Little Tiger Growing Up: November 2013

Friday, 29 November 2013

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?

Tuesday, 26 November 2013

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!

Friday, 22 November 2013

Preschool update at 3 years 4 months

It is so NICE to just watch the two lil fellows at work.
Being an observer is more difficult then being a teacher.
I will be reminding myself to NOT interfere and just watch them.
The end result is always so much more rewarding.

He is progressing very well in terms of academics
I am trying to justify 'what he can do' with 'what I let him do'
Not the easiest thing in today's world.
I am not going to even try to be politically or socially right by others' standards.

So, we go by Tiger's standard.
I am just following his lead and look where we are today :)

Math

Personally, this is not my fav subject.

It would have been witchcraft but unfortunately it wasn't in our curriculum.

Weirdly enough, my nerd nerd likes it.

I got some XL beads from ToyRus at 50% discount.
We counted them out and then with some pipe cleaners,
we created some number bracelets to learn number bonds.

Something like this

Counting 1 to 10 with Montessori materials

We did some simple addition

I wrote his answers since he could only write number 1 :)

Some graphing work.

Reading

We are at Book 4B for Peter & Jane

Chinese

I'd updated on his Bao Bei classes progress here

Playing with his "er san kuai du" at home

Right brain

We did zero practice..haha.

He really sucked at memory work now.

Messy Play

This is the sand box we did for Halloween.

I have so many pics of kakak with the kids (jealous)

She is actually wearing one of those cute jeans panties

but the shirt is too long.

My best friend. Really. We have the same brain and heart.

Science

We did the water cycle thing

Others

I spent a great chunk of last week with the Haiyan donation drive.

Seriously, I really enjoyed the work because sorting and packing is my 'thing'

but to involve so much of human resources....I will just donate more money next time .

That's me in pink, being verrry attractive.

Really enjoyed spending the night with my sisters,

chatting and working till five am.

Life in general...

Most evenings are spent at the park and bicycling.

We are trying to get as much outdoor time as possible

and that usually ends with us running back to the house,

racing against the skies before rainfall.

Best memories, ever.

How have you been with your kids?

I would love to hear from you guys too.

Leave me some snippets in comments will ya?

Monday, 18 November 2013

Science: Water Cycle

I didn't plan this, I swear.

Since it is the raining season now,

he saw some dark clouds quickly turned the sky into inky grey

and heavy rain ensued.

Tiger asked, why got rain?

And as I explained, he started shooting me with more questions

What is cloud?

What is eva-ton? (evaporation)

Where rain will go now?

Aha! My window of opportunity to teach science.

I suck at being a normal mom. Can you tell?

So, I bought this set of thingamajigs from Mothercare (half price + 10%)

and prepared a water cycle demo for him.

Sun printout from our ESP stash

An old water cycle printout from Tweedlewink.

(The water cycle)

I placed some cotton balls (clouds) into the perforated container.
As it "rained" (precipitation), water infiltrated into the sponge (land), and
'run off' into the last container.
The blue tray represented the sea.
The sun shined and water heats up.
(Here, I cheated. I told him to close his eyes and I poured warm water into the tray)
Haha, he was impressed!
Because of heat, evaporation happens (I pointed to the vapour from the water)
They condense to form clouds (back to the cotton)
When it becomes verrrry, heavy, it rains, again.
The end.
Nah, there is no end. It just goes on and on....

The next day, he used some unifix cubes (cause I threw away the cotton)

Making observations.

I wrote the process: Evaporation, condensation, Precipitation.

Tiger read: bla-bla tion, nou-nou tion, porupot-tion.

Yeah, genius.

On very good days, he may help to clean up.

Do you have a clean up song?

I usually use a modified version of Doc Mcstuffin's song:

Time for your clean up;

time for your clean up....

Tiger hates it when I change lyrics of songs,,hihi.

Here, he explained 'evaporation' to me..

"Sun shine on lake.

heat water.

water go up"

It became a farm story where all the animals bath together.

His story telling ability has improved alot.

Only in a kid's world, a puny elephant, a hyena, a fox and a goose would race.

In the end, the goose won!

Thursday, 14 November 2013

Giveaway: World Map with Flags

I announced a giveaway on our Facebook page

for those sharing our picture on Haiyan Typhoon Relief.

The prize is:

A wooden world map with flags.

One of the flags is Philippines.

To win,

1. You must LIKE Little Tiger Growing Up on Facebook.

2. Look for this pinned post

Tag five friends in the comment
Share the picture onto your Facebook page
Ask your friends to share them.

Criteria:
1. You must be a nice person.
2. You think we rock while doing charity.
3. You must be from Malaysia
4. Donations are not required.
5. Promise you will enjoy the prize.

Good luck. Contest ends at 12MN on 15th November 2013.

Winner, as usual will be picked by Tiger.

It's for a good cause, babe.

If you don't have a Facebook account, go create one laaaaa...

Wednesday, 13 November 2013

Haiyan Typhoon Relief

I just had to do something.

When I first read about the typhoon approaching, my first thoughts were

Oh, good they are prepared.

And then, the selfish, Thank God it isn't me.

After Haiyan striked, the pictures just kept coming.

Each was more horrific,

more devastating,

more heart-wrenching than before.

I sat in front of my computer and I cried.

As I am writing this, a lump is growing in my throat.

I looked at my kids and they were playing innocently.

The kids in Tacloban?

No food, no water, no diapers, no home, nothing.

I had to do something.
Everything is something when you have nothing.

From tiny, insignificant me, it grew and snowballed into this:

And so far....

This is just one location.

I have a friend who offered his lorry

since I went totally overboard in asking for donations.

My brother and his gym friends offered to be workers

for loading and unloading.

There are kind souls everywhere, you just have to ask.
By asking, one company managed to collect 21k in five days.

<<< >>>

This is not just any disaster.

It is so bad that the emergency and relief personnels are overwhelmed.

Towns, flatten.

9.5 million people affected

4 million are said to be children.

This lady just gave birth.

If I ever complain about giving birth/confinement again, please, just slap me.

The militia and gangs are making it difficult to get aid to the people.

People are desperate.

If you would like to know more, first take a look and this SLIDESHOW and then try to NOT help.
Every time I see it, I just start crying again.