First Day at School - Mom's Note

Today is Nathan's first day at school. I and hubby planned to take him there together. We didn't engage a school bus yet coz the pick up time is much too early for him (6:45 AM), and he will only be home about 1.5 hrs after school finishes. So we thought, let's see how it goes.

I woke him up at around 6:50 AM, and as expected, he was glued to his pillow for a while. Maybe because he slept pretty late the night before. But he managed to get up and drink his milk. After his shower, his mood lightened up. He was his usual self, playful & happy.

The three of us took the MRT and then the bus to his school. We reached there just in time at 8:30 AM. All the kids were playing in the play area and Nate joined them straight away. His dad then kissed him goodbye & left for work. I stayed there for a while. Some of the newcomers already cried when their mommies or daddies are out of sight. But Nate was still happily playing there. He really enjoys the new toys and friends.

At 9 AM, the kids were told to stop playing, wash their hands, and enter the hall to sit in a big circle. Parents were asked to wait outside and watched the kids from otuside the glass window. I waited there just to watch him for a while before I left. When it was time to pray, he did pray. When it was time to sing, he did sing. I am so glad that he participated well.

Then I left the school, spent about 1.5 hrs outside, and came back again to pick him up. During that 1.5 hrs, I did miss him a lot. His school finishes at 11.30 AM. I reached there around 11.10 and watched the class from outside. I could see that he was settling well, following the teacher's instructions and played well with his friends. He did not cry at all looking for me! :) When he saw me waiting outside for him, his face lightened up and he had a big smile on his face. He put up his thumb, as if he was telling me that everything went well! Then when it was time to go home, the kids assembled again and lined up. One by one went out to take their water bottle, bag and shoes. As I watched him putting on his socks and shoes, I could feel tears started to build up. Yes, my son has grown up and he is now officially a school-going boy. Everything went well beyond my expectation and I am so pleased that he enjoys his school.

Here are some of the photos taken on the day. Enjoy :)

Nate and his Dad, ready to leave the house for school

At play area, before school started

When he saw me waiting to pick him up outside the class

His class photo (courtesy of Bethany Kindergarten)

Birthday No. 3

I am 3 years old now. Yewhoo! :) On 13th Nov, we stayed up late so that Mom and Dad could wish me a Happy Birthday and gave me the bday surprise. So at midnight, we did it :) Mom made me a chocolate cake and put my favorite Thomas train figurines on top of it. We sang the birthday song, blew the candle and opened the presents. Thanks Mom and Dad for the great presents :)

Today we are going to have a very packed day. There's going to be a Children Gospel Rally at church, then followed by a church wedding and a wedding dinner.

But Dad is going to take the Monday off so that the three of us can spend time together :)

Happy 3rd Birthday, Nathan!

Our dearest Nathan,

We love, cherish and grateful for you because:

- You are such a kind and loving boy at heart. You care for others, especially when they are hurt or sad. You love to help others, too. You are also friendly boy. You love to greet people everywhere you meet them, even though they are strangers to you.

- You have a generous heart. You are still learning to give and share, but we often witness that you do share. You don't mind sharing your things with others. You even approach and give it to them personally even though they don't ask from you. For stuffs that you love the most, it's true that sometimes it's hard for you to let go. But at the end, you'd let go and share them anyway.

- You are always cheerful and happy. Everyday is full of bright sunshine, laughter, singing and happy giggling. You ease and take away our sadness or unhappiness. You never fail to brighten our days.

- Deep inside, you have a sensitive feeling too. You dislike when people who are close to you push you away or upset with you. When you do something wrong, you'd apologize and carefully try to amend things right away.

- You are smart. It's relatively easy to teach you things as you'd pick them up quickly and you love to learn. You have love for music too. It's good to see your interests in academic and artistic things.

- You love your baby brother, eventhough he is not even born yet. You'd kiss him and talk to him. You often say that you'd share your things with him and let him sleep with you in the same room. As a matter of fact, you love younger kids and always be gentle towards them. We trust that you are going to be a good brother.

- You love your family too. You love us, your grandparents, aunts & uncles, and cousins, and they love you too. Whenever you are in Jakarta, you are a star. They all want to meet and play with you, because they really enjoy your company.

- You like to be independent, doing things on your own. But you are not afraid to admit when you are unable to do something. You'd ask us to help you and we always encourage you so that the next time you'd be able to do it on your own.

- We see that your health has improved for the past one year. It was heartbreaking to see you fall sick quite often and depend on your puffers last year. But you have grown stronger now. You are off your puffers and you also like taking your vitamins.

There are still so many things...things that we can't mention all of them one by one about how much we love and treasure you. You are no longer going to be the only son, but we'll not love you any lesser.

You are soon going to school. You are going to more independent and will slowly not dependent on us as much. But we're certain that you will love your school and get to have many new friends.

We thank God for letting us be your parents, for having you in our family. Eventhough you are not perfect, you are the perfect son for us because God entrust you in our hands.

Nathan, we always pray that you will be someone who are close to God's heart, someone who He will use to do His work, and someone who will glorify Him whole-heartedly.

Happy Birthday, Son! Papa and Mama always love you and keep you in our prayers.

Papa & Mama

Dad's Birthday

To the man whose company I really enjoy

whose presence I always miss

whose heart and commitment I always admire

whose love of God and his family I always treasure

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Our Creation

Sailing Ship

by Mom and I :)

When Bestest Buddy Came To Visit

My best buddy Noah came to SG for a holiday. But too bad, I am leaving for Jakarta soon. By the time I come back to SG, he'll be leaving back to Jakarta.

Noah, I see you again in Jakarta this October ya ;)

34 Months Old