Fish watching

I take way too many pictures on my phone that i do not download and post.  That needs to change....

Here's one where Hubs and the children were watching some Koi fish in a pond.

Noticed anything?

Huirou’s 1st day @ School

This year we are no longer sending Huirou to a babysitter. She will be attending a playschool with day care facilities near our house.

According to the teachers and the school principal, she is adapting rather well. For the 1st 2 days she was very brave and was getting along quite well with the programs. Then the next 2 days (yesterday and today) she cried for a little bit when I dropped her off.

I hope that she does better in the days to come as I feel she is enjoying herself much more at school.

Zhixin @ 16 months old

When the boy decides that he can walk he starts to run ……

Growth, Food Intake and General Well Being

• I was waiting for his height, weight to update but my paediatrician went on Deepavali holidays.  (He’s not Hindu, he’s Chinese) so y’all will have to wait.
• He has been eating 2 full meals a day and intake of milk is reduced to 4 x 80ml  a day at the sitters. At home I have no way of knowing how much he eats or drinks because we always “go with the flow” We eat, he eats. We drink, he drinks.
• He’s healthy and happy, and seems to be developing good, both physically and mentally.
• His ezcema is also getting better that if I forgot to apply his lotion it’s still not too bad. But his sin is still extremely rough and dry. but no longer flaky.

Physical Development and Communications

• He toddles, stretching his arms out and widening his legs for balance. If he’s about to fall he bends down …… It’s quite amzing to watch him run after his sister
• He is able to understand a lot, and can follow simple words like “no” “lie down” “stop” “bath” “kai-kai” “dog” “cat” “birds” “lizards” mum-mum(as in food)” “mum-mum(as in me,mom)” “mum-mum (as in nen-nen as in breastmilk” .
• and I just noticed he can scratch himself…… I don’t know why this is a “skill” but you don’t notice newborns scratching themselves do you?
• and he plays pretend. pretending to fall down, pretending to sleep. pretending to cry to get his way.

Character and Temperament

• He is still a fun kid, but I foresee a rebellious streak in him.
  
• He is not easily distracted from his goals. If he wants something, it is often impossible to pacify him with an alternative.

Bed Jumping

We have a 20 year warranty on our mattress.

We don’t think it’s going to last THAT long for the children like to jump on the bed reaching for imaginary stars on the wall.

Happy Birthday Huirou

 

This year, we decided to buy a real birthday cake for Huirou’s birthday. When I ask her about it she told me: I want strawberries on my cake.

So we bought a chocolate mousse cake with strawberries on top.

At three years old, Huirou is: We sang and she blew her own candles.

• 12 kg. Jumps, skips, run and play throughout the day.
• only wearing diapers at night; one night we forgot and she manage to stay dry; so I let her choose every night. So far, she still find comfort in being able to put on her diaper at night though.
• eating her own meals; occasionally we are impatient and will feed her. Otherwise she very much prefer to feed herself.
• putting on and taking off her own clothes. Other than shirts, she can reliably wear her pants and shoes the right way. Speaking of which, she insists on choosing her clothes in the mornings too.
• speaks in complete sentences. She can carry a conversation with me with surprising accuracy about her day.
• able to recognize familiar roads.
• able to name many many objects. You only have to tell her once.
• “reads” by looking at picture books. I tried a reader program with her but she does not have the patience yet. (Okaaay, maybe it’s me)
• is still rigid with regards to the way we do things. (must fold clothes a certain way, pray a certain way, go to certain restaurants on weekends etc..)

Some days, she exhausts me with her un-ending demands and her boundless energy. Some days, she plays on her own, happily having conversations with her imaginary friend. At the beginning of the weekends, I often feel like I must go into “battle-mode” but at the end of the weekends, I feel like I already miss her.