Still going to bed late

JJ has been going to bed around 11pm. He can't fall asleep earlier than that. He used to go to bed around 930. His pattern was upset by the trip to Japan back in Oct. We still have not been able to push it back to normal.
He was running a lot in Japan so he may not be getting enough exercise back at home He goes to kids' club almost every day but the running there may be enough. We need to find more time to take him running. It used to be a lot easier before winter. Now, it's dark and cold.
Our evening exercise spot is now the mall where he can run around and plays to his heart content at Playtown when there aren't too many kids around.

JJ's way of saying NO

He has developed a new way of refusal.
Mummy says " Do you want to go the park?"
Parks are one of his fav places. But, sometimes, he just doesn't feel like going
JJ replies " What if I fell and hit my head? or "What if sand got into my shoes"? "What if bugs bit me?"

Is this a sign???

Just when we thought ...

An amazing event took place this morning. JJ woke up quietly, went down to the toilet downstair where his private toilet was located and took care of business. Gone was his signature wake up wailing and fuss. Man, we were impressed. Our boy had finally made it to the big league.

Then, as the day went on, our excitement waned and disappointment set in as he had 3 potty accidents. Our guess was that he did it deliberately because we were giving him enough attention. Daddy and Mummy were watching their fav. Japanese drama in spite of his strong protest. He kept proclaiming how uninteresting the drama was, telling us how scary some of the characters were (it was a trendy comedy), how unattractive the actresses were, yelling as the TV to tell the characters to go somewhere else, and demanding the TV be switched off.

I guess we were somewhat guilty and his behaviour ( if our guess was right) would put him in the feline category!

JJ's speech

JJ's fav. phrases - "This is mine", "Don't do it", "What are you doing?", "Don't touch"
As for Nihongo - " Yada", "Yatta", "oshiko". and many many regular conversational phrases.
Sometimes, JJ goes on a monologue that is mostly unintelligible and somewhat German sounding. We are looking forward to his proper English speeches.

The toy tree trunk at Playtown in Valencia Mall is one of his favourite stages on which he stands and proceeds to espouse his thoughts in an almost Hitlerish manner, and sometimes orders his parents around during the process.

It's just amazing to witness the contrast between his almost withdrawn demeanor for the first few min when he enters Kids' Club everyday and this dynamic and commanding presence.

Hansei Kai (Time Out)

Hansei Kai in garage as necessary. JJ had a taste of it. Now, it's a great deterence. Boundaries are still being tested. Rarely out of control though.

Road to pre-school

Mummy found a nice pre-school which offer child care and recreational activites just a few min walk from our house. 'Shooting Stars" is very new, nice and has good vibes. A family run biz with the owner living just across the street. JJ has been there twice already. Had a good time on both occasions. There are several rooms w/ different amenities for different purposes. Quite well run from what I could tell. Teachers are high energy and very friendly.

Mummy and Daddy both agree that it's good place for JJ to start pre-school, and to get some temporary babysiting relief since they have supervised play hours on most evenings of the week.

JJ needs to get more exposure to English. While we are not too concerned, it'd good for him to get more comfortable with it now that his Japanese has reached a pretty decent level for his age.

End in sight

JJ is making good progress on becoming diaper independent. We still need to mostly sit him down for the 'minor biz' but he does prompt us occasionally. Accidents happen but the frequency is going down. The 'major biz' though is very hit and miss. Hard to gauge the intervals like we do for the minor ones. Mostly luck at this point.

Mummy thinks we are half way through this gauntlet. Just a matter of time.

Daddy tries to time his 'biz' with JJ and does it the 'good old days' way - yes, sitting down, so JJ has real time support. Is this what they call a 'role model'???