Act 3 Drama Sampler

I took E to a Drama Sampler class at Act 3 International in December to see what it was all about. For the Drama Sampler, parents were allowed to accompany their children during the class and E had a blast pretending to bake a cake (or brownie?), making a pretend toothbrush and playing a game called Grandma's Footsteps which is what I used to play in Primary school but we called it What is the Time, Mr Wolf?. It's a listening exercise for the kids because they are told when to move and when to freeze like a statue.

1 December 2013

Making a toothbrush

This is the way we brush our teeth

Gargle in the pretend bathroom

And a great time was had by all

After the Drama Sampler, I asked E if he would like to go again, but this time without me in class and at first he said no, then he said yes and it was a consistent yes answer after that. So I signed up for a term (10 weeks) and started prepping E for when class would start. 

I found a great book by accident at the library called Llama Llama Misses Mama about a llama's first day of preschool and E loved that book. He wanted me to read it for bedtime every night for a week. And E is familiar with the concept of school from watching Timmy Time which is about a lamb going to kindergarten.

So first day of class rolls around and we take E who was pretty excited to go. But when it came time for me to leave the classroom, he had a major meltdown and started bawling his eyes out. It did not help that there was another mother in the classroom who absolutely refused to leave and that kind of made E wonder why that kid had their mother in class but not him and he continued bawling. An extra teacher had to go in to comfort him and talk to him and she said he was participating in class but still crying. After class was done, he came out still crying albeit quietly instead of his earlier yelling. 

It was not an auspicious start. 

For the second class, we decided to let E enter the class when he wanted to instead of bringing him into class and just leaving him there crying (which I think was a rather traumatic start for him, at least it was for me!). Both daddy E and I were at our wits end. First we tried coaxing, then reasoning then it was a downward spiral into taking away his TV time, favourite toys and saying we were disappointed that he did not at least try. I even told him that if he participated in this entire class and still did not want to come back at the end of it then I would cancel the rest of the classes. He just flat out refused to go in.

There was a very kind staff member L. who really took the time to talk and coax E. She let him open the classroom door (it's made of opaque glass with a very small clear strip at adult height) and peek at what the children were doing inside. She offered to let me go into class with him or that he could sit by the door and just watch but he refused to put a foot into the room. He refused to enter the classroom until it was sticker time, which was at the end of class, so he got a sticker and lined up with the rest of the children and said goodbye to the teacher. After everyone had left, the teacher, Miss A., let him come in and explore the classroom on his own to try and get him comfortable in the space.

At first I was ready to cancel the rest of the sessions and withdraw E from the class. But I think we'll stick out the rest of the 10 sessions for this term and see how it goes. Daddy E and I are also determined to be more proactive in keeping our tempers in check and not use the word 'disappointed' because it's not E's fault that he is not comfortable in a drop-off class when he has been with me his entire life. 

Fingers crossed for E's 3rd class this Sunday!

Singing Toddler

I was thinking about this post on 28 November after toddler E's 3rd birthday. 

He's started singing to himself these days. Usually at bedtime, sometimes with nonsensical lyrics and sometimes he sings the theme songs to the cartoons he watches like Doc McStuffins or Sophia the First.

Cute and silly at the same time.

Although lately he's been on a Kamen Rider binge the past few weeks due to both me and the husband being down with a horrible cough / cold and only back to feeling 100% healthy a week ago so we've been lax in our TV management. It's especially tough keeping E entertained when both parents feel like zombie extras from The Walking Dead so he's been getting a ton of Kamen Rider videos, songs and toys. 

I felt like it was some sort of cruel joke that a virus / bacteria that's kept me and the husband sick for almost a week only kept E out of action for 1 day.

ONE DAY.

E was sick and lethargic (which meant earlier nap and less demands) for all of 1 day. After that he was sick but recovering so he was back to bouncing off the walls albeit with a constantly running nose when the husband and I could barely put one foot in front of the other.

No matter. We are all back to health now and that's the important thing!

Death and Toddler E

We have a neighbour auntie whom E calls 'po po'. He sees her a lot because our backyards share a wall with grilles and she spends a lot of time hanging out laundry and pottering around back there.

She had a bad fall at home and passed away while we were in Vietnam visiting my brother in October 2013, the husband texted me the news. I was worried about how toddler E would handle the news as he knew her quite well and remembers her.

We came back to Singapore and the next time we were in the backyard (the kitchen stove is outdoors by the backyard and toddler E insists on making his own scrambled eggs for breakfast so it was inevitable that he would notice 'po po' was not around). He asked me where 'po po' was and I just told him she's not here any more. 

He seemed satisfied with that answer. I guess I have a couple more years to come up with a more detailed explanation on death and loss of life.

Dancing with Tua Teo-Kong

I'm really grateful that toddler E has a chance to get to know my uncle who helped raise me.

My aunt passed away before I started dating the husband and she never got a chance to meet toddler E. I'd like to think that she knows all about him from where ever she is now and is looking down and chuckling at toddler E's antics.

21 October

Wave your hands in the air

Boogie on down

Run away!

Pretty good dancing for a 79 year old man and an almost 3 year old toddler!

Magic Trick for Lucky

Toddler E was teaching Lucky (auntie W's dog) a magic trick the other day.

20 September

Hold the wand like this

Wave it like this

Magic!

Lucky did not seem very impressed though!

Baking with Thoughtful Parenting

Whenever there's a chance, I take toddler E to playgroups organised by fellow moms which are informal and lots of fun. It's also more budget friendly for us as each session can range between $7 - $25 and there's no pressure to buy a package.

I found Thoughtful Parenting and we've attended several different sessions involving arts & crafts, learning to read and baking.

Toddler E really liked the baking. Everything is set up on the floor (covered by protective plastic sheets) which is great for kids and less worry about toddler E falling off a stool if trying to cook at the regular kitchen counter.

20 September

Slicing bananas

Mixing in the peanut butter

Adding wet ingredients to the flour

Om nom nom!

We made peanut butter & oatmeal drop cookies that had mashed bananas mixed in. Yum!

Mid-Autumn Festival 2013

The Mid-Autumn Festival is known as 'Lantern Festival' in my (not very Chinese) family. According to my very Hokkien husband, 'Lantern Festival' is not the right name for it. Oops.

Toddler E was quite excited to play with lanterns. We went old school with paper lanterns lit with a small candle and a wooden chopstick for the carrying handle.

19 September

In the driveway

I think the camera flash was on

Hello Adam!

The third play in the PLAYtime! series is Hello Adam!

Hello Adam! is a show about movement, toddler E's favourite thing to do! Kids were allowed on-stage before the show started and toddler E was making the most of it by doing his Kamen Rider moves on stage.

4 November

Looking around

After much coaxing, a somewhat decent photo

Playing with the props

Pose!

I did not take many pictures while the show was on because toddler E was really getting into the rhythm of things by dancing & jumping around along with the actors so I was busy making sure he did not jump into the kids around him.

Check out the photo gallery from the PLAYtime! website instead!