Jayden : tomorrow we go buy spectacles for me ok?
Me : whatever for?
Jayden : because I don’t have mah.
Me : but you don’t need them!
Jayden : but you all have mah. Your eyes all spoil need to wear. I want to wear also.
Me : o_O

Give it to a child to put the need vs want dilemma in a clear way.

On the way home today in the sweltering heat…

J : Mummy! Walk faster. Raining already!
Me : *incredulous look* HUH?

Turning to look at him, I discover his beads of perspiration… and found his ‘rain’.

FAIL.

Nazi, angsty mum strikes again.

You know, with all the talk about how fast kids learn to read, write and spell, more so with the use of flashcards, why on earth would a childcare centre name themselves “My First Skool”?

I’m sure there’s a good reason and most adults would smile at the kiddish spelling of school, but really. Seeing “Skool” spelt as such, everyday is not going to help the kid.

No?

Ok, random rant over and out. That aside, they just opened a branch within walking distance. Everything is NEW and utterly appealing. Plus, the student-teacher ratio is great as erhmm, no students yet. But it does seem depressing for the kids. They look so lonely in there.

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.

If you had not already heard, our passports were approved and we trooped on down a cold wet Friday to collect them. And back again to book our air tickets. So… we are headed up North to visit relatives before the official mad rush for CNY. Although with the way things are going, you really can’t tell its not the peak period yet.

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.

There goes another week.

One thing great about school being in the morning session is that Jayden sleeps early and wakes up early. The bad thing is that my days are even longer than ever. You win some, you lose some. If he is not out, he’d drift off into dreamland around 8pm and then we have one less kid to deal with.We should have sent him to school earlier!

Heh. Anyhow, we think he is enjoying it. It is getting increasingly difficult to get him to share about the going-on in school. Save for the ‘chocolate cake birthday celebration’ yesterday, ‘cooking popcorn chicken’, ‘2 children cried today’… and stuff like that. We got to dig his bag for leaflets that the teacher slips in for our attention… and boy, there are quite a number. “Vitagen, schoolbooks, lesson updates”.

But today was nice. He came back beaming and holding his first craftwork at school. He’s rather independent with a routine we set for him. Back from school –> take of shoes and socks –> wash feet –> and hopefully eat. He told how he glued the papers on, including the hair. And stuff like that. Was a good time talking over ‘tea’.

Whilst baby Kath looked mighty bored on the floor.

So we are midway through week2 of school (ok, prenursery to be precise) and things are a-changing. Good and bad. For starters, Jayden is starting to sleep early (and wake early too). As daddy puts it, “we are finally seeing signs of the end of his boundless energy”.

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.

What a year it has been! We started off with a nasty fall on New Year’s Day and resulted in an early night for flu-y Jayden. Somewhere along the way, Baby K was born (she’s sitting on my lap as I type this!) and Jayden lost his four front teeth. We registered Jayden for pre-nursery (which he’d be starting in a few day’s time) and grandma moved in with us to help with the kids.

Jayden finally got over his fear of water and had his first (and one more since) visit to the Science Centre. He has increased in vocabulary by leaps and bounds, and is proficient in both English and Mandarin. Or so we think. He has turned into this toddler that is able to talk back, get into endless trouble and is superbly mischievous. But deep down inside, he loves hs little sister.

Kathlene on the other hand, has matured (if you can call being 5 months old ‘mature’) into a little character in her own right. She is showing signs of being a toughie. No pushover and an excellent screamer. She’s definitely gifted with a great pair of lungs and can hold her own in any crying competition.

She shows preference for all things natural – the thumb and the breast as opposed to the pacifier or the bottle, she wants demands her mother and does not let up until she gets her way. She is able to flip and somehow wriggle her way across the living room floor. She can mangle brochures into a crumpled ball, showing an intense interest in the glossy ones right this moment. She tries to stand all the time and is way too strong. *sigh*

We got a dslr (courtesy of grandpa) and have loads of huge-ass photos of the children. We’d probably start printing them out soon. Before the task gets too daunting. Already, it feels like a mountain load.

Hello… just a quick note. I’m ok. My skin’s all blotchy due to suspected eczema. My brother’s been very naughty and getting a fair bit of disciplining. My mum’s busy rushing Christmas / custom / sale orders and my daddy’s busy with a couple of projects on hand. That said, I get to go out with mum because she still hasn’t gotten rid of her milkbar status. I’m very persistent at resisting the bottle you see. My brother gets to go out with grandpa and grandma so it does seem fair. No?

They said today’s a public holiday which means we’d get to go out together and have fun. But right now, we’re alll paying our sleep debt. I don’t know about the rest but I got a lot of work to do too and its tiring.

Anyway, we are all fine… just overwhelmed. Well, at least the adults are. I’m counting down to when my brother starts pre-nursery. I heard its in January. That’s like… hmm, way too many more days to go! *sigh* And all for a miserly 3 hours. Oh well, I guess its better than nothing.