10.5 weeks of school flew by just like that!

Yup, we've survived finished ONE term of school! Yay!! That was 10 and a half weeks (yes, school started half a week earlier) and boy are we glad the holidays are here!

Other than complaining (a lot) about having less TV and play time, I must say that Kieran has done pretty well in this term. He even made it through 3 weeks of assessment tasks in the final 3 weeks of school.

Even though he has much less time on weekdays, we've been spending more time as a family in our weekly Saturday morning cycling at ECP. Both boys are cycling very well now. We can now cycle for about an hour from the hawker center to the Safra resort and back.

Kiefer is also doing very well in his Chinese class. We have been so busy with Kieran in primary school that we simply ferry Kiefer to and from his class every week. We do not go through his work throughout the week (his bag stays closed until the next Chinese class) and to our surprise, he managed to score a 59/60 for his final review. This little one really surprises us all the time.

We are almost halfway into our one-week break. We'll probably head out somewhere for a couple of days and then back to our schooling routine next week, :( .

Happy 2013!

We are still kind of settling into the swing of things. A whole new chapter of our lives has started, our usual routine is changed, as Kieran enters into his formal education years.

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. 

Our baby is in preschool!

Sounds cliche, but time really zooms by just like that. Our little Kiefer has started Nursery 1 at Trinity Methodist Church Kindergarten since Wednesday (5 Jan 2011). Just like that, he is making a transition from a play-all-day childhood to one that involves "studying"!!

Kieran started the school year 1 day earlier than Kiefer. And on Kieran's first day of school, Kiefer insisted on wearing his uniform and following gege to school as well. So I allowed him to do so and he was so happy to be carrying his backpack and water bottle and "attending" school. He had a great time in the 1/2 hour we spent at the kindy.

Followed Kieran to school. "Unofficial" first day in school!

He had fun playing with the train set there, and he didn't wonder why there was nobody in the class!!

His real first day of school went pretty well as well. He was happy to be wearing his school tshirt and go to school. He was one of the few in his class who did not give any trouble (i.e. not crying and yelling) and was very independent in playing and eating his snacks. :) He was also very participative, always sitting right in front of the teacher when they are asked to gather for activities. However, I also did observe that he is always trying to grab things (i.e. puppets) out of the teacher's hands all the time and always trying to fiddle with the CD player!! :P

Singing songs and playing with friends.

First to be seated when asked to gather.

 
Day 3 and 4 wasn't as smooth-sailing. Though he is always happy the moment he reaches school, it was difficult getting him into his uniform in the mornings! On Day 3, he was in such a bad mood that he was crying and refusing to put on his blue uniform! After much struggling, bribing and scolding, we managed to get his uniform on!! And then he refused to put on his shoes to leave the house. Finally, after telling him that I was going to leave him at home and send Kieran to school, he then put on his socks and shoes!! And yet, he was happy once he was at school. He even dismissed me by saying "Bye, Mummy!" when I went into his classroom asking if he was enjoying himself!!

Got up on the wrong side of the bed on Day 3!!!

So darn unhappy about having to wear his uniform. He was just saying "NO!" to everything!

I left the sending the boys to their Gong Gong on Friday as I have to be back at school for a meeting. I received a message at 8am saying that Kiefer refused to wear his white polo tshirt (they have a schedule for the 2 sets of uniforms in the week) and was wearing his blue one to school! This little fella is simply in such an oppositional behavioural stage!!! The school teachers were already "complaining" that he refused to sit down when told to do so and kept wandering all over!! *shakes head* Even Ah Ma complained about him being totally uncooperative when told to go bathe!

Still I'm glad that he always answers "School is fun, fun!" whenever I ask him about it. Just glad that both our boys enjoy school and I believe that is the most important factor in facilitating learning. This was also the first consideration we made when choosing the preschool for them. That they will have fun and thus learning would come naturally after. :D

Kieran says...

Kieran is still not very proficient in speaking and so I am not always able to find out the things he did in school for the day. I tend to use whatever little knowledge I have of their activities in school and try to ask leading questions. So this is what I do everyday when I pick him up:

M: Did you have fun in school today?

K: Yes!

M: What did you do?

K: play school (or sometimes he doesn't reply)

M: What did you play with?

K: ...

M: Did you go to the gym to drive the car/ sing song/ draw etc?

K: Yes!

M: What did you eat in school today? (depending on the day of the week) 

M: Cornflakes? Porridge? Bread?

K: No porridge. Bread.

M: What did you drink? Juice or water?

K: Juice

M: What juice? Apple or orange?

K: Apple Juice

So usually it is a hit-and-run kind of situation. He'll answer yes/no to my questions and sometimes he'll be able to actually tell me the stuff he really did.

Last night, over dinner, I was talking to him about school again.

M: What is your teacher's name? Miss..?

K: Miss...

M: Miss Jaslin

K: Miss Jas..lin

M: Do you like Miss Jaslin?

K: Yes! 

M: Does Miss Jaslin sing songs?

K: Yes!

M: What about Su Lao Shi?

K: Su Lao Shi, Zao An!!!

M: :P

Then I showed him 1 finger.

K: yi!

2 fingers.

K: er!

3 fingers

K: san!

M: =D =D =D

I didn't expect him to do 1, 2, 3 in mandarin! We always taught him in English. Looks like his mandarin has got some hope afterall!!!

Kieran & school

m: do you like school?

K: yes

m: do you want to go school tomorrow?

k: No!

It's always the same answer. He will say that he likes school, he is happy in school but when you ask if he want to go to school, it'll always be a resounding "no!". :P

Spoke to his teachers yesterday and all of them said very positive things about Kieran. They said that he's big Kor Kor in school now and he is really active in school. They also said that he is very different from the boy who first went to school last term. He is no longer as reserved and seem to have grown up quite a bit over the holidays. I'd like to think that it is because of Kiefer's arrival that Kieran has grown up. There is someone to share the attention that used to be all his and it has been a good change actually. Instead of becoming a jealous little boy, he is actually more confident and more generous now. I believe that our 2 boys are really meant to be brothers to each other and I know that they have loads to teach each other (and us too..).

Kieran is learning to speak a lot more. He can converse in short phrases and is enthusiastic to learn pronunciations when we correct him. (He just came to me and said, "Mummy, Kieran ta-muck-egg *stomachache*") He uses phrases like "mummy sleep (with) fer fer, daddy sleep (with) kieran". We see him steadily progressing in his language, vocabulary and speech. As much as I'm happy that he is speaking well, I'm sure going to miss his mispronunciations and the look on his face when he searches for the words he needs to say and use.

I'm a little sad that Kieran has grown up, but I am extremely proud of the little boy that he has turned out to be. :D

Finally scrapped Kieran's 1st day at Kindy!

Kit: Peppermint Creative Kindergarten Crafts

my little EMO baby...

Kieran was so so sad that Mummy and Daddy have to go to work. Yesterday, Daddy had a late day so we could all go for breakie at MacD's. He was so happy when he woke up in the morning and we said that we were going MacD's. He said "syess!!" then said "fer fer". So we all went and had a great breakie. Then the sadness started when Daddy dropped us and Grandpa's and had to drive off. He didn't want Daddy to go, and once he realised that Daddy had to go, he clung on really tightly to me, knowing that I would have to go work too. (We've been telling him that for awhile to get him prepared for my return to work). I carried him and walked around with him a little and told him that I would send him to school cos I had a free day. He was still very sad, and didn't want to take a shower. Slowly I managed to change him into his uniform but he still held on to me and looked sad and was going to cry. So I gave him a photograph of Mummy and Daddy (I just pulled it off the photo frame at grandpa's) and told him to look at the photo when he missed us and that we will be there when he comes home from school.

Once we reached school, he knew that he had to go in and so he walked to his teachers by himself, actually went into their arms asking them to *carry him*, and looked at us with red, teary eyes. I took out the photo from his bag and let him hold it. When I reached back the house, Gareth's mummy smsed me and said that K was crying when she was there. When she asked him why he was crying, he tearfully showed her the photo i gave him!! HAHAHAHA... sad but funny little boy huh? EMO kid i say..

I called the school a little later and the principal told me that the entire morning she's been hearing teachers going "kieran! kieran!" not in the reprimanding way but was trying to distract him and make him happy. But after the snack, she said that he was alright and playing already. :D

Such a sad, funny little boy eh..

I'm really going back to work on Monday already, I think I will miss him (and Fer) more than he misses me. :(

School called...

... to ask us to bring Kieran home early (at 1030 am). I happen to bring Kiefer for a walk to the NTUC and when I came back, I saw that FIL's car was not around.

I think he wasn't feeling all too well today. He was sleepy when he reached FIL and didn't want to wake up to play even. He coughed badly and vomited when he reached school this morning and had to change into his spare clothes. FIL sent him to school today and so he was the one to change him, I guess he wasn't cleaned up all too well cos I still smelt puke on him when he got home. The wipes in the bag was unopened as well. :( Anyway, it seemed that he coughed so badly that he vomited the phlegm out in the morning. The teachers said that he was cranky and cried quite a bit. Also, he looked really uncomfortable. I thought it was probably because of the smelly pukey stench on him. FIL said that he probably felt left out cos he was the only one not in uniform! Whatever it was, I checked with the teachers that it was definitely not because he didn't want to go school. Why? Cos this morning, I didn't send him to school. I just packed him in the car and said bye to him. He was a little unhappy about that and actually wanted me to go along. I thought it was time to wean him off me in the mornings as well since I got to go back to work on Monday. :(

*I'm glad that I stayed home the last 5 months with the boys! K is happy at home with Mummy and that he actually wants Mummy to be with him! On one hand, I want him to be independent, on the other, I want him to be Mummy's boy! Dilemma! Sometimes I feel bad that Kiefer may not have this chance when he is about Kieran's age. I still hope that I'll be able to stay home for awhile when Kiefer is a little older.*

Kieran loves school today!

I thought it was going to be a nightmare getting Kieran to school today. He hasn't been to school since Tuesday last week and including the weekend, it was 5 days of no school. Today, as we walked him into class, he was ok with not holding our (mine or Ah Gong)'s hands and walked in himself. Maybe it had to do with the fact that there was balloons in the classroom today. Anyway, I shouted "bye" to him, he simply turned and said "bye! see you!" :D I think after so many days of no school, he actually misses school and realises that it is actually fun to go to school! *crossing my fingers* I hope like what Mrs Chan says, "a turning point".

Sniff! Sniff!

Yes, the whole family (except the Daddy) is down with a bug. I suspected that Kieran brought it home from school. I seem to have gotten it the worst. I came down with a bad throat, a blocked nose and I am hacking my lungs out now. Kieran was alright the last few days but started coughing 2 days back. Kiefer just has a blocked nose. However, we are all recovering now, and I think it'll be many more of such episodes now that Kieran is in school. :( Anyway, Kieran came down with a swollen eye (think it was a sty) as well. And the good thing was that after I applied some medication for him 2 nights back and he cried so hard when I gave him his cough med, he actually managed to squeeze so hard that the sty burst and thus the swelling has subsided!!

That's K with his swollen eye playing "Set set set" with K2.

And this is what we've been doing the last week!!

Dancing and Jumping around the house!

Playing ball

Looking at picture cards!

the WHEEL (& Week #2 @ Preschool!)

Went on the Singapore Flyer on Saturday. Was supposed to be a "reward" of sorts for Kieran for attending a week of school. Ha. Was going to bring him swimming in the morning but it was drizzling and cold, and as teachers, we had complimentary passes to the flyer and so off we went! By the way, Kieran calls it the "wheel" cos Singapore Flyer proves to be too much of a mouthful for him. Also, it just looks like a wheel to him!

To prevent the "dowan to go school" syndrome after a weekend, we brought Kieran to school on Saturday morning, pretending to show Daddy his school. We had to act disappointed that school was closed that day. Haha! On Sunday, I attended Sunday class with him. He clung on to me throughout the entire session. The tactic seemed to work because it seemed easier for him to go to school and on Tuesday, he walked in himself, parked his bag and just went about his business. No crying, nothing. And I thought all was good until today, he didn't want to wear his uniform in the morning and cried when I handed him over to his teachers. However, I think he was just trying his luck. Cos the crying stopped after only about a minute or less. Once I was out of the door, I peeped in, he was being carried and not crying anymore! We'll see what happens tomorrow.  He always seems happy when he sees me at the end of his school day. And when I ask him about school, it is always "syess!" So I guess while he is there, he really enjoys himself. But my poor baby is paying the sleep debt of having to wake up early. Today, he almost fell asleep on the way home and it was 1140am!! And poor thing, he didn't even get to drink his milk cos the bottle somehow leaked and he had milk all over him!!

I've gotta think of a new strategy for tomorrow. Think I'll wake him up earlier and get him to take a shower. It is usually easier to get him to change after a shower. He has this thing for staying in his PJs. I don't think it's just the uniform, I think it's getting him to wear anything else other than his PJs with his smell from the entire night.. ha.

Anyway, since we have complimentary passes till the end of the month, I think we'll go on the flyer again this weekend. With the lousy economy, it's time to save money and go for cheap (or better still, free) entertainment!!

Day #5 @ Preschool

Getting smarter. Held on to my hands with BOTH hands once we reached the colourful gate. He still wanted to go in and play, but made sure that I went with him.

Handed him over to his chinese teacher and left. 

Heard him crying away!

Picked him up at 1130, he looked alright. No look of relief, no want to cry. But was happy to see me. Hope he starts to get the idea that I (or ah gong/ daddy) will always be waiting outside to pick him up.

Anyway, we took a bus to school today and the ride was 45min! He was so tired by the time he got to school. Came back home, ate a few mouthfuls of lunch, started trying to poop but poop was stuck, crying and whinning to get the poop out. Once something came out, gave him a bottle of milk and now he is asleep! It is only 1pm!! Poor baby. Got to revert back to driving daddy to camp then him to school. At least he gets to sleep in the car for another hour!

Btw, he brought home a colouring of an apple yesterday, and today, he made a lantern (but I'm sure with loads of help from the teachers ha.)

Just for the record: I am very proud of my not-so-little baby. Even with the crying, he is really doing great. He's got to adjust to so many things this year and has been taking everything so well! 

As for Kiefer, he's been really good too. Sleeping in uncomfortable positions (slinged onto mummy, or on the hard bench) while waiting for Kor Kor to finish school everyday! 3 cheers for Kiefer too!!

Day #4 @ Preschool

Realised that the "bye, see you" is real. refused to let go of me and cried when i left.

When I picked him up at 1130, he had this look of relief and the "want to cry" face but he held his tears! Gave him a toy car set and he was happy already!

Day #3 at Preschool!

Kieran DIDN'T cry at all after I left!!!! 

The teachers said that he did very well. He played by himself and didn't look for me and didn't cry at all!!

Woah!!!! Great job baby!!

Day #2 @ Preschool

Kieran enjoys going to school. If you ask him whether he likes school, he go "school? syess". He only says yes to stuff he likes. However, he still clings to me quite a bit. Kept wondering out of his play area to look for me. I think he is going to cry tomorrow when I just drop him off and go away. However, the principal says that she is confident that Kieran will be fine. I think so too, but still, it breaks my heart to see him cry (tho' I am fully capable to not doing anything while he cries haha..)

Overall, I think he is doing very well, considering this is the 1st time he attends something like that. The only previous classes he's gone for were just Tumbletots and Mummy/Daddy was always with him. He is considered one of those who cannot settle into the classes yet, but some of the other kids have been attending playgroup and stuff so... Well done Kieran!!

Kieran's 1st Day at Preschool!!

more updates later!!