Matthew First School Report Card

Both Duncan and I popped by the school yesterday afternoon to attend our first parent-teacher interview. Having never attended one of these before, we had no expectations nor were we particularly prepared, I certainly didn't expect to be handed Matthew's semester one report card!

We take much pride (add to this a dash of humour after all he is 2!) to say that our little guy 'Aced' his first semester at school. The 'A' stands for is able to to. It seems our Matthew is already able to do most of skills that is expected for toddlers aged between 18-36 months. He is particularly good at music and anything which requires showing off his advanced gross motor skills. The most pleasing part of our chat with his teachers was to learn that Matthew is excelling at Mandarin, both teachers commented on how well he's picked up the new language in the short period of time he's been at school (we don't speak a word of Mandarin at home) and is advancing ahead of other kids who come from Chinese backgrounds. The rest of the comments mirror that of our own, Matthew is very affectionate and friendly and loves to cuddle. He's a very active and happy child that rarely throws tantrums or cries for attention. He's well liked by his friends and everyone at the school knows his name! There were no negatives mentioned (oddly, as Duncan and I think that Matthew could work on his social skills at the playground as he has a tendency to be aggressive) and they think he is doing very well at school and love having him there.

Along with his report card, we were given around 500 photos on a disc, a big bag full of his artwork to keep and display at home and a 'Learning Portfolio'. Matthew and I love looking through the portfolio together. I've shared a few pages here; and I've also posted a select few photos on picasa.

Pictures from Semester One --> Click Here
Sample pictures from Matthew's Learning Portfolio 2011 --> Click Here

Biting (again) and lots and lots of singing

Oh dear... In the last week Matthew has reverted to the very nasty habit of biting again. Both at school and at home. I thought we'd put a stop to this but not so. In the span of a few days, he's bitten 2 kids at school and attempted to bite other kids as well. As his teachers are aware now of his tendency to nip at other kids in frustration if he doesn't get his way, they've been extra vigilant during class. It's almost always due to frustration that Matthew will lash out, eg not wanting to share a toy, wanting a turn on the bike or slide etc. In one instance, he took two bites at a girl because she was in his way when he was trying to wash his hands at the sink. All very negative behavior which I hope he will grow out of quickly. It's one of the downsides of being a parent to an over active, short tempered, bossy and impatient toddler.
On the upside, he's also equally happy, affectionate and sweet and his moods will yo-yo between the two to drive me absolutely mental. We've definitely hit the terrible twos.

Words

There's been so many new words in Matthews vocabulary lately and lots and lots of singing. He likes to sing 'Twinkle twinkle little star' in toddler babble (the tune is unmistakeable and I'm proud to say he's not tone deaf like his Dad!) and 'ABCD'. He'll recite 'A, B, C' and if we are lucky 'D' and 'E' as well but after that it's a jumble of letters mainly consisting of 'Bs' and 'Cs' for the remainder of the alphabet. We are also up to 4 word sentences and have heard him say 'more block toys please' without any prompting and 'more Buzz please Mummy'. As Matthew now understands lots of words and direction, we have to remind ourselves to watch what we say around him.

Edited to add: Duncan just reminded me that he also sings 'Row row row your boat' and another song that I like to sing to him called 'soft kitty'. For those of you who are fans of the TV show Big Bang Theory you might know it.

Poh Poh and Goong Goong have left Singapore to continue on their vacation to China but their visit left a lasting impression on Matthew. He greeted them both with a warm welcoming cuddle each and enjoyed having the added attention lavished on him. He loved especially to hovered over, sit next to, hug and crawl up on his Goong Goong frequently. He also enjoyed copying what Goong Goong was doing like taking out the batteries from the keyboard or what Goong Goong was eating for breakfast (and how he ate it). I enjoyed having my parents around as my Mum cooked, helped with housework and did all the laundry! It gave me lots of time to ponder over the issue of Matthew's biting :(  Pictures from their visit will be uploaded soon.

Not ready for potty training

we attempted to potty train Matthew a couple of weekends ago without any success. The only success we had was making Matthew afraid of the loo.

Matthew has kinda been showing us he's ready for potty training - telling us when he's done a poo in his nappy and we can tell when he's about to do one. Not so consistent with telling us he needs to do a wee but we'd thought we'd give it a go anyway, as the thought of getting potty training knocked over before the new baby arrives sounded very appealing. During the weekend in question, when Matthew indicated that he was about to do a poo, we'd place him on the potty. The first time he just sat there and looked around, at us and at everything else. So we thought, maybe not this time and keep trying. About 10 mins after we'd put Matthew's diaper back on he indicated that he needed to do a poo again, this time, to preempt us, he ran away from us when we tried to put him on the potty. We eventually managed to get to him in time before he did his business to pop him back on his potty but still no poop and this time very reluctant to even stay seated there. After a few attempts it's escalated to Matthew crying when he needs to poo (before and after) and refuses to sit on the potty. Not a good start at all :( Perhaps we'll leave it for another month before trying again.

Oh yes... for a change, Matthew was the 'bitee' at school. Some other toddler actually bit him so hard on his thumb that it left little red teeth marks and made Matthew cry. Matthew's not a crier, not even for vaccination needles, so it must have really hurt him. Part of me thought, well at least now he knows what it feels like to be bitten but the other part of me felt really awful for him. According to his teacher, it was completely unprovoked, the other child received time out, apologised to Matthew and Matthew graciously accepted his apology and continued playing together. Wish adults could behave the same way. 

Here's a picture of Matthew taken last night practicing his fake smile. His face seems to have changed so much in the last month!

Just a quick note about visitors and travel.
Matthew's Poh Poh and Goong Goong have confirmed that they will be in Singapore for a visit from the 30th Mar to the 6th of April. Looking forward very much to having some family around. Duncan's business trip to Zurich has been postponed so instead, we've decided to take a short vacation to Bintan, Indonesia for 4 days and will be away from the 25th to the 28th of Mar.

The sad new and the good news.

Firstly some sad news.

Our beloved labrador Socrates passed away on Saturday. After a long and happy nearly 14 years with our family he sadly had to be put down as his body was failing him. Socrates was a beautiful loving member of the family, loved equally in return by all of us. Rest in peace old friend, we miss you. Sweet Matthew has been hoovering quietly over me with a tissue on hand to dab away my tears. I've not told Matthew that his 'whoa whoa' is gone...

The good news.

We (I am) are pregnant. Currently in our 15th week of pregnancy and safely in the 2nd trimester. All is progressing smoothly, with all the usual early pregnancy tests and scans returning with results that were literally off the charts, in a positive way. I'm also over my bout of mild morning sickness and have resumed my usual pre-natal routine of regular yoga and exercise. We are all very excited to be welcoming a baby sister or brother for Matthew. Matthew is non the wiser as to what all the fuss is about and looks at the black and white ultrasound pictures with curiosity. The newest Baby Bradey will make his/her grand entrance this Sept. The official due date is the 4th of Sept.

More generally, Matthew has well and truly settled into his new routine at school.  I can say with confidence that he really enjoys it there - he happily waves goodbye to us in the morning and never fails to greet me with a big smile and cuddle at home time. He enjoys the classes and activities, particularly music which is held every morning at 1030am and never fails to garner lovely comments from his music teacher. Matthew has also picked up a few Chinese/Mandarin words - 'Good bye' - Zai Jian, 'Apple' -  Ping Guo and 'Thank You' - xie xie. He's learning to be gentle with his friends as he has a tendency so play a little rough which gets him into trouble with his teacher. Matthew is no stranger to the 'quiet spot' both at school and at home.

Around the home Matthew is your typical (nearly) 2 year old toddler. 'No' seems to be favourite word of late, even when he really means 'yes'. As if for extra emphasis, Matthew likes to shakes his head when he says 'No'. I must admit it was very cute for about a day.

Each evening as bedtime draws near, Matthew will invariably try a few of the following three tricks in an attempt to avoid going to bed for as long as possible. He will plead for 'more books, please Mummy' and if I don't submit to his demands, then it's 'please Mummy, please Mummy, please Mummy'. And if that doesnt work, he'll ask for his Daddy. The second is 'Tissue' or 'Nose', which means that Matthew would like a tissue so that he can blow his nose, even though there is no reason for it. The last trick and the most frequently used, is 'Water', he'll ask repeatedly for us to fetch his water even though the bottle is right next to him in bed. All of his little antics provides us with much humor but also frustration. Fortunately though, once he's off asleep, he'll sleep soundly till a very respectable 730am the next morning or when we wake him.

Here is our Matthew, looking extremely cheeky posing for the camera.

bye for now.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Wishing our friends and family a Happy Lunar Rabbit year. May your dreams hop and bounce all the way to great heights.

On Tuesday, we were invited to Matthew's school for Chinese New Year celebrations to help welcome in the new year. Matthew was at first confused when I stayed at the school rather than giving him the usual goodbye kiss and quick exit. They'd organise all sorts of kiddie and parent activities like, paper dragon making (our paper dragon now hangs proudly in our lounge room), dumpling making (lots of eating by Matthew and I), tea appreciation, face painting and an array of new year goodies for refreshments. Matthew loved showing off his 'space' - dragging me around and showing me the different rooms.

Matthew has been on a break from school since then, so the following day I took Matthew with me to do a final shop before our Chinese New Year Eve dinner or what is commonly known as the reunion dinner where family members get together to share a meal on the eve of the New Year. I'd forgotten how trickly it could be to juggle a toddler and try to get the grocery shopping done at the same time. Since Matthew's at school in the mornings, I take advantage of my 'me' time to get the chores done, so this was a not so gentle reminder of how much of a juggling act it could be to complete the simple task of grabbing a few last minute items at the shops. Even though Matthew was strapped into his stroller, his arms and legs were swinging wildly trying to swipe anything he could reach off the shelves. Sometimes I really miss the days when he just a tiny little baby.

School & travel update

As we near the end of Matthew 3rd week of school, here's some of the comments we've received from his teachers. He's attention span is lengthening, Matthew will sit still at his desk for up to 10-15 mins (I've yet to actually see this with my own eyes!). He loves his food which is so true, he's also the only child that will feed himself using cutlery during mealtimes - probably because he's too impatient to wait to be fed. He appears to be showing signs that he may be a lefty, although from my observations at home he uses both left and right hand to draw, including toes and feet to move things around. During his first week at school, he was intrigued by his classmates water bottles and was helping himself to sips from each of them, which his teachers had to put a stop to. Since then Matthew has learned to match each water bottle to it's rightful owner and is his job to hand out the water during breaks. At 19 months old, Matthew is also the youngest child in his class of 7 children. All in all, Matthew seems to be fitting in nicely and enjoy going to school. Over the past 3 days, we've not had any crying when I've dropped him off and this morning he actually smiled when he saw his teacher instead of panicking :)

As mentioned in one of the previous posts, there's much movement over the next few months - Matthew's passport is filling up quickly!

February 8th to 14th  - Duncan will be in Sydney to attend a wedding.
March 12 to 20th - Matthew will be on school holidays and we will most likely spend the week in Zurich with Duncan as he will already be there on a business trip.
April 14th - Aunt Liz and Uncle David visiting from Perth.
May 4th to 20th - Nana & Pop (Chris & Geoff) visiting.
May 8th to 15th - Phuket with Nana & Pop.

The only travel to be confirmed is Poh Poh and Goong Goong's visit at the end of March/early April.

Happy New Year! and Matthew's first day at School

It's been a very busy start to the new year. So much so that I've not had time to blog! If we havent been in touch with you over the holidays here's a quick recap.

Christmas was spent in Hong Kong with our good friends Paul and Dina and their 2 kids Charlie and Lizzie and their 3 four legged kids Bruce, Toby and Lucy. They live in a very serene and beautiful part of Hong Kong called Sai Kung. The landscape is very hilly and green with lots of hiking trails surrounded by the sea and reminds me of the New South Wales Central Coast except greener.  It's a 45 min to an hour trip into town by public transport. We really had a wonderful time with lots of good company, good food and wine. We even managed to catch up with a few of our cousins during our visit and squeeze in a brief shopping trip in the city. Though I must say the trip wasn't entirely without some misadventures, but mostly there were lots of fun and excitement. Matthew caught a really bad cough while we were there which in turn made Duncan and I sick. The New Year came and went without much fanfare for us as we declined all social invitations over the last week to recover at home. Because of illness, Matthew missed his entire first week at school. I'm glad to say that the worse seems to be now over and we are all back on the road to recovery - YIPPEE.

Matthew had his first day at school yesterday, and admittedly I was anxious about leaving him in the care of his teachers. When we arrived at the school we were greeted by a staff member who did a check of Matthew's temperature and a once over of his hands and feet. (Foot and mouth disease is just as big problem here in Singapore as it is in Australia) We where then shown Matthew's classroom and cubbyhole where he could leave his schoolbag. His teacher, Ms Jesslyn then did a run through with me about what would happen over the course of the morning. After that Duncan and I said our goodbyes to Matthew as he was ushered through the gates of his room to be with the 6 other children there (about half of them were crying). It was only as I was waving to him through the gate and saying my final goodbyes that it dawned on him that we were leaving him there...

The plan had been to drop our little guy off at 830am and pick him up early at 11am (we are only sending him for a half day) to ease him gently into his new routine without Mum. When I returned to pick him up, Gwen the principal informed me that though he cried at the beginning, he still participated in all the class activities and was playing very well at the moment and suggested that he's stayed till after he'd had his lunch with the other children.

Matthew never fails to surprise and remind us how resilient and independent he can be. The report back from his teachers yesterday was that he did really well. This morning when we dropped him off, he walked right into the music class to join his teacher and other children without a backward glance at Mum or Dad :(

January and upcoming travel and visitors....
I might as well add that it's going to be a busy few months ahead for travel, Duncan is extremely busy at the moment as his counterparts from all over the globe has descended upon Singapore to keep him occupied for a while. Once that's over, I'm sure something else will crop up as it always does. In early February, Duncan will be flying to Sydney to attend our good friends, Josh & Bec's wedding as Best Man. I'm still undecided as to whether I'll make the journey home with Matthew to visit for a week, especially now that Matthew is enrolled at school. Sometime in March and possibly into April, we are planning a family trip away,  most likely to Europe.  We are also expecting visitors from Perth and my parents to visit us again during April which will be very fun. We are planning a trip away to Phuket in early May and possibly a trip to Hong Kong again or Tokyo for Matthew's 2nd birthday on the 28th. That's what's on the cards for now. Will update with firmer plans as the dates approach...