Orientation at Rosyth (Kieran)

Rosyth had their Primary One Orientation really early. That's was probably a good thing to get out of the way so that we can enjoy the rest of the holidays and slowly purchase all the things we need for the new school year.

First thing we did when we got into the school was to go to the name list to have him find his name in his allocated class. He looked up and down (past his own name) and just didn't see it until I had to point it out to him! Blur!!

One of the things that I worried about would be that he'll not find food that he would eat. Luckily, the canteen does serve a very large variety of "Kieran-friendly" food! :P He knows that there's a stall that sells all sorts of chicken rice. He was pretty excited that there was Japanese curry chicken and spaghetti sold in the canteen. And, worse case? They even have nutella bread at the snack stall. We asked him to try buying something. He walked up and down and originally wanted spaghetti, but because it was orientation day (Saturday), they didn't sell that. So he settled for a hotdog instead. 

And then it was off to the multipurpose hall (?) for assembly. He was rather excited about the welcome kit that he got. I think it is pretty thoughtful too, the things that they included in the pack. I particularly like "An eraser: It's all right to make mistakes - that's how we learn." On top of these items, they were also given a small pack of animal biscuits and a bottle of drink.

That's him. First to arrive (hopefully we'll stay punctual throughout his entire school years). 

We were entertained by a concert put up by the lower primary students and I must say, the string ensemble and the wushu troupe were rather impressive. 

After the concert, we finally meet the principal and after a short speech by her, the children were sent off on their school tour. The briefing for parents then started. 

The briefing is a usual one that included housekeeping stuff and school Vision, Mission, Values. It almost felt like I'm back in one of our own parent nights. :P I must say though, I have gained more confidence and assurance after I heard the P's talk (not that I had no confidence for the school initially, but I was plagued by the crazy thoughts normal anxiety of a first-time parent.)

By the time we collected him from the classroom, he was enjoying himself, watching a DVD cartoon (or a story) with his classmates. He didn't even want to follow us. So we went round trying to see if we could get books/ uniform (which we didn't buy in the end because of the long queue) and then collected him for the second time.

So, looking forward to 2013!

Speaking Mandarin

I'm just glad that the boys are attempting to speak more mandarin at home these days. Small fry more so than the big one. They aren't fully conversational yet, but I'm really proud of the effort that they are making.

Some of the phrases they are using these days include:
妈妈是我的 女孩子（女朋友）
我要妈妈帮我穿裤子。
我爱妈妈。
 我过马路要上（举）手。

They have some random substitution of words and I think that's really fine. At least they are trying to express themselves and I think that's wonderful. 

The rest of the Melbourne trip

This is getting way too long and overdue to be posted. Enjoy the slideshow instead! These photos are the proofs from the photobook that I made of the trip. :P

This photo slideshow generated with Smilebox

For the record

Kieran
weight: 17.9kg
height: 118cm
Still lightweight I know, but I'm glad it is steadily increasing in the last couple of months.

Kiefer
weight: 16.7kg
height: 107cm
Probably heavier than Kieran was at the same age, but I think he is getting lankier. He's losing all his baby fat!