Parent-Teacher Conference

Yesterday I attended our first "parent-teacher" conference. It was actually a cookie-decorating event for parents at Dewi's daycare, but they told us that it was also an opportunity to talk to the teachers, get feedback on how your kids were doing, etc. etc. So I called it a "parent-teacher conference". Since Derek usually does the pick-up and drop-off at the daycare, I really looked forward to seeing Dewi in her new element. When I arrived there, she was sitting in her high chair eating pancakes with one or two other kids. She was so happy and giddy and started feeding me pancakes right away.

When it came to the cookie-decorating, while all the other kids sweetly sat there and let their parents decorate their cookies, Wi wi was flipping over the paper plate, grabbing cookies and chomping them left and right, smearing the sugared frosting all over her face, stuffing marshmallows in her mouth, and feeding me fruit loops. It was pretty funny. I had fun observing her in the soft-play area, as she butted heads with another girl like they were bulls, and as she let a boy kiss her over and over again on the forehead (this is Singapore, after all- gotta be bashful and very careful with your choice of PDA!). Dewi's teachers shared that for the first few days she sat back and observed her surroundings, not really interacting much with the other kids. After that, she happily played with the others and freely creeped around the room. She's also started to go back to her 2 naps a day instead of 1, and even on the days she only naps once, she is enjoying herself and not wanting to miss a minute of fun. In fact, I was told that she sometimes shouts loudly so that another kid will wake up and play with her. Interestingly enough, Derek shared with me last week that Dewi actually cried when she had to leave the daycare and not the other way around (which has only happened once since we started).

Dewi definitely looks happy in her new surroundings, and we're really happy that we chose to send her to this particular daycare. The teachers are all so sweet and patient. She has both Mandarin and English-speakigng teachers. The place is super clean and comfortable. She loves the other kids in her class, and they also have a pretty awesome menu of food that they prepare and feed their children. I'm pretty sure that in a D.C. daycare she wouldn't get to eat chicken porridge and kway tiao. In a few months, we hope to move off campus and into a nearby condo. Our plan is to still keep Dewi at this daycare, but we may have to see how things go. We're really getting settled here and are loving our new home.