bye bye

let the love die.

well again

while alexis has been coughing and sniffing for the longest time. she had been on thrice antibiotic, three bottles of aerius, two bottle of fedac compound, two boxes of singulair and many other medicine which are so alien to me.

finally with much research on the internet, we gave in to chinese physician - eu yan sang. pretty amazingly, the medicines worked in suppressing her cough and runny nose. because of that, my sick toddler baby was restored to her normal cheery self, almost like magic :)

now, this girl is just a fat bundle of smiles! i love it :) all she needs is someone to read to her, chat with her, sing with her, dance with her, laugh with her and she will break out in a cheery grin. it is so nice having a kid that laughs so easily and happily. alexis has this look that makes my heart go all fluttery, weak and mushy. her special smile, makes me feel so loved and so special, always :))

thoughts on mindchamps

it is always nice to make friends with parents of alexis's classmates and i am glad, i managed to know some of them despite my style of drop and go. we can connect on some level as being "clients" of mindchamps. we can commiserate with each other on how good or bad the school is :)

friends and colleagues think i am a bit mad to enroll the girl in mindchamps which charges a hefty fee, but i maintain it is a good decision. with alexis entering mindchamps preschool in lorong chuan, i am really blessed to be able to bring her to and fro school everyday. the time spent, the conversations we had, the laughter we experienced (and the time squeezing in the crowds!) are simply irreplaceable.

i believe all mindchamps are outfitted in bright white and cherry red. the children don in their uniform are very bight-looking and this is one of the reason i got attracted to mindchamps. the school is really well run, the programs are excellent and there is definitely no doubts on their curriculum and facilities. to an adult their daily "work" or activities might look like play, but to the child it is an extraordinary learning period requiring all of their concentration. they have a gym which definitely cannot be replicated at home.

very importantly, the teachers are captivating, engaging, and super good with children. the mandarin teachers at mindchamps lorong chuan are mostly from china and they speak perfect mandarin to the children, unlike many singaporeans (incl. myself) who speaks in the wrong accent, badly butchered and lots of random non-mandarin words thrown in. there was this incident when the mandarin teacher corrected me when i said to alexis "说再见老师", it should be "说老师再见!"

the teachers and principle update me regularly on the girl's process via communication book and verbally. alexis is now learning at a speed of light. she can speak in english and mandarin. she knows her numbers. she knows her days. she knows her colours. she knows her shapes. she knows her songs. she knows her animals. she knows her food. she knows her friends' names. she knows her teachers. she knows her emotions. she is a sponge, absorbing knowledge from everything she sees and does.

the only thing that is less than stellar is the menu, which is catered. as much as i am keeping away the girl from sodium, sugar and unhealthy snacks, she gets it all in school. the ministry of health has guidelines on the nutritional requirements of the food provided in childcare, but i am still skeptical of the guidelines.

the girl has been in playgroup for four months and she comes home everyday with a new song or a new word learnt. totally no regret, i would say :)

just stay little

at her twenty-third month, this girl still fascinates us on a daily mode. i love this two year old stage, and the explosion of words, expressions, actions that come with it. not just one or two words, but full on sentences, logical or illogical. inferences. she now owns the ability to make real conversation and sometimes they sound like witty jokes that make the man and i laugh like mad :) she is so so so fun to be with and chat with, so cheeky, and so silly!

i am still feeling nostalgic about the fact that my baby is now walking, running and now all ready to take on the world.

little chef

so in an attempt to try and get the girl take ownership of her food , we got the girl involved in the dinner-making process today . alexis did have fun scooping the tofu into the magic bullet, squeezing lemon juice out of a quartered lemon and transferring cooked potato into a pot.

i think she is the happiest little chef :)