New School for Kyle

Recently we made a very huge decision after deliberating for so long.

We decided to take Kyle out of childcare and place him in a normal kindergarten.

It has nothing to do with the credibility of the childcare. In fact, it has wonderfully nurtured and moulded my son's abilities and from a 2 and half year old kid who did not know how to speak properly to a 4 year old who speaks English much better than many adults, I am really grateful for the teachers and curriculum there.

But at the end of the day, it is still a childcare and kids there still have to go through naps/showers and teachers have to focus on both taking care of the kids as well as teaching.

Kyle will be 5 years old next January and he will be in K1. I need to prepare him more intensively for primary school, and I realise that if he continues in a childcare till K2, it would be hard for him to adjust to a primary school setting, where there are no naps, no holding hands, showers etc.

A 3-4 hour kindergarten setting will be more ideal for him and it would allow him to focus more on academic. Furthermore, my maid at the moment only takes care of Riz at home and thus she can cope with Kyle. Also childcare fees are not cheap. It comes to about $500 plus for both Kyle and Kyra and with the CDA depleting, I need to think of other ways to reduce costs without compromising the quality of their education.

Kyra will still continue nursery at the childcare for the moment, but I have enrolled Kyle in a good and affordable kindergarten. His classes are from 1.30-4pm and he will also be taking Malay language, which is another reason I need him to change to a proper kindergarten. His current childcare only offers Chinese as mother tongue, and I do not wish for him to be at a disadvantaged when he starts primary school. He can always take Chinese as a third language later on.

Even as me and hubby made this decision, it was not easy as he has grown quite accustomed to the childcare and he has many friends in the centre. The teachers like him, often saying that he is bright. I, too have many good memories, attending each teacher-parent session and have quite a huge collection of Kyle's artworks and school projects over the 2 years plus he's been there. We will certainly miss the caring teachers and their devotion to the profession.

I hope Kyle can get accustomed to his new school and that he can make new friends easily. Due to the timing, he has more time for other stuff. I have already enrolled him for KidsAlive programme at a nearby mosque and swimming classes on saturdays. I am currently sourcing for someone at my block to teach him how to read the Quran, maybe during weekday mornings, before he leaves for school in the afternoons.

Some pictures that brings back sweet memories:

:)

Princess Kyra is 3!

My princess just turned 3! She is growing up too fast..I wish she could be my baby forever :p

She is your typical restless toddler, who loves to play princess, loves to ransack my make-up, clothes and shoes and put them on, and she loves dancing and singing. Her favourite is Hello Teacher, Hello Friend, a song which she learnt in school and she has been singing it endlessly, till I myself have memorised the lyrics!

So young yet so mentel!

Her favourite DVD is My 12 Dancing Princesses, and she can certainly twirl naturally like a ballerina...hmm..maybe I should consider sending her for ballet :)

Ever since she entered playgroup, her vocab and language have increased tremendously, and looking at her small frame, you would not believe that she can speak English relatively well, with complete sentences :) I love it when she says things such as What is this?, I want to do myself, What are you doing mama?, I love you mama :)

On the surface, she looks very soft-spoken, dainty and graceful....in reality, she can be loud, fierce and stubborn! Haha she has made her brother cry before with her 'catwoman' scratches and pinches. She is extremely biased towards me :) Always protecting me when she sees her ayah playfully bullying me. She does not allow her father and me to sit so close together and she will try to separate us when she see her father hugging or kissing me. It totally cracks us up when she scold her father, "Ayah! Don't disturb Mama! You naughty, go stand at the corner!" Haha!

She is really beautiful to me and I pray she will grow up to be even more beautiful, both inside and outside. Cos we all know beauty without brains is nothing.

Happy Birthday my princess!

She had a blast on her birthday, doing stuff she love instead of the usual big hoo-haa party.

Painting & drawingFun @Kids Explorer

Fun @CSC Bukit Batok

Playing with her new toys

Simple cake-cutting at homeCake-cutting at school
More pictures on Facebook!

Mind Games

My son's favourite phrase at the moment is "You are very selfish arh!".

Every evening when me and hubby come home, he will ask whether we have bought him anything. If we didn't have anything for him, he will use that phrase.

Or when we switch the TV channels and do not allow him to watch his favourite Playhouse Disney channel, he will use that phrase again. It is his way of getting us to sympathise and give in to him and what he wants.

I guess it is part of the terrible 4 & 5 stage, where the world must centre around them and they are to be prioritised in every way possible.

Of course I do not condone such behaviour and keep stressing to him that we need to share and take turns in everything that we do. And if mama and ayah come home every evening with a new toy or gift for him, we will go bankrupt one day!

Kids, as gullible as they are, are always quick to point out their peers' mistakes but not their own. Kyle will happily point out that his sister is selfish when she refuses to share her candy with him, but he forgets just a minute ago when he refuses to share his toy car with her.

My way of teaching them to share? Confiscate whatever they were quarelling about and only give it back once he/she agrees to play nice and share. They will scream and whine and cry, but I will only give in only when they tell me that they will share.

It works, because the next time it happens, they will themselves say to each other that if they are not sharing, mama will take your toy away! Kyle especially loves to use this tactic on his sister and Rae when they refuse to share with him something. He kinda observes the tactics I use and uses it back on the younger ones!

He also has a tendency to play other sorts of mind games nowadays. Each time I get angry with him, he will say, "Just now you say you do not like me anymore". Huh? When did I say that? Of course my heart will soften..I mean which mother would want her child to think that she doesn't love him anymore?

The older they get, the more smarter they become. (a little cunning also I might add).

Zzzzzzzz....

This is what we go through each night. My space is on the extreme right. I wake up with aching bones each morning.

They refuse to sleep away from us. Hmm...no privacy time for me & hubby!

But I would not have it any other way. Nothing better than snuggling up with my babies :)

Kyle's Nursery Progress

I recently attended Kyle's Parent-Teacher meeting at his school.

So far so good, Kyle is doing pretty well. His teacher, Miss Mahesh seems pretty pleased with him.

She finds him creative and loves to draw and colour. This is very true. He loves playing with his colour pencils and crayons and he can draw pretty well too! He likes to draw animals especially :)

He pays attention in class and can usually answer questions when the teacher asks the class. His learning progress is just right and Ms Mahesh even said that his vocabulary is quite vast and she is often surprised at the words he says. Yes very true, my son sometimes speaks like an adult at times. I believe the Playhouse Disney channel has got to do something with it :)

Ms Mahesh also told me that he gets bored easily and when there is nothing much to do, he gets 'wild' and will start disturbing other kids, such as running about, making noise and knocking other kids! So she has to constantly keep him occupied so that he won't bother other kids! Sometimes, she makes him clear the mattresses after bedtime or the chairs after lunch hehe.

She is OK!

I am happy to update that my princess is settling well in school :)

Yes initially it was hard and we were all under a lot of stress with her crying each morning. I even taught my maid how to take the bus to send Kyra as she refused to be sent by Atok. Luckily the school is just 2 bustops away. After passing her to the teachers, my maid would quickly scurry off, leaving her struggling and wailing her lungs out.

However, after a week, she seemed to notice the trend of going to school and began to understand her new daily routine. Wake up, bathe, change, and go with Bibik to take the bus to school. Gradually, she began to 'surrender' and she stopped her daily screaming at the school's front door. She even allowed her Atok to send her to school using the bicycle.

I am so relieved.

When she comes home, she now sings the songs she learnt at school and keeps talking about Teacher Ruz and 'my friends'. No more, "Dun want school!"

Comments from her teachers? "Doing well", "loves to sing and dance", "fierce". Hmm...the last one sounds familiar...

Kyra's Gone to School!

At 2.5 years of age, my baby girl is now big enough to enter school.

So on 15th June 2009, she officially started playgroup at My First Skool.

How was her 1st day? Good, since me and hubby were with her. Besides, she is in the same class as Rae.

Following the footsteps of her older brothers

Rae was so sweet, orientating her around the classroom, and making sure she was alright.

All was well on the 1st and 2nd day of school.

However on the 3rd day onwards, she started crying every morning seeing that me and Hubby were no longer around to accompany her. My dad was unable to send her by bicycle because she would cry all the way and even stand up on the child seat in the middle of the journey, which was dangerous.

Lucky hubby was having school hols, and thus he would send her, together with the maid, because she would refuse to let go of my maid. Once at the school, my maid would pass her to the teacher and leave quickly before she notices. Once she does notice, she would cry. Very heartbreaking. Even the presence of Rae was not enough.

Kyle also went through the same thing before when he started school. He even fell sick after a week of school! I just have to be strong and not soft or else she will never get used to the routine of school.

Kyra even got angry with me for sending her to school. She refused to come near me and kept clinging on to my maid.

I am stressed thinking of how to send Kyra in future. Daddy's bicycle is definitely out, too dangerous for her temper. I would probably wake earlier to send her before leaving for work or train my maid to take the bus and send her.

Hope she will come to terms with it soon.

Little Birdie

Recently when our air-conditioner was being replaced by a new one, the technician found a baby bird in the compressor.

My daddy took care of it and fed it water, worms and bread daily. It even had a special box to sleep in and we plan to let it go once she/he learns how to fly on her own.

Of course the kids were so excited to have the bird around, especially Kyle.

I am surprised at his courage as previously he was not so brave to be near animals, such as cats or dogs. Recently he seemed to want to have a connection with them, like stroking a cat, or calling out to the neighbourhood dogs. So looks like he will grow up to like animals, just like me :)

I just love this video of him.

Why I love Mother's Day!

Kyle at Nursery Class: Term 1

A little update on Kyle's progress since he entered nursery class since January 2009. So far, so good. Initially his teacher was telling us how she could not make him concentrate in class. He would walk about while the teacher was telling a story to the class or bully his other classmates during play-time by taking the toys away.

I was of course very worried and I really had a heart-to-heart talk with him. From the conversation, I could gather that he was still feeling shocked at not being in playgroup class anymore and not seeing his favourite Teacher Ruz and Teacher Tan every day. The nursery class is located in a different block and with new surroundings, he must still be lost and quite dazed at the change. In fact, I believe that he felt a little hurt that Teacher Ruz 'abandoned' him, till he refuse to talk to her whenever he sees her. And when I ask him why he does that, he simply says, "Because I like Teacher Ruz". Aww..the poor dear.

Well, anyway his new teacher, Teacher Magesh is just as nice, and Kyle is slowly warming up to her. Although she admitted initially it was a problem trying to get through to him, but it seems after I talked to him and advised him that he cannot behave like that in class, he somehow matured a little and has shown tremendous improvement in behaviour :)

There is no problem in his learning so far, his teacher said, adding that he is bright and learns fast. He also pays attention more. I am also glad to see that he loves going to school and coming home to do homework.

That's right, nursery already got homework to do! And parents have a big role to play. Every weekend, there will be a new assignment for Kyle to do before handing it up when school starts on Monday. It's actually quite interesting. Some examples of his homework includes matching pictures, recognising letters, drawings and also preparing stuff for Show n Tell.

Here are some stuff he did:

His homework file. Very heavy on parental involvement

His next project is to bring any type of red fruit (such as apple or strawberries) and tell his class about it. Now what is your favourite red fruit, Kyle?

Sunway Lagoon Trip 10-12 Apr 09

We needed a break badly after working our butts off the past year. So we decided to take a short trip to Sunway Lagoon with the kids. Our friends Hairi and Salyna also joined us with their family. So it was set: a road trip with 5 adults (including one maid) and 6 kids! Oh boy, will we survive it? :p

We certainly did. Hairi is a pro at road trips so we were not too worried about getting lost along the way. We even had walkie-talkies in hand just in case we lost sight of each other's car. Of course, most of the conversation on the walkie-talkie sets were nonsensical!

We stayed at Sunway Pyramid Tower Hotel and spent most of the 3 days 2 nights holiday swimming, eating, shopping, sleeping and more eating. Hehe..

Here are some memorable shots:

At Sunway Shopping Mall

Going to Sunway Lagoon Theme Park

In our hotel room

Fun time at the lagoon

At Putrajaya

More pictures on Facebook!

Sigh...so now its back to work again...I wonder when is the next holiday...

Super super BZ!

Been really busy with work so hardly anytime to blog. I am so tied up and would only be able to breathe when Sept comes. I might be off to Bangkok, Thailand next month for a study trip with the students, but it depends a lot on the situation there. If it get more dangerous nearer to the date (scheduled on 9th May), we may cancel and probably just go to KL.

But I love being busy though...times flies fast during office hours. Before I know it, its 6pm and Im off back home :)

Here are some recent pictures of me and some of my colleagues at a graduation dinner.

Registration of guests & graduands

Myself with Dorine

Yvonne and Wendy (my manager) joins us.

Next week I am off to the Istana for tea with our President! Wow...will update how that goes :)

Prune Juice

Remember kyra had a constipation problem?

http://kylenkyra.blogspot.com/2008/06/problem-with-poo-ing.html

It got so bad before that I had to insert the laxative liquid up into her anus every 3-4 days as she had difficulty in passing motion. I wanted to cry each time as I could not bear to see her screaming and crying.

Thank goodness my prayers were answered. Two lovely words. Prune juice.

I included about 30ml of prune juice into her milk each time. I also bought her those gerber bottles of blended prune puree. Now she passes motion almost every day, if not at least once in 2 days. Naturally without any laxatives :)

Prunes are a natural source of fibre and vitamins and they are just so wholesome and healthy. I am so happy now as I was even having sleepness nights thinking about whether Kyra will have to go through this till she grows up!

Happy 53rd Birthday Nenek!

My Mum, the birthday girl with her 4 grandkids. My daddy joins in.

And all want to be the birthday girl/boy :)

Happy Birthday Mummy!

Kyra at 2 Years 4 Months

One word. Vain.

She is very vain! She just loves wearing nice clothes and modelling herself in front of us. Whenever I am making myself up in front of the mirror, she would stand beside me, smile to herself at the mirror and ask me to also put makeup on her face! I would then put some lipgloss or blusher on her just to pacify her persistent nagging. After that, she would point to herself and ask us "Pretty?" Haha!

She speaks and understands a mixture of English and Malay. Her favourite words are "Sit here" and "It's mine!". Yes she is still fiesty and does not give Kyle or Rae a chance whenever they bully her. She would normally fight for her rights as well :)

She loves to draw and write, and would always ask me for a pen and paper. She dances at every song and sings along with me and her brother. She loves her bears and stuff toys, but gasp! she also loves her brother's toy cars! So I have been buying her more dolls to divert her attention away from the boy toys.

She is super manja with me and gets jealous easily when I am seated so close with her brother. At night I have to put her to sleep first or else her brother would not have a chance for me to hug him to sleep.

Kyra is also what I call an Italian baby. Why, you ask? Well, she loves pizza, lasagne, spagetti and other Italian favourites! You give her rice and she refuses to eat. But when you serve for example spagetti to her, she can finish the whole plate!! I am just happy as long she is eating :)

A New Playroom

Its has been ages since I updated this blog, about a month long I think. I have been really busy with work. Its a non-stop rollercoaster ride for me. I am not complaining much about my job cos I like being busy and I like my current job scope. The only thing I am sad about is that I tend to stay late more and I feel like I do not have enough of my kids :( Weekends are like gold to me. So it has been work and kids, day in, day out. No 'ME' time at the moment.

Been busy also with a new project, which involves a makeover of the kids room. Decided that they should also have some space of their own, where they can both study and play.

Nice? Daddy and me painted the room, in sunny orange and bright yellow. Hubby is still recovering from his knee operation.

They cannot get enough of the room!

Kyle's Birthday Fun at Downtown East

4 wonderful days of CNY holiday! Since its coincides with Kyle's 4 birthday, we decided to spent it at a chalet instead of rotting away at home :)

Downtown East Pasir Ris Chalet. Same chalet as his 1st birthday. Cut the cake at the bbq.

The birthday boy very happy with his Cars movie-themed cake.

We also took him to Escape Theme Park.

He rode on the train ridesHe played the water bumper cars

He took the ferris wheel He went around on the racing car track

He flew on the airplanes

And played with water at the swimming pool

More pictures up on Facebook!