It's Friday but it's a public holiday, so no school. Hooray! Ever since he started schooling, I once again appreciate public holidays and school holidays. : )
It was a very early start for me. Woke at 3am, with a very alert mind, so I went through emails and read a blog of an American teenager who flew all the way from US to India for stem cell treatment. Her blog's at: http://monicasindiaadventure.blogspot.com/. I found it so interesting that by the time I was ready for bed again, it was almost 6am!
Music class was on today, during which the teacher shared a lot on the approach he takes and how that can also be applied to teaching other subjects. My son was moving around a lot during class, running here and there, or pushing the stools around, or going behind the curtains. It's getting harder to get his attention focused on a subject matter that you want him to learn. I am concerned he cant take formal teaching the way local schools conduct it, presuming it's not changed for 20+ years (ie, sat at the desk most of the day, no talking, book based, spoon feeding from teacher, dont ask questions)
At class there was an activity where each student stood in front of the class to sing Twinkle Twinkle (note based version). My son needed encouragement (he lacks confidence when it comes to speech due to his dysarthria) so A was asked to sing with him. There was one part somewhere in the middle of the song where he did sing a few notes, which made me happy. After that, teacher taught a variation to that song, then had the boys sing it one by one. I know my son found it hard to follow while some of the other students seemed a bit unsure.
When he got home, my aunt asked him how was music class. He answered "it was so hard". At least that's what I heard. My aunt heard it as "it was so hot". Although I sought clarification from him, it was still not very clear but it still sounded like "it was so hard". I'm a bit concerned that he might be begining to display some characteristics similar to A.
After a bit of tidying up, we headed off for a lunch appointment with my aunt. Usually he eats well at the beef ball noodle place but not today. He was gagging from very early on and ate very very little (just 2-3 tablespoonfuls).
More tidying up when we got home and reorganising before my helper leaves. By the time it was 3pm, I was more than ready to join my son in his afternoon nap. It was a long rest until 4pm when my husband's friends dropped by for a CNY visit. While my son played alongside the 2yr old girl, he did on occassion say a few words to her, like "not there, there" (pointing to the correct place to place the puzzle piece). It was not a full sentence, and not a conversation (I think the girl was shy and a mandarin speaker) but it's a tiny step forward in talking to strangers.
Squeezed in time for a short prayer with my aunt and we were off for an early dinner before sending her off to the airport. At dinner, he again had difficulty eating. He would usually have had steamed fish/chicken/duck and an egg dish but he was gagging and vomitted on the first few spoonfuls. Sigh. It doesnt look good. He might be coming down with something....again.
I told him yesterday that aunty was flying back to Australia. His response surprised me, in a most pleasant way. He said "I like aunty Jenny. I'm going to miss her." How normal and how sweet is that?! He indeed had developed a good bond with his grand-aunt.
The highlight of the day for him was the airport. We happened to have wandered to the far end of the airport when he spotted KFC from a distance. "KFC! KFC! I want to eat KFC! Mmmmm....yum yum yum" he said. Oh my goodness! That was a first! And that would have been such a normal reaction for a normal kid. Wonderful! It's one of the few little things that show he's growing up. But I have some reservations too...I've held back as much as possible from introducing him to fast food for nutritional reasons. Since he ate so little throughout the day, we bought him some. He was very happy. But he ended up eating only a few bites. Sigh.
We discovered the Viewing Area and headed there cos based on our recent CNY trip, I knew he'd love it. He was so excited and said a lot of words. "Van! Van! Van! Truck! Truck! What's that? It's a buggy! What's that? It's an aerotrain! Oooo! Oooo! See! See! Ambulance! Perodua! Perodua! Two Perodua's! What's that at the back of the buggy?" Well, you get the idea. I loved to see him so happy and to hear the words just flowing from him. I was pointing out various things to him (it was dark so not much could be seen). After a while, I sat back and just enjoyed him.
He fell asleep on the ride back home. May he have pleasant dreams of planes, vans, trucks, buggies, catering vans, fuel trucks, aerotrains and all things he loves.
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