Who Are Your Classmates?

Teacher Yati took pictures for all of the Todd C kids and jot down their birthdates on the holder, now its easy to identify who's who!



Alot of similar names like Kyle, Kyrell, Kyra and Cara!! Even the teachers are having difficulties 'switching' their tongues :p

Kyrell's photo on his cubbies

Names

Besides knowing his classmates names and the teachers who took care of him, Kyrell is able to recognise some parents face too. Last Fri, he said "Andrew papa" when he saw Andrew's daddy entering the center when we were about to leave. Andrew's daddy acknowledged that he is indeed Andrew's daddy.

Kyrell is able to recognise older kids's name too. At 530pm everyday, all the kids from toddler class to N1, N2, K1 and K2 will gather in the music room while waiting for the parents to come pick up. This is where Kyrell will mingle and play with them and surprise surprise, he knew some of the names. Just like yesterday, I was packing his stuffs when one of the older boy was standing a short distance from us, Kyrell called out "Gabriel Gabriel"... I checked with the teacher and he got it right. The teacher said he is very good at remembering names. Btw she is Dzulfiqar's mum whom Kyrell always called out her son's name :p

There were 1-2 other names he has said before but I could not make out what he was saying heee...

回 家 途 中

On good days, he is willing to walk for awhile... Some days or rather, most days, I have to carry him all the way to my mum's place or our house! Worst, if we were not offered seats in the bus and train, that means carrying about 20kg (him+bags+barang barang) load for 1 hr or more, on heels :(

Walking towards the bus stop after picking him up from his school...


He is constantly talking from the moment I picked him up, yakking away on whatever he sees : car, helmet, flowers, cement mixer, bus, pick-up, car, motorbike, water fountain, green man, mummy run, take bus, alight etc...
Here he is excited about seeing the water fountain (for the XXth time!) and said "bird bird chirping"


In train station, playing with his toy car, in his pocket :)




Something interesting to share : you know the terrorist video clip which was played on the screen of the train station and train, with the guy carrying the bag then leaving it behind and alight the train? Once, we were watching it and I told Kyrell that the man is a bad guy, he watched with interest.. thereafter, everytime he saw the clip, he will say "bad guy, naughty" with the index finger waving. If it was not screened or paused, he will say "bad guy where?" haha... even the scene where the man was standing among the other passengers, Kyrell can recognise him and point him out!

Oh No~!

Something happened that really brightens up my morning!

While I unload Kyrell's stuffs into his cubbies, he was whisked away by his teacher, his classmate Cara (whom Kyrell dearly calls her Cara mei mei) walked over to me and said "Oh No~!" complete with expressions! That looked and sound very familar. It happened again when she will walked away, then peeped at me, slant her head and said "Oh No~!" She was sooooooooooooo adorable!

Teacher Ain came over and said "Do you know who she learnt Oh No from? It was Kyrell" No wonder keke... Kyrell likes to say "Oh dear" too but unfortunately his fav words now should be "Don't want" and "Mai" ^_^

Kayen

After Huifang's housewarming, we went to Tanglin Mall to shop. While at the entrance of the supermarket, Kyrell spotted someone in the stroller and said aloud "Kayen Kayen!" I knew he has a classmate by this name so I asked him if that was Kayen, he said yes and repeatedly call out his name.

So I walked forward and took a peek at the stroller, sure enough I saw a familar face (I took pride to know and remembers most if not all of his classmates' name/face hee) but just to be sure, I asked the mum if her boy is called Kayen. She looked surprised and said yes (BINGO!) so I explained that my son is Kayen's classmate and that he recognises Kayen. Kayen was holding a banana then and looked up at me, hubby walked over carrying Kyrell, Kayen's eyes lit up and I think he recognised Kyrell too :)

After they said hello, we left.. but the feelings of Kyrell recognising his classmate outside his school lingers, it was indescribable, both hubby and I were amazed how much Kyrell remembers and we are proud of him!

In the supermaket, pumpkins everywhere!




At the food court..






When at the foodcourt, Kyrell recognises and call out "Merlion" on the poster and he has only seen it - once in real life in Aug and 2 to 3 times on posters! Good job baby :)

Housewarming

Dec bride-to-be Huifang invited us to her new house today, it was an old 3 room flat, small but well done up, I especially liked that the wall to her common toilet/kitchen was hacked down, very convenient! I think the kids liked it too cos they were running round and round :) I brought along a bag of cars/train/plane for Kyrell and he did not want to share with Celeste or Zenith. Kept saying "mai!". And when he did-reluctantly, he gave Zenith the plane while he took away his racing car, pick up and another car! He is becoming protective of his and my stuffs now... haiz.. At the end of the session, he knew who Huifang, Zenith and Eski (fang's dog) are and can call their names :)

Here's Kyrell with Huifang's Wall-E

And her headphone :p

The kids...

With Huifang, Serena + Zenith (8 mths older then Kyrell), Cindy + Celeste (Serena's #1 @ 4 yo), Me + Kyrell

Cindy bid farewell and Kyrell thought I am leaving too, thus the "mummy!"


These were contributions from Serena's cam, clear right!
Kyrell and new friend, Zenith


With dad dad... while mummy have her lunch




Playing with Huifang's wardrobe door!

Some drawing time with Kyrell after dinner

Here's my contribution...


Tried making him sing the ABC song but failed..listen to how he sing the LMNOP :p

A-B-C Song

Kyrell surprised me when he sing along the A-B-C song with me this evening, all the way to "now I know my ABC, next time won't you sing with me"!

I did not even know that he knew.. perhaps he has learnt it from school. It was really cute, there are some alphabets which he murmurs throught esp the LMNPO.

He sang it to my mum and sis when we reached my parents' place, I tried recording it but each time I missed it, will try to record and post it here-soon :)

No Cry

Both yesterday and today, Kyrell did not cry when I dropped him in his school. It was a pleasant 'departure' for me. He even enters the centre happily, teacher Christine who took his temperature commented that too, said he was in good and happy mood...

Yesterday - when I reached his class, he clinged onto me but then I distracted him by saying there is a zebra toy over at the table where the other kids were sitting. He got curious and looked over, then walked over together with teacher Yati to get the zebra. Then he walked passed me, says "bye bye" sweetly to me and went to the toilet to wash his hands. Quickly, I unload his things and leave. No crying heard :)

Today - his class (Todd C) were joined with the other class when we reached and Cara was standing nearby, tell you, she is such a cutie 18 months old! She is almost a head shorter then Kyrell so she looks even cuter. Kyrell recognised her and said "Cara meimei" then Cara walked over to us, I told Kyrell to hold her hand, she smiled at us, then Kyrell hold her hands and they walked further into the class. Seizing the opportunity, I walked over to his class to unload his stuffs. From where I was, I could see that Kyrell was walking around the room, no crying but after awhile, he started looking abit lost and seems to be searching for me. The teachers saw that I am still around, lured him into the room so that I can 'escaped'. So, another day with no teary toddler.

Thinking back, these were the period that he scored well (no crying) too : 21-28 Aug and 28-30 Sep.

Baby Tired

Now, whenever Kyrell gets tired, he will let me know... Just like this evening, he was dozing off when sitting on my lap as we took a cab home, when alight, he was awake.. but by the time we were outside my house door, he rubbed his eyes and told me "baby tired" and indeed he fell asleep after I gave him his hankie. When he saw other people rubbed their eyes or face, he will say "xxx tired" too :)

Thomas & Friends Carry Case

I could not resist... went Toy'R'Us during lunch and bought this carry case for Kyrell. He can put his cars in it now heee....

Phone Call From School

Every time my phone rings and it reflects ID caller as Kyrell's school, I will get apprehensive, it could only mean that Kyrell had an accident/is sick or it is a complaint call from his teacher.

Today his form teacher (Teacher Yati) called me at 550pm, she said it was only to update me about Kyrell's progress in class... PHEW! Well, it was not good news either, here's what she told me :

1) Kyrell has been pushing kids in school, particularly those small sized then him! It is usually the afternoon that he did that because the kids in the morning (half day class) are generally bigger sized or same size as him so he do not push. When caught pushing, he will pretend to look away or act innocent. Teacher will resort to telling him that he has to love his friends and not bully.

The teacher explained that why kids do that in childcare (which is quite common) is because that they have gotten confident and comfortable with the surrounding, they probably felt that the place is their territory...

My hubby think otherwise, he felt that Kyrell is throwing tantrums (revenge) because we dumped him there. He is doing that to seek attention. Do you think so?

2) Kyrell is a strong-willed (aka stubborn) boy. He will insist on doing something despite being told not to. When stopped, he will whine... teacher told me that she will usually ignore him (meaning not give in to him)

3) Have lunch at 11am then milk before he nap which is around 12pm+ to 1pm. Then snacks after he wakes up. Milk again at around 5pm.

4) Still whines abit during shower time. But getting better. Previously he will cry and try to 'escape' from the shower area!

5) He does like to play with water but not to the extend of wetting his clothes as told by other teacher

I further emphasized that I do not want or hope to minimise Kyrell's intake of having fried stuffs (ie nuggets, fries) or tidbits (ie crackers, chips, sweets). Teacher Yati assured that nuggets are usually given 1-2 times per month and each time, they limit 3 pcs per kid. And no, they do not give out sweets and chips are only during special occassion which I assume is when they some parties/celebrations. Well, at least it clears some doubts and let me learn more about my little boy in school.

Nevertheless, he got a 'scolding' from us at night about his misbehaviour. I hope he will out-grow this bullying soon because he was never like that, in fact, he was always pushed :(

I Love To Eat!

Yes yes... the teachers told me on 8 Oct and 9 Oct that Kyrell had eaten alot during the snacks time (typically around late afternoon)

8 Oct - He had 4 slices of peanut butter bread continuously! *faint*
He had never had peanut butter before so this is his 1st and I am glad that he is not allergic to it. I was abit taken aback when I found out that he had peanut butter.

9 Oct - He had 4 slices of pizza and wanted more but the teachers stopped him because they were worried that he might have indigestion :p
Thereafter, he had his milk at 5pm *duh*

My little glutton is back on track keke...

Kyrell has been drinking only 1 milk feed in school, usually after he wakes up from his nap but on 8 Oct, his form teacher told me that he had asked for milk after seeing some kids had it around 5pm. So she requested me to add in another milk feed for him... so now, he is drinking 4 milk feed in a day.... 快 吃 穷 爸 妈 了！

New picnic mat which I have just gotten from motherhood forum

Another great drawing from my sis!

Celebration In School

Kyrell's school is holding a party this morning to celebrate the Hari Raya Puasa and Deepavali. There will be foods and competition on Best Dressed therefore the kids are encouraged to put on ethnic clothes. What fun!

Over the weekends, I wanted to source for a baju melayu for Kyrell but due to prior engagements, we did not manage to make a trip to buy. A pity because I wanted him to have fun dressing up (or rather, I am the one having the fun hee). So I rummaged through Kyrell's clothes last night and found a shirt which does resembles one!
Even the teachers thought it was a baju melayu :p

Before leaving the school, I took a peek at the music room where the party is held, I saw most of the foreign students clad in costumes!! The clothes were so pretty and the kids looked adorable! I wanted to take some photos but Kyrell spotted me so I gotta zoom off~





Party Time!

Reading : Your 22-month-old toddler (week 93)

By Shelley Feldman, edHelperBaby

Your 22-Month-Old Perfectionist
Does it seem that everything has become a ritual with your toddler lately? Does he need to use the same cup, sit in the same seat, read the same book, and walk the same route, day-in and day-out? Does he put his heart and soul into everything he tries to do (for the two seconds he is able to remain focused!), then shriek in delight when he is successful or dramatically roll around on the floor in frustration when things don't go according to plan?

Guess what? It's absolutely normal, and something you're bound to see more and more of as your toddler approaches birthday number two. This month your toddler has specific ideas about what he wants to do and how he wants to do it, and there is no such thing as a "change for the better," at least in his eyes. Toddlers around the 22nd month need to surround themselves with predictable things and people, and sometimes even the slightest deviation from the norm can wreak havoc on your little one's mind.

Ritualistic behavior like you are now witnessing, is your toddler's way of maintaining control while asserting his new found independence in a safe and worry-free manner. When your little one is faced with some type of change in his routine, he feels vulnerable, anxious and frustrated, so having control of even the smallest areas of his life right now means more than you'll ever know. Being denied the fulfillment experienced through rituals can do a number on your little one's self-esteem, so remember that what you may see as monotonous, your toddler sees as peace-of-mind, and who's to argue with a content toddler? Certainly not me.

Many children going through this stage become increasingly particular regarding eating, and how food is presented as well. Specifically, don't be surprised if your toddler suddenly refuses food that is touching something else on his plate, or won't eat anything that appears "broken" like a cracker you have split in two. This is the month when your toddler's expectations are sky-high, and he demands perfection in every aspect of his life. Broken cookies just won't cut it anymore, and either will macaroni that could have possibly encountered a lone pea along the way.

In order to help your toddler get through this "phase" of his development, try to go with the flow and let anyone involved with your toddler on a regular basis know about his new little "quirks." Do your best to respect your little one's hesitancy to embrace change, and whenever possible wait a little while longer before introducing something that may ruffle his feathers too much. Like every other stage you have already passed through, and like every other phase you will encounter, time, understanding and an enormous amount of patience are the keys to survival. And believe it or not, one year from now, the flexible toddler that you thought would never appear will be waiting right around the corner.



Tempers And Tantrums
It's certainly not easy to be 22 months old. Staring at everyone's knees all day, being told "NO!" time and time again, constantly being taken down from tables after finally reaching the summit, being fed vegetables, and having hands, feet and a mouth that won't cooperate...it's no wonder that melt-downs are par for the course this month. Tantrums are most likely to occur when frustration gets mixed with a little fear and a lot of anxiety, and once it's begun there's no stopping it, so hold on because you and your toddler are in for the ride of your lives.

Emotions are so powerful at this age, and your little one has very little control over them. To top it off, these feelings are still so new that sometimes they can be down right frightening. Over time your toddler will learn how to cope more appropriately, especially once she has had time to grow her tough outer skin, but for now, it's not so simple.

This month your toddler's mind continues to charge ahead while her "skills" sluggishly catch up. Just imagine how frustrating it would be for you if you knew what you wanted to do and how to do it, but couldn't co-ordinate your actions with your mind time and time again.

Tantrums may be part of your toddler's daily ritual, or for the fortunate few they may be few and far between. Sometimes a tantrum can come on slowly, and sometimes it can strike in the blink of an eye. All toddlers will vary regarding their "tantrum style," but once a style is chosen, you can expect them to follow it time and time again. Some children go for the "flop around on the floor" option, some whirl around in circles to the point of toppling over, some throw anything in their path, some hold their breath, and some get their point across by just screaming their lungs out. All are lovely options, and none are easy to cope with from any which way you look at it.

Don't take it personally if your toddler chooses to share her tantrums with only you, or a few fortunate others. Oddly enough, your little one will most likely choose trust-worthy individuals in her life to witness her outbursts, saving her best work for when you least expect it. You have worked so hard to provide your toddler with a sense of security, and now that she knows she can always count on you to stand by her side, you have been hand-selected to have a front row seat during her not-so pleasant moments as well.

Despite trying all the tricks in the book to avoid a tantrum, it's important that all obstacles are not eliminated from your toddler's life. An essential part of growing and learning is when she tries new things and figures them out, even if she does become frustrated along the way. So pick and choose when you rescue your toddler from herself these days, because solving problems on her own is a wonderful way to boost her ego and give her the confidence she'll need to face challenges in the future.

Continue to offer your toddler guidance from across the room, and continuously praise her for any effort or progress she makes. Provide your little one with the words to express how she is feeling, and when she appears ready to give up, encourage her to keep trying, but don't force the issue. Try and allow your toddler to be in charge of deciding when she's had enough, because finding a happy medium between too much protection and too much space is the essence of your job this month.

If it makes you feel any better, all of this "emotional turbulence" will settle down eventually. Your toddler will learn how to manage her feelings more effectively, be confronted with less frustration throughout the day, understand that the world is not such a frightening place, and in general, need a little less reassurance from you. Your little one will eventually learn to talk about her feelings, fears and frustrations, and put actual words in their correct places, instead of showing you what they feel like by throwing herself on the floor. As for the time being, tune into your little one's needs by watching and listening to her closely, because right now you still have to "know" without truly being "told."



Activity - Puzzle Time
Puzzles that are slightly challenging are ideal activities for your toddler this month. Not only are they perfect for his developmental stage, but they also provide instant gratification, and are a sure fired way to boost his growing ego.

This month, let your toddler try puzzles with smaller knobs that are just big enough to lift with a thumb and pointer finger. Because of their smaller size, these puzzles are a great way to strengthen your toddler's hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.

Be careful to match the puzzle's level of difficulty with your toddler's frustration tolerance, and don't underestimate your little one's capabilities. You may be surprised at how well she does with this activity.

Andrew and Devin's Opinion
A few months back, my 22-month-old twin boys, Andrew and Devin, were successful with very simple, large knob puzzles made up of no more than three pieces. Because of their previous success, for this activity I decided to break-out the more difficult, multi-piece wooden puzzles that have the small little knobs just the right size for tiny little curious fingers. I have found that these puzzles are a great "next step" as they are slightly more advanced, however still have the picture of the correct puzzle pieces underneath, making the matching process easier and increasing the chances of success.

After selecting appropriate puzzles for each of my boys, I then placed one in front of each of them and hoped for the best. As any parent of a 22-month-old toddler knows, patience is not a toddler's strong suit right now, and in fact, at least in my household it is non-existent. For this reason I was well prepared for puzzle pieces to be flying across my living room (Devin's favorite way to express himself), and a lot of flailing around on the floor (Andrew's Modus Operandi) when pieces didn't fit perfectly together, and square pegs didn't fit in round holes.

New toys that have previously been off-limits due to the "everything goes right in the mouth phase" are always a hit with Andrew and Devin, particularly when they have watched their big brother playing with them in the past. So finally being allowed access to these recently "forbidden goods" brought a twinkle to my boys' eyes, and grins across their faces, but I was certain it would not last.

Fortunately this time I was wrong, and both of my boys were thrilled trying out the new puzzles from start to (almost) finish. They both looked to me for help on more than one occasion, but with a little hand-over-hand assistance they were able to complete each of their puzzles to the best of their abilities.

Although Andrew and Devin did have some difficulty getting all of the pieces to fit, I am proud to say that no injuries were reported, and no tantrums took place that afternoon. Devin did begin to bang puzzle pieces together towards the end of our activity, a warning to all, and we instantly knew his patience was rapidly coming to an end. In order to head-off the inevitable flying puzzle pieces, Andrew quickly looked to me and said, "Puzzles all done," as he quickly stood up, placed his puzzle back on the shelf, and proceeded to run for cover. Needless to say, he has learned from past experience and was not about to stay in the line of fire...Andrew's memory had once again served him well.

Have you begun to wonder...
How do I best handle my 22-month-old toddler's tantrums?
When your sweet little angel is in the midst of a full blown tantrum, keep in mind that she is even more overwhelmed than you are by what is occurring. She is also completely terrified by her loss of control and the onslaught of emotions that she can't stop despite her most valiant efforts.

Do your best to ensure that your toddler, as well as any innocent by-standers, do not get injured during one of her tantrums, and don't try to argue or reason with her because she won't be able to focus on what you're saying. Also, don't raise your voice to match your toddler's increasing volume, because although her anger may be contagious, your own agitation may provide fuel for her fire, prolonging the outburst in the long run.

Most importantly, don't allow tantrums to relax your role as a parent, and be sure to follow through with consequences no matter where the tantrum takes place or who may be in your presence. Once your toddler realizes that her tantrums affect the way you behave in certain situations, she will learn to use them to her advantage, and possibly have tantrums intentionally to get her way.

No matter how you slice it, tantrums go hand-in-hand with growing up and often there is no way around them. How you handle these outbursts now are laying the groundwork for the future, so be careful how you react. Sometimes the best thing to do is the simplest...sit down, take a deep breath and count to ten.

Kyrell Turns 22 Months Old

Zoo Trip

We went to the zoo today with hubby's family. It is a celebration for Lucas's birthday - he turned 4 yo on 9 Oct.

We were supposed to meet at the zoo's KFC at 10am for breakfast but Kyrell was down with fever in the morning. Measuring 37.8 to 38.4 degree on a few readings. We gave him panadol syrup on the spoon and surprisingly, he is willing to take it and still asked for more "medicine"! Haha..

While on the way there, I took his temperature again, he was no longer feverish and is perspiring - good - one thing we learnt is that Kyrell is healthy when he perspires! We arrived at the zoo at around 11am and had a quick KFC meal before we set in. Kyrell was happy to go to the zoo and see his jie jie and kor kor :)

This trip was eventful because hubby was asked to 'perform' in front of all the people during the 130pm Animal Show :O
Reluctantly, he was asked to take off his shirt and danced a little tribal dance keke... I have taken some photos and video but sadly, the video clip was gone when I checked at night. It may have been deleted accidently, to think I still want to use that to blackmail him in future!! :(



















Kim and family went in the afternoon too and we met up at the Kidzworld. Kyrell was napping then and Malcolm went to play in the water-play. Later, the boys went playing (and pushing haiz) at the playground and we walked abit more at the zoo, then we had dinner at Sembawang. The daddies brought the boys to walk around while the mummies dine. Hubby came back telling me that the boys saw stars in the sky and started singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" but it was not complete and towards the end, it was alot of blahing keke...

See, the boys pushing around even when in stroller *roll eyes*








Back home..


Primate watching before the animal show


Turtle mating - caught on video!

Baby Kayla Turns 1 Month Old!

Germaine's little princess turned 1 month old today, congrats! Little mei mei Kayla(Germaine's #3) is a cutie and looks just like her eldest bro Matthew when he was a newborn. I bet she's going to be a charmer in future :)

Stealing a pix with Stephanie's girl while she dines (oops I forgot bb's name!)


Sorry for the blurry pix, turned off the flash lights because of bb


With Germaine


Now with Germaine's mum


Kyrell was so thrilled to see the big sized cars that the kor kor has, he just can't sit still for his dinner, just wanted to play! He was busy hopping on from one to another *faint* and he had a great time playing with Germaine's mum :)
I also had some wine to go with the dinner, which consists of Spizza - YUMMY!
Hubby could not resist, though he was driving, and so have a small cup, we both missed the wine-ing days keke..

Lizard

While bathing Kyrell tonight, there was a lizard that appears on the stool where I placed the shampoos, right behind me. Kyrell said "lizard lizard" and pointed at the direction behind me, I quickly turned to see something that looks like it (ok I was not wearing my spec and so can't see clearly), to my horror, I jumped up and 'hide' behind Kyrell *duh*

Kyrell was quite excited initially but then sensing my fear, he got frightened as well. So much for teaching him to be brave riiiiiight. Anyway he started turning to me, asking me to carry him but his hair was still covered with shampoo so I did not carry him up.

Both of us kept a distance while I washed off his shampoo (me still hiding behind him), all the time eyes transfixed on the lizard! Luckily it did not seem to move much. PHEW.

Here's the conversation that went on~
Mummy : mummy scared of lizard, are you scared of lizard?
Kyrell : ...
Mummy : are you scared? 怕 怕 吗?
Kyrell : *shake head*
Mummy : wow Kyrell so brave boy, not scared of lizard?
Kyrell : scared lizard...
Mummy : do you want to play with lizard?
Kyrell : play lizard ah
Mummy : do you want to hold hands with lizard?
Kyrell : hold hands lizard ah
Mummy : do you want to 抱 抱 lizard?
Kyrell : 抱 抱 lizard ah... mummy 抱 抱 lizard
Mummy : ....

The next few days that followed, Kyrell kept looking for the lizard whenever I shower him, whether he wants to play with it or scared of it, I do not know heee

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Kyrell can now sing this song along with me, of cos there some words that still does not come out right, ie diamond, but he is making progress :)
More practice makes perfect! So it sounds way cute when he try singing aloud heeh...