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!

We love Halloween!

Oookay, it's probably more like mom loves Halloween...

oh well, what the heck

I always feel super inspired during October.

A a result, we I tend to go overboard.

^.^

Please bear with the blurry pictures until I get new lens for my DSLR.

My S3 camera is so scratched...it looks hazy in the pics.

 1. Upper left: Spooky Halloween Small World
Dragon loved the oatmeal apple bin so much, I couldn't bear the thought of removing it.
So, I re-used the oatmeal from the apple bin and added some Halloween deco.
This is a bin about a little boy and girl who is trick-and treating in a spooky neighborhood with giant spiders.

2. Halloween deco for the tot tray area.
If you have been reading the blog, you will notice the banner and decos has been the same since 2011.
Recycle is the new cool, guys.
According to Tiger," Hey, this one I play with Lil J one".

3. Potions lab
I made some simple potions recipe for Tiger but I think we need some messiness to up its cool factor.

4. Monster googly eyes bin
Rehydrated some green water beads and added some googly eyes. I think Dragon wants to live in it...haha!
I love how the munchkins are so, so different.
It took Tiger 3 days to be acquainted to the water beads but Lil Dragon jumped right in.
She squealed in delight and made crazy mess.
Sensory bins are sooooo up her alley ^.^


Happy Halloween Planning!

Baby School: Lil Dragon @ 14 months.

Warning: Super lengthy post. 

This is her developmental milestones, playroom and trays update

 rolled into one giant post.

I was talking to my sister the other day and she commented,

"You know, you are not teaching Dragon very much"

I replied,

"Yeah, but I feel she is already very smart"

She was like, "What the............"

Haha, I am allowed to be biased. 

Not that I am lazy (maybe, a little) but after doing so much with Tiger,

I now enjoy the process of learning/teaching more than the outcome.

I have become more experienced.

Also known as ageing laaaa.

Dragon is my precious, like Gollum's ring.

I am addicted to her.

I sniff her all the time...haha!

She is so, so funny.  

Our kakak thinks so too but she is probably biased as well.

For example,

She has a bendy back dance move.

I would be verrrrrry worried if these two decides to pursue a career in dancing.

She also looks funny cause of the chipped front teeth.

Haha.

Terrible mom, I know.

Nothing we can do about it now.

Her dentist advised for fluoridated toothpaste to prevent caries.

So, we wrestle every night while I sing 

"This Is The Way We Brush Our Teeth" on top of my lungs

Physically,

She is walking up and down the stairs independently.

A little wobbly still, which scares the shit out of me.

She is a climber.

Chairs, tables, windows, me.

The girl thinks everything that is below knee height is a stool.

Boxes, containers, books, oh and Tiger's head...kesian.

Speech

She says 

Mama

Papa

Tiger

Up

Uh-oh

Shoe

She still grunts a lot.

Oh, and shout. Definitely her fav way to 'communicate'

Socially, 

She is terrified of strangers. Like pee in pants kind of scared.

So, don't expect her to say hello.

However, she does enjoy going outside or walks

She would ask kakak for shoe and demand to go out whenever 

she has the opportunity.

Reading

I moved the books to the other side and she wasn't pleased.

And she wasn't very subtle about it.

Haha, she basically grunted and slammed the cupboard a few times.

The pop-ups and hardcovers are on the highest level but she reaches for them.

Then some toys and her fav ones on the bottom level.

I try to read at least three with her everyday.

More books

Play
Pretend play

She loves to play "telephone" and cooking

The problem is she likes to use my mobile instead of those plastic ones.

She gets simple instructions such as

Can you cook for me?

Can you find xxxx book?

 Find the cat and give to mama

(which is why the cat is on the kitchen)

On the small rack are some

cooking utensils, puppets, bean bags, soft triangles, linking pipes,

stacking toys, assortment of balls

 

Blocks and noisy stuff.

The Daiso boxes are for storage of manipulatives.

The playroom is where she spends most of her time.

It is where she plays, eats and sleeps.

If I didn't have a full-time help, I will probably have 5 toys in there. Max.

>.<

Kakak probably picks up her toys 10 times a day despite

the fact that I told her once a day will do.

I love our new kakak.

So, I wipe, scrub, vacumn and disinfect whenever I rotate the toys.

I wish the colours were softer but  I do like the quiet plastic ones

that I can dump into soapy water.

Baby School Progress

On good days, I may get a scene like this.

Don't be fooled. This probably lasted 10 minutes.

We usually start with some 'group' work like this.
Sensory Bin
Individual work with trays.
Brillkids

For her it takes about 15-30 minutes only

Her trays:

Left

1. Hairy pom-poms for one-to-one correspondence

2.  A clock for her to play with the needles

3. A cup with 2 balls (For Big Vs Small)

Right

1. Simple sorting tray with ipcycled McD drink holder.

2. Dice and counters (simple numbers game)

3. Pegged puzzle

Palate

This little girl has a huge appetite

Way bigger than Tiger's

She eats three main meals and snacks non stop in between.

On top of that whenever some one is eating she will always ask for a bite or two.

See her belly? Too cute!

Baby School: Lesson 4

Here's a snapshot of the trays for the week.
As a mother of two, I really have no time to position each tray with proper lighting and such.
I just shoot with or without the kids hanging off my neck


From top to bottom, left to right:

• Please ignore the mini cylinder and play dough (preschooler stuff that shouts DANGER!)
• Pom-poms and ice cube tray for one to one correspondence; Crayola stamper and paper for palmar grip
• Number chips and can; pegged puzzle for pincer grip
• M&D Geometric stacker for palmar grip; Cutting fruit for practical life 

Where is the stacker?

With the little munchkin.

It was 8 in the morning and she was all excited already.

So much so, she pooped.

Our last segment consist of:

• Look At Me! Mirror cards from Baby Einstein which Tiger and I thought were really cool. Dragon gave it a MEH...WHATEVER.. review
•  Magnetic Zoo 2 piece puzzle

Her fav was still the raisin can that I jazzed up with Hello Kitty stickers.

The number chips are from the Montessori set.

She was looking at it intently while I thought to myself,

"Aaaah, see...learning numbers"

The next moment she burst into laughter for no apparent reason.

Tiger wasn't amused since he was 'teaching' seriously.

Looking at this pic, I just realized her head is BIG

She also loved the pom-pom tray.

At the time I am writing this post, a green pom-pom has disappeared.

When I asked Tiger about it, he replied casually,

"Oooh, inside mei-mei stomach"

I muttered to myself, "Oh shit"

=.=""

Preschool: A Delightful Week

The week I lost it.
My mojo.

After the two kiddos drove me nuts, I announced,

"That's it. Class is over"

You would think somebody would notice BUT

nobody was even listening.

So, I just switched off the lights and walked out.

The best part?

Tiger just shouted, "Hey, I not finished. Ai yoh"

Little Dragon?

She thought it was boob time and happily followed me out.

Tired mom = grumpy mom = non productivity

I was so tired all week, I couldn't stay awake past 11 o'clock.

I realized...... it's the caffeine withdrawal.

After cutting down caffeine and sugary treats, I am no longer Super Mama.

Right now, I am more like Lousy Mama.

Hopefully the withdrawal ends by next week.

I had to cut down because I think I am giving Lil Dragon dental caries from

my too sweet breast milk. She has chipped another tooth.

Personally, I think she looks like a shark now

(.) \/\/\/\/\  /\/\/\/\/ (.)

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

We'll see a dentist on 14th and see what he says.

The caries, I mean.

I attempted to brush her teeth; which is a another major failure.

She will be the one to drive me to an early grave.

Mark my words.

Okaaay....back to fun school business.

Montessori

Tiger was very into the Pink tower and Broad stairs.

Which made me very, very happy ^.^

Honestly, his technique would probably kill a strict Montessorian

  He was moving everything very quickly as opposed to carefully.

I think it was all the right brain practice..haha.

We did some extensions

You can get the free printables from here

 

Science

Then we did all these Space work because he wanted to.

Space poster from Popular Bookstore

 We read this book until I nearly vomit blood.

So, I started reading with an Indian accent.

I thought I was funny but he just gave me a huh? look.

"____"

No sense of humor, this boy.

We use the whiteboard on a more regular basis now.

You can see I use it for calender time as well with just days of the week 

and the date.

 

Spelling/Puzzle

 Bought this letter game recently.

Very creative for spelling CVC or  CCV words.

RM 13.80 from Fun & Cheer

 He needed some help until I thought of Fridge Words.

Then, he just self check and correct.

I can relax and lay down...hihi...my fav pose.

If you buy this, then you don't have to buy the fridge phonics

 Reading

He is the Brillkids Manager trusted with the 'clicking' task

and asking mei-mei to SEE!

We are blazing through Peter and Jane because I discovered:

to blast boredom, use stickers

Just one measly sticker and he can finish the whole 2B in one seating.

How la?

To bribe or not to bribe.

That is the question.

Right Brain.

Only did one day of practise this week :p

He enjoys linking memory and flashcards at the moment

I like his, "Nevermind, I try again." attitude

Math

Caught him singing Shichida Addition song...haha.

Music

He sings VERY loudly when he thinks no one is watching him in class.

Whenever he caught me smiling at him, he would blush and cover his face.

Chinese

He has about 35 cards now in 3.5 months

Others

He thinks he is a co-driver. The shift stick is HIS.

He is also a novice graffiti artist now.

Yesterday he wrote a wriggly P on the shelf secretly.

When I saw his face, I just knew.

"Did you write on the wall ?"

"No," he answered matter-a-factly. "I write on cupboard"

@.@

He pointed to his P and said "I write question mark"

I was going to start nagging when he added, "I write for you"

Oh. in that case....give chance la.

Sibling moments

Sharing

Two seconds before they started fighting

 Sharing a joke...

Can't remember the joke but they laughed like mad!

That's all.

Have a great weekend guys!

Tot School: G is for Goat

‘Un’schooling Tiger Week 7 (1- 10th August) @ 14.5 months

Alphabet:G is for Goat

Theme: The Farm

We are linking up to Tot school :

Pretend play

I wanted to go to a real farm but the thought of animals in captivity does not appeal to me. Therefore, we have a pretend farm.  

This is actually the train table to which I added some farm animals, props and a digger.

  

Tiger enjoyed playing with the DIY barn i made from a box. You can see it is not very well made cause the pieces were coming off..haha..

   This is the back of the barn.

The roof can be opened to see the animals inside and for storage later

Printables for DIY barn here

I printed & laminated some pieces from this gorgeous farm life printable from Lawteedah here for singing:

• Old Macdonald Had A Farm
• Farmer in The Dell

Learning letter G:

He really likes the EVA foam letters

We have started our sandpaper letter tracing. Tutorial for sandpaper letters here

He makes the letter sound for 'g' everytime he traces.

He goes gak, gak, gak

The Leapfrog fridge phonics and Playskool Alphie makes my life easier for phonics

 

Tot trays

Playing with the 3 part magnetic farm animal puzzles.

He is trying to make them stand, which he can't.

Spent a good 15 minutes doing this while sitting cross legged

Seemingly threading buttons but he was just pulling the thread :)

My little magpie likes his new sparkly pom-poms from Daiso

Playing with the small-pegged numbers puzzles.

 Pre writing worsheets:

Using markers on worksheet from 1+1+1

He stamped on it first with a free 'Gigabyte No. 1' stamp that Mommy nicked from Daddy's desk.

G is for Gigabyte too...LOL

We did a lot of paperwork this week. Will post our 'art' as soon as I get Daddy to put up the new Ikea rail.

World study

Still enjoying his continent map.

Art

Painting on 'Girl With a Pearl Earring' by Johannes Vermeer 

Music:

Signs 'listen' and hum whenever I play a note.

Ask for the piano by signing 'listen'

~~@@@~~

We had a rather quiet weekend cause Tiger's down with a mild case of flu. Mommy did some shopping for Tiger's Tot School though.

My finds:

1. Crayola Dry Erase Activity Center

2. Crayola Beginnings. I am a sucker for Crayola, especially the pig in this set :p

 

3. Desk and Chair from Ikea

4. More picture books from Borders. I found The Rainbow Fish. Yay!! 

5. Water table. Yay!! Not exactly Tot School but I've always wanted one. It's for sensorial..hah

.