Another child assessment...

About 2 weeks ago, we brought Josh for a complimentary child developing assessment at a commercial brain development centre. Starting with a few simple games, the coordinator was able to zoom in on his weak points in learning - short attention/focus and not attentive in listening or observing visually to instructions given. Basically he will just pay attention and follow the first 1-2 instructions for each game and then ignore the rest and do his own things or start to grab something else. The coordinator commented that he is good in language and memory but we need to build on his weak points as those would hinder his learning. Next was to the gym to check out his gross motor skills....which as expected, Josh was very hesitant and clinging on to the coordinator for dear life when he tried to put him up on a walking board above the ground (about my waist level). I have to admit Hubby and I were very bad, giggling behind while watching them struggling with each other. We knew it won't be easy. 2 other kids there (one was a 2-yr old ger) were happily monkeying around, climbing the ladders and jumping up and down, without any sense of fear. Hence the coordinator concluded that Josh has a lot of fear and poor judgement of height and danger.

So I'm planning to sign Josh up for gym classes to build up his gross motor skills, which has been a great concern on my mind for a long time...this month we are busy with packing and moving house (oh dear we are finally moving out soon...gonna miss this place), so will probably start next month. Anyone has good recommendations for gym classes?

Hives Attack!

Josh is down with hives, better known as "feng mo"! This is the first time that he got it, and it's likely triggered by an allergy, which unfortunately the cause is hard to identify. It could be an allergy to food, or insect bite or contact allergy. The poor boy's face is covered with huge nasty red bumps, with some on his arms too. Almost looked he suffered an attack from a bunch of bees. He started having the breakouts on Friday morning, but my mum assumed they were just mosquito bites and sprayed the rooms with insecticide. But the "mosquito bites" kept getting more and more, so she called to inform me and we brought him to the GP immediately.

Just a little funny thing that happened at the doctor's. When we sat down in the doc's room, Josh immediately opened his mouth widely without prompting, cos he thinks it's a standard procedure for the doctor to check his mouth, even though the doc was looking at his arms and face. How I wished he would open his mouth on his own whenever I try to brush his teeth! I have to let him play with brushing my teeth then he would allow me to brush his.

Although hives is not contagious, he will be staying at home tomorrow.. under the close supervision of grandma to stop him from scratching his skin.

Random photos

Haven't had much new photos of Josh recently, cos it's so hard to snap him as he will try to snatch my iphone or the camera whenever they are in his sight. Managed to find some random shots taken in the last few months......

 Goofy smile

Looks cool?

Being mommy's slave

 In his playland

From Childcare to Pre-N

Josh has been attending childcare when he turned 18 months. Even though my mum is looking after Josh, we put him there at such a young age to let him learn to socialize and pick up some life skills, since he's an only child. Sad to say, after 9 months, he still plays on his own at childcare. And he doesn't mention anything about his friends or what he learns or do over there. We were wondering if he really enjoyed going to childcare, and felt that it might be a good time to make a change as he's turning 2.5 yrs soon.

Starting from this month, we transferred Josh from Cherie Hearts to Pre-N class at Little Wings. Little Wings is under PCF, but managed by NTUC, and it's newly renovated about 6 months ago. Last week was his first week at Pre-N, attending a 2-hour "Minnie Class" in the morning. Seems like so far so good.....we asked him if he likes going to school and he gave a loud "YES".  Maybe with a smaller class and lesser kids than at the childcare, Josh gets more attention from the teachers, who will not be busy with changing diapers, toilet breaks, bathing and feeding. He likes to play with adults, but doesn't know how to interact with other kids, like somehow he can't communicate in "kids language". Once he starts settling down at the pre-n, I am thinking of enrolling him for weekend play classes at Julia Gabriel, which came highly recommended by most friends. 

Have a great bunny year ahead!

Happy bunny year to all! Sad to say it hasn't been a superb start to the bunny year as I have been down with a very bad bout of flu....been falling sick frequently the past few months, so hope that my health would get better (hence haven't been posting recently :P). Daddy has been very sweet during this period, taking care of the spring cleaning while I rested in bed. Not to mention taking care of Josh when he wakes up at 7plus am in the morning, so that I could get a few more winks. Thank you Daddy!! :)

Overall, it's been a hectic and busy new year....starting with rushing for 2 reunion dinners of CNY's eve (from west to east and east back to west), first day of new year again travelling to and fro to visit relatives followed by family dinner with Daddy's family at our place. 2nd day we had our friends n kids over at our place for steamboat, so lots of preparation and cleaning as well. The kids had much fun playing with sparklers at the playground after dinner. 3rd & 4th day went house visiting plus a round of MJ at our friends' place. 

We hope to teach Josh from young the values of kindness and empathy, especially during times of celebration to share our blessings with the less fortunate. So 10% of his angbao money will be donated to a charity....and we will do this for him till he is old enough to choose his own preferred charity.

Meantime, our family is looking forward to an exciting and eventful bunny year ahead....new place, new beginnings, new changes!

Josh kept chasing n hugging Uncle Jeff's doggie, CoCo. Poor CoCo was traumatized by the overzealous boy!

Building sandcastles

It's been quite a while since we last brought Josh to the park playground to play with sand, as he & mummy were pretty much sick for most of the month of Dec. One Sunday morning Josh took his bucket & spade and said he wanted to play with sand. So off we went to make sandcastles, followed by a nice cold melon milk drink from the vending machine.

Photos from Jaycus Birthday Party

We went to attend the 3rd birthday party of Jaycus 2 weekends ago and here are some photos taken by Daddy:

 Making a cheeky face!

 Having fun with Kitlyn

 Micky Mouse Pinata: Kitlyn kept asking her mummy "Why they hit Mickey?"

 Pretty gal with Minnie ears

 Birthday boy with his mummy

 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Cake. Nice!

Happily munching his stash from the pinata