Happy Doggie Year!

It's 1 a.m on the 1st day of Chinese New Year. On behalf of Declan, I will like to wish everyone a Happy, Fruitful and Prosperous Doggie Year! Hope everyone will have a smooth sailing year ahead! Gongxi Gongxi!!!

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On the eve of Chinese New Year Eve, a business associate invited us to his office at One Fullerton for a simple buffet dinner as well as to view the fireworks. This time we need not wait till 12am. The fireworks took place at 8.00p.m I shall "share the fireworks" with all of u!!

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Hope everyone's 2006 will be as bright and vibrant as the fireworks!

To enroll or not?

The dad was badly traumatized by the last pic in my previous post. The pic which Declan was seemingly eating alone. Actually that was not really the true scenario. The true scenario was like this : He came down from his classroom for lunch. He saw me, smiled, but didn't rush over to cling to me. For that I am proud of him. He went along with his teachers and friends to the dining tables. The centre folks brought out the little bowls and laid them on the table and then the little ones will proceed to choose their own seat. I was the one who pulled out the chair of that particular seat for Declan. As I was squatting next to the table, no other child can squeeze through to the chair inside. After he settled down and started feeding himself, I stood up to take that picture. Didn't know why that pic turned out to have this lonely mood hanging around it. It was really a wrong representation which even con me, the photographer...

As I was looking at the pic yesterday, I was also chatting with Mama Kwai Yoke on MSN. I was telling her, as I typed on my keyboard, my tears actually drop... so drama mama.... so unlike myself.... I guess me and Kiat look at the picture and let ourself illusionized that our little one will be so poor thing if left there... Maybe, we are trying to find excuses for us to keep him at home.. to protect him from all the external factors.... Mama Kwai Yoke gave me encouragement and I will like to thank her for sharing her experience with me.

Kiat even go the point of asking me to take down the pic... if not he'll not visit my blog again... I refused.. I told him we had to face it and anyway.. that pic was a misrepresentation.. he was indeed enjoying his lunch... HA! that emotional daddy, but that goes to show how much he sayang his little boy.

Fannie, to be frank, we are not coping too well... In fact there was a point yesterday afternoon that both me and Kiat agreed to send him in only when he turns 2. It was after much consideration, taking into account he has been there for 2 full days.. if we gonna delay it further, he'll have to start all over again. I told myself, that will be even more traumatizing for him. There will be heartache, and at times I feel that I was a bad mama who push him over his limits, but I guess that is a phase all mums have to go through. Anyway Mama Kwai Yoke shared that it's actually easier for them to cope if they are younger.

Mama Blurblur, the centre do have half day programme, however that will not be an option for us as neither Kiat nor me will be able to pick him up and there will not be school bus service for half day programme.

Yes, after all the heartache and debating with my own soul I have decided, together with Kiat to go along our initial plan and let him learn to be independent. I always wanted a streetwise kid who can take care of himself. He ain't the really dependent nor shy type. He's a bit whiny these 2 days as I guess he's just not use to the centre's environment.

Cherie Hearts may not be the top notch child care centre on this island, but I am very comfortable with their teachers and centre director. The teachers were really patient with Declan. They took turns to coax and comfort him. The centre director will update me on the development of Declan through sms when I was not around. What's more there is this little girl in his class who will always take tissue and wipe away his tears when he's crying. She'll come pat his head and hold his hands. Very sweet little girl :) She's actually the centre director's daughter.

The trial was over. The real war will start on 01 Feb 2006. Help bless my child and hope he will be brave as a warrior to conquer his new territory!

1st Day at school

Yesterday was Declan's first day at his playgroup. He woke up early thinking that Daddy and Mummy were gonna bring him out. Kiat dressed him and I prepared all his stuffs for him. Look at him carrying his own water bottle. Sorry about the quality of the pics. I didn't on enough lights that's why it looks real dark.

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He was ok when we arrived at the school, he refused to eat the cod liver oil when the teacher tried to feed him.

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They gave him breakfast, wholemeal bread with butter and milo. He only took a bite of the bread and I had to help him finish the rest and he didn't drink his milo.


The centre will start each day with assembly. Declan didn't take to the assembly too well. I think it's due to the fact that he hates to be confined. Throughout the assembly he kept tugging at me, trying to pull me over to the stairs wanting to venture up the stairs to the dinning area and probably out the door. He gets more agitated as I tried to keep him in the hall with the rest of the kids.

After the assembly, all the students will return to their classrooms. That is when Dec started to cry. He lost his cool. He didn't' want to stay in the classroom, he didn't want to mix with his classmates, he didn't want any of the toys given to him, he's not even interested when the teacher did music and movement, which is very unlike him. All he wanted was to get out of the door. One of the teacher gave him a small candy and he calmed down. He stopped crying totally when the class started to play with building blocks. He went to the box and picked up a few blocks, walk to one corner, threw them down and played with it on his own. One little girl came over wanted to play with him, but he hanged up and sell. Seeing that he had stopped crying, i sneaked out of the classroom. He didn't cry...... as yet..

He started crying again, when they put away the building blocks as it was playdoh time. I was in the dinning hall, where I could hear him and the centre director showed me a window which I could peep into his classroom. He was seated on the lap of the teacher and crying. I didn't want to go in and disturb, I prefer him to try to get use to me not being around. After awhile he stopped crying and played with the playdoh. After playdoh was lunch time.

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See, he fed himself :) Didn't cry. I was there though. Somehow, I'm always washed over with emotions when I see this pic. I kept thinking.. so poor thing... looking at the tiny figure sitting there feeding himself... I wonder whether I should reallly enrol him or should I just keep him at home till he is 3 years old... What do you mummies think?

After lunch, back to the classroom again. I carried him up and that's when he cried again... I should not have let him see me during his lunch.... I didn't give in, I left him there and left the classroom. The teacher bathe him and gave him milk. Shortly after, all was quiet. The teacher came out to inform me that he had fallen asleep and advise me to go home and take a break.

So I left, at 5pm I went to pick him up. The teacher told me, he woke up at 3+ he was fine didn't cry. 4+ they brought him down for tea break, that is when he expected to see me waiting for him (just like during lunch), didn't see me, started to search, can't find me, started to cry again. He cried for 10 mins, stopped for awhile, cried again, stopped and started again on and off.

Thus when I arrived at 5pm, I was greeted by a red nose reindeer... Overall I should say that he does deserve a pat on the shoulder. He was pretty brave. :)

Excited

Tomorrow is The Day! The Day whereby Declan will go to school for the first time! I'm excited and a little anxious! Anxious over whether he will cry, anxious over whether he will like the place, his fellow playgroup mates and teachers, anxious over whether he will take to the schedule of the centre or not.

He seems oblivious of the big step he's gonna take tomorrow. He's still playing as usual. I'll be accompanying him the whole day tomorrow. Kiat said that he's sure this little fellow will not cry. I hope so too! Ohh by the way tomorrow is just a trial for him. I signed him up for a 3 days free trial. If both of us survive the ordeal, I'll enrolled him there.

Oh and I forgot to update that we have decided to choose Cherie Hearts over MMI. One of the main reason being, they are also incorporating montessori method into other activities. In a way, I guess I will get the best of both worlds.

Goodnight folks! I need to turn in early so that I will be able to send him in on time! Wish me luck!

Narrowing down

My hunt for a good playschool for Declan has been narrowed down to 2 centres. One is the MMI located at the former HDB building at Bukit Merah - Twink School House. The other is Cherie Hearts located along West Coast Road.

Yesterday, I revisited the MMI at West Coast Recreation Centre again. Somehow I still don't like it there. I don't really feel comfortable. The teachers' faces all look so glum (not even a hint of smile) and I even saw with my own eyes that the teacher for the playgroup and nursery (they actually combined the 2) making the students sit against the wall facing her and she was folding her arms across her chest and staring at them very fiercely. One little girl was made to sit facing the wall for "time out" as she was not co-operative, as explained by the teacher. hmmmmmm at such young age, isn't it expected that they've not yet learn to cooperate fully? I am sure Declan won't be able to "co-operate" as and when the teachers want him to as yet. If the teacher is gonna make him sit facing the wall for "time out", I can imagine that the teacher will probably end up pulling her hair out as I know that this chap won't be able to sit still and he will most likely be dashing around the classroom :x There was also this new boy there who was crying and crying for his mama with mucus streaming down his nose. I thought the least the teacher could do was to wipe up his mucus for him... but it was not done.... MINUS MARK MINUS MARK. The greatest put off was no matter which programme I choose, full day, half day, flexi hours, alternate day etc... the fees are all 600+ excluding transport.................. totally senseless......

Straight after I left that centre, I headed to the Twink School House at Jalan Bukit Merah. The moment I stepped right into the centre, I instantly felt that this was a much better choice. The whole place have a bright cheery atmosphere. It had a open concept, thus one could see the whole place at a glance. The fee structure makes more sense there. They gave parents choice of sending in the kids from Mon-Sat, 4 times weekly, thrice weekly, twice weekly or even once a week. Plus point plus point. They offer a 2 weeks trial period at about 400 bucks while the other one at West Coast will cost 500+. Plus point plus point! Today I brought Kiat over to view the place during his lunch time. He agreed that this was a much better place than the one at West Coast.

This morning, I brought Declan over to Cherie Hearts. The person in charge was nice. They have a mini animal kingdom there. Though they called it a kingdom, there's only terrapins and rabbits :p Their curriculum looks fun. It includes, water play and also teaching the little ones road safety. Unique! Plus point Plus point. The centre's owner's daughter is also in the playgroup, hmm so can I assume that the group will strictly follow the curriculum since I bet the owner will want the best for her own child?? If I sent Declan there and he continue on to nursery and kindergarten, he'll also be given free Jap lessons. PLUS PLUS PLUS points. The owner herself is trained in the montessori method but her teachers are not. She claimed that she trained her own trainers on the montesorri method. I will be giving this centre BONUS PLUS POINT cos they allow 3 full day trial! This centre dun offer flexi care.... they only cater to straight 5 days... and not alternate days... minus mark minus mark.... I already registered for it and will be on trial next week. I will be bringing the dad there tomorrow to view the place.

Actually I already have a preferred choice but I am not gonna indicate here in case Kiat comes in to peep. I don't want him to be influenced by my choice. I want him to give me his own views before I share with him mine.

Dog Dog

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Dec : Dog Dog Dog Dog. Play with me play with me!!
Dog : *shivers*
Dec : Dog Dog Dog Dog, come out, won't you?? I want to play with you...
Dog : *shivers* and turn away, pretending not to hear him

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Dec : Don't care, you can't hide! (proceeds to drag doggie out from under the sofa)
Dec : Come I help you wash "hair"
Dog : ....................

Daddy... Where?

I heard him said that last night! It caused a flutter in my heart. hahah It's just so exciting to witness his speech development. In fact he had slowed down quite a bit on the speech department. Though he is still picking up new words every now and then, but it's really really really slow. He's still stuck at the usual dog, cat, bird, mum-mum. neh-neh etc.

I've been waiting eagerly for him to pick up new words or even form simple short phrases but without much luck until last night.

I brought him to meet Kiat at the MRT station. On the way there, I told him :"We go and find daddy ok?" He nodded his head and then said:" Daddy... Where?" He coupled this short "sentence" with a "where" sign of his hand.

I am waiting for more!

3 Major Decisions

I'm currently doing some rearrangement for my life to make better use of my 2006. One of the biggest decision which we have made is to sent Declan to playschool. Having stayed at home for the past 6 months or so, I realised that I'm not really making good use of my precious time. So was Declan. The both of us spent most of our awake hours just playing a fool with each other. Sometimes we are so lost for things to do that we simply just sat in the living room not knowing what to do next... I find that both of us should really capitalise on our time and do more meaningful stuffs.

Declan is at the age which his learning ability is just like a sponge. Being a 1st time mum, I don't really know what and how to teach him things effectively. Sometimes he can get so bored that he simply sit down, fuss and throw tantrums. This can't go on, and thus the decision to send him to school.

The next decision was to decide which school to send and whether should we send him in for half or full day. The first school I checked out was MMI. The difference between half and full day play group was just a mere $3... absurd ain't it??? Being a true blue Singaporean, that being the case, I'll rather send him in for full day :x Don't flame me... just behaving like a typical Singaporean that's all. Then again, I don't really feel comfortable about that centre, so I'll be sourcing for other centres.

The third decision which I need to make and in fact had already made is with regards to my employment status. I was thinking, if Declan is to attend school, what should I do at home??? "Big eyes stare small eyes" with my mil??? We'll probably end up getting on the nerves of each other. Thus this decision was not difficult. I'll be back to full time employment. I enjoyed my freelance status alot. It gives me alot of flexibility and a sustainable income. Since my son won't be home, I'll rather make better use of the time to earn more while I'm still young. With Declan going to school, my fixed overheads will be going up again. So this decision ain't that difficult to come to either.

Going back to full time employment can also be seen as my 1st tiny weeny mini step to planning for No.2. I'll definitely want to enjoy maternity leave (3months u know??!!!) if No. 2 was to come along. Also, if we want a No.2 we must also make
sure we have enough financial resources to give both the little ones a comfortable life So u see? Everything is falling into place. No no, I'm not saying that I will have a No. 2 now ok?? I'm not ready for another little one just yet. I can't possibly report to work and before I can prove my working ability, I declare to my boss that I'm expecting right?? They will probably kill me. So I have to at least work for half a year, then sit down and plan again whether we should have another one.

I'll spend the next few weeks sourcing for a right centre for Declan. Currently, the one right at my new working place is on the top of the list. Its so because of the great convenience. If that center is ok. I'll be bringing him to work with me every morning, and after I knock off, I'll pick him up and go home together. Convenient hor?? Having said that, 1st I have to make sure that the centre can keep him occupied with quality activities for the full day. If not, I'll just enrol him for half a day.

Will update again on the status.

His very own Kiddie Ride

Which kid don't like kiddie rides? My son is also crazy about kiddie rides, at least we need not spend heaps of coins to satisfy his need as he has his very own kiddie ride in his very own home! See how he mounts his horsey!

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Step 1 get the horsey to lie low and step on its back.

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Step 2, Swing your leg over and sit tight

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Step 3, signal your horsey to raise but before the horsey gets up, lie low so that you will not topple over.

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Step 4, UP Up goes the horsey!! HIHA!!!!!!

Declan and his Great Grand MA

This is the 1st time ever great grand ma is making an appearance on this blog. She is my maternal granny, the person who brought me up. See how the both of them enjoy each other's company? This naughty Declan wanted his great grand ma to piggy back him while munching on a piece of biscuit awarded to him by the loving GGM.

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Tagged

Thank you Fannie for informing me that I've been tagged. I'll just be good and try to fulfill the tag.

Remove the blog in the no.1 spot from the following list and push everyone up one place. Then add your own blog to the bottom spot.

1. The Life of an Independent Babe
2. My All
3. Simply Hantam
4. Princess Diary
5. Baby Talk

And then, victimize another 5 people with the following questions:

1. What were you doing 10years ago?

10 years ago I was about 19.5 yrs old, just graduated from polytechnic and working my butt off repaying my study loan.

2. What were you doing 1 year ago?

1 year ago my son was just about 6 months old which means that I spent most of my time feeding him with the best food on earth for infants aka breastmilk. I was probably cuddling and staring at him most of the time too.

3. 5 snacks you enjoy

Chocolate
Twisties (green and red labels)
Cheezel or any forms of cheese rings
Potato chips, corn chips etc.
Cakes!!!! ALl time FAV!!! Esp Cheese Cakes!!!


4. 5 songs to which you know all the lyrics off your head right now

The alphabet Song
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Itsy Bitsy Spider
I love you (from Barney)
I'm learning to spell my name (from Barney)

All thanks to my son, now my head is just filled with kiddy songs and rythmes..


5. 5 things you would do if you were a millionaire

a) Invest my millions to generate more millions.
b) Be a full time student and make myself Dr Seah!
c) Buy a house to accomodate all my dependents.
d) Open an account and dump 100K for each of my children (that is if I am going to reproduce more)
e) Help the poor and the needy


6. 5 bad habits

a) Biting nails
b) sleeping too much
c) turning in too late
d) Waking up too late
e) lazing in bed for hours before I am willing to get up


7. 5 things you like doing

a) Hogging the computer to surf and blog
b) Shopping
c) High Tea! especially those which serves plenty of pastries and cakes!
d) Cuddling my son
e) Inhaling the smell of my son, no matter how smelly he is! ohhh except when he poo..


8. 5 things you would never wear, buy or get new again

a) Body hugging dresses... got protruding tummy...
b) Size XX Cup X bra - my former bust size when I was still breastfeeding..
c) Tops with plunging neckline, cos got nothing more to show off
d) High heel shoes which is more than 3 inches.
e) Bikini... tummy not toned enough...


9. 5 favourite toys

a) Dell Axim
b) Playstation 1
c) My auntie's Xbox and playstation 2
d) My desktop
e) my son! what else could it be??!! ha!


10. Five bloggers to pass on

a)Mama Katherine
b)Mama Irene
c)Mama Kwai Yoke
d)Mama Blur
e)My Wonder Twin Power Girl


Phew!!! Finally it's over!!! Sorry gals for tagging u :p

Please don't drop

"sob sob sob"

While I was typing away on my PC, I heard Declan crying in a very "pek chek" (frustrated) manner. I turned to see him crying while eating banana. I was wondering why he eat until so "pek chek". Then his ah ma told me :" He ahhh refuse to let the banana skin drop off lah"

whahahhahah

This boy, prefers the skin to stick on to the bottom of the banana while he eats it. I guess maybe the ah ma may have peeled the skin too low that's why after a few touches the skin dropped off. So you see this frustrated little toddler holding the banana in one hand and the banana skin on the other hand and trying to put the skin back while crying and eating the banana all at the same time. hahahah quite entertaining!

Lazy wormy

I got a lazy worm at home today. He is none other than Dec.. In all is 18 months on earth, he's never slept this late.. This lazy bum refuses to wake up this morning and as the clock strikes 1p.m, he is still happily snuggling up with the pillows and bolsters in bed.

Usually it's him who will wake me up but today it's the other way round. I shaked him, called him, cuddled him and goes to his ear to whisper :" ling ling, the sun is shining at your bum already... wakey wakey!!" The next thing I heard was a frustrated growl and a pacifier flew into my face..... wahhh so fierce...

So i got the message and left him alone. However mil choose to come in and wake him up forcefully, she just picked him up from bed and since then he has been howling at her heheheheh heng ahhh not me :p

Happy 2006!

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That was us feeling all bored on new year's eve day

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That was me feeling excited and Dec feeling sleepy on a New Year's Eve night.

Want to know where we are and what we did?? click here