Well Done Dylan!

Previously, Dylan will cry when i drop him off at school, it it were anyone else other than Ms S who greet him at the gate.

But for the last 2 weeks, Dylan would happily wave bye bye to me no matter who it was at the gate.

I do not dare to blog about this at first, coz scared pantang..but since it has been 2 weeks…I think it is safe to conclude that he is really settled into school.

And yesterday, i was greeted with another good news when i picked him up from school.

He had been diaperless through his afternoon nap and no wee-wee in bed too! It was the first time that the teacher let him nap without diapers and we are happy that it was a successful one too.

Well done Dylan! Keep it up!

Dylan: Week 2 at school

I thought that Dylan would give the teachers a hard time at school after being absent for a week.

Fortunately, that did not happen. He was still teary when i dropped him off at school. But he calmed down soon after that. He was happy when I picked him up from school end of the day. Usually, he will still be clinging on to Ms Stella (his teacher) at the end of the day. He clings to Ms Stella all day. And though I had arrived, he would still hang on to her while I chat with his teacher. I take this as a good sign. If he is miserable at school, the first thing that he would do when i arrive is to cling to ME, not his teacher.

In fact, i have already started to get “naughty” reports of him from his teacher. It is about him starting to get bossy around the teachers – commanding them to do things for him or allowing him to do certain things. And if he doesn’t get what he wants, he would shout at the teachers.

On Friday, he achieved a new milestone. For the first time, he did not cling to Ms Stella all day. He joined his friends to play and joined his class activities.

I usually pick him up late ~ 6:30pm and most of the kids are gone by now. His teacher said that previously, he would start to cry when his friends go home. But on Friday, he waved and said “good bye” happily to his friends when they go home.

Let’s hope that things get better this coming week as the following week, he’s gonna ponteng school again….for holiday this time

Dylan at school – Day 3

He’s smarter already. He knew that I am going to leave him and goes off. So he clung to me and refused to let go. The teacher had to carry him away from me. He did whine but teacher updated me later that he settled down very fast.

Progress of the day

• Drank 6 Oz of milk 2 times *WOW*
• Still eats very well, eats everything the teacher gives him
• Starts to make friends.
• The teacher took short video recordings of him playing at school and sent it to my mailbox. Occasionally I can see a few of the bigger girls running over to him, hug, kisses his cheeks and then run off playing again. ***
• Teacher updated me that he seldom cry now..occasionally may whine when his fav teacher walks away. But no serious crying.
• Again, he seems happy when I picked him up from school. His teacher was carrying him, and he was contented to let his teacher carry him eventhough I had arrive. => a sure sign that he is very comfortable with his teacher.

*** Bryan came home complaining that so & so cannot sayang Dylan. Only him & Wei Xuan can sayang Dylan. Looks like the big bro is being very possessive of Dylan…LOL

However, he was super tired. Bryan has dancing class from 7-8pm and my dear friend helped to send him to class. So we picked Dylan up and proceeded to dinner. I ordered fish porridge for Dylan, and almost for the first time…he actually squealed with delight when the food is served. He clapped his hands and said “YAY!!!”

He was excited to see the food and was anxious to eat it. He finished a small bowl and some fried tofu.

Then we went home. It was about 7pm only and initially we were planning to make a stop at the bakery to pick up some breads. But he started crying and asking for nen-nen. He cried non-stop and was screaming at the top of his voice.

So we drove straight home. I took him straight to his room to give him his bath and prepare him for bed. But he refused to bath and instead run straight to his bed saying, “Suei chiau” (sleep).

My poor baby was so tired. (teacher updated us that he only slept 1 hour + in the afternoon, then he woke his gege up and start playing dee). Hubb “forcefully” gave him his bath…(so sticky from playing at school) while I take a super quick shower.

Then I bf him and he goes straight to bed at 7:30pm!

He has never gone to bed this early. I guess all those playing at school really wears him out.

So I guess, I will have to pick him up as early as possible, feed him and get him to bed early everyday…

Dylan at school – Day 2

We had expected that Dylan will give me trouble sending him to school on Tuesday. Hubb had to leave for work early has left before the kids wake up. So it is just me to settle both kids.

However, both of them woke up happily. Dylan did not want to drink any formula milk, but had some organic brown rice crackers & bread instead. We left the house after Bryan finished his milk.

In the car both kids were very happy to mess up my car. Their latest favourite game…tearing up tissue paper and throwing it everywhere. I have to hide the box of tissues now or else Dylan will ask and ask for tissue papers.

When we arrived, as usual, Bryan will carry his bag and walk into the school alone. I drop Dylan at the gate and ask him to go after gege…and he did. He walked in together with gege…I quickly cabut when he walks in. He did turn back to look at me and his face cringe when he saw that I was leaving. But Ms Stella quickly picked him up and distract him.

Updates by his teachers later on

• He only whined for a while but has quickly settled.
• 10:00am: Ate a slice of bread with butter & jam
• 12:00nn: Finished a bowl of porride
• 1:00pm: Finished 4 Oz of milk – spoon fed by Ms Stella
• 1:30pm: sleep
• 3:30pm:wake up..laze around in bed
• 4:00pm: Finished 6 Oz of milk => 4 Oz by the bottle, remaining 2 Oz mixed with cornflakes & spoon fed.

Progress of the day

• Eats everything the teachers offers him. I have told the teachers that he is a very difficult eater, so they offer him variety of snacks throughout the day. No signs of being a picky eater at school.
• He no longer sticks to his gege. Yesterday, he joined the 4 year old class because he cannot bear to be apart from Gege
• He starts to join his own class activities.
• At home, he finished a big bowl of porridge too…then snacks on dragon fruit & apple slices.

Was very cranky as we were going home in the car. Cried & cried & cried…before he fell asleep. I think he was too tired. My poor baby.

Dylan’s first day at school

• 9:10am: Reached playschool. Dylan was excited to finally be able to go into the school that ge-ge goes to everyday. Dylan played with the slide outside the school as soon as he arrives. However, as it was about to rain, we got him into the school building.

• 9:15am: Dylan proceeded to grab a chair & play with the toys on the table. Hubb & I leave the school as Dylan was not paying any attention to us at all.

• 10:45am: Received call from teacher to update us on Dylan’s progress. He did start to cry when he realized that we were missing, but he calmed down when he sees his gege. He has to sit next to his gege during breakfast break and he ate 3 Marie biscuits + 4 love letters. (which is a lot for him as he normally don’t eat so much food at one go)

• 12:40pm: Received another update call from teacher. Dylan finished his whole bowl of rice without any problems. He ate as much food as his ge-ge. He wants to be with his gege all the time, including in the toilet. LOL. When Bryan went to the toilet, the teacher asked him to wait outside the door…*Cry* Cannot be apart from the gege. Appears sleepy already by this time. So I told the teacher to give him his bath ASAP and let him go to rest.

All the kids will be given milk at 1:30pm but since Dylan ate so much rice at noon, it is ok if he doesn’t want his milk anymore.

• 1:50pm: Dylan is asleep already. He finished 2.5Oz of the 3 Oz milk that I prepared for him before going to sleep. The teachers spoon fed him the first 2 sips, but he finished the rest from the cup by himself. The other 0.5Oz, he spilled it. . Again, insists on sleeping next to his gege with his gege facing him.

• 4:30pm: Receives an update SMS from his teacher. Dylan woke up and finished 3Oz of milk via bottle. The teacher mixed the remaining 1 Oz with some cornflakes and spoonfed him.

So in all..he finished 6.5Oz of milk + healthy serving of rice + snacks at school => which is a lot more that what he normally eat at home.

Teacher warned me that he may still be full when we take him home later.

• 5:00pm: Arrive at school to pick him up. We saw him playing with his friends at the school compound. I thought he’ll cry when he saw us. His face cringe a bit, then he ran inside the school, instead of to us. (????)

Apparently, he had ran inside the school to get his gege, who was practicing his concert song inside the school.

Dylan seems happy to continue playing, and running around with his gege & friends, while I continued to chat with the teachers. He did not even ask me or hubb to carry him.
Seems like he was really ok at school.

I chatted for about 5-10 mins with the teachers, then took the boys back to my parent’s house for dinner.

6:30pm: I was preparing porridge dinner for the boys. Dylan climbed onto his feeding chair with a pen & paper. He starts to scribble on the paper, and I start to feed him. He finished his serving of porridge in no time. As he was eating so happily, I scooped some of Bryan’s porridge into his bowl and continued to feed him. He continued to eat & eat When he finished that too, I scooped more of Bryan’s porridge into his bowl, and fed him some more. He finished that too quickly, without any problems. I would have scooped more porridge for him, but hubb told me to stop. Dylan has already eaten double of what he normally eats, and hubb is afraid that he may overeat.

Both my parents are so happy to see Dylan eating so well at dinner and seem undisturbed by his 1st day experience at school. In fact, he seemed so happy.

When we asked him later, “you want to go to school again.” He said, “Yau, yau, yau…!”

Looks like he is really adapting well to school. And I think it is all thanks to Bryan.

Dylan: Getting ready for school

(Leaving in a jet plane tune)
“All his bags are packed,
He is ready to go,
He’ll be standing soon..outside the door,
I hate to see him go & say goodbye…”

Normally, hubb is the one that pack Bryan’s school bag at night as I will normally tuck the boys to bed.

But since today will be Dylan’s first day at school, i had started to pack his bag on Sunday afternoon – Making sure that he has everything he needs. I tagged all his belonging with his name sticker, and wrote his name on his towel.

He’ll be spending the full day there, so I also prepared the pillow & bolster that he had used at my mother’s place to take to the school. I think it will be much better for him to use familiar stuff than everything at the school.

We dropped him off this morning with Bryan. He was very excited to enter the school and eyes the playground equipment immediately. It was his first time at this school but we can tell that he likes it immediately.

All the kids come out to welcome us….They are usually very excited whenever there are visitors around.

As it was about to rain, the teachers ushered them back into the school. Dylan proceeds to the toys that they have placed on the table. He grabbed a chair and made himself comfortable, not even paying attention to us.

Bryan on the other hand, had gone upstairs to his 4 year old classroom.

Just as the teacher was about to start a new activity with them – flash card story time I think… husb and i leaves the school.

I think we were there for only 5 mins…

I’ll update later

Dylan – 19 months

When I looked at the photos that i have taken of him recently, he seemed so grown up to me. And growing up so beautifully too. His double eyelids are developing and are making his eyes look so much more bigger, and more beautiful.

Language
He is speaking in sentences now. And surprises us with new phrases & sentences almost daily.

• Yesterday, my sis came without her baby Matthew. Both Bryan and Dylan adores Matthew. When Dylan saw that Matthew did not come, he asked my sis, “Wei sen mo Matthew mei you lai?” (Why Matthew did not come?)
• If anyone hit him, he will complain “xx tah wo. Tong tong.” and points to the area that he was hit.
• He will also complain that “xx huai tan” (xx naughty)
• He can tell between Chinese, Indian or Malay. If he see a young Chinese lady, it will be chie-chie. If Indian or Malay, it will be “kakak.”
• He can also tell between auntie, chie-chie, keke, Ah po, uncle, mei mei, didi
• He can count 1 – 8
• Speaks mostly Mandarin with a few words & phrases in English

Motor skills

• We have started to take him for weekly Tumble Tots sessions and are amazed by how much he is able to do
• He can balance and walk across a 6″ wide wood plank without falling.
• Climb up and over ladders
• Climb up high and jump down onto the mattress
• He can and loves to tumble
• He can skip
• He is beginning to jump with both feet up. Not very high yet, but is getting there.
• He can stand and balance himself on husb’s palm. (yes, husb loves to balance him on his palm – single handed..gotta take a photo of this). He can stay in this way for minutes and enjoy every single moment of it.
• He enjoys playing with the Ikea bead toy. And would count 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8..as he moves the beads.

Social skills

• This boy loves people and is not shy.
• All my mom’s neighbors love him.
• My dad would take him for walks around outside the flat whenever he is free. And if he meet some neighbors that are returning home from grocery trips, they will dig out some treats for Dylan.
• Dad said that one neighbor would even reverse his car, wind down his window and chit chat/ offer treats to Dylan whenever he meet them.
• Yesterday, my parents took him to the supermarket. A stranger had just bought some jelly from a stall. Dylan happens to be nearby. She walks over and starts talking to Dylan and then offers him one of the cups of jelly that she has bought.
• This guy is really a “auntie-magnet”

Sexy sexy baby

Unfortunately, not everything is perfect for Dylan.

He would have been perfect if only he would EAT!

He is a very small eater. A nibble here and 2 nibbles there. He’ll ask for food, but will only take a little at a time. He doesn’t drink much formula milk. He prefers to direct nurse, but I have to be at work.

I am a little worried about his eating habit because he is not gaining much weight. But his PD said that he is healthy though on the small side.

Last week, i got so mad that he won’t eat that I threaten not to take him home. Both hubb and i agreed that he wasn’t eating much because he was waiting for me to come home and bf him.

So we lectured him and told him to eat, or he won’t get to come home.

He ate more, but still not a lot. My parents are pretty tired of him when it comes to feeding time. They have tried everything to get him to eat more..including sitting at the sink and play with tap water while they try to feed him.

How to improve his eating habit? Send him off to school.

Yes, that’s what I’ll be doing. I will be sending him off to playschool with Bryan starting next Monday.

Although Bryan did not really gave me a lot of eating problems when he was a toddler, his eating habits improved a lot once he started school.

Right now, Dylan tells me that he wants to go to school with Bryan. His principle thinks that Dylan will get along fine and won’t cry much, as he is already quite familiar with a few of the teachers there (thanks to the weekend TT sessions). Besides his ge-ge is there and Bryan promised me that he will take care of his didi.

Hopefully, he will settle down really soon.

Dear Dylan, I love you. I just want the best for you. I am sure you will enjoy playschool and will learn so much at school. So don’t cry too much and breaks mommy’s heart ok.

Baby’s grown up

He didn’t liked being in the waters last time, but now he have tons of fun with his brother in the water.

He gets splashed all over by his ger-ger…

But he knows when to pay back too

He was miserable when we took him to the beach last time, but now he loves it.

In fact, he was the first kid in the group to venture into the sea and got himself all wet.

He loves imitating his big brother. So whatever ger-ger do, di-di will also do.

My baby’s really growing up…fast…