Going to 30 months....

Josh will be turning 30 months in about a week's time, so here's a little update of his current development...

Physical development
Height - 94cm, which puts him in the 75-90% for his age
Weight - no increase for the last few months, still about 13kg....he's a fussy eater, so got to try to make him eat more!

Language
Reading - he knows most of his English flashcards, so by estimate he can read about 100 words
Singing - this strange little boy no longer sings his songs with the right lyrics, but will replace the lyrics with his own or sings in some weird language but with the same tunes. Like this morning, in the tune of "This Old Man", he sang "Number 1, go to school..." how i missed the past times when he sang the songs properly.
Talking - although he can speak quite a lot of words, he's not very good at holding a proper conversation or expressing his thoughts and feelings verbally like some other kids his age.

Fine Motor Skills
Writing -  he can write from A-Z, 1-10, though not very nicely, but at least we can still make out the letters and numbers

Gross Motor Skills
Glad to say it's improving...he loves to kick a ball and can do it quite well....but we still need to work on it

Social Skills

One day at Little Wings, my mum overheard one little ger saying this to her mummy:

Little ger: I don't like Joshton

Her mummy: Why don't you like him?

Little ger: I said goodbye to him and he ignored me

Her mummy: Oh he's younger than you, so he doesn't know how to

Hmm...little kids can get pretty petty I guess :P But I am glad to say that recently he starts playing and interacting with some of his classmates!! So happy to hear that :)

Terrible Twos going to Horrible Threes Antics
- Yak yak non-stop very loudly from the moment he wakes up...only peaceful moments are when he is asleep
- Broken recorder, everything has to repeat at least 10 times (eg, See, a dragonfly, It's a dragonfly, Oh it's a dragonfly, Where's the dragonfly, See there is the dragonfly...and repeat from start again)
- SUPER DUPER whiny, getting on our nerves at times
- Fickle minded, one moment will say he wants this, next moment he doesn't want it n starts to throw tantrums if you don't give it to him even thou he says he doesn't want it
....but then with a cheeky face like his, it's hard to stay mad at him for long!

Bouncing bunny boy joining our family

Josh is going to be a big brother soon to a baby brother :) yes, i'm expecting a bunny baby and the EDD is end Sept. Being a 2nd time parent, I am much more relaxed this time, and since it's a boy, there isn't much things for us to get as we still have lots of Josh's old clothes n toys. Josh knows that there is a baby growing in mummy's tummy, and I keep telling him he will be a big brother and must sayang the baby. He's so pampered and used to 100% attention from everyone in the family, so hope he will take it well when the baby arrives.

Thou this time round the morning sickness is much better than the first time, I suffer from bad insomnia and migraine almost everyday. Hence most days I am feeling tired and listless, and it's quite hard to keep up with Josh's endless energy and chattiness. Also feeling guilty that I could no longer carry him, but he seems quite understanding most of the time and will turn to his daddy instead to carry him or just give me a big big hug. Now I must prepare myself mentally and physically to handle two boys (the one inside also seems to be an active one, we can see him bouncing around during the scan).....and it sounds like challenging days ahead!

Looking for a new place to call home....

We have moved! Last few weeks were hectic ones... busy packing, moving and final cleaning up before we handed over the apartment to the new owners. Honestly, I felt rather sad to leave the place which has been my cosy home for the past 7-8 years...it was the first place I owned, with many beautiful memories. I will miss the fantastic "million $" view, the fresh air high up there, the convenience right beside the mall, mrt and interchange, the playground downstairs which Josh loved to go, the club nearby with a great swimming pool for kids, and so much more. The past months we have been actively looking for a new dream home, but other than one that we just missed out buying, all the other viewings were just not the ideal home we are searching for. And so our long search continues on....

The advantage of camping at my mum's place is that we get to see Josh everyday and I get a report of the things that he did for the day. Here are some things that we did.....

Bringing him to school for the first time...

Josh proudly showing the word "Apple" that he has written

Josh's drawing of "Under the sea" - bubbles & seaweed

In the last 2 weeks staying together, we witnessed many funny moments with Josh too....

Incident 1: Shows that he has been watching too much tv ads

At the coffee shop having lunch last Sun, I ordered a glass of barley..

Josh: (Pointing to glass) I want Tiger Beer

Everyone: ............

Mummy: Eh what did you say?

Josh: I WANT TIGER BEER

At a closer look, the glass containing the barley had a tiger beer logo!

Incident 2: Confirm chop he is a left brain child

Mummy: Look at the blue sky, what do you see?

Josh: Clouds

Mummy: Yes, lots of clouds in the sky. If you look carefully you might spot some animals and different shapes in the clouds (trying to inspire his creativity n imagination)

Josh: THERE IS NOTHING IN THE CLOUDS

Mummy: ....................

Incident 3: Trying to keep him off the floor when ah gong was mopping

Mummy: Imagine you are on a boat (he was on the sofa and struggling to come down) and the floor is the sea, full of water. So you can't step off the boat as there are a lot of sharks in the sea

Josh: Joshton step on the shark

Mummy: .....................

 I can definitely count on my dear boy to surprise me with something everyday :D

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.