1st week of 2012

OUr 1st week of 2012 went well. I have to thank my parents for being with me to help out, it wouldn't have been so easy & smooth without them.

2 Jan: Public holiday!!! We had lunch as a family with my parents. And in the evening, we finally brought Isabelle to the pool for some water fun. She enjoyed it very much, but we had to take her back after 20 minutes cos though it was sunny & hot, there was a cool breeze blowing (it's v windy at our new place) and we were afraid she would catch a cold. She wailed of course..., we gave in the 1st time and let her back to the pool, but dragged her out the 2nd time for good.

3 Jan: 1st day of school. Isabelle whined when i handed over to her teacher. I call it the "monday blues" syndrome, after all I dreaded the thought of going back to work after a relatively relaxing Dec month (I was clearing leave half of the month)and especially on Mondays!!! She was happy & cheerful though when I picked her up.

4-5 Jan: Nothing very special...except the routine is setting in, and Isabelle has stopped whining at drop off. She is still not able to wake up in the mornings though, and takes a horribly long time to finish her milk. Grumpy when i lock her in her car seat. But reasonably well behaved when I drop her off, and even waving goodbye to me. It's also after 3 days tat it dawned on me that leaving work at 6pm to pick Isabelle up from school is probably too rush & risky (in case the MRT breaks down again????). Traffic is bad at Sin Ming as I did not realise that AI Tong has afternoon session. Gosh,...so its like snail crawling traffic on a 200m distance. As I'm typing now...it suddenly crossed my mind if I should just park my car at AI Tong, and cross over to pick Isabelle up instead of wasting that 5-7 minutes to turn into the junction....hmmmm...but it sounds horribly silly. And it's another snail crawling traffic to get back to our home...think the earliest I can get back is 7pm (and that means no friendly chat with the teachers) to prepare dinner. Also a pick-up at 645pm means Isabelle is one of the last 5-6 kids left in school (i feel so sorry for her, but thank goodness she has warmed up to all the teachers and does not feel insecure anymore). Sigh...I need to work out a better arrangement at work!

6 Jan: Isabelle wakes up late again, but surprisingly finishes her milk fast enough, and so we were very early at school. I got to chat with Aisa's mother about the kids, as well as to Ms Amy (Isabelle's teacher), and apparently my gal is talking short phrases of 2-3 words in school. I am shocked cos i've never heard that at home. I am certain her vocbulary has increased tremendously, but I've only heard single words being spoken, and not phrases. I'm happy nevertheless. Today, a sudden email also came from the school on ozonation at 5pm as there was a case of HFMD in the N2 class earlier part of the week. The principal asked parents to pick up the kids earlier, and for a moment I was lost...I definitely could not get off work early. Thank goodness my parents were around, and I gave them instructions on how to take the bus to pick up Isabelle. The teachers were more nervous of my instructions on the grandparents picking up as they have never met them before. According to my mum, the teacher called out.."Isabelle, your grandma is here" and she ran all the way out to the door, breaking free from her class teacher Ms Yifen, who had to "beg" her a few times to say goodbye. Back home, my mum wanted to bring her down to the park...but apparently Isabelle refused. She asked for food (maybe I have created that routine, cos I usualy give her a bowl of fruits to keep her occupied while i cook)... and so she had 3 strawberries, 3/4 of a doughnut, a relatively big bowl of rice with steamed egg with minced pork & veggies...all within an hour! My mum says her appetite is scary..haha, it;s a wonder why she is still so thin.

7 Jan: My parents go home, the house is all quiet again. As the weather was good, Isabelle had an hour of playtime at the playground downstairs. And I finally met my new neighbour who was there too with her 2 gals. It's really great to meet other mothers with kids the same age as Isabelle, and sharing our experiences. It makes me feel like I'm not alone in all the mothering stuff, and that I'm doing ok as a mother. We checked with each other if the gals screaming & crying could be heard from each other's homes, and apparently not. Thank goodness, though I'm sure my above and below neighbours can, cos I hear the conversations above and below our home.

It's been a great and smooth sailing week. I'm not sure if next week will be as good. I'll be on my own...and I doubt I can leave early. The 6pm knock off does stress me a lot. It gives me no allowance at all if something bad/wrong crops up. I literally stare at my watch throughout the MRT ride, and as I'm driving. My other concern is that Isabelle will be v hungry. I think the earliest she can eat dinner will be ~ 730pm...typically the latest she has ever eaten is 7pm. Even if she is ok with the late dinner, our routine shifts half and hour behind, which means bath time & milk feed gets later, which leaves us less time to do some activities & reading together or Isabelle sleeping later (which means waking up later???). Maybe I'm worrying about it too much, maybe Isabelle will adjust fine. Anyhow, I'm praying that I will cope fine next week. I'm planning the dinner menu for next week in my head as I blog....cross fingers all go smooth