Progress...

Jon's enjoying school very much, and enjoying the after school care. It's the end of his first month staying at school till about 4pm.

Brushing his teeth in the morning. He didn't want to brush his teeth at school in the morning. Preggers me forgot that I did give him the right toothpaste to bring to school, it's the toothpaste at home that he doesn't like. And coz he doesn't like the one at home (and I didn't go buy the one he likes - Kodomo lion), I haven't been reinforcing his tooth brushing. Bad mommy. Anyhows, after seeing how he dislike brushing his teeth, I went to buy two, yes two, tubes of toothpaste (one for home and another for school). He brushed his teeth like three times that day when he got home. Ahhh, all is well again.

Got his teacher to help take some photos of him at school. Enjoy.

Deep in concentration. Love his hair...anyone wants to use him for shampoo advert?

Doing his worksheets

Enjoying his noodles during break, an all time favourite

Food is the only thing he will share willingly

The worst is over

Jillian was sick for over a week. She had a runny nose two Saturdays ago, and after four days, she had a fever too. Plus she was teething and her gums were all red and swollen. So she had interrupted sleep, and I had to wake up every hour to either pat her bum to soothe her, of give her something to drink or apply the teething gel. When when she's not feeling well, she sticks to me like glue when she's awake. She will not let me change her or put her down for her naps, I have to rely on grandma to help. So thank goodness I am staying with my in-laws.

Anyways, on Tuesday, her drippy nose stopped leaking, but while I was preparing her bath and Simon was looking after her, she walked unsteadily and fell flat on her face resulting in a cut lip! Aiyoh! But after that, the worse is over.

Now my sweet Jill is her smiley, happy self, albeit with a husky voice.

On Sunday, Simon and Jon went out on a trip to Bintulu, a 2hr drive away, to check out the Farmers', Breeders' and Fishermen Day.

Jonathan loved the huge machinery, especially the humongous digger and a beautiful red tractor.

Thanks goodness for Wei Ming and his kids, Toby and sister, who kept Jon occupied during the car ride there.

Over at the Breeders' exhibits, Jon checked out the many local farm animals like sheep, goat, bullocks.

In the photo below, at the bottom of the tank is the famous Ikan Empurau, Sarawak's most expensive fish. It can fetch between RM350 and RM380 a kg and to have it served on the dining table will set you back by about RM1,200/kg at local restaurants. Even at that price, ikan empurau is hard to come by as the fish is rarely found, and only in the interiors of Kapit Division and Baram in northern Sarawak. Wonder if they hired any security guards to guard the fish?

Guess how much it is going for in a Chinese restaurant at the Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore?...a whooping S$1,000/kg! And people don't even bat en eyelid eating a 2-kg fish for a table of 10 diners. Either they struck the jackpot, or the tab is picked up on company accounts.

He had fun on the rides, which was an achievement coz I can't even get him to sit on the coin-operated rides in amusement parks. He even went on an old-fashioned (and literally, old) Ferris wheel, where he was on the same level as the huge kites.

Jon enjoyed the bumper car ride with Simon, where he received a bump. Pun intended.

I stayed at home and rest while Jill took her nap. In the end, the boys came back two hours later due to the heavy rain and bad road conditions. Jon came back so excitedly and spoke so much over a cup of warm Milo and biscuits. Looks like I have to get off my butt and start scrapbooking!

Full day at school for Jon

We started Jon on full day at Level 1 of kindergarten (actually pre-kindy, in Miri, there're 3 levels in kindy) on 1 March. Now, why would we do that when he's only 3+ coming 4 yrs old this Aug? Besides, after school in the morning, he comes home to bathe, have his lunch and then nap, right?

Playing house with cushions...he has a lot of imagination.

When Jon's having his lunch, that's about the time Jillian would wake up. But I would leave her in her sarong, if she doesn't fuss, and quickly feed Jon. Then I would prepare him for his nap and hopefully MIL would have put cousin Mabel down for her nap and come help me feed Jillian. But that would mean MIL would have a super late lunch. Then I would have my lunch and either one of us would bathe Jill.

So we decided to put Jon full day at school and I could take care of Jillian when she wakes up. We also hope Jon would learn to eat with his friends, and he would be able to eat what everyone's eating and not just noodles, or plain rice and soup. And he would learn to nap on the mattress (sans diaper) with his friends and play with them when they wake up.

Currently, he still naps in the sarong wearing a diaper. He has requested not to wear his diaper, but I am afraid he would wet himself. If I wasn't taking care of Jillian, I could attend to him. Twice I forgot to wear his diaper and he would wake up asking to go to the toilet. But if I am taking care of Jillian, we would most probably be in the kitchen or at the back of the house and will not hear him. And he if wakes up to pee, and sees Jillian with me, he would not go back to his nap. In short, we hope he will wean himself off the diaper at school and learn to appreciate the various culinary choices available....haha, yes, we're depending on the school for help.

On the first day, Jon didn't let his teacher bathe him (only wash his face and hands), didn't want lunch (coz he doesn't like to eat veg and meat with rice, and he had loads of kway teow during his morning break) and didn't want to nap. Simon picked him up around 4.15pm and he came home and devoured a tao sa pao. Then it was bathe and dinner, and after playing and watching his Mr Bean video, we went to bed at 8pm, an hour earlier.

Yesterday, I picked him up and spoke with his teacher. He ate his lunch and drank the soup (boiled with sweet corn) and even asked for second helping. He even laid down on the mattress, although he didn't sleep, with his legs against the wall. At least he didn't disturb his friends! and coz he didn't sleep, he didn't wear his diaper. Yay, progress!

Came home, had his biscuits, showered, then had noodles for dinner. While I fed Jillian her dinner, Jon laid on my lap and watched cartoon. After washing the plates, I came back to find Jillian poking at Jon and he was promptly asleep on the sofa at 6pm. Poor tired boy was knackered! But when Simon carried Jon upstairs to put him to bed, he woke up!

I am wondering if I should let Jon take a quick nap after his bath, before dinner. Or should he cheong all the way, and go to bed early at 8pm. Hope 11hours of sleep is enough for the boy. and then one fine day, he would take a hour or more of nap at school.

Jon's fav toy at the moment - a construction building set - Simon helped him build this crane

His favourite pose at the moment - with tongue sticking out

PS: I managed to scrap a min album last month for a friend and here's the cover page. Will post the rest when she's received it. Now to buy a box and send it at the post office!)

PPS: First tri-mester is over and while I still feel nauseous, I don't feel so tired like previously. Now with Jon at school full day, I have more time and need to jumpstart my scrapbooking again. I tried to set up my new Canon Selphy printer, so I can print photos and scrap again. Realised it didn't come with a USB cable, and I had passed mine with my old HP photo printer to a friend. Hope to buy the cable tom so I use the brand new Selphy which has been patiently waiting for me for the last 3months!