The kindergarten has scheduled its first parent-teacher session on 30th April and well, I guess now would be a good time to do a roundup of what has been happening, because really, since baby K came along, time has become even more precious.

Most of what follows, true to report card style, is quite erhmm, boring. So skip along if you want. We won’t judge.

Jayden has remained ‘true to form’ showing a fair bit of development this year. Since school started in January, you see him growing to be more sociable with children… his age. He has also begun to actually know their names although, he is very ’self centred’, prefixing everyone, name or thing, with ‘my’. Normal really. Because that is how children are.

He has dominated the toys at home, even gender specific ones like kitchen sets and cooking toys. I guess ‘playing house’ is something for both genders(?) and he can often be found wanting to clean, sweep and mop. In addition to cooking. His cooking, in the words of my dad, is a rip off. “Collecting real money (ok, 10, 20 cents) for fake food that he serves again and again.” No wonder his bank is well fed.

His numbers are really quite good. From not being able to count properly for the longest time, to laughable (and questionable) identification (imagine naming 10 as one-zero), he has since graduated to knowing zero through ten and scarily, other numbers as well.

Like… 53 (fifty three instead of five three).

His colours is being worked upon, and his alphabets too. Progress is slow and somewhat difficult to gauge because the cheeky boy always tries to be funny about it. We have watched Barney countless times. To the extent that we are going to be excellent voice-overs, and him, able to memorise the sequence, but I don’t think he has all 26 letters of the alphabet down pat.

On a positive side, he eats a whole lot more. Just minus the vegetables and over a very long period of time. Which creates for a lot of poop. And brings us to another point. We think we are on the home stretch to being diaper free. He could tell when he wanted to erhmm, go for the longest time, but perhaps he was not ready (as in, unable to control properly?). But right now, he usually goes to school in his favourite red (don’t ask!) underwear and has not had any accidents… at school. A couple at home but by and large most of it gets into the potty. Nights he still wears but we note that they are increasingly dry in the morning. Yay!

Jayden is also increasingly able to articulate what he wants. He gets on the imaginary phone and blabbers away for long stretches. Quite fun to eavesdrop because you learn interesting insights into what is going on in that little head of his. Things like who he likes, what happened in school, what happened when you were not watching… because you know, you don’t say such things to your parents. Not directly anyway. So… right now, he wants to go to the Science Centre (especially WaterWorks) but not the beach because he is scared of water. He loves shopping and is extremely observant. *orange juice for uncle K, milk for uncle T, long pants for himself, tea for me… yaddayaddayadda*

Frightening sometimes because you realise that (like passion) it was caught and not taught. Like little quirks in our personalities / way we do things. He HAS to bring something to read at the potty even though he cannot understand a word of randomly grabbed flyer. He loves photos and can recall most of the details that took place at the time the photo was taken although he insists HE was the baby in one particular shot when really, it was baby K.

All in, he is a very sensitive boy. For the first couple of months, he took the transition to going to school hard. Then we realised that he was vying for attention. Nowadays, the two show signs of bickering like cat and dog (hah, we got that one right) but also, that there is a strong sibling affection. They will both look for the other. And break out into a smile.We think the two will enjoy each other’s company even if they will rather die than admit it.

We have been ‘going places’. Little trips out of country and out of home. The best thing about having flexi hours (dad) and working from home is that, sometimes you can just up and go. We have discovered some really child friendly places in Singapore. Not because it is exciting but because they have the space for the children to wreck havoc. It isn’t quite what is done but who is going along for the ride.

Has been an eventful ride thus far! And now, I wonder what the school’s report card is going to read. Hmm.

Just realised that a proper update on what this little girl has been up to is probably wanting. She has been on a real journey these couple of months and it is probably good I journal it down before her milestones are forgotten.

On one of those days when the two kiddos drove me nuts, I started to teach K to call ‘papa’, in the hope ala Baby Blues that daddy will help change her butt/bathe her/feed her food etc etc etc. And right now, she does so with great skill now. She has figured out how to pull herself up to a standing position, and can do so with great speed and, stand for quite some time. Crawling is no problem for her though, like her brother, she doesn’t look like she’s ever going to do it with her tummy off the floor. Instead, she is learning how to walk.

Nowadays, she lurches for her brother’s tricycle and uses it as a means to ‘getaway’, covering quite a bit of distance in the process. Scary stuff really. She appears to understand the spoken word very well and constantly surprises us with the correct response (we never learn huh?).

Today she discovered the mirror that is above her bathtub. Her bathtub is typically placed on the vanity, above which hangs a mirror. She squealed with delight when she pulled herself up to a standing position to discover a reflection staring back at her. So bathtimes are now erhmm, ‘jack in the box’ times with her popping up and down. Insane really. She literally creates quite a splash.

I guess we are in for more discoveries… and it does seem true after all. Having an older sibling hastens their development.

Wish us luck and may we remain sane.

Jayden has had a sudden about turn with regards to going to school. He sometimes cries and throws a big fit when we drop him off. We are still trying to figure out what the root of the problem is but needless to say, its driving us insane in the meantime. He stubbornly refuses to participate or listen to instructions at lessontime so we are seeing how things go. Nerve-wrecking. Especially when he woke up one night crying incessantly.

*sigh* the joys of growing up.

In more positive news, baby K is progressing really well. She is sitting up with great skill and forever looks set to surprise us one day by standing. I’d probably get a heart attack if she does so soon because, really, one active kid is enough to handle. Argh. But at least, for now, it means that she can finally sit in them baby high chairs when we go out for dinner. Ok, if she’d stay in them that is.

And in even more random updates, here are some ‘out and about’ shots with the iphone. Gotta love it!

woh… the camera’s pointed at me again…

… so ok, you mean you want to take a profile shot of me?

how about this signature pose?

So… baby Kathlene needs a passport! And this time round we tried taking a passport photo on our own. I’m not quite sure whether it passed the standard but we hope it did clear the authorities and that we’d be getting the prized passport by this week. Meantime, the outtakes. They are so much for fun than the official ‘proper’ shot!

In other news, Kathlene is scaring the life out of us with her push-ups, almost there ability to kick herself into a stand or sitting pose, and not to mention, the speed at which she scoots across the living room floor. We thought Jayden was bad. This is worse. *Hello, play-yard barricades!* Once again, the living room is no longer our own.

Couldn’t come sooner in my opinion.

He is a strong kid. No tears at all throughout the first few days. Heck, he reported that he was helping to get tissue for the teary-eyed. Don’t quite know how true it is but during the first week, no tears. Come Friday when he was settling into the routine of heading to school everyday, we tried to teach him the concept of weekends. No school. (The teachers need a break from you).

So… since 2010 rolled around, Jayden has gotten his first set of school uniforms, PE tees, white Bata shoes, EZ-link card, and pigeon hole. He fights for what toys he wants and the way we see it, probably will not get bullied. Except maybe, by his sister. Those two, really, have a cat meets dog relationship.

Even now, she still does. not quite the neatest eater, but it is a start. She spends half her mealtime in her bumbo before she gets bored and wants out. Hence the second half of the meal sees her seated on my lap, eating away. Well, her version of it anyway.

All dressed up … almost looking like he’s going to school. Not. Just downstairs for some munchies. He insisted on carrying his bag, a must have every time he steps out of the house. His food intake is generally on the upswing though the speed at which it goes down leaves much to be desired.

Very easily distracted by what goes on around him, he nibbles at his food. And the fact he has 4 missing front teeth does not help the situation. He has learnt to chew with his back / remaining teeth and does a pretty decent job of it. However… my milk guzzler of a son has turned into a milk hater. Maybe he had downed (what he thinks) enough milk for a lifetime in the short span of two years such that it is an uphill struggle getting him to drink it now.

He turned against his milk (formula), his sister’s (expressed breastmilk), ‘my’ (Meiji low fat freshmilk) and his dad’s (soy milk). He used to take each reasonably freely for a period of time but has since settled mainly on chocolate milk. These had better come straight from the packet else he’d reject it too. *sigh* Which brings us to a point of a freezer full of ebm and no one to drink. Kathlene has not taken to the bottle and we are looking very likely, to be transiting straight to a sippy cup.

Help. So what do I do with all those packets of milk? Some suggested a milk bath. Or milk cubes. Any other ideas?

Life with a toddler is like a box of chocolates. You never know what they are gonna sprout.

Jayden is able to string words together very well and its quite frightening sometimes to hear what he says. Not that its gibberish or anything, but to see the way he picks up on ideas. Like how he has nicknamed the maid at an aunt’s place “Honey Star Aunty” (her name is Honey) or how he told us “Jayden no strength to switch off tv. Ask the maid to do it.” (we do NOT have a maid at home).

He is very quick on catching words and remembering them. Even if you just mention them once. He picks it up. He has learnt ‘boring’ and right now, we are telling horror stories of what might happen. We can just picture it right now… First day in school and he goes “boring” straight in the teacher’s face. Not quite the best of methods to get in the teacher’s good books.

I foresee many such “throw face” moments to come. Stay tuned. Now where did the non-vocal boy of mine go to?

A little quiet on the blogging front but the flickr photostream has been pretty busy. Just borrowed the dslr and went completely trigger happy (don’t like? delete delete delete!). Learnt quite a few things in the process like …

1. I want need want need want a dslr NOW
2. been so used to using the P&S cameras that I completely forget all the jargon and how to tweak settings
3. the P&S cameras weigh so little its insane (almost like a toy right now…)

Oh wait, you are concerned about the kids…

Ok, things I’ve learnt about the kids whilst using the dslr…

• great to capture the kids with the fast shutter speed

• Kathlene is a lazy baby. She absolutely hates being made to exercise (aka tummy time). Hence most, if not all of her shots are of her lying on her back. Unless she is sleeping…

• Kathlene is also most awake in the mornings. When I am not.
• Jayden is perpetually eating. And making a mess. Hence not that many pictures of him. Messy faces aren’t quite conducive situations for photos.

Erhmm, overdosed on baby K yet?

Jayden has never been one for toys. Instead he goes for the weirdest objects. With the birth of Kathlene, we sometimes think he sees her as a huge toy. Just for him. His sister tries to tolerate him when he is in that ’state of mind(set)’ but when things get a little too much to bear, she lets out a bloodcurling yell indicating we better rescue her pronto, lest she throws a major fit.

This little one has her moods. When she is in a good mood, she joins me in the workroom as I craft new accessories. She sits in her baby rocker and coos away. Occasionally she demands a ‘rock’ and together, we’d pass the time quite pleasantly. She coos, I talk. A little tete-a-tete.

We spend mornings together. With grandma asleep and daddy out to work. She loves the interaction after her 6am *groan* feed. She typically gets all wide-eyed, eager to make the most of the day, oblivious to my eye-bags and incessant pleas for her to nap a bit more and spare this night owl. We spend the time lazing in bed, talking and smiling. Sometimes taking photos because she is all alert right now. And after everything’s done, some tummytime to exercise her muscles. By 11, she gets tired and then she nurses before a midday nap.

Which is just about time to go care for her older brother. No rest. Just a continuous stream of activities. Jayden eats quite ‘continuously’. He’s a snacker in my opinion. Not quite the sort who eats one full meal and lasts till the next, but the kind that nibbles endlessly such that it is a mindless blur of food. His day is peppered with random requests for food amidst his tricycle riding. Oh, he is getting quite the pro at navigating that tricycle. Even with the obstacle course we have in our crowded living room. Occasionally he gets to bring the tricycle down to the void deck to paddle away… and he spews out his commands to himself, “turn right!” “parking…” “go behind and pick up toys”. Amusing to some extent. Not when it occurs too frequently.

Both are growing in their own rights. And at their own pace. Kathlene is no longer the wee thing that popped out some 10 weeks ago. Jayden is turning into the pre-schooler that has left babyhood behind. Sometimes you think that time passes too fast. Amidst all the diaper changes, temper tantrums, disciplining, these two have found time to grow. However did they do that?