JD - 3.5 yrs old

Jayden is 3.5 years old, 6 more months he will be turning 4! There is something quite remarkably going on for a 3.5 yo. Overnight he has become an even more loving boy, whom is very fond of giving kisses and cuddles to his mum and sister. He not just me give one kiss before bed time, but he will request for "lots and lots of kisses to me". He will plant a kiss on my nose, my lips, my cheeks, my forehead, my chin and then he will give me a big cuddle before he is happy to go for sleeps.

And he does the same to his sister. He is very good at reassuring her. When she cries, he will say "It's okay Chloe, mommy is coming." He will bring her different toys when she is around, going through the toys one by one, asking her "Which one would you like, this one, that one, the red one, the blue one ...?" And when he travels in the car with her, he must make sure he holds onto her hand, "because she may cry" according to JD. Very cute again.

But sometimes he can be a bit too keen. Last night while I was busy doing the dinner, I heard Chloe fussing in the lounge room, but before I could even turn around to turn off the stove, big brother JD has already grabbed hold of her by the belly, and as he walked to the kitchen with Chloe looking seriously stunned and holding onto her dear life, JD just non-chalantly said "Is ok mommy, I am bringing her to you!". I quickly scooped her up and put her in her high chair while I continued on with my cooking. Phew!

He is also becoming very understanding. Previously, he would always ask me to get him a lolly or some snacks when we were out shopping. Over a period of time, I started to practice the act of not giving in. I will give him a treat once in a while but certainly not all the time. And supermarkets are the worst culprits, lollies, chocolates, snacks are always strategically placed at checkout counters and kids woud inevitably nag and nag their parents till they give in. I am the tough mommy though, I just give him a warning if he nags and nags and I stand firm...

Lately, when we go for groceries shopping, I noticed that when I said "no" to something, he will gladfully accept and then ramble on something like "Oh ok, we have plenty of that at home BUT I will get that when I am bigger or after my birthday!" Hahahaha! Honestly, this little maturity in him has made groceries shopping with 2 kids a lot easier.

On top of that, I found his listening and "following the leader" skills have been strengthened again. I don't have to repeat myself as much, I may say it once or twice, but he seems to get the message. Some days it's better talking to him than the husband, wahahahaha!

I haven't spoken to his kindy teacher in terms of how he is doing 4 weeks into it, but I personally felt that kindy has had a positive impact on him so far.

The first 2 weeks of kindy have been about "Integration & Friendship", helping the children to know about one another and settling in. These 2 weeks, they learn about themselves, their names, their body parts, being loving and kind to themselves and that they are special.

Last week, he came home with a crown he made in class! Just picture this, at the end of school last week, teacher Amanda opened the door, each child walked out of the classroom with a beautiful crown on their head...now would you not smile as a parent? I was definitely smiling, so thankful there are people out there that love my child just as much as I do!

Also, we have been experiencing some pretty strange summer weather. One day it's hot, another day it's humid, next it is thunder storm, then it is hot again. And JD would constantly give me a running weather commentary in the house. An hour ago, he commented about "Look, today is going to be a stormy day, I hear the thunders, it says doom doom doom, it is going to rain, you have to stay inside, we can't go outside, else you might get hurt, ooops...I thinkit's going to snow...oh, is sunny day again! " And the other day he rushed out to the back garden with the umbrella pretending to be the weatherman!

Reflections

Well after a somewhat bad week, I am back onto my happy feet again! I made an effort to make myself feel good again. And thank you for the hugs I have been receiving through the wonderful world of bloggers!

It was simple. I was overwhelmed with the amount of things I have to do and deal with. Some are essential. Some I can do without. Some people drove me crazy, and I mean real crazy. Some situations are just plain stupid. Some people need to grow up and take responsibility. It was just a bad week, when all things roll in one, I had enough. There was an explosion of emotions. It was ugly. It was painful.

So during one of the quiet moments when both kids were sound alseep and husband away working, I came to accept one thing. Accepting that I can only do so much within my limit.

My most important role now is a wife to my husband, a dedicated mum to my 2 kids. These are my 2 most important roles and I need to focus on them. Other things can wait. Phones won't stop ringing, but I can screen my calls. People will irritate me, but I can choose to ignore. There are ways out of every situations.

And I need to remember to B.R.E.A.T.H. It makes a difference!

JD and Me

Once again, I have forgotten to take a picture of the 4 of us on Chinese New Year. I had everyone dressed in red except for my hubby. We were so busy eating and totally forgotten about getting someone to take a picture of us. By the time I remembered it, Chloe was already fast asleep, hubby was too lazy to change out his boxer shorts...so instead JD and I posed for the camera ourselves.

Perhaps I need to take out the tripod at some stage.

On this note, it's been a B.A.D. week so far. I am getting frustrated with situations around me and I am just at a loss of finding ways to move forward. Everything sucks at the moment, and I am not in my best of mood.

Clicking Away

Lately JD has this interest in using my digital camera to snap away photos. I cringed everytime he opens up my drawer to get my beloved Canon IXUS 700. But then again, I think he is becoming quite good in handling it. When he finished taking the pictures, he will ask to look at them on the computer.

I saw him following his sister around the other day, and he took this.

"My Sister"

Then he lined up his Power Rangers given by his 外公 last year and he took this.

My "Super Rangers". (He keeps mixing up Superman with Power Rangers.)

The he took he lots of random shots around the house, and he likes this the most.

"My Mommy's Kitchen"

新年快乐！万事如意

Wishing everyone a happy new year, good health, good fortune, and a smooth sail for the Golden Pig Year!

Chloe - 7 months old

Apart from JD starting kindy, I was also busy preparing for an exam. It's been a loooong time since I last hit the books. So as you can imagine, it was quite a task for me to just sit down study, without the temptation of jumping on line to check out the latest blog, replying emails, or doing anything except studying. But I eventually studied in between kids napping during the afternoon and night time. Good news is I passed my exam and that's one big stress off my shoulder.

Now for the little missy at home. Yes, Miss Chloe, she is 7 months old now. She is still doing her commando crawl, but she is trying to get on her hands and knees. She is trying really hard, and she practices everyday by rocking on her hands n knees. At times she lost her grip and falls flat on her face, ouch! And she cry, real cry, with big tears everytime that happens. Poor poppet.

The most amazing thing at 7th month is the bonding between her and JD. They are bonding very well. JD would muck around, she will look at him, chuckle. And he will do more to make her laugh even more.



Another thing with her is she will protest if anyone of us snatch something off her hands - you know when she chews on a piece of paper or tissue when she is not supposed to. She gets horribly upset. Likewise if another kid comes along to snacth her toy, she will respond with the same level of protest.

As for JD, he is probably very afraid of seeing her cry. Each time she gets upset, he will run to her "It's allright, it's allright, don't cry, shhhhhh, sorry sorry!"

And on this month, she also started spending half day with JD at family daycare. The brother and sister go to the same caregiver, except she gets picked up at 1pm and JD at 4pm. Reason is because we are slowly easing her into daycare and as she gets used to it, we will let her stay till 4pm. I am a lot less anxious about sending her to daycare, as the bro and sis are there together, but most importantly is because I have known the caregiver for over 3 years and she has been looking after JD since he was 8 months old.

For that half day I have, I would be busy with all the chores in the house, my own work, catching up on lots of things that I haven't been able to get to. Half day goes really quick and before I know, I would be out of the house to pick her up again.

Sweet moments

So it's been a couple of weeks since I last blogged. So many things have happened in the last 2 weeks that I haven't had a chance to really slow down and rest.

JD started kindy 2 weeks ago. There are no more tears. I am sooooo proud of him. By the 2nd week, I saw a happy little boy, zooming around like an aeroplane into his kindy. On that particular day, upon arriving at kindy, he was a totally different boy. He was telling me about his teacher Amanda, that she is going to read him stories, play the tambourines, do paintings, playing sand with his friends and etc etc. I thought it's pretty cool he knows his teacher's name by the 2nd week, as that secures an important trust in him.

When the bell rang, I said to him "Jayden, mommy had to go now, have a good time." And with a reassuring look in his eyes, he looked at me, nodded his head and said "Bye mommy, I love you!, you go now!"

I almost cried when he said that. I almost cried because I felt so touch by his courage. That he knows that mommy was feeling just as anxious, and he was reassuring me. I cried a bit later on when I got home because I know whatever we have done in these first 3 years of his life are already bearing fruits. We have done something right as parents. We have been building the kind of trust, assurance, love in him that he is able to reciprocate back to us. And to see that a 3yo has such reassurance brings a lot of comfort to my heart.

As I was chatting about the incident to my friend that night, seeing our child growing up is one of the sweetest feelings as a parent. It is magical, and it is sweet.

It ain't matter anymore when all he wants at night before bed was just one more kiss, one more cuddle, one more squeeze, because I will always give him that.

And he is growing up so quick. My cheeky little monkey.

On that day after kindy, the first thing he said to me when I picked him up was "Mommy, I didn't cry today anymore." And he said it so happily with a very cheeky grin.

She says it all...

My husband upon hearing that Chloe has started on solids, got extremely excited and dashed off to the supermarket to buy a few jars of baby food for her. He insisted that I try the Heinz Blackcurrant Gel on her. So, I did. Did she like it? You be the judge.

But this is the husband. He loves his kids. And is always the first one to buy things for them to try, be it food, toys, games or whatever new, he is always the first one there.