My feisty girl

I can hardly recall how Z was like when he was one year old. From the photos, at this age, he was walking, downing his favorite Ribena, smiling, shaking his derriere with music. I don't remember him being aggressive with other people. Or is it because it there was no other people around?

R at one is saying at least 10 single words. She responds by pointing to my questions, eg "Where is the owl?". She draws my attention to her objects of interest, "ball ball" (which includes ball and balloon), "bear bear", "dog" (while signing furiously lol).

Recently, she understands more of her brother's behaviour. When Z wants to share her book, she protests loudly, pulls the book away, pushes Z with her head and, to my horror, bites him! When big bro wants a hug from mommy, she will climb to my lap and pulls his hair while vocalising loudly. She will not stop until she reclaims what is hers.

I can imagine the sibling war that is fast approaching. And I totally tip my hat to my mom and other mothers of her generation who had four or more children back to back. I can understand your constant exhaustion and annoyance now.

Sun catcher

Butterflies frolicking in my garden on a fine, sunny afternoon.

(Art project by Z and Z's Mommy. Please click here for more inspiration.)

Baby R - 1 year update

My baby girl will be 1 soon! It's simply unbelievable that she was a wiggly and chubby ball of cuteness mere months ago! Even though she is till the epitome of everything nice, she has grown so much. Sigh, my girl is so big now.

The most prominent feature of baby R must be her desire to communicate with the world around her. I still remember she vocalized and cooed to my (very impressed) mum at 5 weeks old. She would smile and coo to anybody who talked to her then. She started to babble "mum mum" when she turned 6 months old and actually meaning it when she was around 9 months old. It was "mum mum" whenever she saw we eating or drinking. And she really EATS!

I am much much more relaxed with the second baby. So, contrary to the big brother who first tasted adult food with all its yummy seasonings at 1 year old, she started eating rice and our table food at around 10 months old. She would happily sit on her high chair with pieces of vegetables, fruits, meat and bread, and indulge in messy fun.

I also am less prone to guide and teach her everything. Instead, she is encouraged to explore. She could climb three flights of stair at our home not long after she could cross crawl (around 9 months?). She cruises and stands with support now. I believe she will walk very soon.

Comparing with her brother, I seldom sit down and read through books after books, and sing songs after songs with her. We still read and sing, but it's very relaxed and less structured. With Z, I took my role as his first teacher very seriously!

It's a surprise that she still meets her milestones with so much more relaxed parenting on my side. She is able to speak 7 single words now (11 months 3 weeks old) - mama, papa, bao bao (carry), ball ball (ball), diao (fall down), deng (lamp), bear bear (teddy bear). Similar with Z, I also teach her sign language. So she is able to sign telephone, music, dog, lamp, teddy bear and fan.

She likes butterflies a lot. She would specifically look for butterflies in books and excitedly draw my attention to them. She would also ask me to flip the book to find "dog" through signing.

She may not be very verbal yet but she definitely understands more than she can express. She will understand instructions like "Come here", "Go ahead and play" (as she looks at me for permission before playing with her brother's toys lol!), "Mama carry you", "Let's go downstairs", "Papa is home" (she will turn to the door).

R is a sociable baby. She takes to new environment and new faces relatively easily. She still sleeps with me, breastfeeding a few times through the night. During the day, she grazes throughout her waking hours and breastfeeds at least 4 times.

Like any siblings, Z and R fight over toys a lot, sigh. There are also a lot of pushing and shoving, not only from the big brother but the little sister also stands up for herself a lot by pulling Z's hair and headbutting him. Tired from refereeing aside, I can imagine her growing up to be a strong and independent woman. Double cheers from the mom!

My darling R, my answered prayer, may God bless you in your coming years. May you continue to be healthy and lovable. May you grow up to be a blessing to the world. Mommy love you lots!

Update on Z's play school

Children are more resilient than we thought.

I started to leave my son at school alone last week. Starting from slightly less than an hour to 1.5 hours, he has surpassed my expectation.

We talked about him playing at school alone over a few days then when the day finally came, he panicked. I spent about an hour with him and said goodbye, promising to buy his favourite food. I closed the school gate hurriedly, fearing that he would see my tears. He struggled in the teacher's arms and screamed, "Open the gate! Open the gate! Faster!!" I was heartbroken. I doubted if I did the right thing. I couldn't stop my tears when I walked to my car. That was the longest one hour in my life.

When I returned, he was playing puzzles with a teacher. Even though he was quiet, he was not distraught. In fact, he was so proud that he stayed at school alone (though only for a little under 1 hour), he talked about his 'bravery' again and again :P

Separation on the following day was still difficult but again, he looked calm and happy when I returned. Teachers commented that he followed instructions really well and was very cooperative.

On the third session, he followed the teacher willingly and waved goodbye to me after we hugged. No drama and no tears. I was so proud of him!

We are pleasantly surprised to say the least! Z has been very clingy since young. Even until now, he insists on staying in a same room with me ALL THE TIME. We didn't expect him to make this giant leap so soon.

After transitioning Z to school, it's R's turn soon. We plan to send R to half day play school when she turns two as she seems more independent. Then, I shall continue the second leg of my working life. Eek, it's so novel and exciting, I can hardly wait!

Car track painting

Like any male Homo Sapiens, my son is crazy about wheeled vehicles. Car. Fire engine. Bus. Digger. Bulldozer. You name it. So he was delighted when I introduced car track painting to him!

Prepare some paint and toy cars. Dip the wheels in the paint and you are good to go.

Here comes garbage truck and its colourful wheels.

16-wheel trailer coming through!

Fire engine to the rescue.

 

It is amazing to see him immerse in his world of art and wheels. He spent a long time creating his work, asking for paper again and again. This mommy is glad that he had a vrooming good time!

First time to school

3.5 year-old Z finally went to school a month ago.

As he stayed at home with me for the past 3+ years, we thought that it would be good to acclimatize him to a school gradually. Hopefully, he will be ready for kindergarten next year.

So, he has been going to a play school half day, 3 times a week for the past one month. The faithful mom, our maid and the baby sister kept him company.

Why the crowd, you might ask. Because we don't have any family members around to accompany him and he simply rejects going to school with the maid. I only want Mommy, says the little boss. Since the baby sister and the Mommy are in a symbiotic (read: breastfeeding) relationship, she has to come too. The maid? She carries the baby when Mommy is busy and soothes the wailing baby in her car seat.

The play school is very fun! It is play based which is something I want, with tonnes of toys scattered around its perimeter, a sandpit, pool, playground equipment, various art and craft resources. Aside from circle time, bible story and pre-reading classes, the children just play, play and play!

So far, Z loves the school. He especially loves the teacher "with yellow hair" (the supervisor has blond hair). He has also made progress in the last few weeks at school from showing a poker face and ignoring everyone else to playing with the children there (for 10 minutes ha!) and waving bye bye to the teachers without prompting. Nothing much to brag about maybe but a big deal for Z if you know him.

Zhe has been a very clingy and cautious child since babyhood. He takes to new things and new people veeery slowly. Routines are important to him. To give you an example, he HAS to go to ToysRus after church and have lunch in a particular shopping mall EVERY Sunday. To disrupt his routine would result in protests and long negotiation.

After spending a month at the play school, this mommy is fatigued with all the cheery songs, baby wailing (my own, due to no nap in the morning), 'unproductiveness' and a subtle sense of overstaying my welcome. Friends and teachers have been urging me to start leaving Z at school slowly, starting with an hour. Ooh, to think about the glorious mornings at home with only one child - no fighting for toys, no pushing and shoving - I am tempted. And of course, our goal is to leaving him at school for formal education ultimately. So we should probably start from somewhere.

I talked to Z many times about playing at school alone and he gave me mixed responses. Normally, he would cheerfully agree then quickly change his mind on the way to school.

No matter, I will try again tomorrow. I foresee tears and a long argument after. Bumpy road ahead, hold on tight!