3rd day of Day Care

Picture taken at the Auckland airport watching her grandparent left for Singapore

I found Karen playing outside with the other kids, for the fun of it, I didn’t “announced” my presence, I just sat by the bench in their play area and watch her for a minute. The silly child ran past me twice without realizing I was there! Haa.. Even the staffs found it funny. Yup they say, your kid is pretty absorbed when she’s playing.

By the 3^rd time running past me, she looked at me for a moment then ran to me for a hug. Then she held my hand n drag me to the door! She was impatient to go home! This kid certainly knows what she wants.

Today’s report had an additional attachment, a simple report saying that Karen had fell and hit her head in the centre, and they didn’t call me because other than a bump, she seems to be alright. However I should observe her closely and bring her to the doctor if she isn’t well tonight. More details were hand written by the staffs that had witnessed it and they told me how it happened. I wasn’t upset or surprised; As long as she’s fine, a few bumps or bruises are to be expected. In the report, one of the items was “Action taken by the stuffs:”, and one of them wrote, “Lots of cuddle”. That’s so cute.

Karen had a really good 3^rd day. She wasn’t totally without tears but there were short and few. They noticed it usually happens when she’s indoor and is bored with all the toys. If she’s outside, she’s ok. She loves the songs and dance, the water play and is good during meal times (that’s no news to us but the staffs seems to be fascinated by that particular behavior, I wonder if all the other kids gave them grief during meal time) She still doesn’t like to speak much and is very independent. But she conform to the routine well as witnessed today when she woke up early from her nap; she found the rest of the kids were still asleep, so she lay back down n wait for them to wake up.

Seeing Karen coming home with that bump on the head, a small bruised on the thumb, in a pair of soaked shoes, wearing sand filled clothing, and carrying a stubborn ink mark on her face that won’t come off. She looks like she had thoroughly experienced all that life can offer, in one single day, and came out just as strong and happy. I’m so proud of my little bubba.

Cross Post from Multiply "Karen's baby step"
http://joantohlau.multiply.com/

Our kid has Singaporean blood

Karen might be “manufactured and produced” in New Zealand but we’ve found out she has Singaporean blood.

Report from the 2^nd day of Day care

“Karen is always the first to get ready for meal time” – Kiasu, scare that the food will be all gone

“Karen is very loud when displeased” – Singaporean are usually very loud with our complaints. Lol…

“Karen had a 2^nd helping during lunch” – I can bring this kid to buffets in Singapore and she will make it worth the price.

“Karen keeps saying ‘Ai-Ya’!” – haa… Singapore slang! She must have learnt that from her grandparent and us. The reason why it was brought to our attention was because one of the staffs was a Singaporean 19 yrs ago. She recognized the word and was so amused by it.

According to the staffs, she showed her displeasure couple of times during the day but was otherwise pretty alright. She won’t let them remove her coat or wipe her running nose and so they left her alone else she “complains loudly” again. ;P

 

Enjoying her meal of pasta and broccoli

 

Cross Post from Multiply "Karen's baby step"
http://joantohlau.multiply.com/

More kiwi Slang

Dear SG,

Here's more slang I've learnt in the land of the long white clouds. Slangs that a mother should know...

Buggy/Pram - baby stroller
Bubba - baby
Creche - daycare center (took me a year to realise it means DayCare!)
Dummy - pacifier
Kindy - kindergarten
Lolly - sweet, candy
Nappy - diaper
Nana - grandmother
Ta - Thank you
Muftie - casual dressing

Isn't it interesting?

with love from NZ,
J

Karen cake eating video

Dear SG,

I've never seen someone enjoy a cake as much as she did. Had to post this. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x10n2b_6foQ

with love from NZ,
J

Karen's first day at Day Care

With my parent back home in Singapore, Karen had to go to a full time Day care center. We found one that gave us a really good vibe less than 10 mins drive away. We've been bringing her there every day for the past 2 weeks to get used to the place and people.

Here's the report from the teaching staffs today - her FIRST full day (and all by herself) at the center.

"Karen have a very loud voice....."

lol... ok, if you've guessed it, she screamed and cried the house down an hour after I've left. For the past 2 weeks, one of us would always accompanied her and it's only for an hour or two, not throughout the day. According to a staff, she sound more angry than frighten. That sounds a lot like little Karen whenever she doesn't get her way or she couldn't make us understand what she wants.

"Karen loves her food..."

That's no news to us. Karen has always been easy to feed. She's even good with spicy curry. Staffs say she loves meal time, she will happily sit and finish all the stuffs they put on her plate. She gets breakfast (i'll prepare that), morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea. So she's really good during meal time.

"Karen loves the sand pit...."

Oh, I could tell when I took off her jacket to bathe her. Tons of sand and BISCUITS fell from her jacket sleeves. I think she was saving them for later....

When I arrived at the center to pick her up at 5pm, she was sitting at the kitchen table (cute kiddie size tables and chair) by herself sucking on her pacifier, sulking! Ha.... I wasn't surprise nor upset because I kinda expect her to be exhausted by the new routine. I did let the staffs know that if she proves to be too much, give her the pacifier. It's not the most ideal but it does calm her down especially if she's sleepy. She is used to 2 naps instead of 1 and she isn't used to waking up that early in the morning.

All in all, we think it's been a successful day for everyone. ;D

Picture shows Karen finishing a piece of blackforest birthday cake all by herself.

Cross Post from Multiply "Karen's baby step"
http://joantohlau.multiply.com/