The mom took Owen to have his routine check few weeks back, as usual, the check starts with the measurement. The result is somewhat interesting… based on some stats, I can easily draw a simple conclusion, Owen will be (at least for now) a very smart guy, why? because his 75% percentile of head size vs 25% percentile of weight size, i.e. a big head on a small body.

No doubt, we still have a large upside to fill without worrying about having an overweighted Owen.

Praise and thank God - I prayed for Owen on Monday and asked that God help him adjust to the new routine and the new nanny/surrounding. His nanny and I already had a contingency plan (I would come back at 2pm to pick him up if he refuse to drink or eat by then), but God answered my prayers and helped our little angel eat and drink! When I called at noon to check up on him, I was ecstatic to hear that he made such huge progress! He had also stopped crying for the most part, and was starting to observe the new environment!

It’s truly amazing how adaptable kids are - by Thursday, when the nanny greeted us in the morning and held out her hands, Owen reached over for her to hold and did not cry at all when I left! Both the nanny and myself were pleasantly surprised and were so happy that he had adjusted so quickly! By Thursday and Friday, whenever I call, the nanny would tell me that Owen was happily doing this and that. He also has been eating pretty well. Having taken after his Daddy though, he doesn’t like eating the same food twice in a row, so he is starting to resist eating the leftovers from previous night’s dinner (we all bring leftovers for lunch the next day since I don’t have time to cook “fresh” lunch in the morning in addition to preparing the breakfast). So now I have make a special extra meal for our little prince every weekday - he had better treat me well when he grows up! ;P

We used to have to worry about Owen eating every day since he would eat well one day and very little the next - however, since I’ve discovered a secret weapon, we no longer fret over meals since if he doesn’t eat well during dinner, I would just wait an hour before trying again, this time while he’s watching Little Fox flash songs. He’s so absorbed in these songs that he would probably eat rubber if you feed it to him (haha, of course that is just an exaggeration, but he truly eats everything you feed him until he is actually full, then he will say “done”). For those who are interested, Little Fox is a Korean company that made hundreds of popular childrens’ songs into Flash intended for children 3-12 to learn English(http://www.iselong.com/online/Flash_Songs_For_Kids/LittleFox/index.htm). Their drawings are REALLY colorful and cute, and since they move, Owen absolutely adores these songs! Just take a look at how intense he’s staring at the screen whenever he is watching/listening to these songs (for this reason, we only limit him to max of 30 mins a day - almost exclusively during mealtimes only)!

Technically, it’s not really a preschool, since Owen is far away from kindergarten, but it is the first time he will be cared for outside of our home. Grandparents Yao are going back to China next Monday, and although praise and thank God we found the ideal caretaker for him (an experienced mom of 3 in her 30’s who has a degree in child development who is bilingual, and who would only be taking care of a max of 3 boys - her 2.5 yr son, Owen, and another boy who would only be part-time), we had to wait until this week to get Owen acquainted with her.

We decided to take Owen to the caretaker’s home just mornings this week to somewhat ease Owen into the routine. Frankly, I was REALLY worried and anxious about dropping him off this week since Owen has very strong stranger anxiety (first reaction when he sees any strangers in our house - even if they are not even attempting to touch him - is to cry).

So on Monday, I stayed with him during the 2 hours we were there….during the first 30 mins to an hour, he would not leave my side since he realized that it was a new environment. I quickly came to realize that I need to “disappear” in order to force him to adjust, so while he was temorarily mesmerized by the other kids, I sneaked away upstairs. Our caretaker swiftly took over the pacifying when Owen realized that I was gone and started crying. To my surprise, it was very brief. He quickly got sidetracked by other activities, for the next hour or so, would only cry when he periodically remembered Mommy, and cried for me, “mama, mama” but then again would be distracted by other things very soon.

So yesterday, I did not stay long before I was “shoo”ed away from the caretakeer…she took him aside and said that I could go, and that he would cry only briefly. As hard as it was to see him cry, I know it’s a stage he has to go through, so I left as instructed. A later call to the caretaker reassured me that Owen was indeed happily going about his business. ;P When I picked him up yesterday noon, it was the cutest thing; I saw him as soon as I made the turn onto the street since the caretaker was holding him standing in the driveway and he was not crying, yet as soon as she pointed to my car coming down the street and he recognized my car and me, he started crying! It was as if he wanted to tell me how much he missed me! The same thing happened today when his Daddy dropped him off.

The only catch now is that Owen is very cautious - he won’t eat or drink anything from someone who he doesn’t trust yet. So…he has still yet to eat or drink something that the caretaker gives him (even if it’s a food or drink that he usually loves). Our guess - and hope - is that by next week, when he will be there for the entire day, he will have no choice but to eat/drink due to hunger/thirst.