December 2011 updates - 21 months old

December is a busy month for us. Mommy was so busy preparing the learning materials for me during the first half of the month and I was busy learning and playing too. I started to like my "learning room" and will walk in there and tell mommy "learn learn"...But I don't stay there for too long unless I can play water inside (montessori activity - pouring water from cups to cups).

Now when I see the world map, I will also point at the map and said "ding dong"..the way tweedle wink introduce us the country on the big wall map.

I like tweedle wink "jie jie" but I don't really like the classroom. I find the subjects that they taught are not interesting. I kept wanting to go out and play with the toys outisde. Mommy has to constantly pull me back to focus on the teacher/tv again. I made mommy more and more stressful each lesson as I am too familiar with the environment there and hence has no respect over the teacher and classroom. So, mommy decided to stop me because she feels that it is too young for me to focus on the subjects presented and some learning materials, she can prepare at home and learn it at home too. So, this month is the last month of me attending Tweedle Wink. I think I will miss the jie jie there...:(

Daddy brought us to a big swimming pool (Pusat Akuatic Shah Alam) on the first Sunday of December. It is my first time stepping into a public pool. I love it...I love water since young. Mommy bought me a simple swimming suit last minute at the sports shop there. Daddy earlier wanted to bring us to Shah Alam Wet World but it was too crowded, so we ended up in Pusat Akuatic Shah Alam. I wanted to step into the pool the minute I saw the swimming pool. I was not afraid at all. Later mommy put me into a float and I enjoyed kicking in the pool on my own. Kor kor was having lots of fun too. Daddy didn't get into the pool. It was mommy all the while accompanying me inside the pool.


When it was time to leave, I refuse to leave the swimming pool. I was screaming and crying and still wanted to be inside. It was not easy to get me out of the pool. Mommy then bathed me outside the shower area and the water was cold... Finally I managed to calm down when daddy offered me bun. I was super tired after the water playing session and slept on the way back.

We also went to Melaka on the 2nd weekend of December. Daddy brought us to the beach but this time I refused to step foot onto the sandy beach. Mommy was carrying me down the car and she suddenly just place me down the sandy beach without giving me any warning or preparation and I suddenly got a shock of the soft feelings on my feet. From then, I refused to be put down. Poor daddy has to carry me all the time. I was having a good time in Melaka performing my tricks to my grandparents and grandaunties. I started eating adult rice when I was in Melaka. Since mommy did not prepare a special meal for me, so I eat what grandma cooked or what the adults eat..and I LOVE it..I love adult food..it was just so tasty..I ate fried rice, I ate rice with fish and vege, I also ate chicken rice. Yummy...yummy... from then on, mommy decided to let me have rice as my main meal since I totally rejected porridge after this trip. So, it marks a new milestone for me in this month that I started eating rice and adult food.


I also like to wear adult shoes..like kor kor the last time..I was walking around in adult shoes in Melaka and I was also trying to do that back home.


Mommy has been wanted to give us a sand pit but our garden is not big. In mid December, mommy get to know that Mothercare is selling the sand for 30% discount and immediately she ordered 2 packets and another 4 packets for yi yi SY. She filled it up in my sensory box and yeah..I can play with sand now..I love playing with sand more than the small pebbles earlier on. Even kor kor and mommy also like to play with it..


Then came this day daddy took a day off and brought us out to The Gardens. Mommy said it was their marriage registration anniversary. Mommy looked happy that day and she brought us to a place and I suddenly saw a big "Octopus" and I wanted to go in..mommy and daddy were standing at the counter for some time and I just couldn't wait..I lung myself there and wanted to go in..When they tried to bring me away, I started crying out loud. I just want to go in and play..I was crying and insisting to go in..no choice, daddy saw me like that, he just bought the ticket for kor kor and myself to go in and have fun. Wow...I just love the place..so much fun..there have something like a pool and I can walk and jump on top of the water..then I saw some balls on the floor and I pick it up and went to a ball pool. I spent some time there and I was totally enjoying myself in the ball pool. I then explored the place a bit more and I refused to leave when daddy sounded it was time to go. I was holding the ball in my hands and refuse to give back when we exit the place.



Daddy said I am such a playful girl, know to demand for "fun" thing. Last time kor kor was not like that and he was not demanding at all but I am totally different. Daddy said I might ended up a "high maintenance" girl next time..whatever I want, I will sure get it...


Then came the Christmas. Well, I don't really know what Christmas is and I don't really bother what "present" is too... I just know that mommy's friend came to our house on the eve of the day and I saw 2 kor kors playing with my kor kor. The next day, I saw there are many colourful boxes lying below the christmas tree..I love the ball ball hanging on the christmas tree..mommy tried to ask me to open the present but I was not interested in those colourful boxes. Kor kor ended up opened it all for me. Once it was opened, I will fight to play with it. I like the puppy dog from mommy..it can walk and bark. I just like animals...Another present that I like is the pushing aeroplane given by Aunty SL. I like to push it around and it has "ding ding ding" sound.


Next few days, mommy took out some paint for me to play..I enjoyed playing with it. However, there was this finger paint that we needed to put our finger in there and paint with our finger. I don't want to get messy and dirty. I just instructed mommy to do it and I refused to put my own fingers in...

This month I also saw my yi yi a few times..yi yi SS and her family. I also met my maternal grandparents once and my paternal grandparents a few times. I am not so afraid of strangers nowadays and willing to play with them. Just that I don't simply allow anyone to carry me.

Mommy finally decided to cut my fringe few days before the year end. She has been wanted to cut it but daddy doesn't allowed. Though I look prettier with my long fringe, it has blocked my eye sight and looked a bit messy if I don't pin it up or tie it up. So, mommy took out the courage and gave me a nice hair cut..Look..what do you think? Mommy and myself were kind of like it..


I am more cheekier nowadays and know how to "prolong" my bedtime. I will bully mommy by requesting her to read books after another, then laze around on the big bed and hide my legs when she wants to put the "sleeping bag" on me. I will not accept the pacifier because once I accepted, it means I have to go to sleep now. Mommy said I am getting smarter and smarter...

However in the car, I will request for pacifier and once I have my pacifier, I will quietly sit in the car. Mommy finds the pacifier very useful in car rides but sometimes she forgotten to bring it out for a short car ride, I will kept asking for it and started to throw tantrums if I don't get it.

I still like to fight with kor kor whatever he is playing or having. I know kor kor loves me a lot and he will sure give in to me. But mommy said she needs to start discipline me already wor..:( She said I cannot keep on bullying kor kor like this...

Nowadays I like to go out..when I see anyone going out, I will want to follow too. I will say "kai-kai kai-kai". When I see mommy, I will leech to her and want her to carry me.

I love to climb stairs...not climb..walk up and down the stairs. I also like to sit at the staircase.

I love to eat raisins and cranberries. I love oranges too.

Mommy sent me for my last booster jab this month. The minute I entered the doctor room and saw the doctor, I started crying. The doctor took my measurement and said that my weight is below average, my height is above average and the best is my head circumference, average..But the doctor said I am fine. I developed some fever after the jab and later recovered from it.

I ended 2011 with some mild cough and cold. I have not recovered from it yet.

Overall, I am a happy 21 month old toddler and started to show signs of terrible two. Tantrum is a new word to me and I started to have it too. Here, I wish everyone a happy new year.

Eating rice & hold my own milk bottle..

2 major milestones that I have achieved in my 21 month old, before the arrival of 2012...

1) Eating rice..
Yes, mommy have started me on rice since 3 weeks back, after we came back from Melaka. I rejected porridge and even fish. So mommy gave me adult food in Melaka and I seems to love it. So from then on, I have started eating adult food and having rice and noodles for my main meal.

2) Holding my own milk bottle..
About 2 weeks back, I started to request to hold my own bottle. So, now mommy will place me on top of a pillow and pass me the milk bottle. I then can finish the milk on my own. Yet, at times, I am a bit lazy and wanted to be fed. So, mommy will still help me at times...

Mommy is proud of the milestones that I have achieved...

Week 3,4 & 5 - Transportation Week

Yes, our second theme is "Transportation". We extented this theme to 3 weeks or maybe even more because we are a bit slack in learning in this month due to the coming festive season mood and holidays. It has an on and off learning and mommy tried to stretch it longer, so that I can pick up more.

Look at the materials mommy has prepared for me. The country that I am learning is "DR of the Congo" and the world language is "French".



The montessori activities that I have been doing.



Toys related to cars, trains, aeroplanes, trucks and tractors, boats are all displayed in my open shelves play area for my access.


I also play Thomas train set. Another game related to transportation theme is I sat in an empty box and kor kor pushes me around. It was fun fun fun and kor kor was so tired pushing me around and mommy has to be push me till she gave up too.


Mommy also prepared a sand box for us and she dump in some construction vehicles as part of the learning opportunity.


Kor kor also benefited from this theme as he enjoyed playing the toys with me and he learnt a few new words too.

What I have learnt in this theme..

New words - aeroplane, ambulance, police car, truck, boat.
Words that I already know - car, train, bicycle, motorbike.
Words need to emphasise - helicopter, ship, bus, tractor, lorry, van.

We will be taking a short break before the next theme get started in 2012. Mommy has been busy with the festive celebration and has yet to prepare the materials for me. So, stay tuned for my next learning theme.

"Guitar"..

@ 1 year 9 months 1 week and 3 days old

This evening when everyone was watching "The Sound of Music", I was moving around the hall and playing with my toys. Suddenly the tv showed the scene where the governess was teaching the children to sing "Do Re Mi" at the open field, I spotted the guitar that she was playing and I shouted it out loud "guitar".



Mommy was surprised that I can recognise the "guitar". Everyone was amazed. Mommy knew that I must have learnt it from the flash card but she didn't realise how fast I pick it up and show it to us. It's amazing, mommy claimed...So, don't underestimate us toddler, ok??

A day out to Ikea and aunty SL's house

I don't know what day is this but mommy told me we are going kai kai this morning. I was excited and asked for shoe shoe and go out...though I was already so sleepy (past my nap time)..

I fell asleep in the car and when I woke up, we have reached the shopping place. We then proceeded to a place called Ikea and I saw many children playing ball ball inside...so many balls...immediately I said "WOW..." It looks like those I saw in the you tube...I was looking at them for a good 30 mins...

Mommy then fed me lunch there but I wasn't too keen with the food..it was fried rice..Then mommy brought me shopping..I didn't see kor kor after that...

Mommy then put on a hat for me..and I posed for her..I posed a few more with different hats..I played with some of the dolls, soft animals there..



We then later went down I saw kor kor again.. I was a bit cranky and I wanted to go down and walk..I kept asking for shoe shoe but mommy didn't give it to me, so I cried and whined. We then found a place at the checkout counter and mommy fed me some fried rice..again, I didn't show great interest. Then we left Ikea.

We then reached someone's house. It was raining so heavily. Apparently, it was Aunty SL's house. I wasn't afraid at all and started playing not long after. I played cooking and I love riding the small yellow car. I chase all the kor kors there. I was having a great time there.

I don't know how long we were there. I was a bit tired..then mommy put me in the car and said going to kai kai again. I fell asleep again in the car. I was asleep in the stroller for about 2 hours (when everyone was having dinner) and finally woke up at 9pm. It was time to go home by then.

After reached home around 10pm, mommy bathed me and I started reading all the books in my room. I wasn't sleepy at all. By 11pm, mommy asked kakak to take care of me while she went to shower. Kakak tried to put me on bed at 11.15pm. Though I didn't reject but I just couldn't fall asleep. I stood up few times and asked to be carried. Mommy came in twice to carry me..and until now..at 12.24am..I am still wide awake..but I am getting sleepy now..so..good night everybody... I had a good time today...

Learning journey - Week 1 & 2 Fruits

It is a theme based learning. We started our first lesson with the theme - Fruits, for the first 2 weeks. Every 2 weeks, mommy will change the theme.

What do we cover in our approx 1 hour learning corner?

1. Montessori Activity.
2. Flash cards - picture cards, word cards, chinese word cards.
3. Sensory box - learning opposites
4. A few selected books
5. Shichida activities
6. tracing alphabets
7. drawing & colouring
8. Countries & World Language (follow TW lesson)
9. Matching with real objects.
10. Play - sing song, movement, mirror...puppets..

Seems a lot, right but each activity only takes a short time, except the montessori, sensory box or drawing activities...Overall, I spend around 1 hour to complete all the activities above. I have short attention span, so I move over to next activity very fast. Certain days, I skip some activities too. I love the montessori activity the MOST and will attack this first when I walk into the room.

Let's see what I did for the theme "fruits"..The photos below taken in 3 separate days.

Day 1
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Sorting pom-poms and puppet show time for eye exercise. I love the bunny and try to catch and hug it.


Sensory box - Learning "inside" & "outside" by using toy apple & orange.
Drawing & scribbling..

Day 2
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Sorting and picking up pom-poms using tongs.

Scoping & pouring water..

Cleaning up - Wiping the floor after pouring the water..

Puppets show time for eye exercise..using props like apple & orange..

Senses time - experiencing real fruits by seeing, touching, smelling and tasting it. I get to eat and taste the fruits at the end of the class. I also did matching of the real fruits to the pictures cards mommy persented to me.


Mirror play - showing all kind of expressions.

Tasting grapes..

Day 3
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Sorting out pom poms using ladle. Puppet showing time presenting pom poms.

Reading out the TW material.

Learning Greece..


Recognising Greece flag. Locating where Greece is and looking at the map of Greece

At the same time, mommy plays Greece national anthem, counting 1-10 in Greek, saying A-Z in Greek, common greetings in Greek, a few Greek children songs, Greek traditional songs, Greek traditional music in the background for my exposure.

Mommy tried not to take too many photos as everytime she took out the camera, I was attracted to it and will leave the activity that I am playing. Mommy needs to focus on me too.

New words that I picked up in this theme - Kiwi, grapes, lemon, grapefruit..
We will continue learning more about fruits and mommy will continue letting me feel and taste different type of fruits, though we are going to conclude our "fruit" theme soon..

So, our next theme will be....stay tune...

My learning corner

Since mommy discovered my learning ability, she decided to set up a learning corner for me to enhance my learning journey. She was "WISHING & WISHING" that we can have an extra room to turn into a learning & play room for me..unfortunately our place is limited. She has to make do with whatever empty space we have and turned it into a "tiny" learning corner for me.

She wanted a quiet area, so that I can concentrate and focus while I am learning. So, she decided to make use of the guest room as a learning room for me. She lined up a row of learning activities at the side and will guide me through each activity. I will post more of the learning activities in my next post. Here I am showing you my first setup of the learning corner. In fact, now mommy has added more things in the learning corner and will post it up once she has time to take the picture.

THe pictures below showed the learning activities that she has prepared for me for the first and second week, theme - "Fruits".

Starting Tweedle Wink..

@ 1 year 8 months 1 week and 2 days old..by mommy..

Call me a kiasu mom..yes, we enrolled Isabel to Twiddle Wink last week. It has never come to my mind that I needed to send Isabel to any enrichment centres/ schools at such an early age.

When Darren was at this age, I "homeschooled" him by teaching him myself and brought him to playgroups. I didn't see the reason why I needed to send him "outside" to learn while the mommy here can do a little bit teaching here and there for him..(I am not a teacher by profession and I was doing it trial and error..more for my own fun learning togethter with him..) It was until I conceived Isabel and have no energy to continue the "teaching" part and he was already 3.5 years old, only then we decided to send him to nursery.

But Isabel is totally differnt. First of all, I don't have the luxury to spend so much time with her. Sad to say that I hardly spend any "quality time" with her. Everyday to me is rushing and rushing, just to handle their basic needs, for 2 kids. Honestly I feel bad, but I really couldn't bring out the energy, motivation and time.

Surprisingly, despite the very little "teaching" time I have for her, she is learning fast...on her own, especially this 2 months. Probably due to her improvement in speech development (or maybe ipad), she mastered A-Z, 1-10, major body parts (even eyebrow), colours, shapes, animals + pets and other day to day items on her own. I am amazed...all of us are amazed...

Only then, I realised that if I don't continue tapping on this potential of hers, it will be a waste. She is really like a sponge. She is absorbing information every minute and she is learning fast. I don't want to waste this golden opportunity of hers to learn more things, important skills and lifelong skills.

Then, right brain training came to my mind. Surveyed a few and Shichida needs 6-9 months waiting period. I don't want to waste this 6-9 monts of hers, so we chose Twiddle Wink. We attended their workshop and there and then, we signed her up.

It is expensive...very expensive I think..but this is something that we can provide her at this age as this is the golden period for her to train her right brain. Once she reached 6-7years old, no matter how rich you are also, the effect will not be as good as now. This is the best time for right brain training.

It was a "stressful" decision. Of course hubby strongly supported this decision. It was me, that wonders..is it worth it? However, we never know if we don't try it out. I don't have the skills and materials to do it myself, I also don't have the knowledge to do it too. So, we have to let other people earn the money lor. Anyway, it was a good mother daughter bonding time too.

So, Isabel attended her first lesson this week and I was proud to say that she is responding well to it. Luckily we brought her there last week and she has already familiarised with the environment. So, she has no fear when we first reached there. She even called the teacher "jia jia". Hahaha...so cute of her...

Though I still need to always attract her attention back to the teacher and tv, it was not that bad after all. She will do some of the activities, then started to roam around again. She especially likes the animal stickers on the wall and kept saying "elephant, jifaff (girrafe), jibra (zebra)". She also likes the barney outside the play area. She tried many times going to the door and wanted to go out and look for the Barney.

Overall, we still manage to get her attention when needed and one thing good about her (mommy feels proud of her) is she is willing to give back the "item" and help put back into the box after the activity is finished. She will not want to hold it on and refuse to give back.

She is definitely very happy there. She has fun exploring the place. Though I felt very tired after the session, it is worth it. Firstly, that 1 hour is a very productive bonding time for us; secondly, it gives me motivation to spend more time teaching Isabel at home. (I am setting up a learning area for Isabel in the guest room). I am learning too and I intend to teach Darren using the same information too.

Well, hope that this program will benefit Isabel and make the money well spent. I still think it is really expensive..

I cannot accept "NO", "CANNOT" and "SCOLD" and "HIT HIT"..

@ 1 year 8 months 1 week and 1 day old

Since about a week ago, I cannot accept the word "No..no..", "cannot", "scold" and "hit hit", though the person who delivered this word to me has no intention in scolding or lecturing me.

Mommy said I am a bit way too sensitive. Sometimes it is just a soft warning of "No no..Isabel", my crocodile tears will immediately emerged from my eyes and the drama will begin. Not to mention it is not easy to calm me down after that.

Drama Queen, mommy think of me..maybe I "over-react" with those words, but I really don't like to hear it. So, now everyone has to be very careful in their speech, to avoid those "sensitive" words...especially in the public...

Well, I am a girl..I entitle to be a bit more "manja", "sensitive" and "over-react", isn't it?

A detailed 20 months milestones updates

It has been a long time since I updated Isabel's milestones. She has grown up so much till that I find it hard to keep track of her milestones monthly. Let's see what she has been up to today...

Sleep
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1. She is sleeping better this month. She has stopped midnight feed. If she wakes up in the middle of the night, usually I just need to carry her, comfort her a while or give her the pacifier and put her down and she will sleep again. I can say that she has started sleeping through the night in her 19 months. (keeping fingers crossed)

2. Proud to say that she is still sleeping on her own in her own room now.

3. I am putting her in a sleeping sack during night time(thanks mil to sew one for me), so that she cannot climb out from the playpen when she wakes up. She can climb up the playpen now and had been very adventurous with that.

4. She likes to hug her soft toys to sleep at night. It can be her minnie, mickey, pooh bear, or bear bear and now she has a new doll doll. She also has her 2 favourite bolsters.

5. Her normal sleeping time range from 9.30pm to 10.30pm and wakes up between 8.00am to 9.00am. Her first nap will be 11.30am - 12pm and wakes up latest by 2pm. Second nap starts around 5pm - 5.30pm and wakes by latest by 7pm. Her nap lasts around 1.5 to 2 hrs each. We will wake her up if she didn't wake up the time she supposed to. But lately she has started waking up as early 7.15am. Usually I will give her morning feed at this hour and most of the time she will sleep again till 8am+.

6. When she wakes up in the morning, she likes to laze around in the room/on the big bed for a while. Then slowly, she will venture to the floor and laze on the floor and later starts playing with her toys in the room. She likes to lie on big pillow. Certain days, she likes to sleep on the big bed. SHe likes to lie on kor kor's bed every time she gets into our room.



Eat
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1. Didn't like her food but love adults food. Still doesn't like porridge and needs fish on EVERY meal. She also like to spit out the porridge like a process machine. Need to put on her favourite show, then she will eat nicely. SHe will spit out any chunky part of the food and I still need to blend her porridge for easy feeding.

2. She can finish a bowl of porridge and a big slice of fish every meal. Her porridge contains at least 2-3 times of vegetables (green and orange colour) with ikan bilis soup. Daddy fillet the fish for her.

3. She started on babies tit bits this month and we also start letting her try on a variety of adults food like fried rice, noodles, fries.

4. She likes fruits. Especially orange and apple and banana. She will look for hubby for fruits every evening after our dinner time. Her eyes are very sharp and her nose is very sensitive. She can see/sense that Darling is taking out fruits from the kitchen while she is playing or can smell if Darling is peeling orange and will run to him pastering for "oran..oran...".

5. I have started introduce her "misua" with soup this month. She seems to accept it well. I need to slowly introduce her a variety of "grown up" food soon.

6. She loves bread. Whenever she sees bread, she will want to eat it. She also loves raisins. Honestly, I have not been adventurous with her in food as she is so fussy with her main meal, that I stopped exploring her with other food that has strong taste. I am afraid she will rejects her plain porridge more once she has tasted other food.

7. Most of her teeth is out, except the lower and upper Canine. However, I can see that it is growing and has already cut through her gum. I am not sure her 2nd molar has out or not but if I remember correctly, it seems like out already.



Play
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1. She is one playful girl. Her favourite playmate is her brother. She plays very wild with her brother. She is one "monkey see, monkey do" - just follow what the kor kor does and try to do it on her own. Example, kor kor jumps, she attempt to jump too even though she has not mastered the jumping skill yet. Kor kor lie down on the floor, she will do the same. Kor kor dance, she will dance too. She is very happy when she is her kor kor and even happier when the kor kor started running because she will start chasing after him and mommy will have to scream (usually at the kor kor) to stop them from running.

2. She loves to play ball, puzzles and bubbles. She is good in fixing wooden puzzles. She loves to draw too (learn from kor kor).

3. She can stack the wooden blocks (she will count 1,2,3.up to 5) or lego blocks like a tower.

4. She started some pretend play with her doll doll like feeding them milk or food.

5. She can play better without kor kor around. She can play on her own for some time without our help. But with kor kor around, she will usually disturb him, fight toys with him and just run around with him.

6. She loves playing her iPad. She can handle the iPad very well, selecting her games, choose her songs/videos in youtube and navigating the screen.

7. I allocate one session of structure play time with her in my room everyday.



Speech
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1. Improved a lot in her speech this month. She has started saying 2 syllabus words and starting to form 2 words sentences like

- I do, I play, I see, I take..
- never mind, good morning, thank you, eye brow

2. She can tell me "ng ng" or "shit shit" after she has passed her motion. SHe will point to her belly button or naked body and say "shame shame". She will say "share share" if wanted something from someone else. "She will say "mum mum" when she wants to eat. She will say "bathe bathes" when I take off her clothes and lead her to the washroom. She can say "walk walk" if she wants to come down from stroller or tricycle. She will say "milk milk" if she wants milk. Basically she starts to convey her message through speech.

3. She can say other words like "chair, park, pants, iPad, princess, halo, bye, bread, drink, kai kai, fish, drop, hoorey, pretty, dirty, ball, bubbles, baby, mommy, daddy, kor kor, gong gong, aunty, uncle, grandma, grandpa, poh poh, jia jia, mei mei, di di, book, nice, play, phone, doll doll, bear bear, hat, tacle (spectacle), tiker (tickle), geli, itchy, bite bite, cream, milk, apple, oran (orange), star, quare(square), shoe, berd (bird), dog, cat, number 1-12, most of the alphabets........(can't recall all)

Intellecture
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*what I mean "know" here is she can actually it out.

1. She knows 1-10.

2. She knows 90% of the alphabets. Sometimes some of our hair drop on the floor and form a shape like an alphabet, she will point to us and tell us it is a c or g or s.

3. She knows shapes like square, star, triangle, circle.

4. She knows colours like red, blue, green and yellow.

5. She knows the body parts like, eye, nose, mouth, ear, eye brow, hair, head, hand, leg, belly button (she calls this "shame shame").

6. When we go to car park, she will point at the pillar and read to us the numbers or alphabets that printed on it. When we enter the lift, she will read out the numbers or alphabets (G, LG,C) at the buttons or screen in the lift.

7. She is good in playing one of the iPad game that shows 3 to 6 alphabets and she has to point to the right alphabet after hearing what the iPad says. She gets it almost all right most of the time, unless she is not paying attention. She will follow the ipad to say "good job, perfect, hoorey" after she get it right.

8. She can hum ABC song and twinkle twinkle little star. She will try to sing and only manage to utter the last word of each sentence.

Social
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1. She is more socialable as compare to her younger days. She is willing to greet people.

2. She loves to play with children.

3. She is closer to her grandparents nowadays.

4. She is willing to sayang(hug), shake hand, hi-5, flying kiss with people when asked to.

5. She is willing to say "halo xxx" and "Bye" (together with waving her hand).

Physical skills
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1. She can jump a bit - learn from kor kor.

2. She runs very fast.

3. She attempts to walk up the stairs by holding on to the side bar.

4. She can climb on to our bed. SHe is very good in climbing. She can even climb out from her playpen. She can climb on any grill and safety gate too.

5. She can kick a ball. She can throw a ball.

6. She always wanted to sit on a slide but we are afraid to let her slide down on her own. But I can sense that she is an adventuorus girl. She likes "thrill".

7. When she sees me taking out her meal, she will sit on her booster seat by herself and pull the tray in on her own.

8. She can sit on a children chair on her own and attempt to stand on chair.

9. She tries wearing pants and socks on her own.

10. She can put on her spectacles on her own. If the spectacles get misallign, she can adjust the spectacle herself.

Emotional
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1. SHe is very sensitive and emotional girl. She is also very manja. SHe is also a little timid.

2. SHe will run to daddy and wants daddy to bau bau (carry) when daddy comes back from work.

3. SHe will run to me and demanded me to bau bau her too when she sees me coming back from somewhere.

4. When she sees/hear kor kor cry, she will get affected and started crying too.

5. When she hears some sad song/melody, her eyes will get red and fill with tears and not long, she will start crying.

6. She likes to say "scared scared"..sometimes to loud sound, lights or something I don't know. When she is scared, she will lung herself towards me and hide her face in my body. But at times, loud thunder also doesn't affect her. I can't foresee what really frighten her. I suspected sometimes it could be her being too manja.

Overall, she is defintely not a baby anymore. She has grown up a lot and I find that she is more matured. I can't recall Darren knowing so much at this age. SHe is definitely a smart girl and I think she is very adorable too..hahaha...well, which mother doesn't think their own kids are the cutest in the world right?

Anyway, Isabel, mommy wanted to tell you, you are really the gem in the house and you bring us so much joy and laughter. Everyone just love you so much...and mommy love you HEAPs too...muaks..muaks...

Share share

Incident 1
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The other day daddy brought back a new ipad. Kor kor and I were fighting for it. I kept telling kor kor "share share" and asked kor kor to share it with me.

Incident 2
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Daddy brought out a box of blocks. Kor kor and I were playing with it. I was stacking the blocks and kor kor was building something. After I was bored with my stacking, I went and disturbed and destroyed kor kor's building. Kor kor was angry and didn't want to play with me.

He then went to bring out a doll and play with the baby stroller. I dashed to him and fight for the stroller too. It was kor kor's doll that sat in the baby stroller and mommy immediately went upstairs to bring down my doll, so that I won't fight with kor kor.

But I still refuse to give kor kor's doll back to him. I took my doll and passed to kor kor and told kor kor "Share share"...I wanted kor kor to share his doll with me and I can share mine with him.

When kor kor finally accepted my doll and started hugging it, I went to him and wanted my doll back again. I threw his doll back to him and insisted my doll back.

So I was like kept wanting what kor kor has and mommy kept pursuading kor kor to give me what I want and take the other..kor kor was so kind...

Notes from mommy:
------------------
This girl, if she wants something and kor kor is having it, she will tell kor kor "share share", so that she can play with it.

But when she is playing something and kor kor wants it, she will not share it with kor kor and will throw tantrums, so that she can have it.

I am trying not to let her be so dominent and bully kor kor all the time. She is definitely a big bully to kor kor.

Pronouce 2 syllabus words..

Mommy said my speech has improved A LOT this 2 months. I have started saying 2 syllabus words quite frequent nowadays. Some of the words I say are..

- mommy (loud and clear and sweet too), aunty, uncle, take out, hoorey, ipad, arlo (hello), grandpa, grandma, barney, oren(orange), bobble (bubbles), baby, balloon, dirty...

Overall, I love imitating. Hence, I learn very fast. I can imitate whatever sound/word mommy said in a clear pronounciation. Mommy is proud of my speech development..

Structured Play

Everyday, I will spend about 30mins to an hour in mommy's room for structured play. Mommy keep a few educational toys in her room and I only get to play that together with mommy during that time. It was a perfect setup as I really enjoy it only once or twice a day. I will play it properly and finished it before moving on to the next one. I love the puzzles most and I have 2 set of puzzles there.

Here are some of the toys that I played in mommy's room.


When comes to playing with Mr.Potato, I always like to put the spectacles or hat on my own head instead. Look at me...nice???

My 2nd trip to Singapore

This is my 2nd trip to Singapore. It is a short 3D2N business trip for daddy. We tagged along since mommy needed to help daddy on certain things in Singapore.

Mommy was worried about me earlier on and hesisted to go but after thinking much, she decided to bring us there. To her surprise, I behaved extremely well and being super happy throughout the trip. I have no problem stepping in to my grandparents place, lau yi house (I was happy and smiling to see the big fishes in the pond) and my yi yi Janice house. I slept well during my 2 nights in Singapore too. But I hit my forehead on the first night there. I woke up crying and tried to stand but I fell and hit on the bean at the glass window next to me. Mommy thought I just hit at the glass window and next when she woke up, she saw a line straight in the middle of my forehead, with some blue black around it. She insepcted the window and realised that I must have hit at the metal beam at the window. Poor me... I was crying hard when I hit but mommy never suspected anything during that time..

Anyway, I was having a good time running around yi yi Janice house. Everyone was so "kan cheong" when they saw me running around. Daddy especially panic when saw me running around coz the place is small and have many edges. They closed the balcony door most of the time too.

I also enjoyed running at the office daddy brought us too. I was so happy running, jumping and exploring the corridor there until mommy was exhausted running after me.

I had some good time at the shopping centre too, playing at the play area im Paragon. I was behaving well during most meal where mommy gave me lot of junk to eat. She brought so many titbits for me in one of the shops in Paragon, named Vitakids. Mommy also bought me new bottles since my Pigeon bottle wasn't too good. I think mommy spent the most on me on this trip.

One thing is I don't like night travelling. We left Singapore in the evening and I didn't like to sleep in the dark in the car. I was crying and kept saying "I scared..I scared.." It took me a while to fall asleep and daddy made so many stops for me..to clean my poo, to change me...finally I slept all the way back after so much struggle.

But so far, mommy claimed that I was a good girl overall and she is not afraid of bringing me to places now...Horrey..I like going out too...and please bring me out..

Let's see the loots mommy brought for me in Singapore..

Kor kor and me were waiting for daddy at the office reception area..

Lots of tit bits mommy brought for me..all organic stuff..

Kurus girl hate milk

Yes..you hear me right.. I don't want to drink milk. I started rejecting milk since I started falling sick. Though I didn't really like milk all the while or I should say it is not easy to make me drink milk but as long I got things to play, I can still drink it.

But during the days I was sick, mommy has been feeding me milk day and night and I get sick of it. Also, few days before that, mommy gave me a new milk (Mamil Gold) to try and I never like it at all. Not to waste the packet of milk, mommy tried to get me finish it.

So now, I can never finish a bottle of milk, even if it is just 100ml. Not only that, it is extremely hard for me to drink milk. Not any toys can get me to drink milk. It must be something I like or interesting. Even during midnight, I still wake up but definitely not for milk. Don't give me milk coz I can waste the whole bottle of milk. So, mommy only let me drink water if I want. If not, she just let me cry lor...

So, i have another nickname now...kurus girl..since I fell sick, I have lost some weight...before that , I was weight 10kg++ but not I am only 9.3kg. Mommy said I am so light already. When bathed me, can see my bones also. Lau yi asked, how come I am not chubby chubby one?? Sigh.I am a girl ma..I am taking care of my weight..so mommy, don't force me milk anymore, ok?

Poor girl, you get infected by us...

updated by mommy @ 1 year 6 months 2 weeks and 6 days old..

Kor kor started the cycle. Down since last Wednesday. Then kakak's turn on Friday but luckily recovered by Saturday. Followed by mommy on Saturday and have yet to recover. Yesterday it was your turn. So sorry, baby..mommy already tried very hard to quarantine ourselves and prevent the spreading of the virus but it seems like the virus is too strong.

You started having mild fever late evening. Then you complained stomach ache. We suspected daddy gave you too much coconut water to drink, with the good intention to cool down the body temperature. Immediately at 8pm, daddy sent you to Dr. Cheah in USJ. You came back with mild fever and some redness at the throat but stomach was fine. We need to monitor your fever.

Since mommy was having fever and coughing whole day. Daddy have to take care of you. You slept well from 11pm to 6am. By 6am, your cry woke daddy up and found out that your fever shot up to 39.5 and you were shivering. Daddy got a shock. Immedaitely he gave you a suppository and sponged you the whole morning. Your fever did not seems to go down from 6am till 1pm. Kakak and daddy have to take turn to sponge you to reduce the temperature. Once they stopped sponging, the temp went up again. Daddy fed you another round oral PCM at 11am but still no sign of effect.

Mommy was worried. Mommy called Dr. Low, Dr Cheah for advise. Nothing much we can do except we keep sponging you. Dr. Low advise voren suppository but Dr Cheah against it. Daddy bought Kool fever and applied on your forehead. By 1.30pm, your fever seems to subside. We all relieved. But by 3.30pm, your fever came back again. We need to sponge you again...it goes on and on...

Mommy can't do anything, except watching you from far. Mommy is sneezing and coughing and still running a fever. Mommy cannot take care of you. Seeing you lazing at downstairs without energy, mommy's heartache. Mommy hope mommy can take away your sickness..mommy hope mommy can suffer from you.

Mommy feel very bad for not being available to you when you most needed mommy. Mommy kept hearing your cries and whinning from upstairs but mommy can't do anything. The minute touches you, you started whining, wanting to complain, I know. Daddy and kakak advised mommy not to go near, so I will make you feel sad. I know you are sad for not able to see mommy.

My baby Isabel, please recover soon..be strong and let us fight the virus together. I'm sure you can do it...mommy loves you...

My speech development

@ 1 year 6 months 2 weeks and 2 days old

My speech has improved a lot lately. Well, I like to imitate what other's say like the adults, the tv and even "The talking Ben" from Ipad..

Actually I can say quite a lot of words but I just don't know how to use it..or sometimes I just don't like to say it out. I just like to say what I feel like at certain moment. So, teaching me to say something is not easy. It has to depend on my mood and when I feel like saying it out...

Some words that I know very well and can say very well and often nowadays are..

-apple, ball, bear, dog, woh woh, cat, car, mile (smile), babu (balloon), baby, shoe, shi shi, ng ng, shit shit, itchy, bite bite, pain, scare, light, dark dark,
-daddy, kakak, kor kor, jie jie
-nose, eye, mouth, ear, hand, leg

Words that I can say but do not say often..

-mommy, poh poh, uncle, aunty, di di
-yes, no, chair, table, fish, socks..

Well, I can't remember much unless prompt by mommy. I like imitating sounds too..Compare to kor kor, mommy and daddy feel that my speech is much better and faster than him. Mommy is waiting for the day for me to really call her "Mommy" or "Mama". I just don't like to call her. I will everyone except her though I know how to say it out. This really makes mommy very frustrated..hahaha...

Mami..........

@ 1 year 6 months 2 weeks and 1 day old

Today marked the first official day of my Princess Isabel calls me "Mami" - very loud and clear.

I have been waiting for this day to come for so long. She called kor kor first...then followed by daddy and kakak..loud and clear but no mommy or even mama. She knows how to pronounce mama but just never use it to call me. Lately, about 4 days back, I first heard her pronounced "Ma..mi.." and I was delighted. Slowly she pronounced mommy after some prompting but still not really calling me.

Yesterday, we were playing balls together with Darren in the hall. Darren needed me to help him picked up a ball near me and I get him to call me loudly. Then this "kiasu" princess followed suit. And they then started taking turns to call me and I gave them a kiss for calling me. So, Isabel also never want to lose to Darren..She called me clear and loud and get near me and reqested a kiss from me too. There were so many "mami"s and kisses around and no need to say, this mommy were super happy and contented...

This morning, she finally called me "mami" without any prompting or competition from kor kor. She called mami to go to her and pick her up early in the morning. She called mami to carry her when she saw me. But..unfortunately, when she can finally call me but I was not available for her. Kor kor is sick and having fever. I have to take care of him and mommy cannot carry or even touch you because mommy didn't want to pass you any virus.

Poor girl, she has been calling mami whole morning but mommy was not within her sight and didn't even touch/carry her. Honestly, mommy is feeling very bad. How mommy wish mommy is available to you immediately the minute you call me. Hope you won't get demotivated and not calling mommy anymore since mommy is not by your side when you call me.

Mommy wish to hear you call "mami" thousands times and I can fly to you and give you a big hug and kiss soon. Mommy loves you, Isabel!

Tantrums throwing..

@ 1 year 6 months 1 week and 6 days old

I started to show more of my tantrums since last week.

I will throw a tantrum when
..what I want was not given to me..
..kor kor trying to snatch my things.. (actually I snatched kor kor's things first, then he snatched it back)
..I want to go somewhere and was blocked or restricted by the adults..

How did I throw my tantrum/show my frustration?
..I will pull my hair..
..I hit the adult by patting on them very hard..
..I will scream VERY LOUD with my high pitch voice..
..I hit my hands on the floor..
..I swing and throw thing on the floor..

What happened after I throw my tantrum..
..sometimes my wish get granted..
..but sometimes I get scolding or even hitting on my hand (if I throw things or hit people)..
..sometimes no one take notice and eventually nothing happened after that..

So what happened after I get scolding or hitting
..when the adults mentioned the word "scold scold..", I'll cry first..not small cry but loud cry comes together with tears...
..when the adults hit my hands, I will cry buckets..and try to look for my saviour - kakak but mommy prohibit kakak from sayang me..so bad la mommy..so I have no one to turn to, eventually mommy will come and explain to me again and sayang me back. But hor, it is not easy to calm me down you know...I can cry and cry for a long long time..so better don't start me on crying..it is not easy to stop me..

Conclusion..
I find it very useful to throw tantrums or show my angry/frustrated emotions nowadays. Well, I can get the things that I want... But...

Mommy's point of view..
This girl started her terrible two syndrom too early. Need to discipline her now, or else, she will soon be the king in the house and bully everyone. She is more expressive with her emotions nowdays and even understand the adults better now. So, it is time for discipline.

Sensory Box

Today mommy brought out the sensory box that she has prepared for me last week for kor kor and myself to play.



It was a cooling evening and kor kor has no bau bei. So, we played for a good 30mins on this until mommy stopped me coz it already past my bathing time. So, we stopped and kor kor helped me to keep everything. Thank you kor kor!!



I like playing with it..scoping it and trying to shake it left and right. I even tried to throw the stones outside but mommy scolded me and make sure I picked it up and put it back again. I also fight with kor kor some of the spoons and cups too. But kor kor is always very kind to give in to me.

Finally I decided to sit myself inside the box. I think this is more fun!!

Taman Botani Shah Alam & Pusat Sains Malaysia

updated by mommy..

Yes..we finally made it to this two places during our last long weekend. We were supposed to go during the Raya Merdeka holiday, together with May's family but both places didn't open during the long holiday.

Taman Botani Shah Alam was an impromptu trip. Everyone surprisingly woke up extra early on Friday morning (Malaysia Day) and the weather was perfectly fine for an outdoor trip. So, I thought of Taman Botani Shah Alam. Checked the website and they opened for that day. So, I suggested to hubby and he agreed to the plan.

We then packed everything and changed everyone. Had our "kai si hor fun" breakfast and we arrived there around 10am. The ticket for adult is RM3 and FOC for children below 6.

We forget to bring stroller, so we have to carry Isabel. We took quite a long walk from the car park to the entrance. Good thing is, inside the taman, they provide free shutter safari bus to transport us around the taman. It was quite a lot of people on that day. We waited 3 rounds before our turn. The safari bus has big open windows. It was a nice ride as it is very windy and you don't feel hot at all. Even Isabel enjoyed her ride in the safari bus.

We toured the whole places first and finally decided to land on the "taman permainan" and the "Four season house". Unfortunately the four season is closed for renovation at that moment. The playground was a bit pathetic but the surrounding was very serene and natural. There were mosquitos around too. Luckily I brought the mosquito repellent and I applied all over their body. Thank God they did not get any mosquitoes bites.



Darren and Isabel had a great time at the playground. Isabel enjoyed her slides and Darren enjoyed climbing around. We did some walking around there. It was quite tiring as I was carrying Isabel and the weather is getting hotter and hotter.







We then walked out to the bus station. Surprisingly the toilet there maintained quite well and it was just after cleaning when I walked in. We then had some ice-cream at the bus station while waiting for the bus. It was very windy sitting at the bus station.

It was about 12pm when we finally board the bus. We were supposed to go to the mini zoo but the weather is getting hotter. Hubby suggested we come again next day as we didn't want to expose the kids to such hot sun. So, we left the place around noon.

We then collected our family photo as the studio and had nasi kandar lunch at Kota Damansara. We reached home around 3pm. At night, we went out to SS14 for Bak Kut Teh dinner and bought some DVD for the weekends. I had a good time watching "Unlimited" with hubby at night after Isabel slept around 10pm.

Then came Saturday. It was a planned trip to Science Centre. All of us woke up late on that morning. We packed everything and finally left the house around 11pm. Had Dim Sum as brunch near Atria and proceeded to Science Centre. The admission (including the Dinausior exhibit) is RM8 for adults and RM5 for children above 4.

It was a great place as we explore almost everything, except the outdoor. Isabel loves the fishes swimming around and we can see her excitement from her expression and smiles. She even wanted to touch the fishes but extended her hand. She really enjoyed herself. As for Darren, he has fun discovering buttons and electronics stuffs. Hubby was with Darren most of the time and I was carrying Isabel. Even we adult had fun exploring the places.









When we entered into the play area, we saw 2 gigantic dinausaur in the center. Their head moves and we can hear the "roaring" sound too. So happened I placed Isabel onto her stroller and she got a shock when she looked up and saw the dinausaur head. She started crying.





Darren then had some play there while I tried to make Isabel sleep. Darren was scared at the Dinausaur exhibit but I kept encouraging him to go near and told him there are not real. Darren had a good time "peddle" the jet plane.



We left the indoor around 4pm and wanted to go to the outdoor. But before we reached to the wet water area, we heard thunders and the sky was getting gloomy. It was quite a long walk from the indoor to the wet area. We didn't want to take the chance, so we walked back and decided to leave. The place closed at 5pm anyway. So we will still be back again the next time.



We then proceeded to Subang Parade while Isabel had a good walk around MPH and read some books inside too. At 7pm, we left Subang Parade and went to Empire Shopping Mall for our dinner. We had some western food at the Jaya Grocer. Did some grocery shopping, we then left the shopping centre at 9pm.

Isabel was extremely tired by then and after we reached home, bathed everyone and the kids were all asleep by 10pm. I had my own time watching Final Destination 4 from my notebook.

Sunday....my "holiday". I went for yoga in the morning, then met up with my bff in 1Utaman and had hi-tea at One World Hotel. We had a good time catching up with each other and I enjoyed the food too. We chatted from 12.30pm to 5.30pm...then I sent her home.

I reached home at 6.30pm and all the kids were still napping. I took a short nap, then went out for dinner. We had KFC for dinner but I just munched a bit here and there as I was still very full. It was a tiring day for me.

Overall, it was a fruitful weekend for me. I just enjoyed the weekend very much. How about you?