Zq's 1st day in P1

Zq is promoted from Toddler Class 2 to Primary Class 1 today. I brought him to school this morning as i wanted to prepare him better and be reassure him that this new class will be a fun one with lots of new stuff to learn and play with. (Coz i don't trust Ben will do a good job on this, he will just drop & go as usual). The P1 class has 5 teachers and 23 students (1 montessori directress, 1 virtue teacher, 1 chinese teacher, 1 english teacher, 1 assistant teacher). All the kids age range from 3-5 year old. A well mix of nationalities and genders.

He was rather nervous and shy when we 1st entered the classroom, with his hand holding tight to mine, and was quite reluctant to answer teacher's questions though i tried to crack a joke and keep him in happy mood. After the teacher showed us where to put his bag and shoes, i think it's time for me to go and let him explore this new venture himself. He was so reluctant that he hugged my legs tight and kept crying & wailing loud "妈妈不要走，妈妈和我在一起”. Oh dear, his reaction was worse than what i expected.. I thought the transition will be a smooth one as he is usually friendly and sociable. And i thought with his Toddler class experience, the separation anxiety shouldn't be this intense now.

I waited at the school lobby for 10mins and his lead teacher, Teacher Laura came and assured me that he is doing fine now, the crying ceased almost immediately and he has been introduced to the mini kitchen in the classroom to prepare some snacks for his classmates. That's relieving! And i hope i would have the same relieving news when i come and pick him up later. Pray hard!

I reached school around 1230pm and when i peeped inside the classroom, he was having lunch with other kids, he looked quite calm, happily enjoying his food but also observing the surrounding.. Teacher Laura greeted me again and shared about his 1st day in new class. Generally he was fine, active but stay vigilant at all times, observing what's happened around, and trying to stay focus during the longer circle time of 30mins (compared to the previous 15mins in Toddler class).

And she shared an interesting incident with me. During the outdoor playtime, Zq "escaped" to his Toddler class, looked for his ex-teacher and hugged her so tight that it's hard to separate them. Teacher Laura had to go to the class to "persuade" him and explain to him that he has a new class that he belong to now, and quite reluctantly he back to the new classroom, and Laura told me that he walked real stiff when he walked back.. Aww, this poor boy must be missing his ex-teacher very much! Okay, the reason for this "easy escape" is because all the classrooms has a door that access to the outdoor playfield. So when he was playing outside, he could easily access to his ex-class if he knows which "door" lead him there. Smart boy ya!

He was in happy mood when we were on our way home. I asked him "did you enjoy your day?" "do you like your new teachers & classmate?" "do you want to back to the new classroom tomorrow again?". He gave me a big YES! As for now, things seem pretty optimistic. Laura told me that usually the worst is on the 2nd & 3rd day as they realised it's a permanent arrangement and not just once off event. Okay, i can only pray for the best now and i have confident in Zq that he will adapt to the new environment well. Jiayou baobei! You have grown up so much and a big boy now! A new exciting journey is waiting for you to explore and mama is certain that you will have a great time! :)

Go fly kite!

Weather is good and windy, so off we go to fly kite! I love where we staying as our place is just 5mins drive to the ever famous ChaoYang Park. A fantastic place for rowing boat, flying kite, cycling, roller bladding and picnic.

Posing with a reluctant An An. He just didnt want to stay still, wanted to walk around...

Papa teaching Zq how to fly a kite. Zq loves flying kite very much. Whenever we drove pass the park and he saw there were kite flying on sky, he would be very happy and shouted “妈妈，你看风筝在天上”“我也要放风筝”。

He was trying hard to control the string, turning clockwise and anti-clockwise directions to lengthen and shorten. And in the end, he entangled the string! Haa.

Our 大头照 again

Bought a kids kite for him as the big one is too confusing for him to handle. And i think this is pretty dangerous as well, as he kept running forward while looking backward. Kept knocking into ppl and risk of falling down.

Papa's kite flying high.. Love this pic of father & son..

An An squated down and took a rest after his prolong walking

It was a pity that we could only stay for a short duration as dinner time was near. But we will back again!

童言无忌

Zq has been very vocal since he attended school and recently he made some really amusing remarks.

While i had difficulty trying to open a container just now..
Zq: 妈妈，你不要开了，叫爸爸开
Me: 为什么呢?
Zq: 妈妈很用力开，等下你的手会痛痛的
Me: *Smile and feel so heartwarming the same time*... Oh my, I have a very filial boy... :)

While i changed him into his pyjamas and he spotted there's was a button on my blouse not button-up...
Zq: 妈妈，我帮你扣上 (helping me to button-up)
Me: 没有扣上不要紧
Zq: 扣上了就更美了
Me: 妈妈不需要那么美的 （偷笑。。）
Zq: 妈妈很美，每个人都喜欢妈妈了
Me: *LOL* :p

It's so fun to chit chat with him nowadays. Not only to improve his communication skill, but i can also understand his inner thoughts better through all these lil talks. It's amazing to witness how our kids grow everyday, from all the helpless cries when they were newborn, to cooing, then 1st word, many words, short phrases, sentences to now a whole load of bargains, negotiations, descriptions and expressions of their emotions & thoughts.. I love this 2 ways conversations very much and looking forward to his new surprising & interesting talks everyday :)

Blabbering An An

My lil teddy bear is getting very talkative recently. He can speak quite a few words with clear pronunctiation, besides mama, papa, gor gor, ayi, these are few of his favourites too: yes, no, bye bye, car car, fork, shoes, uh-oh, cup, no more, 谢谢, 花，开，拿，汤...

He is good at expressing his wants as well, always said "yes" when i asked him want to go gai gai or not, and always said "no" when i asked him want to eat fruits or not (he's not a fruit baby!). He's very expressive as he likes to imitate sad, angry, happy, fake cry and fake smile. And there was a few occasion that he even clapped and laughed when i scolded Zq! Gosh!

This tiny lil buds is growing fast and surprised me lots. When i sang the song "1,2,3,4.." he continued "hi-five!" loud and clear. And he loves to hum along with my singings and songs, and also sing out a few lyrics though not very clear. I notice he is more musically-inclined, for eg: i have been teaching him body parts by illustrating to him and letting him touch his own body parts but he was not that keen. But when i teach him these with songs (sometimes i have to be creative and double-up as a song composer), he would normally show great interest and learn fast through this. He also loves to bang piano and his toy keyboard.

Besides his improvement in his verbal skill, he's getting better with his fine motor skill as well. He can stack blocks, do simple puzzles, play shape-sorters and dig his nose shit with his fingers! haa :p

Just now when he saw Zq sneezed, he copycat and imitated the "ah chew" sound & action, super hilarious!!! He is so adorable and huggable that i couldnt help but bite his chubby legs, arms, butt and face everyday!

Haircut for both - Only RMB 27!

I had my 1st haircut in Beijing. Actually should be simple trimming and hairwashing, i would not dare to risk to have a major overhaul of my hairstyle with a hair stylist that i am not familiar with. Zq had his trimming done too. And it only cost me rmb 27 (app. S$5.50) for both haircut! Super cheap!

Happy mother & son posing with their new hairstyles

(though very minimal difference from the original.. hee)

Snow-skin mooncake

My 1st trial! Not bad right :p

I think it looks better than it tastes as the skin is not really that well-done. I had a challenge here as i couldn't get the fried glutinuous rice here at Beijing. So i have to "cook" this myself but i read that it definitely would not be as nice as those available OTR & ready-make. I believe so, as the skin of the mooncake not that smooth and rather cakey.

But overall, i am still quite satisfy with my 1st trial on this. Gonna make the 2nd round of mooncake with lotus paste, Dear's favourite! Hope i can improve and make a "yummier" batch! :)