catching up

Yes, it has been much too long.

We have moved to our new home, and are enjoying the extra space it provides. The kids love the pool too. We are truly blessed.


We celebrated K's birthday with a surprise party. I was just pleased that we managed to pull it off, three days after moving in. Very fun.


The kids finished up their last day at their old school yesterday, and start at their new school next Wednesday. As I picked them up yesterday, I was blessed to see how loved they are by their teachers. There were plenty of hugs to go around, and their teachers looked so sad to see them go.

We have just a few more weeks before we get to meet Lucy. Excited. Daunted. And everything in between.

moving

We should be moving in a matter of weeks to a new home, with more room for everyone.

Josh has always been quite adaptable, so he should do ok. Emma needs a little more reassurance than he does, but since I'm her security blanket, she should do fine. Noah is the least adaptable one so far. He is so used to his space that travelling with him last month was hard.

Nonetheless, it's a move I look forward to getting over with.

The kids will have to change schools too, and I have mixed feelings about it. I'd like for the kids to not have to deal with so many changes, but our new place will be too far for me to drive them up and down every day, especially after Lucy arrives.

Today I mentioned to Josh's teacher that we would have to leave soon. She told me that he'd be missed, in particular by one of the girls in the class a year younger than his. She apparently moped around last month when Josh was away, so much so that her mother asked his teacher when Josh was coming back!

good news

Noah's CT scan came back with no abnormalities! His pediatrician says that's good news!

We are past one hurdle. Next week, we have his hearing and vision test scheduled. One hurdle at a time.

Otherwise he seems to be doing really well. His doctor says that he's a little on the small side, but he's feeding okay. He puts up with rough displays of affection from his two older siblings - quite the trooper.

In other news, J came back home from school singing an S Club 7 song yesterday: "... individuality... Don't stop, never give up, hold your head high and reach for the top". Complete with dance moves. Cracked us up. Over and over again. Once again, I am reminded on how fast he's growing up.

This morning he declared, "I'm okay with school." There's an answer to prayer right there!

pre-school routines

Each morning, I shepherd both kids into the car, buckle them into their seats and drive them to school.

Each morning as we walk from our car to their school, I say a prayer aloud for them, so that they know that I am praying for them, and that I am asking God to cover their day. I almost always pray for the same things - that they will have a fun time learning, that they will have fun with their friends and teachers, that they will be healthy, and that they will be kept safe in their day. Sometimes we pray for their teachers and their classmates too. In the early days of settling into school, this was a real comfort to J: he would ask me to pray for him over and over again. Ad nauseum.

Each morning, they get their temperatures taken and hands and feet checked before they step into their class. J always goes first, E will not sit down until he's done. As each of them take their backpacks and water bottles from me, I tell them to have a good day, I tell them that I'll see them later and that I love them. Then I give them a little kiss on their heads. J is always moving away from me as I do this. Is he old enough to feel embarrassed by this already? So one morning I skip his kiss. He takes a step, then stops.

"Mom, aren't you forgetting something?" he asks. And points to his head.

And so I get to kiss my little man, who is growing up faster than I want him to. And feel gratified that my gestures of affection are still appreciated!

asking the tough question

J: Mom, I don't want to be a grown-up. Because I want to play and watch TV everyday... How old are you when you don't have to go to school forever?

déjà vu

J continues to find things not to like in school. The most recent one: Mom, I don't want to learn Chinese in school.

I spent most of my school years thinking the exact same thing...

It continues to be hard for me to see him dreading school each day. Today, he had tears welling up in his eyes as I left. I would seriously think about homeschooling, except that I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to homeschooling him for all the years of school he has ahead of him. Where to even start. Plus I actually like the break I get when the kids are in school...

monster story

God blessed the kids at school today with a birthday party. They were fit to burst when I picked them up. J had barely stepped out of the door before he started ripping into his backpack for the birthday goodie bag to show me. They went on and on about their goodie bags and the birthday cake!

I was happy to see them happy.

Later, J told me that he did "monster story work" in school today. It took me more than a few minutes to understand that he meant montessori work.

feet a-dragging

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.
- Elizabeth Stone

Well, my heart is taking a bruising.

After a mere two days at school, J has started dragging his feet. He tells me he doesn't want to go to school; this morning, he said his head was giddy, so he couldn't go. I hate to see him dread something so much.

He's been through this before. At his two previous preschools (for four months before we left for Claremont, and then while we were in Claremont), I heard the same thing with some degree of regularity: I don't want to go to school, mom... And E, who takes her cue from him in just about everything, has started echoing him.

This is what I think it is: he gets over the novelty of something pretty fast and bores easily. So after the novelty of the first day at school, he's pretty much done with it!

I don't quite know how to break it to him that he has TWENTY years (or so) of school ahead of him!

All I can do now is pray that God will bless each day for both J and E, that they will find joy in their time at school, that they build good relationships with their friends and teachers; and that they may be filled with a joyful spirit.

and off they went

J and E were clearly looking forward to it: they got up by themselves bright and early this morning - before 7am!

Daddy waited for us, and we all left the house together. He said a prayer for them after getting them into the car and I drove them to school. J seemed a little lost when we got there: there weren't that many toys laid out that he could see; E was just excited to see a whole fish tank of goldfish. I left after a hug and a kiss each.

They both ran to me when I arrived to pick them up later. I think they had a pretty good time - it's been a while since they've had school and J's been asking about going to school. E did refuse to leave her kor-kor's side all morning, I was told, and so he had to stay with her class. But I'll leave her teachers to sort that one out!

Otherwise, they both did great. I think I was a little bit of a wreck all morning, wondering how they were doing.

pre-preschool jitters

Not the kids.

Me.

Tomorrow the kids start school. And even though I have been looking forward to it for a while now, today I am feeling ambivalent. I am a little nervous of the unknown: unknown school, unknown friends, unknown teachers. All for fifteen hours a week. When they go to school tomorrow, it will be their first step into the real world here in Singapore.

Yes, I know this is just preschool.

Still. I have been thinking of their teachers, how they have the power to build up or tear down my children, through the interactions that they will have. I wonder if they will ever know how much they have been prayed for and prayed over.