Older but needier

The toddler is less than three months shy of his third birthday. But he suddenly became quite the baby - I think he sees me with ZY too much :( And we're also trying to send him to bed awake recently. This isn't new but this is the first time we're consistently doing it.

After ZY has gone down, I'll go back to my room to find ZK watching videos - ya, no other way to make him stay away from me before ZY sleeps! Then we'll make him turn it off to go to bed. But he'll want to read some books so unless it's very late, we let him. Then we're off to his room where I'll sit at a corner of his bed for a while, sometimes carrying him or hugging him. Then we get to "the last time, I promise". So one more hug and I set him down with lots of kisses. And I leave the room.

Within minutes, sometimes seconds, he'll be at our door *.* I send him to the sofa if he isn't sleeping. That sometimes works - after a while, he'll go back to his room. But often, he'll whine. And lately, he's working his charm on Sito. Sito just sent him in for the nth time tonight, after he came out every time after I sent him in.

That first time he charmed Sito into going in with him

And after all that, he usually ends up in our bed before dawn *.*

But I guess besides sleep, he has been progressing well.

My reading boys read together :)

And he patiently waited for YeePo to help him with Lego :)

He patiently sat next to me while I was hard at work on Saturday - guess the videos helped *.*

He can eat so well on his own - spoon, fork, knife.. Chopsticks next?

Even big slices of apple, except that he eats them from the middle *.*

He made a house in school!

This term is on nature so...

But his plant quickly became a monster!

He drew a happy face!! :)

That was done at home but his teachers often drew smiley faces on the back of his hands :) And they just went through a series of facial expressions. The happy face is our fave :)

He's usually happy going to school! ^_^

He... Well, I don't know what they're doing at ZK's check-in!

But at check-out that same day, I heard he was paying attention and answering questions! :)

I like that they go outdoors for lessons sometimes, formal or informal. But one evening, they were doing some colouring outside when ZK got bitten by some bug - his right ear was swollen for a few days! Thankfully, it wasn't painful..

My poor baby with a swollen ear :(

Ok, I don't know why he was grouchy that evening *.*

But he stood up suddenly and ran to the edge of the bus stop! We all got a shock! Had to educate him back home with a bear bear and one of his many toy cars - let's say that the poor bear bear got flung far quite a few times... I knew the lesson stayed when he re-enacted the scene with the bear bear a few days later, and at one point, he also verbalised the sequence - with lots of onomatopoeias.

He can finally sing the happy birthday song! In English AND Mandarin! Both Sito and I won't be the first recipients of his song wishes though - Ah Ye first, next week!

ZK sang the songs but was interrupted by clumsy Mama, oops...

His other fave song of late - "no need to see (video, just sing)"

And yes, he's grown taller - almost 97 cm today :)

I'm quite busy lately and hence too tired to blog at night, so have a lot of backlog - hope to upload more photos and stories this week! :)