Gabriel at 28months

Ying and I can quite safely say we are out of the rough. Still apprehensive of what holds for Gabriel's development beyond 2years.

After 3months going to daycare at Melody kindyland Bukit Jambul, he now has grown fond of it. The first month was fine. But long school breaks for Chui Li and Yeo's wedding at KL and Chinese New Year sort of broke the routines. Coupled with flu and cough, he became very irritable and insecure. He threw his worst tantrums during these periods. We developed a fear of sending him to school and afraid of triggering his temper tantrums.

He is very talkative now. Grandma says, "We used to talk and he listens, now he talks and we listen." He's able to have simple conversations on the telephone. He can relate to us the things that go on in school, his teachers and friends. He can remember names well. He also understands nicknames. He told us that Sharon calls him “Ah-Briel”. Then mummy asked him, “Do you call Sharon Ah-Ron?” He would laugh and say, “So funny!”

Gabriel is no more afraid to get a haircut. Gone are the days of crying and arching on the chair. His pacifier – a hairy-salty-slippery lollypop. He could also stay still for us to cut his fingernails. We used to have to wait for him to go into deep sleep before cutting his nails.

Gabriel can sing songs with a bit of tune, but will tend to skip some words. He could sing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, “Little Boy Blue”, “Finger Song” and his school’s song before meals. Sometimes he would request us to sing for him. He loves story books with colorful pictures. His favorites are the Ladybird Phonics series. Although the books were meant for kids aged 4-5years, he could remember the stories and fill in the blanks as we read to him.

When interacting with other children, he is rather timid with older kids, but will bully the younger ones – cousin Julian is one of them. Julian will follow Gabriel wherever he goes and will want to play whatever Gabriel picks up. Then Gabriel would push Julian’s hands away, or say a firm “Don’t!” Still need to inculcate in him the virtue of sharing.