Taking off clothings

I can't hide my excitement today.... Jasper came home from kindergarten and he took off his shoes by himeself, put the shoes on the shoe rack... and then took off the shorts by himself. This is his first time to take off the shorts himself. My friends' daughters could take off own clothings AGES ago !!!

Didn't really like this blogspot migration, took me a while to gain access to sign back on.

Jasper had a high temperature around 12:15am at 39.5C, we took him to emergency and we spent the night there..... then we were sent home around 4:30pm with nothing.... he is ok now.

I have been too drained out, I take on the casual Monday positions for Jasper, so he is now at the kindie 4 days a week. ....

wearing a hat

The teacher put a hat on him every morning and he has no objection ....



He also waters the plants in the back yard and helps sweeping the leaves. He waters the plant one at a time and moves on to the next one saying "next one"... "next one"... "want more water" and hands the watering can to daddy.

As for sweeping leaves, he manages to sweep a few leaves into the scoop and tips the litter into the crate.

Valentines day

Valentines day (Wed) - this is one special magic day that Jasper didn't winge when I dropped him off to the kindie in the morning. When he came home last night, he took his shoes off my himself without being told to..... also he didn't object the teacher putting the hat on him.. I had been trying to get him to wear a hat for the last 1.5 and he didn't like it. He has suddenly grown up.

I took this picture moment after I dropped him off. The picture didnt show his face as his back was to the camera, he was the one in the blue bob-the-builder hat. He was already off to the painting activities. I haven't had any of his pictures with a hat on for a very long time.

The sun is very strong in Australia, there is a government policy in all childcare facilities "no hat no outdoor play".

pick up from kindie

picking up from kindie... he was playing his own things when i walked into teh classroom, i got my camera ready and said "jasper", he turned around and gave me that warm welcome...

andrew's birthday

I have completely forgotten about it.... he doesnt mind though. He is spending an afternoon at MIL's today (MIL has same birthday!) and I decided to stay in. I didnt feel fit for an hour's ride in the car and then not having a rest at other people's home. Jasper's lip is still swollen, he has had two other falls in these two days so we both decided to let him stay in too. He was standing on the edge of sofa and fell backwards, the other time he was running too fast and hurt his feet on some scattered toys on the floor. He is a little clumsy these days, I will wait till his lips heal before taking him to visit others.

He seems to like chess very much, he had been playing with the chess set for the morning and didnt want to let go.... he can name each chess piece correctly with their colour, and knows how a bishop and a pawn moves.

3rd day at the kindy

He appeared very clingy on the third day... i had to get a teacher to distract him while saying goodbye to his ear and then ran out very quickly before he switched attention onto me again. Then I peeked from over the other side of the fence and saw him walking around the yard looking for me while the teacher said to him "see, mummy is gone, she will come back... etc". His wingeing stopped the moment realised the fact of existence. ie mummy does not exist in the boundary of the kindergarten and there will be no point shouting/crying.

The swelling of his lips have gone down a little, it didnt bother me that much though I hope there won't be a scar on his lip. He is well aware of his wound and when he kisses me, he gently smacks his lips in the air while touching my cheek with his.







I dropped in after lunch time to check on him to make sure he is ok, and I also advised the teachers to remember to offer him plenty of water or milk to drink during the day.

I checked the daily report of the kindy and he seemed starting to join in the group activities rather than doing his own thing at a corner since the accident.

After learning a few friends who are still stuck with their 3.5+ years old at home without anywhere to go to, I got very paranoid and went around looking for another preschool to put Jasper's name on the waiting list, this pre-school in Lane Cove looks ok, it was recommended by one of my friends, so I put his name down today. Considered myself lucky that Jasper is now in a formal kindergarten at 2.5 years.



The educational system for pre-school children is very complex and unregulated in Australia. Kids in Australia have the following options:

2-6 Years --> can go to a private 3-year kindergarten(v.rare), then primary school

0-5 Years --> can go to a daycare centre(where they make sure fed and changed)

3 Years --> can go to a 2-year pre-school, followed by Year K of the primary school.

4 Years --> can go to a 1-year pre-school, followed by Primary school.
Pre-schools are not funded by government at all, kids can stay home till they are 6 and then start primary without any prior education.

I dont want to waste his brains by making him stay home till 6, so I decided to get him into a more stimulated environment early. I can still switch him to pre-school next year or the year after next if I want to, the decision will be mine alone.

Jasper is already on the waiting list of 4 different pre-schools, 1 daycare centre, 1 family daycare, and currently enrolled in a 3-year kindergarten. Then i went to the local primary school this afternoon again to ensure they will take Jasper on in either 2009 or 2010(my choice).

2nd day at kindy

2nd day at kindy - shocking accident
I left the house just past 8am and tried to drop him off a little earlier so I could do my other things. Just when I was writing down a few notes to the teachers on the notebook, I heard and witnessed Jasper's fall, he was running from the outside garden straight to the table edge of the classroom inside. His mouth landed on the table edge, one of the teachers saw it too. It took him exactly one second to react, screaming out through the whole kindy... the next moment I looked at him, he had blood and tears all over his face and wanted a hug from me, his face was smeared with those yucky stains. There were streams and streams of fresh blood gushing out from his face somewhere all over my shirt I couldn't figure out where at the time, lucky I wore BLACK today and it didnt show. The next second I was figuring out where exactly he hurt his face, it was his upper lip with 3-4 very deep red tooth marks/cuts where the blood came out. I think he was running way too fast to control himself and ran into the table, landed his mouth on the table edge. Something like this had never happened in the kindy cos they have never had any kids in this class running this fast. It took over one hour to calm him and whenever I wanted to go, he clinged on. I had a 10am appointment in Chatswood so I HAD to leave before that time. The bleeding finally stopped and the moment I left the kindy I saw jello-looking blood clot inside the badly swollen upper lip, there are some bruises on his chin too. His teeth and gum are intact (VERY LUCKY) though I haven't got a chance to take a closer look as he had been rejecting anyone to get near his mouth. I asked for an opinion from my orthodontist and he advised that I did nothing and the wound will resolve itself, doctors dont normally prescribe anything for the injury in the mouth area. He looked very dis-figured today. I struggled very hard deciding whether to bring him home for the day or let him stay. I decided that taking his mind off the accident by letting him stay on would be better for him. It is quite boring and difficult for me to cheer him up at him. Then it was extremely difficult and tricky for me to leave the kindy because he cried and wanted to cling on, so I got the teacher to get a few stickers to distract him while I shouted my "good bye jasper" to him. The moment the gate was closed I heard his wingeing and shouting "ah", "ahhhh" from a distance. I stayed for a short moment out of his sight until his crying stopped and I then left the place. I later on dropped by around lunch time to check his progress and the teachers said he got on well with all the activities and even joined in the story time, I then left quietly without him knowing it and decided to pick him up later in the afternoon. When I arrived around 5pm I saw him playing happily with his train set with other kids.... other than that ugly looking upper lip, the whole horrible accident seems oblivious to him. The teachers told me he didn't eat much during the day, but did drink milk out of a straw cup. During the bath tonight, i saw him pat/touch his swollen black upper lip gently so I said to him "no running indoors", he repeated the phrase a few times innocently (very cute) - whether he CAN control what to do in future is a different matter from KNOWING what not to do. He knows many things but fails to do them. Its 5:00 am now, and he is still asleep, I may as well take the opportunity to peel open his lip and have a look at his teeth before I go to sleep again.

1st day at kindy

first day at kindy (they charge me fees officially from today) - I took a few pics at the entrance of the kindy and then left the extra clothings in the locker before saying goodbye to him. I discovered he had bird's droppings on his hair and lucky I had wet wipes with me to clean him off before opening the gate. He appeared ok and excited the moment I left. I will not know how he is coping until I pick him up later this afternoon.

disco dance

we went to a wedding dinner tonight and we enjoyed the food very much. Despite our best effort to sit him on the dinner chair, it didnt last very long before he said "want daddy unbuckle".... we I decided to let him run loose as the wedding dinner took up the whole room and I thought it was quite safe for him to run around the room. He then didn't come to our table for more than what it felt like 10 mins so Andrew went looking for him, he came back saying couldnt find him. Then I tried walking around the room and there he was at the very front of the hall dancing right in front of the bride and groom, at the time there were less than 5 or 6 people on the dance floor and people are watching Jasper dancing to the disco music !! Now I wonder if I should find a dance class for him.

orientation - 3rd day at Konomi

orientation - 3rd day at Konomi

He can take his shoes off by himself but still needs the teacher's help to put them back on when going for outdoor play.

He snatched the big yellow ball from the other 4-yr-old kid and managed to outrun him.

2.5Yrs: 2nd day at Konomi

We spent the morning at the kindy, he loved this place and we did quite a lot of things in the morning - morning assembly, greeting songs, story time, music and dance, washing hands, morning tea, playing with train sets, puzzles, crayon drawings, playdough, beating the big drum... etc.

He didnt touch the milk cup during morning tea though, maybe not used to using an open cup for milk.

We will go there for orientation again for the afternoon tomorrow, hopefully there will be some outdoor play if the weather allows. Then he will officially start there next week WITHOUT his mummy.

First day at Konomi

First day at Konomi

very warm in sydney

it's so warm that jasper skipped this afternoon nap and waited till 9pm to sleep. I tried having a rest in bed but it is truely too warm, it has caught us unprepared as any fans or coolers we have are in storage.

Jasper can now draw a neat circle instead of looping around like a swirl.

20/1/07 - birthday party

20/1/7 - we went to a 2-yr-old birthday party for the three little boys.... food was great and the kids had a lot of fun. We tried to get those birthday kids to blow the candles in turn, a few other kids including Jasper blew the candle but a guy was ready to relight the candle straight away. It was a very warm afternoon, Jasper threw a tantrum signalling it was time to leave around mid-afternoon ie nap time for him.

19/1/7 last day at Sarah's

19/1/7 last day at Sarah's - yesterday was the last day for Jasper's care at Sarah's I went there early and we had an hour long chat before I left. I am really going to miss that place. Jasper loves that place very much especially the backyard, the other kids know Jasper too. My plan is to send him there for Mondays only after April (ie second school term) but it depends on the vacancy. Next week Jasper will have the orientation at K. Kindergartern... it will be exciting for me and Jasper it means he is growing up.... Like I mentioned in my earlier blogs that he self-fed the whole tub of yoghurt by himself - he was able to spoon rice and dinner into his mouth and eats dinner like an adult from his bowl/plate. For me that's something new as he has been using his hands on and off.

kirribilli

kirribilli - we had a little get together party at Joy's place today. She lives just around the corner from our Australia Prime Minister's (John Howards) house. We lined up the strollers in front of the PM's house for some pictures.



There is a little lookout where we stopped by for a few mins to enjoy the sydney harbour view. There is a man who walked his dog stopped by saying he jogs everyday and would say hello to our PM.



The kids had a crazy play session and enjoyed the day very much, except most refused to eat and just wanted to play.

play'g the flute, self feed whole yoghurt

He can play the flute now... he managed to seal his lips and blow air into it. The house has so much noise now as he is blowing air into the flute, party whistle, other toy whistles and the toy harmonica.

I have enjoyed the time going out with Jasper a lot more because he is acting more like a little human. I bought a little double pack of yoghurt from the supermarket and I handed the original packaging to him while being seated in the stroller just to keep his mind occupied. Before I realised it, he removed the cardboard packaging, cracked the two tubs into two single tubs, peeled open the top of the yoghurt tub and was licking the paper peel. I had to rush to the nearest coffee shop asked for a plastic spoon they can spare me, he then got off the pram and sat himself on the bench, spooning away the tub of yoghurt until there was nothing left in the tub. He wasn't buckled up at all but he sat down quite well, no running around. The next thing was even more impressive, he was holding the empty plastic tub and spoon asking where the bin was, I looked for the bin about 5 metres away and his eyes followed my gaze (seemed to figure out where i was looking), before I managed to say a word he was already off on the floor running towards the bin and threw the rubbish in then ran back to me. I got a wet tissue wipe and help him clean his lips and hands, he then ran to the bin again and dispose of the wet tissue and then ran back to me. The next thing.. he climbed up in the pram and buckled up himself, very little physical effort required from my side.