place. I am very proud and happy now because since day 2 at the daycare center onwards, Jayden starts to enjoy and like the place.. Everytime I say let's go to school, he will say "Go School!".

The best thing is, whenever we reach there, he will say "Yay! School!" and I don't have to drag him down the car like I used to. He will quickly put on his shoes and excitedly wait for me to carry him out of the car.

Today is the 5th day we're there, and we both really enjoy the place and environment a lot. The system is good, people is good, environment is good, food is good, activities are good.. In a nutshell, everything is good!! :o)

I am really glad that I make the right choice in choosing this place.. and never regret all my researches done.. Haha.. :o)

First Day @ Small Apple Kiddie House

Our first day at Small Apple happened to be quite a dramatic experience. Obviously, Jayden refused to participate in story telling, only focused on the choo-choo-train and railway tracks. When it was time for cleaning up, he was defending his tracks and trains real hard. That's when the struggles began.

When it was time for thematic activities, he wanted to play balls. While we were busy with our activities, he carried a ball, walked up and down, saying "mommy.. gorgor.. jiejie.. ball.. play.." When nobody entertained him, he would try to get attention by throwing the ball to us, throwing on the heads of some kids he wanted to play with, etc.

When it was time for reading books, he participated joyfully in a group of kids. I thought he was busy reading with them. Alas! He tore off the tiger in the 3D book! Once he got it, he quickly looked for me and excitedly he told me that he had a tiger!! How innocent! However, Arbel was upset and a little mad. :o(

Nevertheless, JJ was the noisiest in the whole center. Shouting, yelling, crying, wailing.. Thus, the older kids started to call JJ "jungle boy". Sigh.. I hope he will slowly adapt to the environment of having other kids to play with..

All the kids there are averagely above 4, ranging from 4-8, mostly 5-6.. Other than JJ, only 2 younger kids of 2 and 3, and they are girls. Apparently, girls are not as active as boy. The kids there seem quite different from the kids I am exposed to. They are quite settled and not really active. I am indeed surprised! They don't look like kids at all.. Where is all the childhood playfulness?

All in all, I am still grateful that JJ is not as attached to me as before. When we were in SAL, he didn't even allow me to teach. But now, it is quite different. He still wants my attention, but he does allow me to be busy with other kids. I really hope Jayden will participate in our activities soon as Arbel doesn't like the idea that some other kids are doing something else while the rest are busy with the schedule..

Narrator

Nowadays, Jayden will sometimes play by himself while I am busy with my works. Most of the times, he spends his time with his favorite and beloved trains - Thomas, Percy and Terence.

However, this favoritism "crisis" seems to be getting severe. He is so engrossed in his play that he disregards his sleep completely.

For the passed one week, he wakes up very early in the morning just because he wants to play them. He refuses to sleep at night just because he wants to play them. It is getting somewhat worrisome!!

I know at this stage of time, toddlers start to develop strong attitude towards their likes and dislikes. Perhaps it is really nothing to worry about... Hmmm...

Sleeping Disorder

Lately Jayden has been sleeping very little. He is sleeping averagely about 7.5 - 8 hours at night, and taking 1.5 - 2 hours nap daily. Each day, he is taking a total of about 9hours plus, barely making it 10.

This is worrisome because he is supposed to get at least 10 hours daily. At such young age, he is already having dark circle around his eyes. I am really worried because he just refuses to sleep and wakes up really early in the morning.

Sometimes, I couldn't even take it because he sleeps less than 8hours at night! :o(

Singing Song

Lately, JJ starts to sing songs!! Wow!!!

Well, he can't sing it by himself yet, but he follows thru whenever he heard the songs. Currently, he can sing a few words (not in sentence!) of the following songs:

1. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

2. Barney's Song

3. It's a Beautiful Day (Barney)

4. Itsy Bitsy Spider

5. The Wheels on the Bus

and the list goes on..........

New Thomas

After a long search, I finally found a Thomas movie for JJ. The movie title is "Lion of Sodor". I just found out that the previous one we had was a really really old version (dino age!).

The new movie that we have is so colorful, lively and the engines talk!!, instead of just narration!! :P ----> Mommy is super duper outdated! LOLs..

Also because of the new DVD, JJ learned a lot of words (by repeating after them) as the pronunciation is so much clearer compared to the previous one.

Now, I wanna thank Thomas & Friends too.. Hahaha.. :o)

TQ Barney

I would like to express my appreciation with a big Thank You to Barney!! Because of Barney, JJ is brushing teeth.

In my earlier post regarding JJ is finally brushing his teeth (Yay!!) I forgot to give credit to Barney's contribution. It is indeed and truly because of Barney's Pajama Party that JJ finally wants to (imitate the kids) brush his teeth.

Thank You Barney!! :o)

Separation Anxiety

These two days, daddy has been babysitting Jayden for a good 4hours continuously as mommy has to attend trainings and exam (assessment). It really isn't easy for both of us as Jayden always cries and shows that unbearable puppy face whenever he I told him that I need to go for a training. My heart sinks whenever I see him like that.

However, I am relieved knowing this is the best solution for me and JJ. Daddy is the best person that JJ wanna attach to other than me. This way, I would be able to concentrate on my training without a heavy feeling at all, compare to putting JJ in the daycare where he would scream and cry nonstop.

Finally, the training is over and I am officially passed the assessment. Now, I need to practice more to master my skills on making the session interesting and fulfilling as well as managing the class effectively so the kids have no time for chaos. :o)

Broken Thomas

Last Sunday, Jayden found out his Thomas & Friends DVD was broken in two. We were seriously not sure how did that happen. H just pulled Daddy to his playroom, opened up the cabinet, then pointed to the broken disc. Then, he took the pieces, dragged Daddy to the study room, brought Daddy a bottle of glue and said "Glue it!".

Daddy was laughing inside out thinking how to glue the broken pieces back together, even so, it would be useless. So Daddy explained to him that broken disc could not be used again. JJ look terribly disappointed.

For the passed few days, he had been holding the broken pieces every now and then. You can tell from his facial expression that he really really miss Thomas.. :P

Swimming Lesson #2

We went for Jayden's second swimming lesson on last Sunday. JJ was all excited when he saw his swimsuit. And insisted to have it put on!

Happily, we all reached there very early this time, as I thought it would be better to catch the earlier lesson in case the weather will turn rainy. The weather has been very unpredictable lately so I thought I should have made the right choice.

Only to know that I completely made the wrong choice when we were there!!! It was so sunny and hot, all of us were burning our skin under the hot sun!! Seriously, we all turned charcoal, there were vivid sun-tanned lines on me, my face is darken by a few shades!!! All my whitening hard work over the years was gone!!! Dang..

As for JJ, he has very distinctive imbalance skin tones on his arms and legs.. He has gotten so dark too!! I hate myself for making my baby look so tanned.. Hahaha

As for hubby, I guess he is the one enjoying his sun-tan the most.. Not during the water session, but after effect. His skin color is more balance now, comparing to his super dark hands and super fair chest. Now, he looks much macho.. Hahaha..

Doggie's Wash!!!

Last Thursday, I got a shocked coming home from BNI meeting finding JJ smell like the dog's shampoo!!

Hesitately, I asked hubby to check with his mom if she bathed JJ with dog's shampoo.. and the answer was YES!!!! CRAZYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I seriously couldn't accept it at all. How on earth would she pick up that doggie shampoo and use it on JJ? It's not the first time she bathed JJ, nor was the first time she was here!!! And the doggie shampoo was obviously seperated from our washes. Worst, there is a dog image on the bottle!!!

She just said "I don't know what's that.. I didn't see it." Other than feeling terribly bad having my little boy bathed in dog's shampoo, how could she say something so irresponsible? How could she still use it while not knowing what it was??? What if it is toxic or poisonous??

What's in her mind??? I hope hubby won't read this but I'm really not happy with it..