Winter Wonderland Sensory Bin

Easiest bin ever..

I know I say that ALL the time, but this time, really one :p

Contents:
Base: Cotton balls, unifix cubes, and other white knick knacks to make 'snow'. There were fake snow in the shop that I had considered buying but the thought of cleaning them out of Dragon girl's mouth...yuck!
Mini Christmas Trees that we bling-blinged
Castle: Bought this eons ago and I thought, 'wasted investment' but hihi, nope...he loves it.

While writing the above, I've come to realize 2 things
1. I have been very lazy. Only 4 posts for December :p
2. Investment is defined according to personal preference.
For example, to hubs, it meant accumulation of wealth in properties and such with calculated risk. *insert droopy eyes and a big yawn*
To my sister and I: Investment in toys cash out when they suddenly discover an interest in a preciously scorned toy *pats self*. That's because our wealth is defined by our children's happiness.

Happiness vs Money. I don't look so shallow now, huh?
Fine...this shopping thing still needs work but hey, everyone has issues.

" If I see a psychotherapist, he or she will probably point out that it was because my mom used to hide all these new and shiny toys in the cupboard and we had to curi-curi take them out for play. It was in a cupboard above the bed. Ya, I know, some stupid 80's design la. We had to use pillows just to reach the toys, okay? A lot of work and determination went into each attempt but we never gave up.

My favs were the Atari, which we plugged into the TV ourselves (no one was electrocuted) and the Barbie ice cream shop. At this point I called Winnie to see if she remembers anything else we 'stole'? She said, "I stole my white bear (she still carries that thing around, prob infested by now...eeeee. Traitor doesn't read my blog, so it's okay to kutuk her here). She also recalled that there was a dolphin soap that we loved to smell (sound like weirdos but it was really, really nice) and the KFC coin box that plays some music every time you insert a coin.

 ATARI

At about 5 pm, we would repack the toys and hide them back in the cupboard. Without fail, we would then be reading our 'textbooks' when she arrives home from work. I mean, come on, textbooks? She fell for it, so...

It also didn't help when I visited a friend's home during the impressionable age of 7 years old. Her name was Alexandra and her American dad worked for the TNB or something. So, they lived in a huge colonial house and she had a freaking playroom. I remember telling myself that I wasn't going home. She had a toy sewing machine for Christ's sake! When I eventually went home, I declared that my children will have a playroom. So, now you know."

 

The beloved Ice Cream Shop

Image from Google. Now we all want this for Christmas

 So, if you are thinking, stupid, materialistic woman is going to create

little toy hoggers..sorry to disappoint you but

nah-ah, my kids, esp Tiger do not share my obsession.

They both walk in and out toy stores without meltdowns.

I know I am going to jinx myself for saying this but I'll take my chances.
In fact, I don't think I would mind..hihi.

Here's Tiger with his NEW toy

It starts with the beginner stage

  

He told me, "So easy one"

I rolled my eyes and said, "Wait and see first"

 

Muahahaha, challenging leh?

 

I took so many pics of his little hands at work

Not so easy, buddy.

See how the rods are self correcting?

Love the independent work.

Whenever I quote Tiger, you will notice that he speaks in 

a Manglish manner.

Where is my one?

What is this ah?

That is how I speak to him. 

I do it on purpose.

We are not some royal or aristrocrat.

We are simple people.

We are Malaysians.

Speaking in our rojak manner, with three languages in one sentence

makes us unique. I think it is endearing.

Selamat Hari Natal!
 Merry Christmas!
&
圣诞节快乐!

Secondhand mom

For those who doesn't get secondhand, try preloved/used.

That's what I am when I think of myself as a mom to my daughter.

People told me that by the time the second child rolls out, I will not be doing tot school/activities as before.

I gave them a Pffftttt.

Time to eat my own words.

I really suck at spending time with my girl. I wish there are 36 hours in a day. I wish I pay more attention to her instead of relying on my maid so much. Now, Dragon girl clings to kakak like a leech. Sigh, she is even starting to look a lot like kakak...wtf?

She had been sleeping with the maid for the past weeks. I told myself that I was training her to sleep without me but honestly, I am just too farking lazy to wake up and make her some milk. Too selfish to interrupt my sleep. Too self absorbed.

She was having seriously high fever last night. I fed her medication and sponged her. Blardy forgot to stock up on suppositories. I was farking myself mentally with all sorts of curses, which I cannot repeat here.

I found out that she could say "baby' last night. Found out that she loves Mickey too as we stayed up to watch Disney channel. Found out that she is still my baby who needs me no matter how tough she is, how easy she is to please. The moment her fever settled, she was smiling, laughing, playing peekaboo, bouncing on the bed and using a  pen as a wand. It would have been really funny and cute if it wasn't like 3 AM.

I am going to just cuddle her the whole weekend.

Baby girl, if you are reading this, I am sorry. I will not let our love be second to anything.

Mini Christmas Trees

We just finished putting more baubles on the tree when inspiration striked.

Since I am not about to spend time and money on felting, let's just upcycle, shall we?

Grabbed some wooden trees from Tiger's train set.

Don't they already scream Christmas?

 

Hmmmm, some baubles, deco?

Ah-hah, I have some shiny bling bling in the sticker stash!

They cost rm2.90 for a huge pack from Fun n Cheer.

Don't they look great?

I should write a book, called,

Crafting for the Lazy

I thought of creating a Christmas Wonderland bin

but right now, the knick-knacks are just lying on the floor :p

I blame hubs since he wanted to watch The Hobbits last night.

  Have a great weekend!

We have a surprise giveaway next week, so stay tuned :)

Tiger at 3.5 years

He is still not being a loving big bro to Dragon girl.
I force them to hug and kiss each other ALL THE TIME now.
You want biscuit. Go kiss your sister.
Chocolate? Go hug Dragon.
Study? Go sayang mei-mei first.

His fav thing to do?
Saving mama.

If we are walking on the streets and he spots an oncoming car, he will shout, "Stop!"
Then he will bear hug my legs, look at me earnestly with puppy eyes and say, "Mama, NO scared. I save you."
Or he will tell me to roll off the bed and rushes over to 'save' me again :)
See why I haven't been blogging? I'm too busy playing 'damsel-in-distress' and I LOVE it!

After playing superhero, he will usually ask for study.

I try to distract him so that we spend more time bonding than studying.

Papa thinks he is too nerdy already :)

Go Frutti or study? Frutti and then, study

Go shopping or study? Shopping and then study

Mama or papa? Mama and papa.

And is a terrible word.

We are verrry flexible with his study now. Whenever mama is  we are lazy, we will just settle for reading which is something he truly enjoys right now.

His fav books are 

1. The Gingerbread Man

2. Poop book

3. All the Brillkids books

4. Anything to do with the planets/space

5. Peter and Jane..nah, just kidding! 

Some pictures I took of him during school:

Worksheets

He did some Despicable Me worksheets from 1+1+1 = 1

To save on ink, I usually print selected pages only and not the whole pack.

He enjoys these more than I ever will.

 

Montessori

It has been a while since he'd seen the pink tower and broad stairs.

He was immediately drawn to them.

Each time, I can see little improvements in his fine motor skills and creativity

Can you see his stance?

He was doing his booty dance after creating this 'flower'

Matching blue and red rods to the number chips.

We took turns 'teaching' number bonds with the little bracelets

Simple constructive triangle work

Puzzles 

The box on the left in the pic above is a version of the Imaginets

On the right is the Grolier's Logico set.

He LOVES the Logico set. 

I like the fact that we can play together, unlike that darn Ipad. 

 He enjoys the fake Imaginets too!

 reading & vocab

Most of the books here are early readers.

Others are in the playroom or the master bedroom.

  

CHINESE

Er San Kuai Du

ART

This is Dragon girl's favourite.

I think we have more messy sessions ever since she came on board

Music

Tiger loves doing this

 

When expanded, it becomes this:

Science

Created a mini space area from his art work and some glow in the dark stars

His Water Cycle kit:

Sometimes, I put some blue coloring just for fun.

Nobody uses this desk anymore.

Its main function now: calender cum clock holder  =.="

The rest of the room...

Some toddler friendly material and some dangerous beans :)

 

Tiger thinks its funny to interrupt his sister by playing with her stuff.

Not that Dragon girl is very interested...

The girl just wants to scoop and do little else, which is fine too.

Manipulatives:

Golden beads to compare quantity and some unifix cubes

Baskets: 1. Wooden cubes; 2. Abacus beads; 3. Tangram pieces

We use this section for math and counting / fine motor

The boy who will never be a model

[-_____-]""""

Lil Dragon: 1 year 4 months

Here is the little sweetheart.

Little girls are essentially made of candies and everything nice.

Like the Powerpuff girls :)

Her dad and I are helpless when it comes to disciplining this one.

Even when she blows raspberries at Tiger, we both find it so cute,

much to Tiger's dismay.

 

The most important milestone that has taken place?

She has self-weaned.

My boobs are no longer needed.

It is sad and liberating at the same time.

Now, when I offer her "nenen" she just shakes her head.

I am still sad :(

But Hubby is obviously delighted =.="

 I was packing her old clothes for a friend the other day and they are so teeny

compared to her current one!

Sigh, they all grow up so fast, don't they?

Next thing you know, I will be practising my getridofboyfriends skills.

Those who passes Level One must then go through my
"50 rules for dating my daughter" rule book.
Pity her future boyfriends.

<<<>>>

School wise,

I do not get to dictate anything with this one.

She loves the ELC easy painters and orange Crayolas.

First thing she will do is 'conteng' the floor.

Then, she will sign open for the ELC painters.

If I refuse, she will do that 'kesian' face and for maximum effect,

purse lips and make tiny rabbit noises.

Works. Every. Single. Time.

  

Socially, she is no longer scared of strangers!!!

Crap!

I was counting on that to be my safety net but

she winks at people who walks past her.

Or she starts a game of peekaboo.

I think she is going to be the one to give me a weak heart.

You know, the one who goes skiing, sky diving, bungee jumping....just for fun.

Why?

You know those 2 storey high indoor slides?

She actually pushes me away so that she can ride solo.

CRAZY GIRL!

 Right now. she says pretty much the same things and she still calls me 

MAK or BAK (which is sister in Indon)

=.="

She is seriously considering kakak as her mom.

Watching Youtube vidoes with Papa.

 

Wish I have more hours everyday so that I can divide equal time between the two.

Sigh, being a mom is so tough, isn't it?

Playroom for the one-year-old

We love this room almost as much as the study room.

This is where Dragon girl spents at least 12 hours a day.

For that reason alone, I like to make it nice and neat.

As neat as possible, which can be really subjective.

So, on a good day, it looks like this.

Seriously, this is considered a VERY good day.

A large part of the room is filled with books and more books!

Unlike Tiger, the sister loves books.

I hope they never, ever find traces of herpes on children's book.

This is the main area.

The carpet is high-pile rug from IKEA.

I love it cause it looks like grass.

Dragon usually ends on the carpet during her naps.

The open rack on the right is mostly for blocks and little knick knacks.

One container is reserved for stray items.

Staples are the musical instruments and Leapfrog Alphabets Magnets.

Balls are a must for toddlers.

The mirror next to the rack is also from IKEA

 I shatter-proof it with window stickers from Daiso.

Mirrors are great at any age.

Her baby toys are still on this shelves here.

Usually some sorter. stacker, puzzles, etc.

Along the adjacent wall are the pretend play items:

The IKEA kitchen! I know, I know...we already have the pink one.

But this one matches the cupboards. Lame excuse, hor?

She saw Dexter and Dee Dee's one and she just kept playing with it.

Girls will be girls.

She even carries a handbag like me...hihi.

The pink plastic one is now outdoors for water & messy play.

I created a farm scene on the train table but the animals and props
have mysteriously disappeared.  
Sometimes, the toys migrate to the living area.

And her favourite toy of all times: The Fisher Price Home.

(that's her nap time mattress behind the toy)

I think this is only FP item that both the kids love.

This is no longer available locally as far as I know.

Collector's item! 

The rest of the FP toys are mostly ignored...

...so they are packed up to be....hihi, tell you guys soon!

In case you need some inspiration for Christmas,

other stuff that she really enjoys are:

The Grow&up Slide and Gym (from ToyRus)
They both LOVE this so very much.
It has proven to be worth it price.
Dragon has been climbing up this thing ever since she was six months old. 
They both love climbing the gym part just to scare the adults.
Dragon will also lay on the slide to read books.

Her scary looking doll (from ToyRus warehouse sale)
Bought this for Tiger when I was still carrying the sister.
The cry scared the shit out of him...to this day.
Haha...but the sister loves it.
She feeds the doll and brushes the hair.
Great for pretend play.

Leapfrog Peek A Shoe Octopus

Books
Pop-ups and Lift-the-flaps books
in all shapes and sizes.

ELC easy painters & Crayola crayons

More than all the above, she enjoys putting on her shoes and going outdoors.
It can be a car ride to the stores or a walk to the park.
Anywhere, as long as she gets to go out.
Whenever we approach the park, she would squeal and laugh in delight.

Hope you guys get some ideas for Christmas :)
Happy shopping!