A Slice of Heaven . . .: Letters to Julianne #22

Dearest Julianne,

How did you enjoy your last month? It had its fair bit of tears didn't it? One month into school and I can't quite decide if you really enjoy that few hours away from home. You love putting on your uniform and know that means it's school day. But Teacher S tells me you're still crying on and off - that's quite clear to me since you're in tears at least once a week when I pick you up from school. Ya, what started like a perfect first day of school hasn't been quite perfect since. Here's the usual report card I get : (1) Always wants to join the toddlers' class (2) Short attention span - plays for a while and loses interest quickly (3) Loves music session (4) Is very helpful - will always keep the toys (5) Very good English, understands instructions very well (6) Doesn't want to eat much of her snack or lunch. Let's just say the report card is all you - through and through.

I'm not sure what's with the tears though. You don't usually cry at home unless you're hurt or in discomfort. So when I see you in tears at pick up, my heart breaks a little and I'm wondering if I made the right choice sending you to school this young. But when I see you unintentionally showing us some of the things you learnt in school - like how you now know how to use the tambourine properly or can show us the action to the Incy Winsy spider song and a few other nursery rhymes, I think we made the right choice. You're still adjusting I know and I confident that with time, it'll be tears no more.

This month, you unfortunately came down with pretty bad cough - a very first for you. You have never had a cough this past 17 months. Boy did we have some rough nights - actually just two rather bad ones thankfully. Poor you were coughing and waking up every hour from the cough. I felt like a horrible mother when I couldn't do anything to make the cough go away, so I just nursed you all night to comfort you. Mama was so angry with Gong Gong for refusing to see the doctor for his cough and spreading the virus around the house - yes it was very naughty of Gong Gong - thankfully he finally saw the doctor right? And so did you. After feeding you with a cocktail of medicines for 2-3 days, you were finally on the mend - gotta thank God for your speedy recovery. As I type this, Papa and Mama are still fighting what we hope is the tail end of the nasty flu bug that has hit the home.

We didn't have many exciting adventures this month partly cos we were all under the weather. But we did manage a lovely Sunday morning trip to the Jacob Ballas Children's Playground where you and Che Che Sophie had a fun time getting all wet and wild! You are still a little young for most parts of the garden - I mean I not sure if you ready to understand what "partially submerged" and "totally submerged" plants means - but you sure did have fun at the long tunnel slide and the waterplay area!

Fun @ the Jacob Ballas Children's Playground

On the speech front - we're still not quite making huge progress. You are saying some new words here and there - "strawberry", "bird", "che che" but you aren't very forthcoming with your speech and won't speak unless we ask you to. Your speech is still mostly gibberish - I guess we'll get there in you own time. We're not doing any better when it comes to numbers. The only number you can recognise is the number "7" and you will say "seven". I am embarrassed to say it's all thanks to Charlie and the Numbers on BabyTV. I think you're just happy with your music and dance. I guess you don't think words and numbers are your priority at this point.

We got a short getaway coming up later in May - the sun, the sea and the sand. I hope you'll enjoy it. We aren't going very far but you've got good company on the trip and I think that will make you very happy!

Till then, let's take April slow. Give Yiyi Sam a nice birthday, you try to like school more and cry less and Mama promises you'll continue to get all the cuddles and hugs from Papa and me every.single.day.

You're a big a girl now Julianne. Just one more month and you're on to toddlerhood. Stay sassy and continue to fill your heart with so much love for the people around you! Mama is so proud that you are one little girl with so much love to go around!!

Happy happy 17 months little pumpkin!