Ashley in school

This is a long overdule post, but nevertheless, a necessary one.


I want to blog down Ashley's 1st experience with formal schooling, even if it is Pre-Nursery.


The first day wasn't too bad, as you can see here, she was all smiley and cooperative for school.  I could sense an underlying sense of worry in Ashley, over the excitement and anticipation of a new experience.  The 2nd day wasn't too bad, she showed a bit of reluctance when I told her she had to go school again.  But overall, she was still cooperative.  The next few days was quite emotional as she started to cry when we helped her put on her uniform.  She'd look at me with a plea in her eyes (all red from crying), sniffling, puffy-faced, and tell me "Mommy, I don't want to go to school.  I want to go to Ma-Ma place."  And in school, she will start doing koala- hugs, refusing to let me go.  Everytime, I'd repeat the same things to her, summarizing to her the half-day schedule, and reassuring her that half-a-day will go by very fast and I'd be there to fetch her after she's had her lunch.


All in all, Ashley took about 2 weeks to settle down in school.  She's fine to go to school now, and has started telling us the stuff she learns in school, friends that she play in school with.  She has even started to teach us the songs she learned in school and the accompanying action steps.


The final thing that set me at ease was the short note from Teacher Sue on her progress in school.  This note came in sometime during the 4th week Ashley started school.

Ashley's special day...

Both of us took leave on Ashley's birthday, to spend the day with our little gal.  Being able to spend days out with her - putting work aside, is the best pressie for her.  I can sense her happiness just by looking at her.

(all ready to go out...)

There were actually 2 places I had in mind to go - Fidgets or cycling in ECP.  I know these are the 2 activities that she enjoys most.  In the end, Fidgets won out as I wanted to see how she'd progressed since her last trip there about 6mths' ago.  She has a blasting fun time there, spent 2hrs climbing, skipping, rolling, sliding, crawling, etc...  And I was pleased that she did quite a few things that she didn't dare the last time - she went walking along the rope bridge, she climbed into the spaceship-like thing and waved to us, she even glided on the bar-thingy n swung from one end to the other, unaided.

I wondered and I concluded she knows it's a special day for her.  Even though she was obviously tired out after the session in Fidgets, she didn't want to nap.   So, I changed my plan and pushed the cake-cutting to the afternoon (anticipating she'll probably conk out early tonite).  Alas, the major blip of the day - the cake - looks nice if u ignore Barney-lookalike's flat head and the toppled panda - flopped the taste test big time!  Sponge cake was too hard.  It was supposed to be vanilla lemon, but I couldn't taste the lemony zing at all.  Yeah, I know... i should hv tried their cakes first before going for the expensive stuff huh...  But I thought, it had several good reviews from the forum... :-(  On hindsight, i wondered if those mommies were all friends???

But anyway, it didn't spoil Ashley's mood at all.... Y?  Because she doesn't really fancy cakes... yep, my daughter is strange that way... ;-)

We had dinner at Sushi Tei, ECP branch.  Ambience is real nice there, food was ok... I'd wanted to check out a special nice place for dinner, but since the leading lady here likes simple fare, we opted for Sushi Tei.

I got her this Swarovski crystal this year.  Alan bought her a toy, on my suggestion (based on what I'd read from Welch's blog).  I like the toy, it's fun and I had a great time building some of the stuff too.  Needless to say, Ashley can't build anything yet, but she too had fun fiddling with the parts and she likes the stuff I build too, like the flower, windmill...

It was an enjoyable day, and most of all, a remarkable day as 3 years ago, on this day, we were blessed with Ashley...

33 mths' milestones

Ashley is definitely developing into her own little person. What's my darling like?

Ashley is sweet. A couple of times, she quietly came up behind me and massage my shoulders and ask "Mommi, got pain pain?" ( i gather tt's bcos she's seen me asking Alan to massage my shoulders.)

Ashley is patient. Even the teachers at JG praised her for it. She waits patiently for her turns at doing craft activities, washing hands, playing at playground. And she sometimes even halts me when i tell her to go ahead. :-)

Ashley is cautious, but willing to try given lots of encouragement. I noticed this whenever she's faced with challenges that she's not confident of doing, such as climbing boards, obstacles activities. Initially, she needs me to guide her, but subsequently she grows confident enough to do it on her own. (P/S: I like that my Ashley isn't reckless to plunge headlong into new activities, but instead observes, n reacts with caution.)

Ashley is asserting her own independence. There are just so many incidents to cite - dressing/undressing herself, choosing which videos she want to watch, which clothes/shoes to wear, what activities she wants to do.

Ashley is obedient (to a certain extent :-P). Most times, she's cooperative enough and listens to me, especially when i raise my voice and let her know i m serious. This is clearly evident during mealtimes when i tell her she must eat all the different types of food i place on her plate, be it fish, meat, veggies, rice, noodles, etc... Alan and my mil both tell me Ashley doesn't eat wat they tell her to eat... hmmm... this leads me to the next characteristic.

Ashley is a smart little cookie. Like most kids, she knows how and to whom to play out her cards. She knows i don't accept nonsense with her and so, she doesn't really try out her luck with me. But when it's Alan or my mil or other pple, she can be rather naughty too.

Ashley is more sensible and independent. I still remember abt 4-5mths back when i started on my new job. There was a time when i had a conference call at 9pm, which is her bedtime. I told her daddi will sleep with her first while mommi work and when mommi's work is done, i'll go in n be with her. She made a real fuss and cried so badly until Alan got real upset too. In the end, i couldn't join in the teleconference call and had to pacify her. 5 mths later, now, when i tell her i need to work, she will nod her head and tell me "Mommi work work done come sleep with Ashley, ok?"

Hmmm... it sounds like my Ashley is an absolute angel all the time, doesn't it? Of course not, she's still very much a little child, with her tantrums, her playfulness, her cheekiness, her naivete. She still makes me angry at times, especially when she whines (and Alan told me i m really really fierce when i scold her). But that's the beauty of it, isn't it - raising a child, moulding a person's character. There will be good times and there will be bad times. I love it. I love my Ashley.

Family Day III

3rd stop: Fishing

Family Day II

2nd stop: Potting a plant

Family Day Part 1

Last Sunday, we went for a family day event (those who know me know that i m not usually into these events, but had no choice last week bcos the organiser was none other than Alan).

Anyway, we had really great fun there and i didn't regret going one bit.

We did alot of stuff that day and REALLY, since Ashley was born, that day was the longest time we were out (from 7.30am - 5pm)...

I observed alot of things about Ashley that day and I am really pleased with all of them. She's grown more gung-ho and open to new things like potting a plant, fishing, running on the grass, walking on muddy paths, walking along the goat farm (and keep telling me chou-chou while scrunging up her nose). I am so glad she enjoyed all these outdoor activities. I don't want her to be a "hothouse" flower.

Let the pics tell u the story instead.

1st stop: Bollywood Veggies Farm

31mths' milestones

Motor skills
Amazed I am at Ashley's motor skills. She's learnt how to fully handle a bike now. Previously, she could cycle forward and when she hit a blockage, she'll get down the bike, turn it around n cycle back. But now, she knows how to make U-turns and manoeuvre the bike to avoid stuff tt's in her path. Needless to say, i'll be buying a bike n soon, u'll c us in ECP biking around.

The other noteworthy accomplishment is she's learnt to skip, so she'll skip along us while we walk.

30mths' milestones

Way overdue, i know...

But still i want to document it down. At 30mths', i'm proud to say my Ashley is toilet-trained. Just weeks after being potty-trained, i got tired of washing the potty, so told Ashley that the potty is spoilt and can't use anymore. My little gal bought the story ( the beauty of being a child, so innocent... *wide grin* ) and allowed me to seat her on the toilet bowl, using the kiddy toilet seat i'd bought for her. The rest is history...

And the amazing thing is that there's been no accidents, in fact, she can hold her pee so well that i m afraid it'll hurt her bladder. For the past few weeks, all her overnite diaper have come up dry. And on a few occasions, she even woke me up in the middle of the nite to tell me she wana go shee-shee. Does that mean she's ready to go diaper-free at nite too? Call me coward, but I'm afraid to ruin my mattress. :-p I guess i'll rather waste a diaper every day (dun boo me ok, i know i m not being enviro-friendly).

Ok, enough talking abt toilets n the natural mechanisms of my darling...

Ashley is now able to replace words to those familiar songs she knows. And the weirdest thing is the words she spouts are not recognisable to us, neither english or chinese or even the dialects that my ils' speak. I like to think it's baby language (something so beautiful and untainted that adults can't grasp, and it's just for babies :-) )

On her motor skills, she's now able to walk (and jump... yep, u read rite) up and down the stairs unassisted. She's also able to wear and remove her clothes, including zippered clothes (except buttoning).

Oh, her memory is amazing. Nowadays, she floods Alan and myself with qns on where are her clothes, not a general qn, but specific ones, like "Where's mickey mouse shirt-shirt? Where's barney pant-pants? Where's fish-fish towel? Where's hello kitty panty?" If i didn't know better, i'd think she was deliberately trying to test our memories ( urgh... where's my gingko nuts?)
I've gotten smarter too, nowadays when i can't remember, i'll just say "u tell mommi"... and she' simply tell me where it is - washing machine, wash-wash, dry-dry and keep, in the cupboard, at ma-ma plc.

2 "Firsts"

Ashley had her 2 "firsts' last weekend - first visit to the library and first ride on the local bus and mrt (wif me).

Okie, the visit to library was way overdue. Since my last visit to the library to drop off the books in early apr, I haven't had the time to go the library to borrow some kiddy books for Ashley. Soooooo, last saturday, we trooped off to the library. Iould tell that Ashley was intrigued by it, I told her to keep her voice down n she really did. :-) I showed her the shelves of books n wanted to find her "favourite" caterpillar book. Alas! All copies were borrowed out, it seems... I found a book abt a spotted cat and Ashley happily took the book and walked out to the common tables and chairs. There, Alan and her sat down and read the book while I continued to browse for more books for Ashley.

Honestly, I m an amateur at selecting kiddy books, but it seems at least Ashley is interested in most of the books that I borrow for her (which makes me happy).

It's defnitely my wish to see Ashley develop an interest in reading (like mommy). There's so much hidden treasure in books.


On to the 2nd First, Ashley is kinda "suaku" in this aspect. Since she was born, we have always travelled by car (except for the 2 overseas trips to HK and Tokyo). As far as few months back, she had been telling us repeatedly that she wants to ride the bus and mrt. I have always agreed and promised to take her on the rides soon. Since it's imperative that we should honour promises made to our kids, i took last Sunday's opportunity to fulfill that promise. Alan had to go back office on Sunday afternoon. I thot that i will be able to hv a restful Sunday afternoon while Ashley had her nap as she usually takes a 3hr power nap after her morning class at JG. But but but, Ashley decided to wake up after just 1 hr, so wat's a mommy to do for the other 2hrs? I could of cos just laze around wif her, but then, changed my mind and decided to let her have some adventures, and told her we are going to take the bus and train to find daddy.

Even though she was clutching tightly to me all throughout the trip, I could tell she enjoyed it and loved watching people, absorbing the sights and sounds. And when i asked her if she wanted to do it again, she nodded her head excitedly and shouted "Yes". :-)

Potty-training update

Whoopee!

Ashley is potty-trained! Think Ashley was already ready for the potty, bcos there weren't any real training anyway. Other than a drama-filled inaugural episode whereby Ashley peed n poo-ed in her panty, there were NO accidents at all! This nervous mommy here had psyched herself up for days n weeks of "accidents" at home whereby she'll go crazy with the cleaning up. And she bought at least 30 panties for Ashley on "standby". :-p

Ashley just had to be coaxed and encouraged to do her 1st business on the potty. Guess it helps too as her cousin (who is 2mths' older than her) had been using the potty for some time now (even tho she had a much more difficult time learning to use the potty). Ashley has her role model. And the rest... as the cliche goes "is history"...

At this point in time, I am still not prepared to let her do business in the public toilets yet, so for now, my darling will still wear her diapers when gg out / sleeptime. Baby-steps, baby-steps...


Afterthoughts: My Ashley is growing up, how time flies. I love carrying her, lightly tapping her diapered bottom. Watching her toddle here n there in her rounded diapered bottom. Now, as i carry her, and know tt she's not wearing diapers anymore, i kinda miss her diapered bottom (am i making sense here anyway???) . And weighing 12.9kg now, she's not exactly lightweight to be carried anymore. Soon, i won't even hv this luxury...

29 mths' milestones

Missed this one bcos i was so tied up wif my new job...

I'm just gonna mention a couple :

Language skill
- Ashley surprised me by asking me "What you want?". It happened like this. I was in the bedroom and called out to her to drink water. Ashley was in the living room then. She ran to the bedroom and blurted out "What you want?". I was pleasantly surprised and told her "Mommy wants you to drink water." She then parroted my words "Drink water ah." I nodded my head n she ran off. I walked out to see what she was doing and true enough, she was drinking water... :-)

I am now trying to introduce Mandarin to her. Trying to speak to her in Mandarin. Funny tho, i realise i inadvertently switch back to English... haiz... must persevere, dun wan her to reject Mandarin.

Motor skill
There's a step-climbing board in JG playground. A few weeks back, Ashley was climbing steps on this board. She was doing it rather slowly and vv carefully. A mommi in JG's class was rather surprised and asked me how old Ashley was. Later I saw her dd playing on the same board, but was vv adept in climbing up and down the steps. Her dd shd be a few months younger than Ashley. When i saw this, i then realised y she asked me that qn earlier. Blame it on us, the parents. We seldom let Ashley climb up and down the stairs when she was younger. Partly afraid she'll fall, partly worried she's block the people behind and lastly because we seem to be always in a rush. Since then, i've decided no more. Gotta let Ashley learn. It's ok if she's slow... we will match her pace... :-)

Potty training

I am officially going to start "potty training". Just thinking abt it gives me shudders... Mil tried abt a mth back, but i think she gave up after a couple of days... hehe...
y give up? i think bcos there were a couple of accidents n Ashley got caught playing wif her pee... oops! :-p

Don't know how it will turn out... keeping my fingers crossed :-p

Wish me luck!

Watch out for updates...

End of Term 1 in JG

Ashley has completed her 1st term in JG. I am so proud of her. We had a mini party on the last lesson to celebrate their "graduation". The theme was occupation and we were supposed to dress our lil ones in such occupation we chose - such as doctor, nurse, chef, etc... In the end, no one did. :-P However, we did bring snacks along and everyone had a great time.

Motor skills

Undeniably, i m most amazed by the leaps n bounds Ashley makes in her development. Last Sunday during class, the craft activity was to make a neckace. Teacher Farah gave Ashley a gold string and cut pieces of straw ( yellow n red colour). After guiding Ashley to string the first two pieces, alternating the 2 colours, Ashley was able to string 4 more pieces of straw. She could even pick up the alternating colours to string. Fantastic! Even Teacher Farah praised her for capabilities!

28 mths' milestones

In my opinion, the MOST significant milestone is the Ashley is now able to pedal a tricycle, forward n backward! Have to credit this to mil, who's been faithfully encouraging Ashley to pedal the bike.

Another thing i want to note down is that Ashley is now able to lock the door. So, now, we really hv to be careful and to ensure we have spare keys around, just in case...

Oh yes! Ashley is also able to show me #1, 2 and 3 with her fingers.

JG updates

The most significant change that i have noticed in Ashley these last couple of months is that she's now singing/humming to alot of kiddy songs, especially when sitting in the car and we play the CD. Even at home, she'll sing these songs out of the blue n forbid us from joining in. LOLz...

She also been enjoying herself at JG classes, even tho she does put up a token protest n tell me she does not want to go school. Particularly likes going to the outdoor playground n ride the cars there.

And I've also discovered that the saying "walk the talk" works! JG classes has sand play and water play on different weeks. And with me showing her how fun it is to play wif sand and water, she does join in n had a great time playing wif sand and water.

Also, she's improved leaps n bounds in listening n obeying to instructions. Now, after she's had her snacks, she will clear her own cup and saucer and bring it to the teacher. Also, she knows how to turn on/off the tap, wash/rub her hands, dry her hands wif tissue/hand towel.

27th months' milestones

This is way overdue... ( i hv tons of excuses ready, but let's not waste time!):

- being able to walk up and down the steps unaided (this could be considered as way overdue for some toddlers who can do it by 2yo. we r the culprits for this! most of the time, we carry Ashley up/down the steps as we r either in a hurry or there are lots of pple n we r worried tt Ashley will get pushed).

- give instructions. "Mommi, go pick up the ee-ee" (while pointing to a piece of scrap paper on the floor).

Ashley's 1st day at JG

Big day today!

It’s Ashley’s 1st day at school (ok, ok, it’s only a once-a-week 2hr session comprising learning thru fun n play).

Needless to say, it's a MUST to capture all these on film (technically it should be memory stick. no?).

Ashley was all eager to go to school (think she doesn’t yet understand wat it really means). Anyway, tt’s good bcos I was afraid of any nasty (think wailing/fussing/running away/rolling on the floor/koala bear) scene whereby I’d need to forcefully (haha! Just kidding) pull her into class.

See her all smiley on the way to school...

In school, there was a little girl called Megan was doing just that (minus the running away/rolling on the floor). She was sticking to her mommi like a koala bear, n her face was all red n puffy from the crying. Had a brief chat wif her mommi n found out little Megan was 19mths’ old. Turns out my Ashley is one of the older and bigger babies in the class. Hah! At least I dun hv to worry she’ll b bullied in class! :-p

Ashley passed her 1st lesson with flying colours – no crying or koala bear, participated in all activities including playing toys, actions-accompanied singing, dancing, art-n-craft (ok, she wouldn’t touch the paint/glue, but she pasted the number pad on), story-telling, muppet-of-e-day, outdoor play (her favourite!) and snacks (except I didn’t let her eat the mini sausage).

Ashley impressed me by being confident enough to be alone while I need to go out of the classroom, twice – once to wash my hands of the paint, once to visit the washroom. Both times I told her vv clearly where I was going n tt I will be back later. Both times, she nodded her head n continued with her activities. And both times, I came back seeing her enjoying herself.

Teacher gave her tiny stickers n she was happily playing wif it (this was the 1st scene tt greeted me when i came back from washing my hands). See the kids n parents at the background, they were still busy wif the art-n-craft.

Enjoying her snacks of cornflakes, mini sausage, papaya (even tho she only ate the cornflakes).

Ashley having fun at the outdoor playground.

Ashley's 1st piece of craft. Ok, i helped her paint the purple glue on since she was adamant abt not getting her fingers dirty. She helped to paste the number pad on (even tho it's way crooked). Errmmm... can u all make out wat this craft is? It's a telephone ( Rring-Rringggg... ).

I had a scare just when lesson ended. Wat happened? I told Ashley to wait at a corner of the classroom for me while i went to the other corner to get her crafts from the drying rack. When i had gotten her crafts, i turned back and couldn't find Ashley at the corner where she was supposed to wait for me. It was rather chaotic then bcos alot of parents n kids were getting ready to leave the classroom. I looked 360 degrees but couldn't find her. Getting a bit frantic, i even walked to the door to peer out into the walkway to see if Ashley had wandered out. No sign of her. As i was getting desperate and wanted to ask a teacher to help me find her, i did a U-turn n saw my little darling just standing behind me. Guess she had followed me closely behind whererever i went. And being the little toddler, she wasn't in my line of vision at such close range, thus i couldn't see her until i did a U-turn n almost bumped into her. What a fright i had!

For Ashley's class, i noticed that both parents attended the lesson wif their child. Bcos it was the 1st session, the teachers gave special permission to allow both parents into the class (rule is 1 parent-1 child ratio). Hah! I told Alan to stay home n cook lunch for us, so there was piping hot fried rice waiting for Ashley n me when we got home. We were famished (at least i was! maybe shd suggest tt parents get a light snack too since the 2hr session is quite energy-sapping for us too! yeah rite! n then the sky-high fees will likely increase another $50???)

26mths' milestones

Motor/Physical/Coordination Skills
- Ashley can now open doors n cupboards. Yep, she’s grown tall enough and has enough strength to pull down the door handle. (I always remind her to be careful n do it slowly.)

Communication Skills
- The 2 “W”s have come up – Where and What. Ashley has started posing questions such as "Where is daddi going?", "Where mommi go?", "What is mommi doing?". And sometimes, she will answer her own qns such as "Daddi go market, buy things.", "Mommi go exercise.", "Mommi cut apple."

Character Development
- Ashley is building up her confidence and getting more assertive on her independence. And we do get STERN instructions from her whenever we 'try to help'. For example: she's now begun to wear her own pants. If i try to help her, she will tell me sternly "Mommi, go throw away diaper" or "Mommi, don't help" or "Mommi, Ashley do."

Weaning topic

Since i m on this topic of weaning, let u all just know how "lazy" a mommi i m. Now at 25mths, Ashley is still sucking her tu-tu (when she needs to nap/sleep), wearing her diapers 24/7, taking her naps in sarong, drinking cup from a straw (even tho she can drink straight from a cup slowly now), needs me to help feed her meals (i accept blame for this solely bcos i m paranoid abt her accidentally dropping the spoonfuls of rice/meat/veggies onto the highchair).

I hv no grand plans to wean her off any of the above yet. So, i concede tt i m a lazy mommi (or more aptly - a paranoid n clean-freak mommi ).