Multiparenting Cayen & Cayson

He seemed to have take to school and teachers already so we are less worried. The exception was that we saw a lot of bruises on his legs and even on his tummy. Teacher explained that he liked to climb and hide in nooks and corners.  Anyway, when the pictures came , we understood why - he's quite a stuntman. See how he swooped down to retrieve his fallen apple . Teacher has to keep reminding him how to get up and down from his chair properly. 

Today, the check-in was fairly smooth as well. So I guess the good spell is here to stay. However, notice that he has acquired two more new bruises this week (there were 4-5 last week) on his legs so I went to ask teacher to help keep a lookout.  Teacher mentioned that he's very active and can hardly sit still for long (but isn't this true for all 18 months old?) . And he likes to climb onto chairs and hide in little nooks and corners . Also, he likes to balance himself on two legs while sitting on the chair, using his shins to balance against the table. Hence, there's perhaps the reason for the bruises.  Teacher and the auntie also mentioned he's very cheeky. When they firmly tell him what not to do, he will purposely do the opposite and give them a charming smile. Auntie emphasised that he's quite charming when he's not crying. Haha . When I heard this , I was thinking all these sound rather familiar - like repeat episode of "Cayen starts school".  W

It was an early morning flight so I reached earlier and shopped a little. I had injured my wrist a few days ago and was looking for a pharmacy selling Tiger Balm or Salon Pas but couldn't locate but I found them in a souvenir shop instead. With advice from the friendly salesgirl, I was introduced to another local brand that is presumably more effective. Chatted with her a little and ended up buying. She asked if I'm Singaporean and I said yes. She's a little surprised and shared with me that the Singaporeans that she's come across tend to be a bit aloof or colder but I'm different (she's not local). So she now had a new view of Singaporeans. I told her that perhaps it's  due to the stressful pace of life and perhaps fatigue that everyone might have been a bit colder. ( I didn't tell her but I for one isn't the warm and fuzzy kind either. Some days I'm so tired I just don't want to chit chat) In any case, I thought I saw a glimmer of hope in h

It's the 9th day but he's still crying at the checkpoint. However, once the form teacher comes in, I would receive a happy shot. Guess he has made a friend in the teacher already. And that's good.  Their pretend game with Golilocks and the three bears look very fun too!  Another thing we observe about Cayson is that he's an extremely polite boy. Before he goes to sleep , he would say "bye bye" to everyone. Last night, he said bye bye to Ah Gong and Ah Po and also Cayen. But Cayen being absorbed in his TV didn't respond. Cayson must have repeated his bye bye 5-6 times before he finally got his required response and happily went off to bed. We didn't really teach him all these so I conclude he's inherently very polite. Haha.  Oh and did I mention that he self learnt 谢谢..we didn't even have to teach him. 

Today he still cried during the check-in process. I wonder when that will become better. However, I was glad to know that by the time the form teacher arrived, he stopped crying.  Seems like he liked the sensory activity where they prepared oat porridge for the three little bears. And the free rein to anyhow to draw. Good that he was able to nap properly in school today and had a birthday party in class today.  Hope tomorrow will be better. 

Today, same as before, he would cry at the checkpoint. However, though he still cried when I left, he opened his arms and willingly let the teacher carry him. Thereafter, he only cried for a while and was alright soon.  Today was also waterplay day. And I could tell that he thoroughly enjoyed himself. Look forward to the day of No More Tears .  Anyway, bumped into a friend and was asked how I could do so many things like blogging and Instagram and stuff. Well, I say I try to be super productive and multitasking. I do many of these stuff during transitions. At point of writing this, I am on the MRT and I will finish this post in 5 minutes. 

Yesterday was his fifth day. However, as his vaccination was due , he started the day at the polyclinic. He seemed to remember the injection process for he started to say "bye bye" when he reached.  When he reached school eventually, it was already lunch time. While he cried during dropoff but I think the crying was reduced a little until pickup timing again. Once again, he had two servings of lunch. The auntie helping in the class said that Cayson is a very capable boy. He can follow instructions to throw rubbish into bin, keep his toys and keep his bedsheets.  By night, the book I bought "Llama llama misses Mama" had arrived and I read to him. He seemed to like it. I read it this morning again. I was hoping that this morning dropoff would be easier but it was yet the usual crying. However, I was comforted that the day was better than last week where there was less crying. Maybe the book has helped a bit. Or maybe he was more used to the routine. Or maybe school wa

As usual, he looked so chirpy at home. He even fetched Cayen's shoes for him before wearing his own and carrying his big bag. But once he reached the temperature checking point, he started crying again.  Hence, last night, I googled for the  tips of reducing separation anxiety ,  and like the usual good student with a biase for action, I tried out the new technique today, where I didn't sneak out when he's not looking, instead I said my goodbyes and told him that we will be back for him later on. Midday update from teacher was positive . Today he has spent less time crying as he have had a hearty lunch and he was in a good mood. Also, the teacher realised that when he was asked to throw rubbish into the bin, he enjoyed the task and forgot to cry.  Though he couldn't nap even with Cayen's help, he was feeling better today and he didn't need to be picked up earlier. I was so touched ! Let's hope the weekend would not spoil this good momentum . 

We concluded that he liked his bag a lot. He would insist on carrying it himself early morning (not because we didn't want to help him!)  Unfortunately, the crying started even earlier today, at the temperature checkpoint when he realised what's coming. By the time we reached his classroom and he met his teacher, he was crying even louder.  Teacher got Cayen to try help again to help put him to bed, but he got even more active and didn't want to sleep as he wanted to play with Cayen. Hence, he cried again when Teacher asked Cayen to go as he was not sleeping. The other teacher had to carry him to sleep.  Teacher remarked that he could somehow eat and cry at the same time. And during activities, he would look and stop crying occasionally , and resumed crying again. Poor thing.  Think we would modify strategy and tried to pick him up earlier starting tomorrow to help reduce his separation anxiety. 

Today's the second day of school. He continued his routine of carrying his big bag out of the house and willingly entered the school compounds. I took it as a good sign.  I went into the classroom but his teacher was not there yet, so we went next door to the holding area where another teacher was manning the fort. He was drawn to the craft work that's on the table so he went forward to play. I quickly sneaked away.  Didn't receive update from the teacher till noon. I hoped it's because he has acclimatised better.  Got a happy clip of him of eating and was somewhat comforted but come to think about it, he's always happy to eat.  When we asked the teacher if he cried at all, unfortunately he still did. Apparently he would cry during transitions of activity despite teacher trying to carry him or distract him with his Pikachu toy , snacks and favourite songs -  he would cry and say "no!". Thankfully, we had big brother in school who was activated a few times