The Apple's Diary!

We attended Matt's first parents-teachers meeting last week. It was our 2nd interaction with his class teachers and it all happened within the same week. We received a progress book from CWK. Most of the checked items fall under Satisfactory or Progressive. The only areas he scored a Good or Very Good were the academic related e.g.. knowing his alphabets, his shapes, the colours etc. Social skills were lacking and learning to work as a team or having initiative were absence. 1st report book The teachers were honest and I am glad. I have noticed my child is quick in learning but somehow, has not gotten past the point of being self-centre. The teachers thought that it would do Matt good in a childcare environment as the longer exposure time would develop his character and the longer interaction between his new teachers and friends would stimulate him further. verse to learn Being in a Church kindy also exposed him to God's teaching and this was one most...

20 May 2015 We threw a little tea party for Matt's class at CWK, treated his friends with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse cupcakes and a little goodies bag. It was a little farewell party for him as he didn't have a chance to celebrate his birthday in his first preschool. It was also to create an opportunity for us to have a glimpse how he had spent his first 6 months in a preschool. summer berries charlotte cake I ordered the cake and cupcakes from Cloud9 once again. I thought this Summer Berries Charlotte cake would be appropriate for the teachers and staff to enjoy in this warm season. MM cupcakes I picked cupcakes as I thought it would be easier for the little children to consume and went for Mickey Mouse/ Minnie Mouse theme as this was the first cartoon character which Matt liked. We reached the school promptly and set out the plates and spoons while the teachers led the class to toilet break. We didn't tell Matt the party plan and the expressio...

Last weekend, I turned another year older. My birthday hadn't been wonderful for the past 2 years. I reckon as I grow older, my children grow older and the celebration focus isn't just on me anymore. The activities we did are planned for them. So last weekend, we took the boys out for a cable car ride. We joined the Faber membership which cost us $120 for a family of four. It included unlimited cable car rides for a year, admission to Sentosa and monorail too. There's a 20% discount for dining at Mt Faber too. the cable car ride the sunset over Reflections at the Bay We went around 6pm and managed to catch the sunset. One round about trip from Mt Faber to Sentosa and back took approximately 30 minutes. Then we had dinner at Spug & Apples at Mt Faber itself. The Alfresco dining was spacious and windy so the boys had their fun running around. birthday cake It was quite late by the time we got home. So it was just a birthday song and keep the...

2 years ago, I blogged an entry on my embarking journey using Young Living's essential oils. Back then, many were skeptical of its usefulness and reliability. Young Living is a MLM brand (multiple-level marketing) which is frowned upon. The local community group "One Drop" which supported YLEO and aims to support members on application purpose and know-how, know-what has been issued with warnings from authority that no direct linkage of applying YLEO to treating illnesses should be posted on forum. I understand where the authority is coming from and I believe it is for the good for all not to be misled. However, I have to say after 2 years of using YLEO in hope to boost up the boys' immunity, I am starting to see the benefits. My initial 2 bottles of Thieve and RC has grown to a repertoire of remedies for different purposes. Daily Maintenance For daily maintenance of keeping their immunity up, I apply Thieves and Copaiba. When I mention apply, it would mea...

After being a mummy myself, I realised how much my own mother has given herself to us. On Mother's Day itself, I picked her some flowers myself. Thought it would be nice for the boys to present her the flowers at the family's lunch gathering. Flowers for my mum Lunch gathering was at Jurong Safra. It was actually an event organised by the Nanyang Community Centre. My mum, being an avid supporter of CC's activities and events, got a table for us. The lunch was served by Joy Garden. We didn't bring along our helper which meant that we won't be able to eat in peace and we didn't have much time to interact with others. Jon was slightly better than Matt. At least he could sit and eat for about 4 dishes before fidgeting around. Matt was fidgety, as usual and only towards the ending, he then decided he would eat. Ah, I didn't have the chance to talk to my family because trying to get the boys eat and keeping an eye on them got me real busy. Present...

Yesterday we attended the Parents' Day celebration at Jon's preschool. The event was in the late afternoon. We went into the classroom and spotted him, with a grin on his face. Then the champs served us fruit shewers they did themselves and cracker with tuna. Jonathan was a good host, taking food and drinks for us. photo taken by Jon with his father's help eagerly feeding us food While we ate and waited for all the parents to arrive, some champs started to get restless. They ran around in a confined area, they disturbed each other (much to the chagrin of the parents). When it was time to play games and performed, some were obviously not interested and started leaving the classroom to snack at the marshmallows placed outside for the parents. This was when I really appreciated the teachers. The champs weren't putting on their best behaviour and their constance running around, pushing one and other were quite a handful to the teachers. The teacher...

a morning stroll This is last month Matthew is attending Clementi Wood Kindergarten. I spoke to his teachers 2 weeks ago on holding a simple farewell party for Matthew. I proposed mini cupcakes for the children and a goodies bag. The teacher finally got back to me on the possible date for this farewell. his class Mini cupcakes ordered. A summer berries charlotte cake for the school staff ordered. Goodies bags to be packed. It's going to be a new chapter for all of us. his little hands

Not that Jonathan is not toilet trained. He is perfectly fine without diapers in school the whole day and during nap time. However, he insisted to put on a diaper at home. We figured out that with a diaper on, it means that he gets undisrupted playtime. With a diaper on, he doesn't have to stop whatever he's doing, just to attend to Nature's call. We tried all kinds of ways to get him off diaper at home but failed. This evening, he was frustrated that Matthew refused to let him play with his toy car. Seizing the opportunity, I offered him a choice. If he goes without diaper, we can save the money and buy him a toy car ride of his choice. the coveted toy car ride He thought for a moment and then agreed to be diaperless from now. I devised a saving plan and each day he does without diaper, he gets a sticker. I showed him the available toy car rides and he picked a choice of his own. Since the toy cost $40, I got him to commit 20 days of diaper free ($2 of saving ...

Hais… I have a cane at home and it was more for a show than to serve its actual purpose. Those times that Mr. Cane came out, it was merely to frighten the little boys into better behaviour or to stop a dangerous act. On that evening, I lost my cool. You see, Jonathan has started to fuss over a lot of things. He wants to choose the clothes he would wear, he wants to decide what he likes to have for dinner etc. In short, he wants what he wants and when he doesn't get what he wants, he goes into a crazy tantrum throwing mode with incessant crying, kicking and screaming. That particular evening, I came home after feeling being cooked in a pressure cooker, work has been under intense pressure with tight timeline. I wanted a quiet dinner, a warm bath and then to work with the boys on their learning. But things didn't go as planned. After his bath, he insisted on a sleeves home t-shirt which unfortunately, all of it went into washing. Because of his insistence of wearing o...