Jade In Uniform

By the end of first week of school, we had confirmed that we want Jade to stay with this school.. or rather, Jade showed that she enjoyed school. She was always excited to go to school and wakes up early for school. But when we reached the school to check her temperature, she will start crying for me or daddy.

One little progress was that she wanted to sit on the chair provided to check her temperature and hands and feet! She usually finishes the food given to her in school. She tried to join in the music and dance. She follows her mate to go to the next session. She responses to her teachers instructions. She is begining to enjoy story telling session. She can say A - I. She is more confident...

We finally bought her uniform and she looks very smart in her uniform. See below for her photos!

Jade First Day In School - 1st June 2010, Tuesday

I was first worried that Jade would not want to wake up to go to school since she always wake up around 830-10am... but a week before school

starts, I had been telling her and counting down with her. I did tell her that we are going to school!

Finally the day came, 1st June 2010, Tuesday. She was excited as I brought her a pink dress which my aunt bought for her. She loves to wear dress! She was very happy and wanted to wear her shoes and go to school. Then she saw her bag. A black cat bag. She wanted to carry the bag herself too!

Anyway, we reached the school just nice for her to eat breakfast. Breakfast time is 8.30am. They were having pandan cake. Jade likes to eat cake... she finished it very quickly and we proceed to the Assembly area. There were already some teachers and schoolmates dancing, doing morning excercise. But Jade did not want to join in. Instead she walked around the school compound and asking me to open the gate to the indoor playground.

I had to carry her a few times to make her stay in the assembly area. The kids waited for everyone to assemble and they will say the pledge then. Nice...

Shortly it was playground time for Jade's playgroup. See below for the indoor playground photo. After that seesion, I 'disappeared' and left Jade with her teachers and classmates. Therefore no more photos...

Jade's latest update

1. After really trying super hard... We managed to wean Jade off bedtime latch on. We hung on for a week! n it really pays off. Now when Jade seems sleeply at around8-9pm, we will bring her to bed, give her a little breast milk, play with her a while, cuddle n carry awhile, sing a bit, and then we can put her onto bed to pat her to sleep.

Last time, we always have to struggle to get her to bed and she always demand to be latch on. Now I only let her taste a bit, sometimes dun need to drink... I will cuddle, carry and sing... I think this is so much better. I hope she can sleep in childcare easily too.. (this is another story.. haha)

2. Jade is trying to feed herself.. and is doing quite well.. I always gave her a spoon and bowl and she always make a mess.. until recently, she can aim really well. and she is eating happier too.. maybe because she finds it easier too? She usually says "Jade jade eat!" she will open mouth and say, "Ah UM" and start to chew her food... still she keep changing the spoon to her left hand. but she cant scoop well, so sometimes she uses her left hand to put the food into the spoon and take the spoon using right hand to her mouth...

3. Jade really detest her stroller... She will scream and yell, "help!! help!" as if someone trying to kill her and jump on her stroller... anyway i ordered a piglet stroller and is coming in 2weeks time, I hope she likes it.. else it is difficult to bring her anywhere... she is now 10kg.. n 82cm.. no change since 3wks ago...

4. Jade's teeth. four front teeth are out and the others are halfway through, now only the molars still no news... I guess it will be a horrific experience because she just gone through a round of teething of 4-5 teeth. they cut out of her gums at the same time causing her to have low fever, complete loss of appetite and super crazy bad mood. I spanked her a few times only thinking she is throwing tantrums.. mum ask me to feel her gums, then i realised her crankiness is due to teething and i felt so guilty...

5. Now her appetite is better... ate a lot in fact. so i try not to let her eat too much suddenly.. but good to know that she is OKAY!!!!!

6. today is her first day of childcare!!! at first Jade quite enjoy her breakfast, because i am with her. n she dun wan to join her school assembly, she walked about the cc, and keep pointing to their indoor playground. I am with her until they left the playroom abt 10plus. Teacher took them into their classroom and starts to play a bit and then change diaper. then they eat lunch. slightly before they eat lunch, jade starts to cry. too many kids crying... n that most of them are new. after lunch, the teachers bath them... n jade cried thro i think. n after that they went to the classroom to play n wait to drink milk... n i went on to pick up Jade. She didnt cry when she sees me. n say bye n threw flying kisses to the teachers. but she seems so glad to see me.. hiaz.. my baby.. i m very proud of her!!! jia you!! Jade napping since 2pm.. i think she is super tired

7. just last week, then we realised Jade knows chinese of her body parts. she knows eyes, nose, mouth, hair, head, chin, cheeks, teeth, eye brow, armpit, leg, toes, fingers... but i never teach them in chinese. n my mum usually talk to her in baby language, if any... one night i say to her, "close your eyes" in chinese n I thought, "opps she dun understand" but she really close her eyes, so we try the rest in chinese. She knows where is eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, head, hair, leg, hand... wow.. hehe

Jade drank 100ml of formulae milk!!

Make friso for Jade. I told her is chocolate milk. So I put a bit of coco powder to 'change' the original color. Ta-da~! chocolate milk! Jade drank 100ml!!!!! This is a record! She never drank past 90ml.

But sequently she would only drink 40-50ml. I wonder is it because the first time I offered to her in cup n straw n the other times are in milk bottle.

Tonight I will try to offer her in cup and straw again! Wish me gd luck.

Jade bite me again...

yesterday, Jade bit me and so caused daddy n me to be extremely angry. Hence, we decided that we have to stop latching on her to sleep at night and subsequent night waking feeds too. I have been to 'nice' or ....(cant find a suitable word) to her n daddy that in order to not wake daddy up, i just let her latch on in the middle of nights. and so i think resulted in her asking for 'neh neh' everynight till now.. (she is 18mths going to 19mths old) that means I have not been sleeping properly too...

last night was an ultimate battle. she screamed, cried and begged for neh neh, I gave in and guess what she bit me again. So that's it. Even daddy claimed that she asked for it. I even thought of letting her latch on at night till she is two.. Tears streaming down to her cheeks, she demanded for nehneh desperately. I knew she was sleepy but she refused to close her eyes and lay on bed cooperatively. She jumped on the bed angrily. Finally too angry with us, she insisted me to carry her. Ok, so I carried and sing her current favourite song, "three blind mice". Tried to put her on bed a few times but she woke up angrily, crying, asking for neh neh. so I have to carry her and swing her a few times. She totally rejected daddy so he had not choice but to sit on the bed and watch. (NOT FAIR!!! haha... maybe she knew daddy has to work the next day)

I didnt know how many times I saw her closed eyes and put her down on bed and resulted her in waking up... yes the vicious cycle nearly drove me crazy. But, one last time, she glared at me reluctantly and turned over with her back facing me, she finally fall asleep! Yeah~

It was crazy! I think we struggled for nearly one hour or more... It was mad. tiring~ to think that we are supposed to do this for the coming days... latching to sleep is definitely a breeze, minus the bites and taking my nipples for granted.

tonight, we tried the same thing while we were watching Shrek on channel 5, Jade started to get restless. Daddy suggested giving her some cereal for putting her to bed which she totally rejected it. Keep asking for nehneh, and i suggested giving her some warm formula milk. I made her some enfalac which in the end she drank 30ml of the 250ml... Great! She held the bottle herself as Daddy carried her, rocking her and even singing her "three blind mice". Thought she gave in, then she suddenly sat up from her cradle position. Baffled, I took over from daddy and swinging gently, singing to her again...

As usual, she ask for nehneh, cannot be put down. Tried a few times. But tonight seemed easier. She was not as angry as yesterday. She was in fact more cooperative. She insisted that I carried her. Even I sat on the bed, carrying her, she was fine. I cannot ask for more. I think this was in fact very much better than i thought. She fell asleep in my arms a little before 10pm.

the new problem now is if she wants to be carried to sleep. this is also very tiring... she is now 10.2kg... carry a 10kg a few mins is okay... but not too long.. mummy will be very tired.

I hope tomorrow will be easier... and please dont wake up tonight darling, Mummy love you~!

Jade n Jabs

Jade had two jabs ytd. A booster n a flu jab. Didnt cry, very brave. Doc Zainal suggested to us to start potty training. He says no sweet n no Milo for now. Need to let the grandmas know as they r very keen to give sweets to Jade.�

Now she is down with fever. :(�

Ytd she was alright.... Hope she get well soon.�

Jade n Raisin

Jade's been snacking on raisins since starting of this week. My friend gave her 1yr old boy some raisins in bread pudding which prompts me to start giving her some dry fruits for a change.

she's loving it and can exchange a latch on session with raisins! but after a while, she will still come back for a mini latch on. must be her itchy gums!!!

i was wondering if snacking on too raisin is bad for toddlers. and below are some of the findings from the internet. i didnt know i m posing such risk to Jade! usually i does research on the food that i m going to introduce to her but this is really negligence on my part.

positive
healthy snack as it is a good source of iron, fibre and potassium, and other antioxidents

negative
tooth decay(if left stuck in teeth), may cause cavities
potential choking hazards

suggestions
some sites suggest to soak in water and puree the raisins, add to cereal or other food.
take organics raisins(as those that are not organics may contains pesticides)
wait till child is three-four years old, they can chew n swallow better.
brush teeth after a raisin snacking, or rinse it down with water to prevent it sticking on teeth


references
http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/when-can-my-baby-eat-raisins.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_2085803_know-baby-can-eat-raisins.html
http://www.babycenter.com/408_when-can-my-baby-eat-raisins-and-dried-fruit_1368500.bc
http://parenting.ivillage.com/baby/bnutrition/0,,3wbn,00.html

Jade n breastfeeding

i m still breastfeeding my girl whom is 17mths old this week. its really despairing to quit it!

coming this week, i will try again to cut down her latching on session. now is abt 3 times a day n many times in the night... guess it is due to her teething and so it disrupts her sleep again!!! why does it has to happen when she is sleeping through the night!!! last time when i dun let her latch on, she will just whine a bit and sleep on my tummy, now she will cry n cry n cry.. then as usual i cant bear for daddy to be distrupted in his sleep, so i have to latch her on again!!!! coming this week, i dun care!!!! sorry daddy!

actaully i m very confused. should i stop bf in the day session first? when only two of us alone at home, there is nothing much we can do. morning, clean up, eat breakfast, watch disney channel(word world, mickey mouse club house, handy manny), go market, nap(latch on), wake up to eat lunch, rest n play toys, bathe, play, nap(latch on), wake up to play, watch tv,, eat tea break if still early, play again, eat dinner, wait for daddy to come back and play, latch on (when nothing to do)

hiaz... see... basically she has nothing much to do.. even when i try to teach her stuff, we can only focus for about 10-15 mins, then we play cooking, shapes, doctor, drawing... try to offer her water bottle to drink, she will push away angrily. offer her snacks? she eat a bit and then she will insist to latch on.

last evening, i offer her some raisins. and she is like hooked on it! keep asking for it.. but after awhile she still wants the breast milk... guess i have to be really consistent on my part.

at least if she latched on, she will nap.. for goodness sake, i really dunno how to let her sleep if i dun let her latch on. guess i need professional help???? i wonder if parent craft in thomson medical center can advise me on this?

jade is going to cc in june when she is 20mth old. should i wean her totally off my breast before cc? or let her latch on in the day and night? i really really want to say gd bye with night latching. argh.... am i over-pampering both my both precious!!!???

until now my menses has not come back yet which is still normal as per my gynea. i m going to see him this april. maybe i will fix an appt with the parentcraft too.

jade n friends with photos..

sometimes i update with my iphone so some of the blogs has no photos n usually i m lazy to load photos too.. :P

anyway, here's some photos of Jade with her friends during her one of her breakfast.. she's still in pyjamas. usually i will only change her after her breakfast.

Feeding jade n friends

Recently jade would eat if I placed her solar hello kitty n Donald duck on her high chair feeding table. Sometimes she will pretends to feed them one by one n then herself. She will scoop the spoon n put at their mouth n say Ah Mum mum. Yes yes coaxing her friends to eat. Just like the. Way I coax her to eat.

Just yesterday jade invited a new friend to share her meals - Minnie mouse! She will hug her in her right arm n feed her with her left hand! I hope jade is not left handed!

But when she is outside she can accept dining with just us. :)

Usually I feed jade first, before daddy is back from work. She usually will finish her meal but when daddy is back to eat dinner. She will say Mum mum mum mum. Or Eat eat! Then ah mum mum!

Mr daddy will ask me why is his precious still hungry! Did I feed her well?! I think some how Jade had this habit to eat again when we adults r eating. I dun like it. I see it as a bad habit. But at my mil house this is usually what is happening. N then now it is also happening in my house.

I try to give her some of her unfinished food. I keep it aside so when she wants to eat our adult food. I feed her her food. Hopefully this will stop her habit. Usually this works.

But my neighbours say if she wants to eat. I should let her eat. Sometimes we eate outside food or sometimes the adult food is too oily or salty. I reAlly dun like to expose jade to those unhealthy food or food not toddler-friendly. I took pains to prepare her food, I just want her to stay healthy for now. As much as I can control. So I m also quite pananoid during cny when my mil ask if jade can eat marshmarrow n it is soft.

N my mum also tempting jade with the cny goodies sometimes. Sian.

Sometimes I hope people should respect our decision. My neighbours thinks other parents that brought their own toddler food is exaggerating. I think they r responsible parents whom care for their babies.

Although I do let jade eat outside food. I usually let her eat porridge, pototoes, eggs, bread, hot cakes, beancurd etc As mildly flavoured as possible. Anyway toddlers kidney can't take in too Much salt. Seasoning r not nutritious. They do more harm n good.

:)

Learning Kidz @ Hougang Green

Finally we have decided to place Jade at learning kidz. Hougang green is a totally new branch. I have many worries too.

Firstly jade is not going to the cc in Sengkang is due to the long waiting list. And those that might b available is inaccessible.

I have to give up faith education partly is because I dun really like the Chinese teacher for playgroup there. When I ask questions I wondered why the principal n teachers need to hesitate to answer. I ask them what does playgroup do, so they keep emphasing they usually play n teachers will talk to them. Actaully I m ok. But I heard a Chinese teacher speaking in incorrect mandarin to a toddler. I was shocked. Maybe she is a assistant teacher. I dunno.

We nearly paid for the registration fee in faith. Alvin's colleague recommended his daughter's cc in serangoon, just a few blks away my in law house. We went to have a look. It was very small compared to faith n other cc we had visited. It was situated in the hdb void deck. Fully air-conditioned. Small room for the playgroup. But we liked it. The teachers seems very friendly n they know their stuffs. As usual I asked hthe questions I had asked all the cc. This senoir teacher handed my enquiries very well. The kids there looks very happy. We like it. But it was full. The fee is abt 650 before subsidy. So we r under waiting list. Went to the web, there's not much comment on this cc. We like it more because all the kids looks so happy.

Then we went to kovan branch to take a look. More expensive n in accessible to us. N full house. So we paid the registration fees for the hougang green branch. Kids at kovan looks as happy too. So I hope this will b the same for the new branch.

New branch means newly hired teachers. I hope they trained their teachers the same way so that jade will benefit too. The menu is abt the same as other cc but they r serving cordial drinks which we can request to change to plain water.

At hougang green they have indoor playground. Fully air con. I hope they do the sanitize work well. The renovation is still on-going. We can only view the place in end march. N the cc starts in mid April. Jade starting in may.

I am trying to make food similar to cc so that jade Can adjust to their food easier. I also changing her napping and meals timing schedule to the cc.

What else do I need to do to prepare her for full day cc?

I already give up to wean her off totally. Maybe I will just latch her before n after school. Maybe she will drink fm from cup in school. Hopefully.

It's just two months away. I m very excited!!!!!

It's time for jade to learn from teachers, play with friends, learn to share. Jade is usually a friendly n happy baby. I hope going to school can make her more confident n independant. Hopefully they can toilet train her n teach her to nap by herself , feed herself.

:D

Recipe: Peachy Milkshake

Ingredients

1. 1 peach (peeled & cut into smalle pieces)

2. 30ml formula or breast milk (add more as required)

Method

1. Put the peach pieces and milk into the blend. Voila!

2. To thicken the puree, you may add plain rice cereal (optional)

Extra

For babies just starting on solids, you may want to steam/boiled/baked the fruit for a while to break down the fibres for easy digestion before you blend it with milk.

For older kids, can replace with chilled full cream milk. Add more peaches as u wishes!

Peaches are high in vitamins and good for babies with constipation!

See more about Peaches here

Jade's so smart...

Jade was playing with the fan I thought. She mumbled 'fan'. As usual, I'll say 'no. Don't play with the fan. ' she went on pressing the button a few times until she is satisfied then she turnedn look at me, "nehneh(breastmilk) , please."

Usually I'll throw her on the mattress n ask her to find her piglet while I adjust the fan n close the door to latch her on.

Somehow what she did just now stunned me. Before 'playing' with the fan, she gave me some kisses. This makes me feel the more that she can plan or expresed her feeling.

She kissed me, adjusted the fan(mimic me), then tell me what she wanted. Suddenly I feel so touch.

Jade is now 15mths. Walking and eating three solid meals ,a teabreak (usually consist of fruits smoothie), a morning nap latch on. Now she wakes up once at night not necessary to be latch on. Sometimes she just wantto sleep on my tummy. So sweet right.

:)