Amber started attending Hoikuen (daycare) a week before turning 8 months old. Too early and young. In all honesty, it was not easy for me. That constant guilt of whether I did the right thing or did it make me less of a mother to her. I went through that phase but as soon as I saw that she had adjusted quite fast than expected, i began to console myself that everything will be alright.
We used the carrier on the way to her school until Autumn.
Having lived in 3 countries, she learned a few words from 2. Most words, as typical for baby words, are repetitive and pronounced incoherently.
The day before her last, her teachers gave us a letter written in English. Beyond touch, I am. Framed and now hangs next to my Ikea hexagon mirrors. True story.
Here is a list of words we heard from her lately (grouped according to source):
The Repeaters
Poo poo (poop), Play play, Bye bye (goodbye), Big big, Chu chu (train), Wee wee (to pee, peed), Bugga bugga (a tree or leaves), Broom broom (toy car / car).
From sensei and tomodachi
Oishii (delicious), Kaku (to be carried), Yada (no!), Abunai (dangerous), Dagai should be 'nagai'. It means 'long', Ippai (many), An punch - to punch. Based on anpanman cartoons, Wan wan (dog), Nyan nyan (cat), Hait (yes), Nani? (what?).
Lingua franca
Toys, Book, Eyplen (airplane), feet, Hands, Eat, Pepol (purple), Dewash (girraffe), Panda, Bebe car, Gin (green), Odenj (orange), White, Black, Pink, Blue, Red, Cook, Food, Moon, Binbow (rainbow), and others I forgot.
On a sad note, Amber (or Sophia in school) had her last day at Takasudai-2 Hoikusho yesterday (6 Feb). I was not able to fetch her and say my farewells to her teachers and friends but T was there to represent us both.
さいしゅう日。 おともだちやせんせいといっぱいあそんで。たのしですね。 ありがとうございました, たかすだい2 ほいくしょうりすぐみ。 Last Day It was fun playing a lot with teachers and friends. Thank you very much Takasudai-2 Hoikusho, Squirrel section. |
Her teachers gave her a certificate, a class photo, and some crafty gifts. That's one of the many things I admire in Japanese schools, they don't spoil the children with new stuff. Of course, they have a lot of toys to play with in school but gifts or prizes, all are arts and crafts. And they are not ordinary artworks, really clever crafts that even had me thinking 'how come i never thought of that?'
Exhibit 1: Amber's 1st birthday card
Exhibit 2: Amber's 2nd birthday card
I am now starting to miss Amber and her school. It was a very a difficult schedule to keep that had been often the cause of our tardiness at work. There was just too many things to do with too litte time. I was fortunate that mine is lenient and forgiving with this case, while T was the opposite. We've come to accept the outcome and have long moved on. In fact, I am a little excited in spite of one musketeer's (that would be me) absence of the happenings from here onwards because every thing we have been hoping for will materialise. Time has come indeed.
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