First day at "school"

Last Saturday was the day in history where it was the first time my son gets to mingle around with a group of little rugrats in a playful environment. We enrolled Fahyim for a 45 minutes weekend playschool session at Gymboree Playschool in Bangsar Village and it was his first class.

I got my barney bag and my woody pony. Let's do this!

Frankly, I was quite impressed with his level of commitment and participation during the class given the fact that it was his first time and the habitual evidence of his resistance to abide orders. Fahyim finishes 80 percent of the activities instructed by the teacher without being forced. I was quite shocked with his proficiency to understand the English language conversed by the teacher. Well..I guess Pocoyo does help.. Haha.. There was a time when the teacher asked the parents to sing along to "Pop goes the Weasel". I was never a good nursery rhymer so that was a setback for me. I only know that particular line only - Pop Goes the Weasel and that's it ...Hehehehe.

The play class was compressed with approximately 10 songfull activities into 45 minutes.It is quite rushy if I were to comment. Most of the activities for Fahyim's level of age comprises the education about shapes with a mix of hand and eye coordination type of activities.

The settings and design of the place was very interesting for a kid of his age to wander around. They got those colorful slides, the swings, the tunnels and the play mat was one of the highest quality I've ever stepped on. So you wont be worried if your infant falls on it.

Aduhai..sapo plak nak kemas bola2 ni

I end up sweating like a pig chasing over Fahyim to guide him throughout the whole process. I never thought I paid money to burn calories here. My wife was laughing like a chimpanzee spectating his husbands armpits cries in vain. Next week will be her turn to participate and my turn to tease.

All in all, i'll be looking forward to see his progress next week. This first week he didn't make enough friends as he was so starstrucked by the amazing play area. He was busy climbing the slides and rolling on the floor rather than making friends.

Next week is going to be exciting for him. :)

Big ass feet with a big ass stamp

Gymboree Play & Music Bangsar Village

And so it goes..Fahyim is in the verge of reaching 18 months old. Take my word, this might probably be the naughtiest age range of a baby boy. It is so monstrous,strenuous,atrocious or whateverous you can call it. This disquietness of him running around like a headless chicken can conclusively cost you your back, your arm and maybe your waist.

I have been observing my child and try to read his character as many times as I could. He is a very friendly boy. He is not afraid to initiate contact with other babies particularly the bigger ones. Some kids are afraid of him because most of the time he is a bit rough when it comes to physical contact. He probably just wanted to hug the kids but end up clutching their attire or accidentally poked their cheeks.

Last week my wife and I had our normal lunch date at a restaurant in The Weld just opposite my office. The owner of the restaurant got a baby boy whose age range is similar to Fahyim. That kid is far different if to be compared with Fahyim. He is much more composed, disciplined and clever too. Karl Huzaimi is the name given to him. The kid response promptly to his mothers instructions all the time. When his mother asks him to "wave" or say "thank you", he's chances of responding is quite high. Unlike Fahyim, he will do so if he wants to or whenever he's in a superb mood. 

We went to Medan, Indonesia last week for a short holiday. If I remember correctly, a total of  5 shopping malls in 3 full days was successfully visited and my wife ended up buying only a pair of shoes because the kid's temperamental state was quite high whenever we are out of the hotel. He refuses to sit in the stroller and whines when we picked him up. This behavioral patterns sums up the next step that me and my wife should do to nurture him. He needs a bit of discipline and socializing for him to move forward.

My wife has been scouting some play schools that we might consider to enroll him on. We purposely extended our leave just to see this play gym in Bangsar Village which is 5 minutes away from our house. GYMBOREE PLAY & MUSIC is the name of the gym. We were impressed with the owners (Pn. Jasmine) ability to portray their services and how their programmes will benefit our little monster. She is well experienced in this line of business that she can easily identify the traits and facts of our child to 99 percent accuracy. In shock I was but later on I learn the curriculum vitae of this lady was beyond debate. 15 years in experience and runs a chain of 6 centres including 2 in Singapore. This brand was originated in the States and this lady was handed the master frachisor for Malaysian market. "No competitors" she claimed.

The programmes requires either one of the parents to be present during classes. It is merely to stimulate the lifelong bonding between parents and the child. My wife and I went for lunch and discussed about it. Did the maths and decided to enroll on a package that consists of 48 classes for 45 minutes each session. These classes includes play,art and music. From my point of view, anything that adds value to nurturing our child and has the best value for money, I'm all up for it. We paid MYR 2,780 for the package and so the journey begins!

T-shirt, membership card and other freebies which I'm too lazy to read.

In other words, from now on, I have to spend 45 minutes of my beautiful Saturday with Fahyim at school..no more in front of the TV. Hehehe..