School is fun

It was like one week ago that missy still crying daily in the morning, refusing to go to school. but this week, she just all the sudden, no more crying, willing to go to school and tell us she likes her frens and her new teacher..

LGG and i simply scratching head, as we have been asking for feedback from her teachers for this situation and in have personally called up theur principle to ask for assistance on this.

well, i guess, children just out-grow "situation".. am happy it has passed.

Lady Birds Peter and Jane

after thinking about it and asking around, i decided to get the whole series of peter and jane for missy and later didi..to start their reading.

I've placed order for series a & b, total 24 books. at the same time, we have ordered 23 lady bird's story books for missy classmates for her birthday in September as birthday favour. We thought giving book to children is better than those sweets and pencil case.. and we can personalise the book to each of her friend on the first page with their name.

So, just 3 more months to go, missy will be 4. her princess theme birthday is going to be materialised soon. all things are princess related.. pheww.. hope she will remember her birthday

mum & her tumour

Mum found out she had a tumour in her braind in 2009, when i was just few months pregnant with lil Jared.. we were devastated.. how could such thing happen, and to my mum..The tumour was diagnosed aftr a MRI was done. the eye doctor was so good, that, the initial suspect from us that mum got cataract, but after the doc examine mum's eye, they found something not right, which to us, nothing is wrong with mum's eye movement.. so it was that, how mum found out she had a tumour on her brain which presses on her left eye nerve.

We went to the neurologist, and my aunt recommend doctor (Assoc Professor) Ivan as her friend's mum had brain tumour and was successfully operater by him. he is the doctor who attend to Lee KY's wife. So, we went to him, he managed to remove mum's tumour, mum was given a all clear and her vision resume after the operation in August 2009.

But, the good news did not last long.. ever since last year, mum started to find her lft eye vision is deteriorating.. i have been asking her to go for check up for her eyes, but she is the typ who do not want to accept reality, as in she rather don't want to know than to know what is going on.. she said, what's there to chck, im already old kinda thing.

well, after discussions with sis, we finally get her to go back to eeye centre, which we were right, we were too ate actually, mum was diagnosed with glaucoma, but the eye pressure was too high, that her vision was affected, it was not reversable, so we did a laser for her to reduce and control her eye pressure, it was done in March. her left eye vision was blurred since. even after the laser procedure, it did not help.

in June, as follow up for her glaucoma, her vision was detected to be detriorating too fast, he eye nerve was weak. so, the panel doctors had a discussions on my mum's case and Dr, Ivan again into the picture, we did anothr round of MRI. they saw a very small tumour (left over) but active, it started to grow around the eye nerve. it's in mm, which to some, it may not pose any problem. but to mum, as the way the tumour grow, it pressed on mum's left eye nerve.

Thus, mum was suggested to do radiosurgery to stop the growth. We wll be doing it end of this month. Mum already went for her consultation for this procedure, did her mask, and will be doing anothe round of pre-procedure MRI & CT scan.

Mum is quite demoalising, but when thing happen, we just have to find cure/solution, yes, it's ok to feel sad about the situation, but we still have to move on..i told her. at least, there is a cure for it, and we are here with her.

Life sometimes is so unpredictable, mum is very healthy, exercises and hardworking, she eats simple and never hve unhealthy habits, and why tumour. it's just unexplainable.

Finger cross, mum will be ok after this radiosurgery.

I wish her nothing but pink of health.

iphone 4 & me

well, i always feel i dont need a phone that has many functions and applications. to me a phone is just or me to sms and call. the simpler the better.

but i guess, sometimes, i must keep up with the trend or technology.. as almost 90% of my cols are using iphone or android.. or anything that is touch screeen and have lots of applications blahhh...

i felt so left out at times, mine is still with keypad and no other functions other than call and sms.. oh dear.. even my uncle col have upgraded his to samsung galaxy touch screen with internet and all.

so, my phone contract expired in June. so, i was tempted for many months.. to get yself a iphone, since the phone bill was covered my company, why not and i can get the phone free, the only thing i need to pay is the data plan, whihc i was reccomended to subscribe only 1G for normal internet usage, so i did and it cots me $9.30(after 7% GST) a month.. a steal i guess..

so, now, im holding a iphone4 16G with so many applications.. i thought i will be having "phone-culturre" shock.. but hey, i just ot into it real fast, the touch screen was no problem at all..

i can online, login to facebok during office hour, just to update status and check my forum on my online purchase, which usually i can only do it at hom.. wooo.. nice, but i feel too much of all these wont be good for human to human interaction. as everyone us busy with their phone..

i ty not to download games and all and will refrain from getting missy to play with my phone as much as possible..

it's convenient to have iphone i must say.. for 21 months.. shall see if i will continue to upgrade to iphone5 muahahha

Chinese Learning progress

it's coming to a month now.. missy has completed the book 1 which consists of 20 chinese words. we are now into book 2. Im happy we are progressing well. As i worried she may forget the words in book 1, i still flip thru the book 1 to get her to read out th words only (20) then book 2 is to read the words+the sentences. she is doing great so far.

as for english reading, teacher yda showed me missy can read some simple story books that they did during literacy time. she can recognise words like car, go etc.. In kiasuparents forum, they recommend lady bird petr and jane series. i ask around, many told me, no need to buy the series, just some simple 4 to 5 words in a sentence a page book to read with missy. but those ladybird books we read daily are long story, not simple words like 3 to 4 sentences a page kind..

still considering. now, i feel investing on these material is ok, as i can reuse them for lil Jared.

School Not Fun

This is the answer missy gave me when she talked to me in the phone this morning. she again refuse to leave home to go to school, which is just downstair.

It has been like this since May, crying in the morning. refuse to follow her daddy to school, ended up, grandma has to bring her down with didi.. with so much coaxing and all.. even promise rewards and all..

till after so much talking before sleep, rewards dangling.. still she cry and refuse to go to school. The only thing in her school is the changing of her English tacher and also her chinese teacher is on 2 weeks leave now due to her sons all got HFMD, all three sons..

so,missy dun feel comfortabke with other class teacher/relief teacher .. and her new English teach (third one) is not as friendly and not as passionate as her teacher Yda. sigh. talkng abt quality of teacher. the first day she took over, missy missed her nap which was never happen before.

teacher Yda said it's a passing phase as there are some of her classmates too been cring like this , one since Jan, but all ok le.. now, missy start.. sigh.

So, just finger cros, missy will adapt to the new teacher , their style and all.

World flag

Mummy in SM class been sharing world flags chart that they bought from popular. I thought, hey, it may be the best time to get missy to recognise the flags. she is at her peak in LM.

So, i got the flag chart and i make them into LM format, 50 cards per sheet.

So, we shall do Flags LM for this month. Hope missy benefits from this.

Learning Hua Yi

we have been on the target .. set my me.. ha. missy is now at the last pages of the first book for baic chinese (20 chinese words) she can read a whole sentence too. i'm so happy.

Now, we have also include chinese poem recital since her memory is very good, she can pick it up very fast. we recite one poem a week. we have done two so far since we started 2 weeks back

1. xiao shu bao


2. Yu zhi ying


this week, we will recite


next week, we will do the rao gou ling


glad that missy is showing interest in reading/recognising chinese words ! Happy learning!

25 Manners Every Kid Should Know By Age 9

25 Manners Every Kid Should Know By Age 9
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/25-manners-every-kid-should-know-by-age-9-2480238

Let me walk through the manners with my missy:

Manner #1

When asking for something, say "Please."

check. Missy was taught to say Please as young as two, she practices it well but this practice reduce by age. But we still insisted she say that whenever she ask for things.

Manner #2

When receiving something, say "Thank you."

check. same as #1.


Manner #3
Do not interrupt grown-ups who are speaking with each other unless there is an emergency. They will notice you and respond when they are finished talking
check.we started noticed Missy interrupting when she is about 3 plus, when we are on phone and discussing things among adults. I have told her about this manner.

Manner #4
If you do need to get somebody's attention right away, the phrase "excuse me" is the most polite way for you to enter the conversation.
check. same as #3.


Manner #5
When you have any doubt about doing something, ask permission first. It can save you from many hours of grief later.
Check. Asking permission is required for things she wants from fridge, my phone and etc. she was told to ask. But still need reminders to practicing it.


Manner #6
The world is not interested in what you dislike. Keep negative opinions to yourself, or between you and your friends, and out of earshot of adults.
No. We let her say what she wants. I like kids who are verbal and outspoken. She is allowed to say what she dislikes. Of course say the appropriate things.

Manner #7
Do not comment on other people's physical characteristics unless, of course, it's to compliment them, which is always welcome.
check. I have told her this manner too. She will comment some people as “fat”

Manner #8
When people ask you how you are, tell them and then ask them how they are.
not yet. I just remind her to greet elderly and friends. Seldom people will ask children her age how you are.
Manner #9

When you have spent time at your friend's house, remember to thank his or her parents for having you over and for the good time you had.
I think this need to start teaching her. Maybe start with her grandparents house visit

Manner #10
Knock on closed doors -- and wait to see if there's a response -- before entering.
check. She was taught this manner. But seems like not practicing much, she will jst open the door and come in without waiting for response.

Manner #11
When you make a phone call, introduce yourself first and then ask if you can speak with the person you are calling.
Phone manner still in progress. She seldom get phone call.

Manner #12
Be appreciative and say "thank you" for any gift you receive. In the age of e-mail, a handwritten thank-you note can have a powerful effect.
check. Be appreciative.

Manner #13
Never use foul language in front of adults. Grown-ups already know all those words, and they find them boring and unpleasant.
check. Sort of.

Manner #14
Don't call people mean names.
check.

Manner #15
Do not make fun of anyone for any reason. Teasing shows others you are weak, and ganging up on someone else is cruel.
check.

Manner #16
Even if a play or an assembly is boring, sit through it quietly and pretend that you are interested. The performers and presenters are doing their best.
check..

Manner #17
If you bump into somebody, immediately say "Excuse me."
check. Need practising.

Manner #18
Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, and don't pick your nose in public.
check.

Manner #19
As you walk through a door, look to see if you can hold it open for someone else.
Not yet.

Manner #20
If you come across a parent, a teacher, or a neighbor working on something, ask if you can help. If they say "yes," do so -- you may learn something new

Not yet..

Manner #21
When an adult asks you for a favor, do it without grumbling and with a smile.
check. Sometimes I need to repeat my request for her help.

Manner #22
When someone helps you, say "thank you." That person will likely want to help you again. This is especially true with teachers!
check.

Manner #23
Use eating utensils properly. If you are unsure how to do so, ask your parents to teach you or watch what adults do.
check.

Manner #24
Keep a napkin on your lap; use it to wipe your mouth when necessary.
check. She is reminded not to use hands on food and not to put fingers into mouth.

Manner #25
Don't reach for things at the table; ask to have them passed.
table manner was taught but not full-fledge yet. To be continued I guess

Musical in Missy

I learn Piano for 1 month during my high-school time, i learn violin for several months, but i stopped as i decided to come to Spore to further my studies. i continued in NTU, but i stopped after not long, as i dun have time to practise and always go to class not able to play properly. so my violin has been in my store room collectin dusts.

now, it comes to my missy..i surely want her to pick up some musical instrument, either piano/violin.. as i always believe children who has some engagement with music wont turn bad.. they will likely be more creative and know how to adjust their emotion.

violin is not easy. the holding up pat already is so tiring. some more the string pressing is not kids play. ur fingers will turn rough. piano may be better. I ask my frens and cols who has older kids.. they recommended yamaha piano, Yamaha Junior Course, a 4 years course, many feedback that this course is very enjoyable for the kids and they start by listening and parent will sit in the class with them.my col even learn to play simple notes during the sit-in haaa, not bad

http://sg.yamaha.com/music_education/yamaha_music_school/yamaha_junior/

my fren who sent his bot to art house violin class seems to disagree that yamaha piano is good. her son learn the violin for at 6 months and already started to have his solo performance. but i feel my ultimate aim is not to let my girl to perform or show off.. i want her to have a skill that she can make use of next time..

an option to her career maybe.. in any case she decided not to pursue her career in the field she is studying.. and wants to be more arty ?

well.. i let her start her bllet .. and after she turn 4 in Sept, we wll start piano lesson. this is my plan now. shall see if it works out well.

After today arts performance for missy school, i ask missy if she likes to see the girl who plays violin, she said yes, then i ask if she wants to learn, she said no, she said she plays piano.. wow.. she some how help me to decide le..

Drama and speech

Wanted to enrol in June holiday Drama and speech for missy. it will be 5 days , 2 hours classes and then sat will be their performing day

http://www.act3international.com.sg/holidayjune.htm

but, after thkining abt it with LGG< we feel we are unable to take leave for 5 days jst to send her to the class.. this will interrupt her daily routine in childcare too. so, we shall KIV this option, maybe we shall see if any interesting ones in December, they usually have it twice a year (June & Dec) when there are long school holidays

currently, missy is joining her school enrichment class for english drama and speech since Jan this year. they have been dancing, role playing.. and they have performed today at the Spore Arts festival , indian dance.

I love to let missy have more of such experience as this will help her to boost her self-confidence, overcome crowd-fear, stage-fright and also be more out-spoken. beside that, these activities will help her exert all her excessive energy to good use. and be more creative esp on role play in drama. it can help children pick up a language too. Missy is also joining her school chinese theatre, they will have performance in year end.

Shall follow up on any good programs on drama & speech.

Reading a book with missy

As many have told me that fo children studying in Spore, there should not be any worries on their English language. they are constantly exposed to English language in school/enrichment classes.. the most spoken language, even at home her "kantang" daddy is speaking mostly this language and i was influenced but him. we speak english mostly at home.even maid picked up the language.

beside speaking, we want to ensure she loves to read. we have started reading to her since. she has sort of graduated from ladybird Grade1/2. these are stories by lady bird books according to difficulty of reading, from lesser words to more words.

Just for my record on the books that were familiar by missy

Lady books series(these are books read by LGG when he was younger, all still in good condition)

Grade 1:
1. The elves and the shoemaker
2. The three little pigs
3. The gingerbread boy
4. The little red hen
5. The princess and the pea
6. The sly fox and the little red hen
7. The three billy-goats gruff
8. The enormous turnip
9. Goddilocks and the three bears
10. The magic porridge pot
11. The old woman and her pig
12. Hansel and Gretel

Grade 2:
1. Sleeping beauty
2. Puss in boots
3. Rumpelstiltskin
4. Rapunzel
5. The wold and the seven little kids
6. Little red riding hood


Grade 3:
1. Cinderella
2. Jack and the beanstalk
3. Beauty and the best
4. Snow-white and the seven dwarfs
5. The pied Piper of Hamelin
6. The magic Paintbrush

We read other books too, whivh are from other series/authors lik Mr series, etc.

Happy reading and we hope by reading all these books to her as a routine, will help her to like reading and make this lifelong habit. She has picked up many vocabularies from the stories she read. and she needs the before-bed time reading no matter how tired she is. which i guess is a good sign.

Splashing in March

We went to the swimming pool in March with didi. after our swim in HL's condo in Feb, we can see that lil boy loves water. so we went for a second dip in the pool.

Missy is enjoyng herself so much.. this round, she is not scared of the slides, she and LGG keep playing that.. until we decided to go back




didi seems overwhelm by the activities in the pool, but got over it very fast.



i met a friend in the pool she said this is he first time she bring her boy to swim (same age as missy) cos her boy scared of water.


We shall go swimming again, but now May le.. with the super hot weather, we got to hold on the plans..

Nikitin Blocks

I got the nikitin blocks for Missy in March 11. All these are late posts.

Missy is only doing it twice before we stop it.. until today (May 11) sinsei did a session of nikitin, so, i decided to revisit nikitin with missy

Ballerina my missy

I have waited since Dec 2010 for weekday evening ballet class, after one term, they still do not have it, so i decided to go ahead with weekend class.. there goes our ONLY FREE sunday afternoon, for missy ballet class.

The class is on 3 months as a term. the ballet costume costs almost 80% of the cost fee. haaa.. but i guess all is worth it, when see her enjoying herself and having some "exercise" in dance floor.
I hope she will hav bettr posture and graceful as a ballrina her teacher, is very graceful and good posture.



for this age group, no grading yet, they are just picking up on the posture, coordinating and ryhthmic. the songs are played by live piano.


Missy favourite snack.. Doughnuts. we have some cently.. yummilicious. but very heaty cant eat too offten



missy was down with oral ulcer last week, she was at home or the whole week. fever on the first 2 days, highest 39.7deg, doc has to put suppository to bring the fever down. That was just few days aftr didi's fever session. the scariest part being parents is when kiddos fall sick. stressful and worried like mad.

Learning Milestones for Lil Jared

I intend to do more flash cards for didi since he turned one. but i guess my lazy bug is really crawling all over me. i have got the materials ready and all. so ar i only did few times with him.I will do more flash cards to him before he starts his SM in Oct.




From our observation, didi is learning things very fast compare to his sister at the sama age. partly cos he has his sister to learn from. he will signal very accurately what he wants eventhough he is not verbal yet.

he observes his sister when we ti her hair. and he will do the exact same thing like comb his hair.. try to clip hair clip..




This was taken when he insistedly want my ice lemon tea package drink, empty liao. he is like "wow, got the precious" he squat, pose, hide one corner to enjoy sucking from straw..



i keep all the milk powder scoops since missy was born. we have two big bottle of the scoops. and didi just love to our them all and mess up. this was in march, seems lik in May now, he no longer doing this. phew.. maid is happy haa



he still like to go kitchen to open up the cabinets.. but lesser now compare in March. i got them the alphabet magnet so that missy can do some words forming.



This was some photos taken when missy is doing her ballet, and we were waiting outside, the ballet centre is near swimming pool, so they have got all these floats. didi is like "wowo tresure !", he jst started walking then.


The two "fight" a lot for toys . i bough three ballas with different patterns and they just have to fight for one ball, missy's reason, she also like that pattern. headache !

May 11: Mother's Day Dinner

Late Post.

we celebratd mother's day. not myself as mother but my mother in law one weekend beforre actual mother's day. Well, i guess i can only wait till my kids grow up, then i can have this status to celebrate mother's day..We hd our dinner at "Pu Tien" very nice food. will revisit.

some photos for memory

i like to see missy and her grandpa's talking time. the grandpa is teaching her to use chopstick, she is more on playing and not paying attention mode. she is enjoying the dinner tt night as she ate on her own and ate most of it on her plate. Very good girl !



lil boy is asking for food all the tim, we eat, he also wants to eat, eventhough he already had his milk. and he is busy pulling plates, tear tissues..touch this and that..i ask him "didi, look here, smile smile" and this is how he looks like



After dinner, missy is busy squeezing with the brother




Family photos.. but never able to get one with the two kids looking up at camera the same time.



Happy Mother's day. As for my mum, i bought her hush puppies shoes, which she like very much. she said no need dinner la, everyday eat together already. well, ok la. dun force her.

Chinese Learning @ home

lil missy speak mandarine with anngmo slang.. it's like a caucasian kid is speaking chinese.. we are quite worried as she refuse to use mandarine in conversation except to talk to my mum.. but this has improve ever since her China-chinese teacher took over that she seems to speak more mandarin.. with slightly china-slang..mm..

she has been able to read chinese words from her school chinese lesson, as at this stage, she is capturing/remembering via image snapshot. the basic "ba, ma, ge, jie etc" she is able to recognise. I have been putting in some home practise for her chinese too, as knowing chinese is very important, as chinese, we must at least know/can speak/can read the language (this is my father philosophy, tt was why i was sent to chinese primary school) it's always good to know more languages.

i've been discussing and getting tips from other mummies online on this topic, many suggestions and ways are done to get their child to like and be better in thi language. one of the books that i'm glad i've bought 2 weeks back is the basic chinese(5 books in the initial set)




i have been doing the home practise with missy one lesson (recognise 1 word) on daily basis ( besides days when she was sicks last week)..she i picking up fast, we are already 6th words.. after each word, it will combine all the words learn into a sentence, which missy is able to read the whole sentense. *good job*

There is one more set of books, which are highly recommended and bought by many .. si wu kuai du, which they ordered from china website dang dang


but the ordering/delivery is a hassle.. they take weeks to get it..im still considering.. one expert told me unless i can commit to teach daily (like SM flash cards)else the effect for siwukuaidu wont be that great.

for the time being, i'll continue with basic chinese 500. i'll be elated if missy is able to pick up all the words by thi year and i shall buy 5 more books(second sets)

beside ths, i use the SM on poem recital to get missy to recite/remmeber chinese poems. my col gave me some home practise chinese books, i use these to practise with missy. hopefully, she can pronounce mandarin words properly.



I plan to enrol missy to berries (chinese enrichment) next year. let people teach is better than i ownself teach , as i feel my chinese also not very good, later teach the wrong ones, it'll be the blind leads the blind..

Pediped-fan

Finally i ordered pediped after checking/hearing abt it since missy's time.. am thinking is it worth to buy such expensive shoes for toddler? is it that good? i bought crocs for her the covered up type. which is very good too, non-slip, good for her school, our outing.. until she out-grown her crocs,



after that i was given the pediped-alike shoes (won prize), the guy told me, it's the same as pediped, same factory, all made in china but USA design. missy out-grown the shoes too

then we started to buy her more trendy shoes like the bloomB hairy ball and her CNY shoes, also bloomB.



But the latest CNY shoes from BloomB is not as comfy as the hairy ball BlommB, mum also bough one from Melaka, with strap, but too big, and the shoes is not as comfy, missy will complain abt leg pain if walk too much.. so that make me think that i have to get her better shoes, at her age, her feet is still growing, i dun want later she has blister/bunion/flat foot etc problems that i read, many children nowadays experience due to ill-fitting shoes.

i read about it and i feel maybe i should try once.. if not good, shall change other brand.the price is still reasonable, i can buy from

http://www.pediped.com/why-pediped.aspx

my purchased just arrived today, one is Flex for missy, one is original for didi (didi tumpang the purchase) heee.. missy shoes is about SGD70, while didi's shoes is about SGD 45 per pair.




after feeling pediped shoes, i realise that the gift shoes that i won was not anywhere near this quality, the padding, the shoes sole, the design.. even didi original which is said to be th next best thing of barefeet is so well padded, anti-slip and look nice.




we shall start to wear these shoes, i guess, i will continue to buy pediped.. ! Good shoes for healthy feet that is eager to grow !

Round the Clock

i wanted to record my two cherups development and activities we did in March ( too lazy to online at home).. then in April too..( also too lazy to online) so.. now May already.. 2 months just like that.. phew.. i feel old already !

I've been busy with work too, esp weekend i need to go back to do some tasks, IT line is like that, many tasks can only be done during weekends, when no user is accessing the system. But, im happy that each time, i can learnt some new thing from HA(col of mine). i hope i can pick up as much as i can . so that by end of the year i'll be able to do a routing rule all by myself..anyway, i'll try my best

lil Jared started to walk steadily when he turned 13 mth plus. he is like refuse to take his first steps then suddenly he just decided to walk. it's like yesterday not walking, today start walking. amazing. no wonder i heard story from some mummy that their child refuse to talk until 2 or 3.. then one fine day, the child just started to talk and talk kinda thing. unpredictable.

Lil boy is very very fond o his sister, anything the sister do, the next minute, he is doing the same thing as the sister. his actions and development is much faster compare to his sister, he is merely 14 month old, but have the 18 month old behaviour. he can call papa. popo, jie jie, ball ball, pai pai( praying), mum mum( eating), kai kai except mummy.. how sad.. it's the exact same thing as his sister. oh dear.. ut he is still very attached to me, i cannot go out of his sight if im at home. gesss.. missy was not like that !

We have started ballet for missy since beginning of April. She is enjoying it so much ! that she said she is ballerina whenever it's weekends. She has grown so much, that i talk to her like talking to a adult friend now. as she understands many things now and super kaypoh.. anything we do, she will observe and ask..

Shall updates photos when i got the time to do it. I've been active in kiasu parents forum recently (the only forum tt i can access from office).. and is learning lots of kiasu things to educate children from those kiasu parents.. muahaha.. quite interesting actually.