ALOHA!

After more than 3 months absence, I'm finally back! Above is me riding on a ... ... oh right... excavator. I have just arrived at Pasir Ris Park and was making my way to the beach when I spotted this poor little excavator abandoned under a tree. I just had to get on. Under usual circumstances when I'm with mama, she will talk me out of going up by explaining to me that I have to ask permission from the constuction worker before I can ride his truck, and if he is not there, I cannot go up the truck on my own.

But that day I was surrounded by allies (namely, wai4gong1, wai4po2, da4jiu4 and da4jiu4mu3), so mama didn't bother wasting her breath and even took a few cool shots of me! Don't I look like Bob The Builder?

One month of playgroup

Time flies. Lele has completed a month of playgroup. We are happie with his progress so far. Lele has learnt many things from the playgroup. Below are some of the more significant things.

1) Attention span is better
2) Renewed interest at holding writing materials to colour, write, paste and draw.
3) Can speak in complete, fluent and correct mandarin sentences.
4) Likes quiet play such as puzzles.
5) Can recite 2 tang poems and sing many mandarin songs.

Milestone

Since last week, Lele consistently managed to put on his own sandals, take off his own shorts. He can put on and remove own T-shirt and shorts too, but need assistance. I am especially happy about Lele being able to put on his own sandals! It was all thanks to peer pressure and encouragement of his playgroup teacher, Wang lao shi.
Initially, Lele gave up easily after only abit of trying, because the sandals were quite narrow at the base and fitting. His little toe often got stuck in the gap between base and strap, after he tried very hard to slip the fitting sandal onto his foot. It is frustrating for Lele, Wang lao shi said. I agreed but did not go along with her suggestion to get another pair of easy-wear sandals, because I felt it is a waste of money since he will outgrow shoes quickly. It is only a matter of time that Lele will learn to wear his "difficult" sandals, I thought. I kept my expectations low but kept encouraging him at home. I was pleasantly surprised when Wang lao shi told me Lele managed to put on his sandals all by himself at playgroup. Nowadays, he will put on his sandals by himself and stand up proudly to show me his neat work:)

Be careful who u leave your child with

Yesterday morning, just as we were about to leave home for his playgroup, I changed Lele into going-out clothes. Just as I was about to put on his pull-ups, he objected.
Lele: No need to put on diaper. Wear only pants.
Me: What will you do if you want to pee or poo in the classroom?"
Lele: Tell mama.
Me: Okay. But if mama is not around, then you have to tell Huang laoshi. You must say, 'Wo yao xiao bian' or 'wo yao da bian' to Huang lao shi. Okay?
Lele: Okay.

Along the way, I kept rehearsing the lines with Lele, worried that he might hold his pee/poo and dirty the carpeted classroom. See, Lele is totally diaperless now except during nap and sleep. Even in GUG he goes diaperless. So far he had been able to indicate whenever he wants to pee or poo. But I wasn't sure whether he will feel too shy to ask a person other than a family member to bring him to the washroom.

After lesson, I found out from Huang laoshi with great relief that Lele indeed told her that he wanted to pee, and allowed Huang Laoshi to lead him into the toilet! As a little reward, we bought a bottle of bubbles and went to play at a playground.

At the playground were a few other children, brought there by domestic helpers. One boy of about 3 was so interested in the bubbles and kept following us. Lele put the wand to his few mouth a few times but he shyed away. Suddenly, Lele used the wand and poked his eye! Luckily, the wand missed his eye and he wasn't reallie hurt. I kept apologising to his caregiver but she couldn't even be bothered to check on the boy. When the little accident occured, she was engaged in chitchat with another helper. This accident did not even interrupt their chat in anyway. They continued chatting like nothing happened. I feel sorry for children left in the care of such irresponsible caregivers. Thankfully nothing drastic happened this time...

Kids say the darndest thing

One morning, Lele dug out a storybook, "Rhythm of my day" from his bookshelf. This book had been one of his favourite book for some time but had not been touched for months. He was happy to rediscover the book and requested papa to read to him. I was in the kitchen then. Suddenly I heard papa laughed out loud. Then Lele came to me and showed me a section of the book. I laughed so hard tears came! He showed me a picture and said, "This one is 'peng kueh' (a pink kueh with glutinous rice and peanuts inside, which he absolutely loves and can finish one on his own)."

The picture was actually that of a child's sock. Once he pointed out, I could see the striking resemblance. But it was just so funnie to have him say that something in an English book resembles something so asian...

I think this anecdote really highlights a fact.

Kids are like blank papers. They have no preconceptions or stereotypes.

The little things

Lele likes to choose who to do specific things with him in the family, if given a choice.

(In order of preference)
Pee: Yeye/papa, shushu or me
Poo: Me
Wash poo (if he did "it" in the diaper): Yeye or me
Feeding: me
Bathing: Papa (esp if he bathes with him too), Yeye/me
Changing into dry clothes after bath: Me
Bed or nap: Me

1st week of playgroup

Lele started attending playgroup this Monday and today marks the successful completion of 1 week of classes without me: ) Unlike the conventional idea of playgroup, this is conducted wholly in mandarin for the entire 1 1/2hour session.

Many months ago, Lele and I dropped by the school just for a look. I wasn't looking for a playgroup then, but thought a mandarin would provide a good environment for Lele, who loves mandarin but had limited vocab because of lack of exposure. Happened to pass by so went in to inquire about their Mandarin playgroup out of curiosity. Lele loved the school and me too, for its bright and spacious environment with colourful hand-made wall decos. Classes have not started yet as it was a new programme, but I left my contact number in case enough students sign up.

Somewhere along the line, Daniel and I decided to...

1)Let Lele attend childcare from next year
2)Stop GUG after this term

In the time gap between end of GUG and start of childcare, we thought a playgroup would be good. We looked for a nearby playgroup but found alot of hidden costs in addition to school fees, such as uniform, school bag, material fees, high registration fees, insurance fees etc. Assuming Lele only attending playgroup till end of these year, all the extra money we fork out will not be worth it. Last week the Mandarin playgroup people called us and asked us to confirm our interest. With only $10 reg fees+school fees and no extra costs, I decided to give in a try.

So far, I can see a few positive results of this playgroup.
1) Lele has become a much more fluent and confident mandarin speaker. Whereas previously Lele mostly names things in mandarin, now he tries to form him own sentences of more than 8 words, all in mandarin without mix with English words. I can tell that after each session, Lele has more confidence in using mandarin. He will converse with me in mandarin on his own accord for a good 10 mins.

2)Lele's attention has also become better. This is very evident in GUG class. His ability to sit has become stronger. He will wait and listen much more than before. In the playgroup, the teacher empasise on training children's ability to focus by sitting still while teacher is explaining. Because of the small class size (3), she could reallie spend individual effort on each child to help them develop goood attention span. I think this has helped him in becoming more focused.

3)Because of some writing practice in class, Lele has also developed keen interest in writing. He now likes to pretend he is writing numbers with a marker, or request for me to hold his hand and write.

Teacher's comment about him so far:
1) Loves to speak out and repeat after the teacher.
2)Good pronunciation
3)Needs to develop good attention span but showed alot of improvement in this respect.