Pre-School Saga

2 Jan 2011 marks a new beginning for Justyn. It is his first day in school! I was the one that was getting the jitters and was praying very hard that he will enjoy himself in school. I have been pre-advised by most of my mummy friends to just say "bye" and leave the school premise so that Justyn will adjust to "life without mummy".

Thus I was pleasantly surprised when I waved bye-bye, Justyn actually waved bye-bye to me without crying! But I think that was my biggest mistake!

Cos at about 4 plus in the afternoon, I received a call from the principal. Apparently, Justyn was the only child in his class that the teachers had a hard time pacifying! He had actually used a wooden hammer to hit an 18-month girl (later I found out that it was because the girl tried to snatch the hammer from him)! But still, what an eventful first day that was! And because of that, the principle advised me to stay in the class for his 2nd day in school. And I dutifully did that. Thank God that the girl was alright and that her parents were ok too.

The 2nd day went by alright. However, on the 3rd day, when I waved bye-bye to Justyn, he cried for more than an hour. My heart wrenched and I was so tempted to go back into the class and pacify him. However, the same scenerio was repeated throughout the class as all of Justyn's classmates were taking turns to cry, one after the other.

However, the most amazing thing happened! When all the parents eventually left the school premise, all the children stopped crying!!! So this crying-parting scene went on for about close to 2 weeks. And by his 9th day in school, Justyn waved bye-bye to me without crying!

All parents will go through this phase but stay true to what is best for the kid. Assure them of your love, waved bye-bye to them and promised them that you will be back to pick them up and slowly but surely, the child will understand the routine and be well settled in school.

Some thoughts from ARB Leader's Session

Dr. Bernard shared a very good word during our leader's meeting yesterday. Everything that God does is via a pattern based on a principle. Just as a human body is designed to renew itself, healing via nature's course, the same is true for an organisation, an organism aka church.

A church must be structured in a manner that it can renew itself from within. When an entity cannot renew itself from within, it will die. We move from one level to the next level in life's ladder through crisis. To a Christian, a crisis is not necessarily negative. We can be purified by crisis.

5 Elements of Renewal:

1. Personal Renewal

2. Relational Renewal

3. Purpose Renewal

4. Structural Renewal

5. Cultural Renewal

When these 5 elements are present, we know we are in a God-ordained revival!

Justyn: Creature of HABIT

Imagine this:

It is 3 a.m.

Justyn cries ...

Mummy wakes up and makes milk. Justyn drinks and went back to sleep ...

4.15 a.m. .... Justyn cries again! He wakes up, came down from the bed, walks to the TV, points to the TV ...

Mummy: Too late Justyn. Not now.

Justyn walks over to the fan, points to the fan.

Mummy: You want the fan to be switched on? Mummy switches on the fan (Btw, the aircon was already in full blast)

Justyn walks over to his book corner, takes out his books and wants to read them! It is like 4.30 a.m. now ...

First, he starts with Animal Counting Book. Then he reaches out to take his Thomas the Train Book. And finally he took out his "This Old Man" book.

After completing his nightly ritual of book reading, he is finally satisfied and fell asleep on the bed.

It is now close to 5 a.m.

Mummy yawns ... switches off the light and zzzz ....

Kindermuzik

After a 2 week break, I signed Justyn up for another term of Kindermuzik. Today was his first lesson. I think the 2 week break did not do him good cos he went back to his original routine of walking around during lesson time! Even the teacher also commented that he needs time to get used to the lesson routine again. Anyhow, the theme for this term is "Wiggles and Giggles" ... learning about your body parts, singing songs like "If you are happy and you know it, clap your hands", blowing bubbles etc. So I have to get Justyn back to his school routine again ...

Justyn and Jayvon

To break away from the usual Sunday routime, I decided to bring Justyn to visit Jayvon "kor-kor" at his house. It was sure funny to see the 2 interact. I think both are still new to the concept of sharing ... so it was quite comical to see the 2 trying to create their own territory of toys. But of cuz, the bottomline is that they all belong to Jayvon!!! I think deep down Justyn knew that the toys were not his to start with!

But Justyn did enjoy himself at the house. He had fun with the drum set, the "Pooh" airplane. All thanks to Jayvon!

I think this is a good start. I hope to see many more of such interactive playing that Justyn will have with other kids.

Justyn's 2nd Birthday Party

We celebrated Justyn's 2nd birthday at the nursery once again! How time flies. He is now officially 2. No more bassinet seats nor infant price for airfares. He is considered as a child and will qualify for child fare, with a seat to himself on the airplane should we decide to fly in the future!

The birthday party was filled with balloons with a "MICKEY MOUSE" theme. Birthday cake was from Bangawan Solo, "Mickey Mouse" All went well in the beginning. However towards the cake cutting ceremony, Justyn "manifested" with his cries! He was tired and hence cranky! So the birthday song was sung in a hurry and the cake was cut at the speed of light! No photographs were taken as he was bawling away ... kids will always be kids!!!

But the good news is that everyone that came for the party enjoyed the food. All thanks to Chong and his food planning expertise. The food was from Chin Chin. Simple yet yummy-li-cious!

Party packs comprising of either a Mickey/Minnie drawing board or a water bottle and tit bits were given to each child that came. And they all left with some balloons too. Next year, the party will be held in school ... bye bye to the nursery!

Maid Update #2

Our new Indonesian maid is geling well with Justyn. So that is good news ... but I am now thinking if I will want to have a miad when Justyn goes into pre-school next year. For all we know, we really can do without a maid! But that will be another 6 more months of consideration. So till then, we will wait and see.

Maid Update #1

Good news! My new Indonesian maid will arrive this Monday. May this maid be worth the wait and gel with Justyn.

Maid Update

I just received an sms from the maid agency that the resaon for the delay is that MOM's computer system was down the past few days! As such, my maid's application cannot go through. Coincidences of all coincidences! Let the update go through today ....

Pre-School for Justyn

Which pre-school should I send Justyn to? That time of decision has come for me! It is between Pat's Schoolhouse or Little Big. Pat's is good but the price is better! Little Big is convenient as it is near where we are staying and the price is affordable for us. Hmm ... which should I go for?

Anyhow, I have put Justyn on the waitlist at Pat's. We will only know if his placing at Pat's is confirmed in July. Nowadays, it is really different. I know what it means to waitlist for your flights ... but waitlisted for pre-school??? Wow! We are really living in very progressive age and time.

One Month Anniversary

Today marks my ONE month aniversary of being "maid-less"! Time really flies. What seemed like an impossible and daunting task initially turned out to be POSSIBLE! But I must say that it is really tiring physically.

A normal day routine without a maid will go somewhat like this:

Wake up-prepare Justyn's milk-washing and sterilizing of milk bottles-bathing Justyn-go to Suntec-go home-bathe Justyn-wash Justyn's clothes-wash milk bottles etc etc ... basically it is one task following the next ... tiring spelt with a CAPTIAL "T".

But I am truly thankful for my in-laws for standing in the gap to help look after Justyn. If not for my mother-in-law, Chong and I will be totally wiped out!

This search for a maid is something that is simple yet complicated. First choice was not suitable and hence was sent back to the agent. The 2nd arrived into Singapore but failed her medical test as she was found to be pregnant! The 3rd is still in the midst of processing ... waiting for MOM to approve her permit.

May I bring you good news of the arrival of Maid #3 soon!

Kindermusik

I have now officially joined the ranks of the Singapore "kiasu" parent syndrome! I have signed up Justyn for his first class---Kindermuzik at Tanglin Mall. I believe this will be the first of many more to come.

But I must say that the classes are very interesting as they teach the children rhythm and beat. Justyn had his first go at the drums and he loved it!!! If you want to read more about their program, you can log on to http://www.kindermusik.com.sg/

Snapshots of Justyn taken by Uncle David Yong

Justyn at 21 months

This is the latest update of Justyn. He is now 21 months and is weighing 12.2 kg! I have recently "upgraded" his diaper size from "L" to "XL". He has really grown. However, to date, he is still not able to call "Papa" or "Mama" or any other words for that matter. But we are so looking forward to that day that he utter his first word!

For those that missed out on my update on Facebook, check out the pictures below ... like father like son ... look at what he is reading these days.

Justyn at the Zoo

It was Justyn's first trip to the Singapore Zoological Gardens. It was a hot day but an enjoyable one for him and our whole family!

Like Father Like Son

Jakarta Trip

I have not been blogging for the longest time!!! So here are some updates.

We brought Justyn and my in laws to Jakarta for a short holiday in October. We decided to splurge on the hotel and hence the Grand Hyatt Jakarta. It was the best choice we have ever made. Here's why:

1. The hotel is located to 2 very huge shopping malls. We only need to walk from one mall to the next, escaping the horror of the Jakarta traffic jam.

2. On the first day, we tried to venture out by car to eat the famous bak mee and to get from the hotel to the place took us 30 mins when actually it will only take us half the time if not for the jam. It does not help when Justyn keeps crying in the car, perhaps due to the weather and also perhaps he is very bored as the car is crawling on the road.

3. So after the above incident, we decided to settle all our meals and our time in the 2 shopping malls, much to the delight of everyone!

4. In one of the shopping mall, there is a kids' land called Minniopolis. And there was this train ride "Mr Crick Express" that will go around the shopping mall. So we took Justyn to sit on the train and he loves it! The ride was not expensive so we took turns and sat a few rounds with Justyn.

Snapshots

This is Justyn when he is 16 months! He is so serious ... Justyn, smile for the camera!

The Power of a Burp

Justyn's usual last milk feed is about 10.30 p.m. before he sleeps. However, 2 nights ago, after finishing his last drop of milk, Justyn gave a loud burp and seconds later, "blah" ... out came his milk!!! I was first shocked but later I actually found it amazing and amusing at the same time! I never knew the power of a burp until now.

To Justyn, he was just amused by the incident and he even gave a cheeky smile and wipe the milk off his mouth. To us, we have to change his clothes, change his bedsheet and wipe the milk spill from the floor. And it was suppose to be sleeping time!

The power of a burp. There is always a first to everything and for me, this is definately a first! May it also be the last!

My First Day of Work