I can string words!!!

Oh dear, I haven't been blogging for so long and many people might have thought that I have given up on updating! ;p But seriously it's because I have been too busy...

The little one has started full day childcare from 10 August 2010. On the first day, she explored the school on her own and only cried a little after she realised I have walked off. On the second day, she began to be a little clingy but the teacher took over and she was fine. On the third day, she did cry a little when I left, but the teachers all said she did not cry after lessons started. All in, it seems like the little one is adapting well. Of course, she tends to be clingy when we walk into the centre, but after I tell her "Mama will be back to pick you up later ok?", she will just sit there and let the teacher take her temperature. Then off she goes into the centre! : ) 

The only feedback I got is that she clings on to some of her playgroup teacher and refuse to let them out of sight. Other than that, her chewing skills are pretty bad and she takes a long time to eat rice... More than a year of eating porridge must have created the lazy eating habits. But better late than never, I have been feeding her rice for dinner... And I do see some improvements! :)

In the recent 2 weeks, we have noticed that she will sing to herself and after she finishes, she will clap her hands. The songs include an array of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "Alphabet Song", "Baba Black Sheep" and some chinese nursery rhymes. Though her singing may skip certain phrases, but hey it is still a song! Other than that, we have been teaching her to string words together... E.g. Wo yao yi ge ( "I want one"). So recently, she could say "Nai Nai yao tu tu". Over the last weekend, she spouted a "Papa say Qi Lai" ("Papa say wake up).

Her vocabulary has also grown tremendously. At least now she can identify things like "car", "flowers", "dog", "cat" and the different parts of her face (e.g. eyes, noses, mouth, ears, hair, etc). When you ask her where is her nose, she will point to hers and point to yours too... To me this is a tremendous improvement from 1-2 months back.

Ending off, every child progress differently... For my little one, I am just glad that she is learning well... And as most parents will agree that it is a miracle before your eyes when they start spouting words and stringing them into sentences...

Toothy Grins!

This is just a little entry for memory sake. Since two weeks back, the little one has been battling with sore gums! Despite the emergence of the pre-molars and molars, she is not salivating as much as she did when she was younger. However, when the sore-ness gets to her, she becomes grumpy or whiny...

And for some reason, she does look different when she smiles with all the pearly whites... : ) * 

Here are the items I use to brush the little girl's teeth every night...

First Teeth Toothpaste
It is important that the toothpaste used on babies must be fluoride-free. Because babies do not know how to spit out the toothpaste, you have to check to ensure there is no fluoride.  When she was slightly younger and did not have so much tooth, I used the finger toothbrush that was sold with this toothpaste. But with all her teeth, she bites so i changed to toothbrush! : )

Pigeon Infant Toothbrush 
We bought the set when she was younger but we did not really use all of them. The one on the extreme right is the one that I am using now...

King of Fruits, Durians!!!

Mama and Papa went to Malaysia for a Durian feast! Jeff (or Uncle Jeff as my girl will call him) bought some Durians to bring back to Singapore and we decided to share it with the little one... :)

She did not eat much but at least she tried. According to my mother in law, my hubby did not like durians when he was young. In my memory, I did not eat durians until I was in Primary School. So maybe it's in her genes that she will not be eating much durians until when she is older. : )

Happy Birthday, Papa!

My (mama's) parents threw a little birthday celebration for hubby (papa) at a Japanese restaurant. As my little sister booked early, we manage to get the VIP room. We manage to reach early so gave the little one her dinner first...
 

 PS: I forgot her bib so improvised one using the restaurant's paper napkins... ;p

Lucky for us, the little one sat in her little chair between me and my sister throughout the dinner. She enjoyed our dinner too since there was nice chawanmushi (Jap steamed eggs) and shabu shabu pork and beef. She also stuffed herself full with the sweet US cherries that I bought from the market in the morning. :)

 The little girl with papa and the cake...

The little one was ALL SMILES when everyone in the room started to sing the birthday song. Her expression made everyone laugh because she might be thinking that it's her birthday and not papa's! 

Happy Birthday, papa! 

Thanks to my younger sis. I totally love this picture. Eventually papa blew out the candle because the little one will most probably contaminate the cake with her saliva when she blows. =P

Reading...

Recently a nice neighbour shared with me that I could get a library card for the little girl. The National Library Board can issue the card to her from the day she is born. How pleased I was to hear that since that would mean another six books for her...

I have to find time to bring her to the library to get the card and pick out some books for her. Since she loves reading, I should give her encouragement and introduce a wider spectrum of books.

Her favourite book at the moment is a present from Ah ma (mama's mum). It's a Peek a Boo book named "Where is the Hippo?" (you can see the book in the previous post).

Asking us to read her a book which mama & papa are glad to oblige!

A tribute to 18 months...

This little bundle of joy is finally 18 months old!

The growth of the little parcel that was so dependent on us is a miracle and the hardship of the initial year seem to have melted away like it never existed. The little girl can now understand most of what papa and I say, do things as she is told (like keep her toys, or throw away her own diaper, etc), communicate her needs to us using simple language or actions and of course run around on her own...

Heres some indication of what she will be in future...

Future Mac'Donald Happy Meal kid???

Academic? (PS: Papa and mama are secretly happy that the little one loves her books)

The great businesswoman? Doing her big business on the phone. :)

A trip to Genting - Day 3 (Splash Pool!)

Throughout the Genting trip, we stayed indoors because the outdoor theme park was mostly rides and those "Ti-Kam" counters. This is what the little one enjoyed the most! It's an indoor hot water Splash Pool! This was unplanned and we decided at the snap of our fingers!

Hubby and I each paid RM 10 to get in while the little one got in FOC! The pool was not deep and has 2 slides where you can take a "ride" down. ;)  

The little one was originally cautious of the pool and water. But she had lots of fun after a little warm up help from papa who made her totally wet!

Suprisingly she had the courage to play with the water jets!

It's just so much fun!!!

Ending off with a picture of little one with papa and mama!

A trip to Genting - Day 3 (Chin Swee Cave Temple)

Papa planned that we will visit the Chin Swee Cave Temple! So we decided to do it on the last day before we leave Genting for good!!! There is a free shuttle bus which we have to take from First World Hotel to another hotel where another free shuttle will bring us to the temple.

Here we are on the very packed bus! The uncle refuse to turn on the A/C until the bus moved off! Luckily mama got the portable fan and the little one was in sleveless! And she could still smile a little despite the heat...

This is us at the temple. Do not be mistaken, the other girl is my niece who decided to follow us to the temple. :)

Papa is playing with the lens... It was a leisurely walk around the temple.

The little one who is eager to explore and refuse to let us carry her. She was just contented to roam the temple freely. The weather was just beautiful and cool (not cold), it was great to be outdoors!

After some walking around, we decided to take a rest and let the little girl have her lunch. Seperately, we had our lunch at the temple's vegetarian restaurant. The food was nice but costly! One plate cost about RM10 to RM18! But papa and I had the chance to drink the tea that we love (for some reason can't find the tea in Singapore!) and hey! It was equally costly as well!

Running around while waiting for the shuttle to come pick us up!

Ending off Part 1 of the day with a picture of the little one with his favourite papa!

Note: The little one was so exhausted, she dozed off immediately on the shuttle bus on our way back to the hotel. She slept a good 2 hrs (not wanting to wake up aft 2 hrs) at the hotel room. Check out the next blog on the splashing fun she had at the Splash Pool!