May was a rather eventful month, because Noah started taking the school bus for the first time ever. The plan was to start him in Term 3, but it started getting quite tiring for me to drive him to school and back in late April, so we decided to let him get used to taking the school bus in May. Thankfully, there was a seat available on the bus that plies our route, and Noah was able to start on the 2nd of May.
He was really excited about taking the school bus, and had been asking when he could take the school bus by himself for a while now. He was actually disappointed when I picked him up from school at the end of April, because he thought he would get to take the school bus home instead! Humph. Anyway, C and I were the ones who were super nervous about this milestone of his, and C even suggested that I get a tracker and put it on Noah, so that we would know where he was at all times. Erm, okay…
I thought I was the “chiller” parent about the whole school bus thing, but when I put Noah onto the school bus for the very first time, I felt like crying. He was totally oblivious to how I was feeling, of course, and climbed so quickly onto the bus that I didn’t even manage to hug and kiss him goodbye. I drove to school immediately after, so that I could be there to watch him alight and enter the school. He was alighting from the bus when I got there, and was busy trying to ensure that his classmate would alight after him, so he didn’t even notice me initially. He ran towards me when I called him, and we walked hand-in-hand to his school, where I got to hug and kiss him properly. Yes, this mama is clingy!
I also drove to his school at dismissal, to ensure that he got on the bus without any issues, and he waved goodbye to me happily. Rushed home to wait for him, although I didn’t really have to rush, since he was the last one to be dropped off. I repeated this routine for the next two days, and finally, on Friday, C and I decided he seemed familiar enough with the routine to do it on his own. He’s been more than happy to take the school bus, and seems to have made some new friends on it. The only problem we’ve been having is that he sometimes forgets to pee before boarding the bus from school, and comes home jumping around because he really, really has to pee. *rolls eyes*
Back from his first day on the school bus
Noah went for a car wash with me one day, and was so tickled by the experience that I decided to set up a simple car wash in our toilet for him to play with. He kept running out for more cars to wash, and I had to give him extra “tools” and toys to play with, so that he would stay in there for a longer time.
Super amused by the soap being sprayed on our car
Noah’s car wash
For Mother’s Day this year, we didn’t do anything special, and had simple dinners with my mum, and my god-family. C brought Noah out to the park for a run, and Noah came home with some flowers that he picked for me. It was a very sweet gesture, though I keep telling him that he’s not supposed to pick flowers from parks.
With Grandma
With my god-family
Flowers for Mummy!
Mother’s Day craft from school
Noah’s school had a HFMD outbreak, and we decided to keep Noah out of school for a couple of days, just in case. I took the opportunity to bring him for a long overdue review at the dentist, and was glad I did, because he had some plaque built up on some of his teeth. They’re the harder to reach ones, and I’ve been trying to make more of an effort to help him clean them, so that he doesn’t get any cavities.
At the dentist
I had a gynae appointment as well, and brought Noah along for it. He was really excited about it, especially because he got to see the 3D scan of Meimei. Thankfully, the wait that day wasn’t too long, but he did get restless after a while, so I don’t think he’ll be tagging along on my subsequent visits.
Does Meimei look like me?
I’ve neglected his fine motor skills recently, and decided to get him restarted on them again. He has a few Kumon books, which I feel are more fun to cut than just plain paper. He also wanted to make a lion’s mane after reading a Chinese book, so I got him to cut up some scraps of paper, then paste them around the hole that he cut out of paper for his head.
Cutting
Some of his handiwork
The Chinese book that he was inspired by
Cutting a hole out for his head
Drawing around the hole
Cutting scraps of paper for the mane
Do you like my mane?
He’s also been working on mazes, tracing his letters (you can read about how I prepared the materials in this post), using his do-a-dot markers, lacing, and painting. His teacher mentioned during the Parent-Teacher Meeting that he needs more practice in writing and identifying letters, so I’ve been trying to ensure that he gets a bit of both on most weekdays.
He loves mazes!
Tracing
Do-a-dot markers
Lacing
Posing with his “necklace”
Painting
Painting a frog and blending colours
Final product
I got an art folio from Wildling recently, and Noah absolutely LOVES it. He’s been drawing a lot, and it really keeps him entertained when we have some lull time, especially when waiting for our food to arrive. (PS. If you’re keen to get an art folio, there’s a 20% discount on Wildling if you use the code WELCOME20)
Using his art folio when we are out
Drawing at home
Two of his (many) drawings
Noah’s school organised a Fun and Fit Day, and C took time off to participate in the games with Noah, since I obviously couldn’t do that. We liked that the emphasis was on cheering each other on, and celebrating everyone’s achievements, rather than on winning. There were no prizes, and no mention at all of even winning, which we thought was really good.
Team Yellow
I’ve also been trying to teach Noah some simple life skills, and these are honestly really easy to do with a preschooler. We like baking together, and Noah usually helps me with the sifting of the flour, adding the flour, and sorting out of cupcake cases, but I figured it was time for him to learn how to measure the ingredients, and crack the eggs. He was so pleased with himself when he was able to crack the eggs! These days, because he loves eating eggs for breakfast, he helps me to crack the eggs and beat them, so that I can cook them for him. Sometimes, the yolks break, but it’s okay, because it’s a learning process for him.
Drying the blueberries
Sifting the flour
Cracking the eggs
Sprinkling sugar on the blueberry muffins (this was REALLY messy!)
Freshly baked blueberry muffins!
Cracking eggs for another baking session
Another simple life skill that we’ve been working on is making a shopping list and picking out the correct items from the supermarket. I started with drawing (very ugly) pictures next to the names of the items, and running through the list with Noah a few times, before we went to the supermarket. He loved being able to “help”, and insisted on lugging the shopping basket around on his own. I think this activity makes him feel more grown-up, and he likes helping to scan the barcodes at the self-checkout counters too. Next up, recognising the words in English and Chinese, without the aid of pictures!
The shopping list
Found all the items on the list (plus an extra box of Pocky as his reward)
I got the bread!
On weekends, C brings Noah along for his hockey games, and Noah looks forward to being able to play on real turf with all the uncles and JieJie A. C has been playing with some of these guys for more than 10 years, and it’s so nice that they’re still so involved in the sport, even though they’ve aged quite a bit. I do hope that Noah will grow up playing a team sport, and form close bonds with his teammates, because it’s important that he learns how to work with others in a team.
Late night hockey
With C’s teammates
To mark the beginning of the school holidays, we brought Noah to catch the Angry Birds movie. He was initially very reluctant to go, as he was afraid that there would be monsters and loud noises, but we managed to convince him that it was a funny movie. True enough, he chuckled and laughed quite a bit during the movie, and has been talking about the Angry Birds since then.
Ready to watch the Angry Birds movie
We revisited the fire station during their weekly open house sessions, and Noah had fun playing with the water gun and water hose. I got tired of walking around, so C brought Noah round to look at the different vehicles.
Firefighter training
You can’t tell, but he was apparently quite scared to be standing there
I also brought him to Sentosa on the first day of the school holidays, where he got to ride the monorail for the first time, with his good friend, F. The train ride was really short, but he was happy enough that he got to ride it. Glad he can be so easily contented sometimes!
All smiles on his first monorail ride
I’ve been trying to do as much as possible with Noah before the babies arrive, and I hope he will remember all our little daily activities! If he doesn’t, I’ll just show him this blogpost. Heh. We’re already in the middle of June, and it’s been quite action-packed as usual, though I’m trying to scale things back a little, in order to get more rest. Wish me luck!
On a dinner date with mummy
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