One of Josh's fav video now is this phonics video called Alphabet Sounds which we found from Youtube. Presented in a song format with a catchy tune, it makes it very easy for him to learn the sound of each letter. He will also use the tune of the song on other words, such as "Daddy, daddy, de de de" or "Mummy, mummy, mm, mm, mm". So this video comes highly recommended as a fun and easy way for kids to learn basic phonics.
He's also learning to spell simple words (thanks to the Wordworld app), such as apple, stop, baby, dog, pig, cat, frog, car. He will spot things around the house and ask me to spell to him, like "how to spell table" or "how to spell spoon" and so on. It's one of the few activities that would make him sit down, hence I really enjoy doing the spelling game with him :)
Wednesday 24 November 2010
Daddy's back & house hunting
DH finally touched down yesterday early morning at 5+. I woke up at 4+ am to get ready to go to the airport to welcome him back. Really glad to have him back, though I did enjoy my alone time with Josh, even though it was tough to handle him on my own. The last 2 weekends were quite peaceful, all thanks to iphone & tv, which kept him entertained whenever I had to go away to cook or bathe. However, Josh did remember the terrible 1st weekend, so since then my position as his no. 1 choice has fallen to no. 2 after grandma :(
For the past weeks I had been intensively hunting for a new flat at Bt Panjang area while DH was away, and it's really tiring. Also brought Josh along to check if he's comfortable with the flat that we were viewing, as they said kids are more "sensitive". Some flats he would refuse to stay inside and kept saying "Go home & see snowy"..and immediately headed straight out of the door. Guess you really have to trust a kid's instinct.
There was a unit that I fell in love with as the reno was fanstastic and it looked like a show flat. I went to view last Sat but as DH only came back yesterday, so we went yesterday nite again for him to view it. Sadly, our agent informed us today that the flat was sold. We were just 1 step too late :( Back to square one again and we have to restart the hunt. I had seen so many units, even came across one that the neighbour was harrassed by loansharks as there was a notice on the door. With lots of factors to consider - is the location convenient, amenities, neighbours, condition, facing, noise level, any good schools nearby etc - gosh it's actually quite a stressful process to find your next dream house. Not to mention that the new govt rulings are not helping, either we have 30% cash + cpf on hand, or we have to sell off our house first and meantime try to find a place to camp for 2-3 months to reduce the cash payment portion. Josh now remembers our block no. and which floor we stay, and we have lots of wonderful memories staying here. I would probably get quite emo when we really move.
For the past weeks I had been intensively hunting for a new flat at Bt Panjang area while DH was away, and it's really tiring. Also brought Josh along to check if he's comfortable with the flat that we were viewing, as they said kids are more "sensitive". Some flats he would refuse to stay inside and kept saying "Go home & see snowy"..and immediately headed straight out of the door. Guess you really have to trust a kid's instinct.
There was a unit that I fell in love with as the reno was fanstastic and it looked like a show flat. I went to view last Sat but as DH only came back yesterday, so we went yesterday nite again for him to view it. Sadly, our agent informed us today that the flat was sold. We were just 1 step too late :( Back to square one again and we have to restart the hunt. I had seen so many units, even came across one that the neighbour was harrassed by loansharks as there was a notice on the door. With lots of factors to consider - is the location convenient, amenities, neighbours, condition, facing, noise level, any good schools nearby etc - gosh it's actually quite a stressful process to find your next dream house. Not to mention that the new govt rulings are not helping, either we have 30% cash + cpf on hand, or we have to sell off our house first and meantime try to find a place to camp for 2-3 months to reduce the cash payment portion. Josh now remembers our block no. and which floor we stay, and we have lots of wonderful memories staying here. I would probably get quite emo when we really move.
Sunday 7 November 2010
Home alone with the terrible two
Daddy will be away for 3 long weeks to US and departed last Friday. Honestly, I ain't looking forward to taking care of the terrible two alone, and oh god, please bless me with lots of patience and sanity to pull through this 3 weeks, cuz it was a VERY BAD first weekend.
Friday turned out pretty alright, as we sent Daddy off to the airport late afternoon and stayed till early evening playing at T3 viewing mall. The groomer was coming to pick snowy, so we headed home (damn $30 cab fare even without peak hour charges!?!). Josh fell asleep on the cab, so when we got home, I couldn't leave the house to get dinner for myself. And so dinner was what's left of the porridge that I made for Josh earlier.
When the groomer came to pick snowy, Josh got pretty upset and said "Cannot take snowy!"(and this was the only cute thing he did the whole weekend!!). In the end there was a miscomm, as the groomer thought snowy needed boarding since Daddy is overseas and it was too late for grooming so we had to reschedule. So Josh got his dear doggy back. Day 1 ended peacefully....
So after a good day, I was getting confident of a good weekend ahead. All started pretty well, with the usual weekend wakeup routine:
- Josh wakes up at 7am
- Rolls n jumps around trying to wake me up
- 7.30am says "Hello" and "Good morning"
- Hands me my specs and says "Mummy get up"
- Followed by a few nudges if mummy still doesn't get up
- Mummy sits up reluctantly, Josh jumps up and wants "bao bao"
- Mummy carries Josh n he demands to go sofa n watch TV
- If mummy says no or says to wee wee, change diaper or brush teeth first, he will throw tantrums
- Finally for early morning peace, mummy switches on the tv....
I had arranged with Rachel and family to meet at the Esplanade for dinner and bring our kids to watch some free outdoor performance with the UBS Sun Festival. Just as we were about to leave the house and I turned my back for a few minutes to pack his stuff, Josh attempted to stand on the plastic container that we use to store dog food and expectedly fell down. All the dog food was spilled and Josh was crying from the shock. It wasn't a bad fall but he continued to wail non-stop cos I didn't allow him to pick up the dog food. Snowy was gobbling off as much food as possible while I was clearing it. Meltdown No 1...
He was super cranky again during dinner so I had to bring out my iPhone for him to play as he was whining for it. I was expecting Daddy's SMS as it came in while he was playing with it. So when I took the phone away, he started crying again.
After dinner, we stayed at the indoor area to watch a violin performance as it was raining outside. Izabelle was clearly enjoying the show, while Josh was again super restless and kept running around. Bought a pack of ribena cos he refused to drink plain water, and he squeezed the pack and spilled all over his shirt. When the next performance start, he wasn't interested again and ran away through the crowd. Ran after him and to my horror he was playing with the dustbin, which had a rotating cap! And I tried to stop him and carry him up, he had meltdown no. 2. Such an embarrassment as the crowd there was trying to enjoy the nice violin performance which was marred by his loud crying noise. So in the end I had to bring him home straight.
He fell asleep in the cab, so I thought I can finally take a rest when we got home and I put him in bed. It was pouring outside so I couldn't bring snowy down and of course can't leave Josh alone at home. Guess what, cos Snowy ate too much of the spilled food, he pooed 3 big chunks all over the house plus pee. And my mop broke. To top it, a buyer was supposed to view my house in the afternoon but didn't turn up. Wasted my time cleaning up the house in the morning while trying to look after Josh. It was a bad day.
Day 3. 5am rudely woken up by Josh's cries. He wanted milk, so made a bottle but he refused to drink and wailed for his Bingo CD to be played. Had to put on the CD and then he took the milk. This was his favourite CD, and for no reason, he became agitated to hear one of the songs and started wailing "Off the radio". So I turned off the radio and he wailed even louder. I was already super grouchy from being woken up so early, so he was really testing my patience. I ignored him and he wailed and wailed till he vommited his milk on my bed!! Had to clean off the mess and change his clothes n he was still crying away. Meltdown No 3.
I can't remember clearly the details for meltdowns 4, 5 & 6, but something to do with he refusing to eat lunch, I refusing to give in to his requests for snacks and I talked fiercely to him for misbehaving. It's really a battle of wills with him, and it seems that he does his crying tactic mainly with me, and not at school or with his grandparents. If I don't relent, he will just keep crying and throw tantrums till he cries himself to sleep. But once you give in, he will stop immediately and can be laughing in a few mins time. I need to think of new ways to manage such outbursts.
It's the first time that I'm glad that the long weekend is over. Let's hope the next 2 weekends will be better.
Friday turned out pretty alright, as we sent Daddy off to the airport late afternoon and stayed till early evening playing at T3 viewing mall. The groomer was coming to pick snowy, so we headed home (damn $30 cab fare even without peak hour charges!?!). Josh fell asleep on the cab, so when we got home, I couldn't leave the house to get dinner for myself. And so dinner was what's left of the porridge that I made for Josh earlier.
When the groomer came to pick snowy, Josh got pretty upset and said "Cannot take snowy!"(and this was the only cute thing he did the whole weekend!!). In the end there was a miscomm, as the groomer thought snowy needed boarding since Daddy is overseas and it was too late for grooming so we had to reschedule. So Josh got his dear doggy back. Day 1 ended peacefully....
So after a good day, I was getting confident of a good weekend ahead. All started pretty well, with the usual weekend wakeup routine:
- Josh wakes up at 7am
- Rolls n jumps around trying to wake me up
- 7.30am says "Hello" and "Good morning"
- Hands me my specs and says "Mummy get up"
- Followed by a few nudges if mummy still doesn't get up
- Mummy sits up reluctantly, Josh jumps up and wants "bao bao"
- Mummy carries Josh n he demands to go sofa n watch TV
- If mummy says no or says to wee wee, change diaper or brush teeth first, he will throw tantrums
- Finally for early morning peace, mummy switches on the tv....
I had arranged with Rachel and family to meet at the Esplanade for dinner and bring our kids to watch some free outdoor performance with the UBS Sun Festival. Just as we were about to leave the house and I turned my back for a few minutes to pack his stuff, Josh attempted to stand on the plastic container that we use to store dog food and expectedly fell down. All the dog food was spilled and Josh was crying from the shock. It wasn't a bad fall but he continued to wail non-stop cos I didn't allow him to pick up the dog food. Snowy was gobbling off as much food as possible while I was clearing it. Meltdown No 1...
He was super cranky again during dinner so I had to bring out my iPhone for him to play as he was whining for it. I was expecting Daddy's SMS as it came in while he was playing with it. So when I took the phone away, he started crying again.
After dinner, we stayed at the indoor area to watch a violin performance as it was raining outside. Izabelle was clearly enjoying the show, while Josh was again super restless and kept running around. Bought a pack of ribena cos he refused to drink plain water, and he squeezed the pack and spilled all over his shirt. When the next performance start, he wasn't interested again and ran away through the crowd. Ran after him and to my horror he was playing with the dustbin, which had a rotating cap! And I tried to stop him and carry him up, he had meltdown no. 2. Such an embarrassment as the crowd there was trying to enjoy the nice violin performance which was marred by his loud crying noise. So in the end I had to bring him home straight.
He fell asleep in the cab, so I thought I can finally take a rest when we got home and I put him in bed. It was pouring outside so I couldn't bring snowy down and of course can't leave Josh alone at home. Guess what, cos Snowy ate too much of the spilled food, he pooed 3 big chunks all over the house plus pee. And my mop broke. To top it, a buyer was supposed to view my house in the afternoon but didn't turn up. Wasted my time cleaning up the house in the morning while trying to look after Josh. It was a bad day.
Day 3. 5am rudely woken up by Josh's cries. He wanted milk, so made a bottle but he refused to drink and wailed for his Bingo CD to be played. Had to put on the CD and then he took the milk. This was his favourite CD, and for no reason, he became agitated to hear one of the songs and started wailing "Off the radio". So I turned off the radio and he wailed even louder. I was already super grouchy from being woken up so early, so he was really testing my patience. I ignored him and he wailed and wailed till he vommited his milk on my bed!! Had to clean off the mess and change his clothes n he was still crying away. Meltdown No 3.
I can't remember clearly the details for meltdowns 4, 5 & 6, but something to do with he refusing to eat lunch, I refusing to give in to his requests for snacks and I talked fiercely to him for misbehaving. It's really a battle of wills with him, and it seems that he does his crying tactic mainly with me, and not at school or with his grandparents. If I don't relent, he will just keep crying and throw tantrums till he cries himself to sleep. But once you give in, he will stop immediately and can be laughing in a few mins time. I need to think of new ways to manage such outbursts.
It's the first time that I'm glad that the long weekend is over. Let's hope the next 2 weekends will be better.
Sunday 31 October 2010
Joshton is 2!!
Joshton turned two last Saturday. The little one really grows up very fast and it almost seems like yesterday when we had his 1-year old birthday bash.
On Friday, I brought a Winnie the pooh & friends chocolate cake plus goodie bags to his childcare for an early celebration with his classmates. Didn't manage to take any photos as I had my hands full with the notty little one...he was the only one running all over while his classmates obediently took their seats to start the celebration. SO EMBARRASSING!! Earlier on when I just arrived at the childcare, I could hear the principal screaming "JOSHTON" a few times upstairs (-_-"). Back to the birthday celebration, Joshton didn't know how to blow the candles and was instead sucking in the air, so mummy had to blow the candles for him. One of the older girls, about 4 years old, asked me why Joshton is so tall for a 2 years old. Well he definitely didn't get the tall genes from me!
Evidence captured of Joshton disturbing the activity and not sitting now!(photo taken off Cherie Hearts EK blogsite)
On Saturday, we just did a simple celebration having lunch with daddy's family at Jumbo Seafood at Dempsey and a short play session at an indoor playground. And on Sunday nite, we had a cake with mummy's family and Joshton loved the yummy mango cake and the huge strawberries. So it's a pretty private and simple affair this year, but nonetheless still a very special day for us :)
On Friday, I brought a Winnie the pooh & friends chocolate cake plus goodie bags to his childcare for an early celebration with his classmates. Didn't manage to take any photos as I had my hands full with the notty little one...he was the only one running all over while his classmates obediently took their seats to start the celebration. SO EMBARRASSING!! Earlier on when I just arrived at the childcare, I could hear the principal screaming "JOSHTON" a few times upstairs (-_-"). Back to the birthday celebration, Joshton didn't know how to blow the candles and was instead sucking in the air, so mummy had to blow the candles for him. One of the older girls, about 4 years old, asked me why Joshton is so tall for a 2 years old. Well he definitely didn't get the tall genes from me!
Evidence captured of Joshton disturbing the activity and not sitting now!(photo taken off Cherie Hearts EK blogsite)
On Saturday, we just did a simple celebration having lunch with daddy's family at Jumbo Seafood at Dempsey and a short play session at an indoor playground. And on Sunday nite, we had a cake with mummy's family and Joshton loved the yummy mango cake and the huge strawberries. So it's a pretty private and simple affair this year, but nonetheless still a very special day for us :)
Wednesday 6 October 2010
I love my boys :)
Being the only female with a family of boys - dear hubby, dear son and of course not forgetting our cute and loveable dog, Snowy - there seems to be a constant competition to get my attention. I came to realise my boys are jealous creatures!
Let's start with our dog...Snowy always follow me wherever I go in the house. On days when Josh is back home, poor Snowy gets very jealous every time he sees me carrying Josh. He will try his best to come in between me and Josh or try to snuggle up to me. On weekdays when Josh is not around, I try to give him a little more attention by giving him a nice rub on the back.
Next up is Josh....just last weekend, we were playing around and listening to music on our king size bed. When Josh saw Daddy tapping his fingers to the music on my leg, he started whining and pushed daddy's fingers away. We didn't understand him at first, wondering why he was so upset, and the moment daddy resumed tapping his fingers on my leg, he started to push them away again. It was then I realised that Josh wanted mummy to himself, not even daddy could touch me! Amusingly, I recalled when Josh was 15 months, we tried to take some family photos using a timer. Everytime Daddy came back to join us on the sofa after activating the timer, Josh would push him away with his hands or kicked him with his feet. So we had a lot of NG shots before a good family photo was taken with Daddy holding on to Josh's feet!
Last of all, my big boy hubby....who is jealous of the dog! Everytime Snowy tries to snuggle up to me, hubby will roll up the newspaper to chase him away. Now my dog is super terrified of him...sigh!
I know my boys love me and I love them all too :)
Let's start with our dog...Snowy always follow me wherever I go in the house. On days when Josh is back home, poor Snowy gets very jealous every time he sees me carrying Josh. He will try his best to come in between me and Josh or try to snuggle up to me. On weekdays when Josh is not around, I try to give him a little more attention by giving him a nice rub on the back.
Next up is Josh....just last weekend, we were playing around and listening to music on our king size bed. When Josh saw Daddy tapping his fingers to the music on my leg, he started whining and pushed daddy's fingers away. We didn't understand him at first, wondering why he was so upset, and the moment daddy resumed tapping his fingers on my leg, he started to push them away again. It was then I realised that Josh wanted mummy to himself, not even daddy could touch me! Amusingly, I recalled when Josh was 15 months, we tried to take some family photos using a timer. Everytime Daddy came back to join us on the sofa after activating the timer, Josh would push him away with his hands or kicked him with his feet. So we had a lot of NG shots before a good family photo was taken with Daddy holding on to Josh's feet!
Last of all, my big boy hubby....who is jealous of the dog! Everytime Snowy tries to snuggle up to me, hubby will roll up the newspaper to chase him away. Now my dog is super terrified of him...sigh!
I know my boys love me and I love them all too :)
Teary reunion
After 10 long days in Taiwan, I touched down last Saturday at Changi T2 at about 6.40pm. Daddy sent me an sms that he and Josh were waiting to welcome me back at the arrival hall. After clearing the customs on the way to pick my baggage, I was delighted to see Josh n DH at the other side of the glass panel. My dear boy broke into a smile immediately when he saw me...poor boy had viral fever for a week while I was away and I felt so terribly upset that I wasn't at his side.
I walked away from them to go pick up some things from the duty free shop and collect my luggage. I had envisioned a reunion with happy faces the moment I walk through the arrival gate, giving my son a great hug and lots of kisses. What greeted me were a dramatic sight of teary eyes with lots of yucky mucus flowing from his nose. Daddy lamented that the moment I turned away to get my luggage, he wailed super loudly and only stopped crying when I came out. Oh dear, guess my darling boy missed me as much as I missed him. And so with our family reunited again, we went home...and for the next 2 days I had a super sticky boy who wanted me to carry him all day long.
I walked away from them to go pick up some things from the duty free shop and collect my luggage. I had envisioned a reunion with happy faces the moment I walk through the arrival gate, giving my son a great hug and lots of kisses. What greeted me were a dramatic sight of teary eyes with lots of yucky mucus flowing from his nose. Daddy lamented that the moment I turned away to get my luggage, he wailed super loudly and only stopped crying when I came out. Oh dear, guess my darling boy missed me as much as I missed him. And so with our family reunited again, we went home...and for the next 2 days I had a super sticky boy who wanted me to carry him all day long.
Friday 24 September 2010
Missing my dear boy...
I'm now in Taiwan on a business trip for 10 days...today is just the second day and I am already missing Josh terribly. Thinking of his cheeky little face and infectious laughter, missing his hugs and calls of "mummy"...awww I wish the 10 days will be soon over and I can't wait to see my boy again. Hope daddy will be bringing him along to fetch me from the airport next Saturday :)
In the meantime, I have his photos on my mobile phone for company. Here's one taken of him at the Bukit Batok Nature Park playground playing with sand.
In the meantime, I have his photos on my mobile phone for company. Here's one taken of him at the Bukit Batok Nature Park playground playing with sand.
Sunday 15 August 2010
21 Months
Been a while since I updated Josh's blog cos we have been both sick the past month. Josh has been having a slight persistent flu and cough for weeks, and then it turned into a bad one and he was coughing throughout the night. I also caught the virus after having sleepless nites with a coughing and crying toddler on my left side and a snoring hubby on my right, so was on medical leave for quite a few days. I took 2 rounds of anti-biotics before recovering. Wonder why hubby's immunity is so strong that he didn't get the virus from a sickly wife and son.
Just realised my past post on Josh's development was back in May when he was 18 months! Now he's 21 months turning 22 in 2 weeks time. He will be 2 years old in Oct.
Physical growth
Height: 86cm
Weight: 11.8kg
Shoe size: US size 7.5
Social / EQ skills
He is starting to socialise with his peers at Cherie Hearts, and also more attentive in class. Since he is getting along fine with his friends there, I intend to let him stay there till end of the year, and register him either at Little Wings or Creative Thinkers at Toh Yi.
Gross Motor Skills
Still habitually tip toes, but it's getting better now. He can climb the stairs slowing by himself holding the railings, but still a bit wobbly. And now he likes to play the slide after overcoming his initial fear. I plan to bring him to the pool more often, as he is still a little afraid of the water, but is now willing to walk around in the baby pool.
Language Skills
Still super chatty and loves to sing. He picks up songs and words very fast even just listening once or twice. I was pretty amused when Daddy and Josh were watching YOG Opening Ceremony and he could repeat all the country names after Daddy. The longest word he can pronounce so far is Hippopotamas.
Just realised my past post on Josh's development was back in May when he was 18 months! Now he's 21 months turning 22 in 2 weeks time. He will be 2 years old in Oct.
Physical growth
Height: 86cm
Weight: 11.8kg
Shoe size: US size 7.5
Social / EQ skills
He is starting to socialise with his peers at Cherie Hearts, and also more attentive in class. Since he is getting along fine with his friends there, I intend to let him stay there till end of the year, and register him either at Little Wings or Creative Thinkers at Toh Yi.
Gross Motor Skills
Still habitually tip toes, but it's getting better now. He can climb the stairs slowing by himself holding the railings, but still a bit wobbly. And now he likes to play the slide after overcoming his initial fear. I plan to bring him to the pool more often, as he is still a little afraid of the water, but is now willing to walk around in the baby pool.
Language Skills
Still super chatty and loves to sing. He picks up songs and words very fast even just listening once or twice. I was pretty amused when Daddy and Josh were watching YOG Opening Ceremony and he could repeat all the country names after Daddy. The longest word he can pronounce so far is Hippopotamas.
Thursday 8 July 2010
Baby loves to sing
What a joy to see my little darling boy grow! Josh is starting to converse in longer sentences and also repeats after what we say like a parrot. Plus we love to hear him sing!
Song: Do-Re-Mi
Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Let me enjoy this wonderful period before he goes on to the "Why" stage :)
Song: Do-Re-Mi
Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Let me enjoy this wonderful period before he goes on to the "Why" stage :)
Monday 7 June 2010
ABC & Fruits
Took many tries over the last months to capture these videos....lots of NGs as he will run over and snatch the camera. Surprisingly Josh was very cooperative last weekend.
Josh Sings Baa Baa Black Sheep
This is a rare footage! We have been trying very hard to take a video of him singing but he's either very conscious when the camera is on him or will try to snatch it to view photos. Superstar in the making? :D
Please tune up the volume due to the background noise from the fan.
Please tune up the volume due to the background noise from the fan.
Wednesday 12 May 2010
3 magic words - "Say bye bye"
From a few months back, I've been trying to teach Joshton to keep his toys and books after playing. But on most occasions, they turned into dramatic episodes of tantrums and tears as he stubbornly refused to cooperate, even thou he knew what was expected of him. I would handle it calmly and tell him in a firm tone repeatedly or just walk away if he starts his tantrums.
I haven't had much success till recently when I changed the way of asking. The magic words? - "Say bye bye"... Here's what happened last weekend:
After playing with his building blocks, I told him "Say bye bye" and started to put one block into the bag. He followed suit immediately and kept all his blocks.
Next I tried the same way on his animal flash cards. Usually he would throw them all around his room. So I started with "Say bye bye to your animals", picked up one of the cards, said "Bye bye rabbit" and put the card into the box. And voila...he picked up the cards one by one, said "bye bye (animal name)" and slotted them into the box. Yay!:D
Josh's bath time usually stretches to 30 mins, as he would play with the foam alphabets and bath toys n refuses to come out of the tub. So I decided to test the magic words again. And it worked perfectly! He was such an angel, putting back all his bath toys into the bag and came out of the tub when he was done.
My boy is not quite the obedient type and most times he will do the exact opposite of what you asked him. With this method, he didn't feel that I was telling him to do this or that. It also gives him notice that it's time to move on to something else.
Next milestone for me is to teach Josh his P's and Q's....still cracking my head for a good way to work around that!
I haven't had much success till recently when I changed the way of asking. The magic words? - "Say bye bye"... Here's what happened last weekend:
After playing with his building blocks, I told him "Say bye bye" and started to put one block into the bag. He followed suit immediately and kept all his blocks.
Next I tried the same way on his animal flash cards. Usually he would throw them all around his room. So I started with "Say bye bye to your animals", picked up one of the cards, said "Bye bye rabbit" and put the card into the box. And voila...he picked up the cards one by one, said "bye bye (animal name)" and slotted them into the box. Yay!:D
Josh's bath time usually stretches to 30 mins, as he would play with the foam alphabets and bath toys n refuses to come out of the tub. So I decided to test the magic words again. And it worked perfectly! He was such an angel, putting back all his bath toys into the bag and came out of the tub when he was done.
My boy is not quite the obedient type and most times he will do the exact opposite of what you asked him. With this method, he didn't feel that I was telling him to do this or that. It also gives him notice that it's time to move on to something else.
Next milestone for me is to teach Josh his P's and Q's....still cracking my head for a good way to work around that!
Tuesday 11 May 2010
2nd week at school
On Monday, I got an sms from Cherie Hearts that Josh tripped and fell on the way to the playground and bumped his forehead. He had a small scratch on his forehead as well. Was quite relieved that it was a minor accident, cos I am still quite tramatised by the last visit to the hospital when he cut his chin.
He was sound asleep when we came to visit him after work. Grandpa said that when he came back home after school, this was what he told them.... "Baby, Kick, Fall, Forehead, Cry". Pretty descriptive, huh!
Josh @ school in uniform
He was sound asleep when we came to visit him after work. Grandpa said that when he came back home after school, this was what he told them.... "Baby, Kick, Fall, Forehead, Cry". Pretty descriptive, huh!
Josh @ school in uniform
Mother's Day
For this Mother's Day, I got two presents from my darling son. The first gift was a paper flower made up of his hand prints done in school, which I was really surprised and touched to receive. The second gift was a big blue black on my hand :( ...think I got the bruise while playing tumbling with him on the bed. He can be quite rough at times.
On Sunday, we went out to celebrate with daddy's family at Majestic Restaurant in New Majestic Hotel. It's a small boutique hotel located at Bukit Pasoh Road. The restaurant has many good reviews and highly rated, so we decided to try it out. Some signature dishes that we had were Peking Duck, Wasabi Prawns, Shark’s bone soup with fish maw and beijing cabbage and Crispy Durian Ice-cream.
For the Mother's Day promo, a complimentary "Buddha jumps over the wall" was given to my MIL, and the main beneficiary was her dear grandson. After being fed the yummy soup, grandma became Josh's best friend and he kept calling her "Ah Ma". Sigh, this boy is so practical.
The funny faces of Joshton:
Pixar Exhibition @ Science Centre
Last Saturday we went for the Pixar exhibition @ the Science Centre with jiejie Kitlyn n family. The exhibition didn't turn out to be what we expected as it was more for adults who are interested in the history of Pixar and how they create the animations, but Josh had a fun time running around and we not so fun time chasing him. Both kids were quite shy with each other initially and we asked them to go to each other to shake hands. At first it was very sweet, n they shook hands n hug each other. Then I asked Josh to give jiejie a kiss. Kitlyn was shy n ran to her mummy n Josh actually chased after her to try to plant a kiss! In the end, the over zealous passionate boy grabbed her n both kids fell down....to my embarrassment!
We went to tour around the Science Centre too. I used to find the exhibits there fasinating, but now the experience seemed rather boring. At least Josh was entertained by anything with flashing buttons and watching the chick hatching.
Sunday 2 May 2010
18 months
After the 3 days at the childcare observing other kids, I came out with this assessment of Josh's development:
Social / EQ skills: Very poor - Josh is the only child and grandchild in the family, and he does not have much opportunities to mingle n play with other kids. He doesn't understand how to share or wait for his turn. He snatches toys from other children and throws tantrums when others take things that he wants. I definitely need to put more effort n attention to correct this behaviour. This is one of the main reason that I decided to put him at the childcare.
Gross motor skills: Below average - He still walks and runs on tip toes, which I hope he will grow out of it soon. At the indoor playground, he dare not crawl up the steps and obstables, and seems terrified to take the slide. The only thing he likes to play are the balls. Guess he's not a sporty child! He is also not confident to walk up steps. At 18 mths, he should be able to do so with support.
Fine Motor skills: Good - he's super good at picking up the smallest dirt on the floor (to mummy's horror) and likes to scribble and draw. He can stack up 5-6 blocks and fit simple puzzles.
Language skills: Superb - I think he is expert level with his ABCs, can recite without missing any letter, and say correctly any letters you point to him. He's moving on to A for Apple, B for Boy, C for Cat, D for Daddy, E for Elephant....to Z for Zebra. Except for a few letters like N, Y & X (which we thought the corresponding words are too hard, so didn't teach him yet), he can say out what each letter stands for. He can differentiate letters and numbers, eg saying "Letter A" or "Number 1". He can also recite 1-10 in English and Chinese without missing a beat.
Also starting to string words together, like "mummy over there", "mummy long hair", "joshton short hair" and singing a few continuous words in simple songs.
Physical growth:
Height = 83cm (his height development has slowed down, wonder is it cos he's fussy eater)
Weight = 11+kg
Hair = getting thicker, but still very sparse!
Social / EQ skills: Very poor - Josh is the only child and grandchild in the family, and he does not have much opportunities to mingle n play with other kids. He doesn't understand how to share or wait for his turn. He snatches toys from other children and throws tantrums when others take things that he wants. I definitely need to put more effort n attention to correct this behaviour. This is one of the main reason that I decided to put him at the childcare.
Gross motor skills: Below average - He still walks and runs on tip toes, which I hope he will grow out of it soon. At the indoor playground, he dare not crawl up the steps and obstables, and seems terrified to take the slide. The only thing he likes to play are the balls. Guess he's not a sporty child! He is also not confident to walk up steps. At 18 mths, he should be able to do so with support.
Fine Motor skills: Good - he's super good at picking up the smallest dirt on the floor (to mummy's horror) and likes to scribble and draw. He can stack up 5-6 blocks and fit simple puzzles.
Language skills: Superb - I think he is expert level with his ABCs, can recite without missing any letter, and say correctly any letters you point to him. He's moving on to A for Apple, B for Boy, C for Cat, D for Daddy, E for Elephant....to Z for Zebra. Except for a few letters like N, Y & X (which we thought the corresponding words are too hard, so didn't teach him yet), he can say out what each letter stands for. He can differentiate letters and numbers, eg saying "Letter A" or "Number 1". He can also recite 1-10 in English and Chinese without missing a beat.
Also starting to string words together, like "mummy over there", "mummy long hair", "joshton short hair" and singing a few continuous words in simple songs.
Physical growth:
Height = 83cm (his height development has slowed down, wonder is it cos he's fussy eater)
Weight = 11+kg
Hair = getting thicker, but still very sparse!
First days at childcare
Josh went for a 3-day trial at the childcare last week. We had been telling him for a few weeks that he's going to school to mentally prepare him for it. He probably couldn't comprehend, but seemed pretty excited about it. Honestly I had been pretty worried about how it would turn out and how Josh would react, knowing how teary he could be.
In the morning, we went to pick up Josh at 8am and walked over to Cherie Hearts 15 mins away, but as the route is uphill and downhill, we were all hot, sweaty and flustered when we reached. Here's what happened on Day 1:
DAY 1:
Josh having his breakfast (sponge cake) n watching the other children sing.
He seemed to feel out of place, in an unfamiliar place surrounded by strangers.
He didn't want to sit with the other kids and preferred to explore around on his own.
At least he liked lunch!
There are currently only 13 kids at the childcare, taken care by 5 teachers. 2 older kids are in Kindergarden level and most of the other kids are in Playgroup 2. Only 2 toddlers are the same age as Joshton in Playgroup 1. The youngest, little Aiden, is only 17 months, so constantly needs 1-to-1 care. The Playgroup 1 kids are not ready to join in the activities and songs with the older kids, so they just sit and watch or wander around themselves. They just seemed too young to play with the older kids, so I am worried that it will be the same for Joshton.
The teachers commented that Joshton's speech development is ahead for his age, as he could say a lot of words clearly. But I noticed that his motor skills are behind, as 18-month Ian could walk up and down the stairs with help while Aiden could sit on the chair by himself.
We sneaked away for an hour when he was not looking to see how he would cope without us around. When we came back, we could hear him brawling from downstairs, crying for mummy...*heartbreak*. He was all teary and I took quite a while to calm him down.
When we left at noon after lunch, he knocked off immediately the moment we put him in the stroller. A tired and eventful first day for him.
DAY 2:
In the morning, I asked him if he wanted to go school and he smiled. Perhaps he thought we were just going "Gai Gai".
We stayed by his side the whole time, so not much teary drama on Day 2, except for a few childish tantrums.
The boss, Andy, observed that Josh is not the active type but the bookish type. He doesn't go for the toys but likes to read the ABCs and books. When we brought him outside to play with the toy cars, he didn't fancy them and went for the ball instead. And then he saw the drum set....n broke it :(
DAY 3:
We rented a car that morning after 2 days of walking in the scorching sun. My mum came along to check out the place too and hubby thought the boss Andy must have felt super stressed with her nagging. But he was very nice and accommodating towards us for the 3 days.
It's Day 3, but Josh still didn't want to join in with the other kids, even with me around. He refused to sit down even for a minute. Maybe with his character, he's not suitable for structured learning. Would the Montessori learning method be better for him? hmm....
We went to hide again when he was distracted and resisted coming out when he cried. Come Monday, he will be there alone by himeself, without mummy and daddy. It really broke my heart when he kept calling out for mummy, and we came out to comfort him after 30 mins.
I am really worried about tomorrow. He will be going by school bus but I have asked to the bus driver to let my mum go with him for the first 2 days. Hope he will adapt fast to the new place.
In the morning, we went to pick up Josh at 8am and walked over to Cherie Hearts 15 mins away, but as the route is uphill and downhill, we were all hot, sweaty and flustered when we reached. Here's what happened on Day 1:
DAY 1:
Josh having his breakfast (sponge cake) n watching the other children sing.
He seemed to feel out of place, in an unfamiliar place surrounded by strangers.
He didn't want to sit with the other kids and preferred to explore around on his own.
At least he liked lunch!
There are currently only 13 kids at the childcare, taken care by 5 teachers. 2 older kids are in Kindergarden level and most of the other kids are in Playgroup 2. Only 2 toddlers are the same age as Joshton in Playgroup 1. The youngest, little Aiden, is only 17 months, so constantly needs 1-to-1 care. The Playgroup 1 kids are not ready to join in the activities and songs with the older kids, so they just sit and watch or wander around themselves. They just seemed too young to play with the older kids, so I am worried that it will be the same for Joshton.
The teachers commented that Joshton's speech development is ahead for his age, as he could say a lot of words clearly. But I noticed that his motor skills are behind, as 18-month Ian could walk up and down the stairs with help while Aiden could sit on the chair by himself.
We sneaked away for an hour when he was not looking to see how he would cope without us around. When we came back, we could hear him brawling from downstairs, crying for mummy...*heartbreak*. He was all teary and I took quite a while to calm him down.
When we left at noon after lunch, he knocked off immediately the moment we put him in the stroller. A tired and eventful first day for him.
DAY 2:
In the morning, I asked him if he wanted to go school and he smiled. Perhaps he thought we were just going "Gai Gai".
We stayed by his side the whole time, so not much teary drama on Day 2, except for a few childish tantrums.
The boss, Andy, observed that Josh is not the active type but the bookish type. He doesn't go for the toys but likes to read the ABCs and books. When we brought him outside to play with the toy cars, he didn't fancy them and went for the ball instead. And then he saw the drum set....n broke it :(
DAY 3:
We rented a car that morning after 2 days of walking in the scorching sun. My mum came along to check out the place too and hubby thought the boss Andy must have felt super stressed with her nagging. But he was very nice and accommodating towards us for the 3 days.
It's Day 3, but Josh still didn't want to join in with the other kids, even with me around. He refused to sit down even for a minute. Maybe with his character, he's not suitable for structured learning. Would the Montessori learning method be better for him? hmm....
We went to hide again when he was distracted and resisted coming out when he cried. Come Monday, he will be there alone by himeself, without mummy and daddy. It really broke my heart when he kept calling out for mummy, and we came out to comfort him after 30 mins.
I am really worried about tomorrow. He will be going by school bus but I have asked to the bus driver to let my mum go with him for the first 2 days. Hope he will adapt fast to the new place.
Monday 26 April 2010
Cherie Hearts @ Eng Kong
Josh will be going for his first day at the childcare this coming Wednesday. We have signed him up at Cherie Hearts @ Eng Kong near my mum's, which is newly opened few months ago. We visited a few CCs in the area (grouse: bukit timah/toh yi CCs r all super ex!) before deciding on Cherie Hearts, mainly because the place, books and toys are very new. Daddy spotted a few garden ants at the indoor play area near the garden for water play, but otherwise the place is pretty neat and clean. It's a terrace house 3 storeys high, with a gym room and an outdoor playground. Currently they have only over 10 kids at the centre, so the teacher-student ratio is low. Josh has not had the chance to mingle much with other kids, so having lesser kids around might be easier for him to adapt to the new environment.
I was given a long list of items to bring to school:
1. Water bottle
- Was searching for a BPA free bottle with strap, but in the end settled for a Muchkin one without strap.
2. Bag
- Bought a cute Stephen Joseph's Go-Go backpack online from www.littlejewels.com.sg which I am collecting tomorrow. Hope it's big enuf to fit all the stuff.
3. Milk Bottle
4. Milk Powder
5. Towel
6. Additional set of clothes (2 sets)
7. Covered shoes
8. Diapers
9. Plastic bag for soiled clothes
10. Blanket & pillow (on Friday full-day)
11. Toothbrush, toothpaste & cup
We will be taking leave from work to accompany Josh for his first 3 days, so pretty excited yet worried about how it will turn out. Will definitely be bringing my trusty Lumix camera to capture some shots of his first day at school :)
小家伙发脾气
Last Sat at lunch, my sis reported that recently my mum has been giving Josh goat's milk sweeties to keep him happy whenever he throws his tantrums. And she noticed he has been throwing tantrums more and more often in a bid to get the sweeties. I was absolutely flabbergasted as it's rewarding him for the wrong behaviour!
Not long after, we experienced first hand how feisty he has become...he couldn't take his nap since we went out for lunch with my mum & sis, so was already behaving a little snappy. After we came home and forbaded him to play with the Pooh & friends dancing figurines (daddy's toys from Japan), he flew into a rage, wailed non-stop for an hour n cried himself to sleep. He refused his milk feeds n slept throughout from Sat late afternoon till Sunday morning, going almost 17 hours without food n water. *shake head*
Last nite when we sent him back to my mum's, I complained to her about his outburst, and said that he "发脾气"....n this little imp actually repeated "发脾气" back to me. *roll eyes 2x*
I just hope to convince my mum that sometimes you have to ignore him and let him cry. Then only he can learn that rewards come with the right behaviours.
Not long after, we experienced first hand how feisty he has become...he couldn't take his nap since we went out for lunch with my mum & sis, so was already behaving a little snappy. After we came home and forbaded him to play with the Pooh & friends dancing figurines (daddy's toys from Japan), he flew into a rage, wailed non-stop for an hour n cried himself to sleep. He refused his milk feeds n slept throughout from Sat late afternoon till Sunday morning, going almost 17 hours without food n water. *shake head*
Last nite when we sent him back to my mum's, I complained to her about his outburst, and said that he "发脾气"....n this little imp actually repeated "发脾气" back to me. *roll eyes 2x*
I just hope to convince my mum that sometimes you have to ignore him and let him cry. Then only he can learn that rewards come with the right behaviours.
Monday 19 April 2010
Annoying Antics
This is a stress releasing post from mummy....just to grumble about the annoying antics (AA) from my son that can sometimes drive me crazy!
AA No 1: TV addict
Nowadays the first thing after his milk feed upon waking up, is to demand "Go Out" from his cot. Once mummy carries him up, he will point to the door and say "There" and will lead you to the sofa in living room. Next he will pick up the TV remote and start pressing. If he didn't manage to press the correct power on button, he will turn to mummy and say "TV, Cartoon" and will whine like mad if I say no. Sometimes I just give in to him...cos it's 7am in the morning and mummy is still in a zombie mode. So I will take a quick nap while he watches his playhouse disney channel for 30mins.
AA No. 2: Spitting out his food once he's full
This is an irritating bad habit. Once he has enough of his food, he will still open up his mouth to accept the next spoon, and before you know it, spit it out all over his clothes and plays with it, and then cheekily tells you "mess". GRRRR....
AA No. 3: It's a battle to change his diaper
I just can't understand why changing diaper can be such a painful task since young. He just refuses to keep still and even push my hands away when I try to undo the diaper. I can only guess it's because my mum always wash his butt in cold water with each diaper change, which he hates.
AA No. 4: Terrible One & a Half
Whining and demanding things or food that he likes (points to fridge and say "Biscuit" or points to bread and say "Peanut" to have bread with peanut butter or "Milo" when he wants to drink it), if wish is not fulfilled according to his command, the tantrum monster appears. Can't imagine what is to come in the terrible twos.
It's definitely not easy to be a parent and even with all these AA that I have to bear, I still love my little darling more than anything else in the world.
AA No 1: TV addict
Nowadays the first thing after his milk feed upon waking up, is to demand "Go Out" from his cot. Once mummy carries him up, he will point to the door and say "There" and will lead you to the sofa in living room. Next he will pick up the TV remote and start pressing. If he didn't manage to press the correct power on button, he will turn to mummy and say "TV, Cartoon" and will whine like mad if I say no. Sometimes I just give in to him...cos it's 7am in the morning and mummy is still in a zombie mode. So I will take a quick nap while he watches his playhouse disney channel for 30mins.
AA No. 2: Spitting out his food once he's full
This is an irritating bad habit. Once he has enough of his food, he will still open up his mouth to accept the next spoon, and before you know it, spit it out all over his clothes and plays with it, and then cheekily tells you "mess". GRRRR....
AA No. 3: It's a battle to change his diaper
I just can't understand why changing diaper can be such a painful task since young. He just refuses to keep still and even push my hands away when I try to undo the diaper. I can only guess it's because my mum always wash his butt in cold water with each diaper change, which he hates.
AA No. 4: Terrible One & a Half
Whining and demanding things or food that he likes (points to fridge and say "Biscuit" or points to bread and say "Peanut" to have bread with peanut butter or "Milo" when he wants to drink it), if wish is not fulfilled according to his command, the tantrum monster appears. Can't imagine what is to come in the terrible twos.
It's definitely not easy to be a parent and even with all these AA that I have to bear, I still love my little darling more than anything else in the world.
Tuesday 6 April 2010
J-O-S-H-T-O-N
Can't believe that Josh is turning 18 months soon and will be starting childcare in May. Will relate more on the CC in my next post.
My little boy has made good progress in picking up words. We are really amazed that he could recite A-Z on his own, without missing any letters. And if you ask him how to spell his name, he can say J-O-S-H-T-O-N! He likes to learn new words and read new books, so guess he's going to be a bookworm next time (hopefully not the nerdy type!). I can't decide if he's more introvert or extrovert...with his impish face and his hyperactive dashing round the whole house, he doesn't seem like an introvert child, yet the moment he's out of his comfort zone at home, he refuses to walk and wants to be carried all the time. Even at the playground, he just looks apprehensive and reserved and doesn't want to play, when most little boys I see would turn into little monkeys there. Hope he will open up more once he starts mixing with other kids at the CC.
We made an interesting discovery 2 weeks ago...he could finish off the last word of each stanza for more than 15 nursery rhymes. Even a long song like On Top Of Spaghetti, he could remember as well. Last weekend he just kept repeating e-ai-e-ai-o like a broken recorder.
Just remembered another interesting incident that I would like to share....few weeks back, Josh was flipping through a magazine at por por's place and came across a picture of a family having dinner. He pointed at the old folks and said "Gong" & "Ma", which is how he calls his grandparents, and pointed to the parents and said "Daddy" & "Mummy". Nobody was taught him the concept of a family, so I was really stunned that he could relate to that on his own.
My little boy has made good progress in picking up words. We are really amazed that he could recite A-Z on his own, without missing any letters. And if you ask him how to spell his name, he can say J-O-S-H-T-O-N! He likes to learn new words and read new books, so guess he's going to be a bookworm next time (hopefully not the nerdy type!). I can't decide if he's more introvert or extrovert...with his impish face and his hyperactive dashing round the whole house, he doesn't seem like an introvert child, yet the moment he's out of his comfort zone at home, he refuses to walk and wants to be carried all the time. Even at the playground, he just looks apprehensive and reserved and doesn't want to play, when most little boys I see would turn into little monkeys there. Hope he will open up more once he starts mixing with other kids at the CC.
We made an interesting discovery 2 weeks ago...he could finish off the last word of each stanza for more than 15 nursery rhymes. Even a long song like On Top Of Spaghetti, he could remember as well. Last weekend he just kept repeating e-ai-e-ai-o like a broken recorder.
Just remembered another interesting incident that I would like to share....few weeks back, Josh was flipping through a magazine at por por's place and came across a picture of a family having dinner. He pointed at the old folks and said "Gong" & "Ma", which is how he calls his grandparents, and pointed to the parents and said "Daddy" & "Mummy". Nobody was taught him the concept of a family, so I was really stunned that he could relate to that on his own.
Easter Weekend
Josh was down with fever over the weekend, a side effect from the MMR vaccination a week ago. So my plans for a fun Easter holiday to Fidgets and Botanic Gardens were pretty much dashed.
Cos of his fluctuating temperature, he was quite lethargic and grouchy with very poor appetite in the day. But in the middle of the night, he woke up at 1am and turned into an energetic bunny, refusing to sleep till 4am! I had to play with him and watch an hour of playhouse disney before he finally got tired.
On Sunday, we went to my in laws place for lunch, and Uncle Jeff bought a red Ferrari F430 Spider ride-on car for Josh. Gosh this must have cost Uncle Jeff a couple of hundreds. The car looks like this, without the sports stripes.
He is still too young to play with it as the car comes an electronic accelerator with a speed of 5km/h, so more suited for kids 5 years up to to able to control the speed. Haha next time he will be the coolest boy and zoom around at the void deck to attract little mei mei in the neighbourhood :D
Cos of his fluctuating temperature, he was quite lethargic and grouchy with very poor appetite in the day. But in the middle of the night, he woke up at 1am and turned into an energetic bunny, refusing to sleep till 4am! I had to play with him and watch an hour of playhouse disney before he finally got tired.
On Sunday, we went to my in laws place for lunch, and Uncle Jeff bought a red Ferrari F430 Spider ride-on car for Josh. Gosh this must have cost Uncle Jeff a couple of hundreds. The car looks like this, without the sports stripes.
He is still too young to play with it as the car comes an electronic accelerator with a speed of 5km/h, so more suited for kids 5 years up to to able to control the speed. Haha next time he will be the coolest boy and zoom around at the void deck to attract little mei mei in the neighbourhood :D
Tuesday 23 March 2010
Development update: 16 months
The main reason why I started this blog is to track the growth development of Joshton. Babies grow up so fast, from cradle to running toddlers before you know it...this blog is a chronicle which will help me relive the memories of his growing up years.
At 16 months:
Height = 82cm
Weight = 11kg
Teeth: It's a real challenge to trick him to open his mouth wide, so I could only do a quick count when he's laughing heartily. He seems to have 17-18 teeth, but at his age he should have just 16 teeth.
Speech: He always repeat the last word of our sentences, if it's not more than 2 syllables. As for linking 2 words together, I only heard him say "go away" (when I scream at my dog to stay away from Josh) and "throw away".
Diet: Omigosh this little fellow is one fussy guy! Always rejects the nice, healthy (but bland) food that mummy spent lots of effort and love to cook. He will take one mouthful n spit it out if it's not salty or tasty enough for his fussy tastebuds. He's not into porridge or rice too, which is a headache. So till now he is still mainly on milk feeds. Frens & family have commented that he looks much thinner, but I do not want him to cultivate bad eating habits and just eat saltish or sugary food. Hopefully he will start accepting the healthier stuff.
At 16 months:
Height = 82cm
Weight = 11kg
Teeth: It's a real challenge to trick him to open his mouth wide, so I could only do a quick count when he's laughing heartily. He seems to have 17-18 teeth, but at his age he should have just 16 teeth.
Speech: He always repeat the last word of our sentences, if it's not more than 2 syllables. As for linking 2 words together, I only heard him say "go away" (when I scream at my dog to stay away from Josh) and "throw away".
Diet: Omigosh this little fellow is one fussy guy! Always rejects the nice, healthy (but bland) food that mummy spent lots of effort and love to cook. He will take one mouthful n spit it out if it's not salty or tasty enough for his fussy tastebuds. He's not into porridge or rice too, which is a headache. So till now he is still mainly on milk feeds. Frens & family have commented that he looks much thinner, but I do not want him to cultivate bad eating habits and just eat saltish or sugary food. Hopefully he will start accepting the healthier stuff.
Monday 8 March 2010
Joshton can say his name!
At 16 months, Joshton finally can say his own name. He says it in a funny but very cute and lovable way. Hope I can capture it down on video and post it here.
He's current learning letters and alphabets, rattling off 1-10 in English and Mandarin, as well as repeating after us from A-Z. Josh likes to read books, and new books usually can capture his attention for quite a while. So thank goodness there is a library at the mall nearby, so we can easily borrow books for him instead of buying, cos he gets tired of them very fast.
He's current learning letters and alphabets, rattling off 1-10 in English and Mandarin, as well as repeating after us from A-Z. Josh likes to read books, and new books usually can capture his attention for quite a while. So thank goodness there is a library at the mall nearby, so we can easily borrow books for him instead of buying, cos he gets tired of them very fast.
Josh's misadventures
The past month has been such a busy and eventful one that I barely had time and energy to update this space. In a nutshell, here's a summary of Josh's misadventures in the past weeks:
- CNY eve: high fever almost 39 degrees. Didn't sleep the whole nite as I was monitoring his temperature and sponging him to bring down the fever. Lasted till CNY.
- 1 week later: Josh fell down again and cut the same spot on his chin :( I thought the previous wound had split open as it was bleeding quite badly, but it was a blessing that the cut wasn't very deep this time.
- following week: cranky baby with flu. runny nose like opening tap.
Finally this week he has recovered and this weekend I can finally bring him for his long overdued vaccination.
- CNY eve: high fever almost 39 degrees. Didn't sleep the whole nite as I was monitoring his temperature and sponging him to bring down the fever. Lasted till CNY.
- 1 week later: Josh fell down again and cut the same spot on his chin :( I thought the previous wound had split open as it was bleeding quite badly, but it was a blessing that the cut wasn't very deep this time.
- following week: cranky baby with flu. runny nose like opening tap.
Finally this week he has recovered and this weekend I can finally bring him for his long overdued vaccination.
Sunday 7 February 2010
New words
Our little chatterbox has learned quite a few new words recently....so here's an update on his 'sometimes not so accurate' vocabulary of spoken words.
Animals: dog-bark-woa woa, cat-meow, duck-ark ark, cow-moo, panda, skunk, bird-fly, baa-baa (sheep), ma (horse), crab, snake-ssss, bear, ger (tiger), pard (leopard), fish, bug, pig-orh orh & barney!
Family & people: mommy, papa, ma (ah-ma), gong (ah-gong), gu-gu, jie jie, kor kor, bao-bei (precious, which is himself)
Food: milk or neh-neh, nana (banana), papa (papaya), per (apple), grapes, cake (or for biscuit), mum mum (for food),
Body: hair, nose, eyes, mouth, back, bird (my mum taught him that for u noe where!)
Things in the house, chair, cup, clock, book, ball, shoes, pants
Others: bus, car, boat, truck, star, don't want, mei-you (don't have), hua (flower), good, bright bright, dark dark, purple, ger (triangle)
Things he can recognise but can't say: tree, head, ears, teeth, tongue, hands, fingers, legs, tummy, belly button, toes, monkey, piano, cloud, orange, strawberry, bed, table, fan, lizard, spider, light
We have been teaching him through pictures and sight all these while, so I think it's time to try alphabets n words. My first attempt using flash cards of animal names that he knows seemed quite positive, and he also showed interest in the alphabet mat which I laid out on the floor. It's a good start....so will try more words next weekend :)
Animals: dog-bark-woa woa, cat-meow, duck-ark ark, cow-moo, panda, skunk, bird-fly, baa-baa (sheep), ma (horse), crab, snake-ssss, bear, ger (tiger), pard (leopard), fish, bug, pig-orh orh & barney!
Family & people: mommy, papa, ma (ah-ma), gong (ah-gong), gu-gu, jie jie, kor kor, bao-bei (precious, which is himself)
Food: milk or neh-neh, nana (banana), papa (papaya), per (apple), grapes, cake (or for biscuit), mum mum (for food),
Body: hair, nose, eyes, mouth, back, bird (my mum taught him that for u noe where!)
Things in the house, chair, cup, clock, book, ball, shoes, pants
Others: bus, car, boat, truck, star, don't want, mei-you (don't have), hua (flower), good, bright bright, dark dark, purple, ger (triangle)
Things he can recognise but can't say: tree, head, ears, teeth, tongue, hands, fingers, legs, tummy, belly button, toes, monkey, piano, cloud, orange, strawberry, bed, table, fan, lizard, spider, light
We have been teaching him through pictures and sight all these while, so I think it's time to try alphabets n words. My first attempt using flash cards of animal names that he knows seemed quite positive, and he also showed interest in the alphabet mat which I laid out on the floor. It's a good start....so will try more words next weekend :)
Tuesday 2 February 2010
Zoo
Daddy managed to secure free corporate passes to the zoo, so off we went on Saturday morning. Maybe Josh was tired out from the trip to Sentosa the day before, so he didn't seem excited to see the animals, many which he has seen the pictures from his books. The only place which he got pretty excited was the sight of the toys at the shop in the kids park!
Joshton staring at Inuka the Polar Bear
Joshton staring at Inuka the Polar Bear
Punky new haircut to the beach
Last Friday we brought Joshton to Sentosa to have some fun at the beach. His only outing at the beach was a long time ago when he was 6 months, and he was too young then to play (he actually slept through the whole time at the beach!).
It was a fine sunny day and we drove to Vivocity for lunch first to avoid the peak hour entry of $7. Call me cheapskate but that's very expensive compared to $2 from noon to 2pm. We also decided to hop over to Toys"R"Us to try out the kids hairsalon. Josh's hair was getting too long and I am starting to get weird questions from strangers like "Is your baby a boy or a girl?"!!!
We were attended by a nice auntie, and I was impressed that she managed to make a decent haircut for our restless boy whose itchy backside cannot sit still for a minute. And hairdresser auntie finished off by styling a spiky hair look with a bit of gel. Finally Josh has a big boy haircut! Hope it will last till chinese new year :)
So here are the photos of Josh with his punky hair, playing at the beach!
It was a fine sunny day and we drove to Vivocity for lunch first to avoid the peak hour entry of $7. Call me cheapskate but that's very expensive compared to $2 from noon to 2pm. We also decided to hop over to Toys"R"Us to try out the kids hairsalon. Josh's hair was getting too long and I am starting to get weird questions from strangers like "Is your baby a boy or a girl?"!!!
We were attended by a nice auntie, and I was impressed that she managed to make a decent haircut for our restless boy whose itchy backside cannot sit still for a minute. And hairdresser auntie finished off by styling a spiky hair look with a bit of gel. Finally Josh has a big boy haircut! Hope it will last till chinese new year :)
So here are the photos of Josh with his punky hair, playing at the beach!
Sunday 17 January 2010
True Blue Singaporean Baby
I am proud to announce that Joshton is a true blue Singaporean baby, and this is how he shows it:
a) He knows how to say "Singapore"! I must say it caught me by surprise as so far his words are limited to 2 syllables and the first 3-syllable word he said is Singapore. I think he's very proud of himself cos he kept repeating this word for the past 2 days.
b) He ends his words with 'ah' - Eg "Ma-mee-ah" for Mommy; "mei-you-ah" for Don't Have. Sounds very typical Singaporean rite? :)
Anyway the speed at which kids pick up new things is simply amazing. At times Josh can immediately repeat the words that I said even though he has just heard it for the first time. And he can remember things that he learned from the picture books very well, and can point to them correctly. Last week, I showed him a picture of some turtle swimming in the ocean from a book and he actually picked up the green turtle from his ocean creature bath toys and said "Turtle". It's really a fun stage now to watch him learn and speak new words everyday!
a) He knows how to say "Singapore"! I must say it caught me by surprise as so far his words are limited to 2 syllables and the first 3-syllable word he said is Singapore. I think he's very proud of himself cos he kept repeating this word for the past 2 days.
b) He ends his words with 'ah' - Eg "Ma-mee-ah" for Mommy; "mei-you-ah" for Don't Have. Sounds very typical Singaporean rite? :)
Anyway the speed at which kids pick up new things is simply amazing. At times Josh can immediately repeat the words that I said even though he has just heard it for the first time. And he can remember things that he learned from the picture books very well, and can point to them correctly. Last week, I showed him a picture of some turtle swimming in the ocean from a book and he actually picked up the green turtle from his ocean creature bath toys and said "Turtle". It's really a fun stage now to watch him learn and speak new words everyday!
Saturday 2 January 2010
14 months on the New Year
It's the new year again...time really flies past in a daze once you become a mummy!
Our cheeky little "monkey" is 14 months and 1 week old this week, so here's a brief update on his current development:
Weight: 10.2kg
Height: 80cm (hope he will be a tall boy, as his growth is still on track within the 75-90%)
Spoken words: dog, bark, cat, meow, bus, car, clock, star, blur blur, don't want, mei-you (don't have), duck, hua (flower), good, nana (banana), papa (papaya), per (apple), baa-baa (sheep), bird, cup, book, bright bright, dark dark, crab, bear, ball, truck, ma (horse), papa, mommy, gong (ah-gong), ah-ma, back, bao-bei (precious)
Other things he can recognise and point to: X'mas tree, teddy bear, hair, head, eyes, ears, mouth, tongue, hands, legs, tummy, nose, toes, monkey, piano, cloud, orange, strawberry, grapes, bed, chair, table, fan
Actions: flying kisses, squints his eyes (mi-mi-yan), pats his tummy when he's full, lift his hands up in the air (when you say tall boy), claps his hands when you sing "Happy Birthday" or "If you are happy and you know it", and the best one is when he kisses us on the cheeks :)
Names he will respond to and point to himself: Joshton, Hong Rui, Baby, Bao-Bei, Darling, Bao-Bao
Our cheeky little "monkey" is 14 months and 1 week old this week, so here's a brief update on his current development:
Weight: 10.2kg
Height: 80cm (hope he will be a tall boy, as his growth is still on track within the 75-90%)
Spoken words: dog, bark, cat, meow, bus, car, clock, star, blur blur, don't want, mei-you (don't have), duck, hua (flower), good, nana (banana), papa (papaya), per (apple), baa-baa (sheep), bird, cup, book, bright bright, dark dark, crab, bear, ball, truck, ma (horse), papa, mommy, gong (ah-gong), ah-ma, back, bao-bei (precious)
Other things he can recognise and point to: X'mas tree, teddy bear, hair, head, eyes, ears, mouth, tongue, hands, legs, tummy, nose, toes, monkey, piano, cloud, orange, strawberry, grapes, bed, chair, table, fan
Actions: flying kisses, squints his eyes (mi-mi-yan), pats his tummy when he's full, lift his hands up in the air (when you say tall boy), claps his hands when you sing "Happy Birthday" or "If you are happy and you know it", and the best one is when he kisses us on the cheeks :)
Names he will respond to and point to himself: Joshton, Hong Rui, Baby, Bao-Bei, Darling, Bao-Bao
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