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.

30.5mths -- playing w/ word tiles

He loves to spell but still needs some help to compose words that are longer than three letters, he can make lots of three-letter words, but to spell longer words he needs help and hints, and he seems to pick out the correct letters but in the wrong sequence. eg he spells "mummy" as "mymmu" etc...

At Ai Leng's birthday party

busy with Japanese

This blog is not totally about Jasper but what have been happening around the house. Jasper will be starting Japanese kindergarten very soon, I am taking the chance to teach him the basic Japanese as much I can, he can count 1-20, the basic words, simple phrases "do you want XXX ?", "I want xxx?", some greetings. I havent really told many people that the place Jasper will be going to is a Japanese-speaking place, or else I have to deal with their comments, responses and criticism. I just want to let him have a go for the sake of brain development. I now play Japanese songs to him everyday. There aren't any other Montessori places available nearby that don't cost me an arm or a leg, and they usually have a very long waiting list. This is the next best thing to Montessori style of teaching.

We have learnt a lot about drilling or boring holes ever since we have moved to this place. Shelves need to be put up in the laundary to store buckets and things or else they will all lie around the floor or the kid will play with them. We have now upgraded our DIY cordless drill to a more powerful corded hammer drill, and bought drill bits of different sizes and make to accomodate metal, concrete and wood. Things were not as straight forward as they seem, sometimes when we drill a hole into a wall, there were some metal behind concrete, we had to switch drill bits after burning the first one. We managed to ruin and "burnt" a concrete drill bit because we didnt know there are metal behind the wall. There are wall plugs to match the holes drilled by the corresponding drill bit and then correct size screw to inside the wall plug, both the wall plug and screw are defined by length depends on how deep the hole is. To complicate matters, they sell both metric and imperial tools in Australia - i have to stick to one type. eg Metric 6mm, 7mm, 8mm drill bits, wall plugs and screws (length in mm). Or imperial which is done in a fraction of an inch. I still need to go to buy a proper hacksaw because the shelving materials we bought only come in 1M, 2M etc. All these I am not supposed to do I did them all. All these things are purchases from Bunnings hardware, I was like buying and returning like crazy as I got the wrong parts all the time. I love it, all these keep my brain cells busy. Then, we cut a few bamboo plants each week from the backyard. Bamboo trees look very nice but they are actually quite annoying... attract mozzies and they grow so uncontrollably that they are everywhere, we had to use our handsaw to remove them.

Jasper is very cute, he is aware of his surroundings and he is really switching to different channels when speaking with me or with Andrew. He was like asking Andrew "i want banana" downstairs in the kitchen area, and when andrew asked him to go ask mum, he came upstairs and said "yiu heung jiu".

As for post christmas shopping, I bought quite a few things on bargain, but nothing made me feel happier than getting a box of macademia nut chocolate for only $2.50 something like this would easily cost over $10 or $20. The box has "merry christmas" on it but upon my careful inspection it was just a slot-in box with merry christmas printed on it, when that box is removed it reveals another box with plastic shrink wrap in very good shape great as a normal gift. I couldn't resist the temptation and opened one of them, I tried one, Jasper tried one, I then tried another one, Jasper did the same, half a box was gone like that with chocolate dripping out of Jasper's mouth, some went onto his clothes (his mouth wasnt big enough to contain the drips when chewing the chocolate).... in fact Jasper was so desperate for the choc that he had to pronounce something that sounds similar to "want macademia nut chocolate" for me to give him one of those... it was really funny....

(new comments added): 1-2 hours after Jasper has had the macadamia nut chocolates, he was acting like a lunatic, non-stop shaking and turning his head while swinging his arms in all directions, dancing and jumping plus spinning around the whole house, and singing all nursery rhythms non-stop, also, laughing and giggling with mouth wide-open. He looked like someone who is from the nut house and worse. He had gone so hyperactive after eating chocolates. Bedtime was difficult tonight, he threw a big tantrum which later calmed by a cup of milk followed by 3 dummies. (one in the mouth, one in each hand!), now fast asleep as I type.

2.5 years (30 months !)

Its 7:45am, I was in the study room browsing the internet then I heard Jasper waking up, climbing off his bed and his little feet running and slapping on the floor as he walked into the parents bedroom. (we have wooden floor and it makes slapping sound when Jasper walks)

Jasper(standing next to Andrew): "want andrew put on glasses" and trying to climb onto Andrew and the double bed. "want andrew put on glasses!" - repeated a few times.

Andrew(still lying down half asleep): said "give me a hug", encouraging Jasper to climb onto him up the bed.

Jasper: "where is mum?"

Andrew: "mum is downstairs, go downstairs"
I then heard little feet slapping away on the floor, he got off the bed and ran out downstairs. A little while later I heard him saying

Jasper: "mum is upstairs!" while walking up the stairs. Suddenly he looked at me right into my eyes, he smiled at me through the security gate of the study room. He discovered me and said

Jasper: "how are you ?" "how are you?" "how are you?"...

Judia: "morning Jasper, is daddy brushing his teeth in the bathroom ?"

Jasper then went there, stood outside the bathroom and said to Andrew "I love you" and giggled away.

Andrew(finished brushing teeth): "lets change your nappy!" walking into Jasper's room

Jasper followed Andrew and then climbed onto the change table for the nappy change. Then Andrew came out and walked down the stairs while Jasper climb off the change table and followed him downstairs.

I am still browsing the internet! I can hear Jasper's non-stop singing his nursery rhythms downstairs.... he is taking different toys out of the toy boxes and playing with them on the floor.


I forgot to mention, it was only after Christmas that he was able to feed himself the whole tub of yoghurt with a spoon with very little spilling (or none). I just put the tub of yoghurt on the table while he attempts to peel open the seal, then I open the seal for him, he picks up the spoon and gets into action. He spoons the content from the plastic tub into his wide-open mouth. It's like a slow-motion movie when he does that (SO I TOOK A PICTURE OF HIM!), he is now able to control his movement more slowly instead of flicking or swating his spoon around like he used to. It wasn't like I trained him everyday, in fact I have been letting him feed himself with his own HANDS since 1-year (thats about 1.5 years ago) and then suddenly he decided he can use a spoon. I guess things come naturally when the child is old enough. My friend's daughter could spoon soup without spilling when she was 1.5 years. Mine can only get the idea at 2.5 years, well, never mind !


This is not the best picture but it means a lot to me, this is the moment he can start using a spoon properly like an adult. He does it so slowly trying to put the spoon into his mouth that it was like a pause in the video.

Closing the bedroom door

I took Jasper to the 2.5 years check up yesterday. He passed most of the tasks and failed quite a few. I didn't teach him to ride a bike, can take off his clothings only sometimes.

My normal routine to settle him was to ask him "what time is it ? its one o'clock, sleep time, climb up, lie down, close your eyes" and then walked away. Then, I heard him slam the door shut within a minute or two, I quietly sneak in after half an hour to find him asleep on the open bed, not the one with safety rail. Same thing has been happening for the last 2 days. I don't know why he wants to close the bedroom door.