Lil Dragon: 1 year 8 months old

Life's 10 biggest achievements, thus far::

1. Standing up to bullying
Yep, that's right, I kid you not.
A bully who was twice her size told her that she couldn't play with 'her' high chair straps.
She looked at him straight in the eyes, pointed her right forefinger at him and said, "You! You! You!"
followed by gibberish words. She also gave him her trademark frown.
She was smacked by the bully in the end BUT the point is, she ain't not scared of nobody.
You just wait, you bully, you.....

2. Pooping behind furniture
There must be a gene for this.
One thing for sure, it ain't X-linked (coz Tiger was like that) and it didn't come from me.

3. Joining words together
No Kiss!
Kick Tiger!
Beat Mama!
Knock Papa!
Yeah, soooo ballet is out. We are looking at karate, gymnastics or break-dance.

4. Monkey in another life
She can kick, jump, climb, hop, and run as fast as any 2 year old.
Super-human agility this one.

5. A scribbler
Have I ever mentioned that Tiger never scribbled on walls/floor before?
Dragon on the other hand....anywhere but paper.... her toys, the tent, kitchen, Grandma, Tiger, my jelly thighs....
Tiger will be yelling stop! and cleaning up after her :)

6. She thinks she is half Indonesian
Look!!!! Apa tu?
At least she is trilingual la

7. She is health conscious.
No ice cream, yoghurt, fizzy gas drinks, etc.
Must be the decayed two front teeth.

8. Heaven is just outside the front door
It doesn't matter where she is headed. As long as she gets to put on her shoe and run around, she is happy. If you put her in the car, she would probably pee her diapers from excitement. 

9. People love her
It is ridiculous. Strangers just smile when she waddles by.
People keep telling her she is cute.
I put on my serious face and reply, "I know, it's crazy right? I'm so proud of my uterus."
She gets free stuff all the time.
It is sad when people forget to gift the mother's uterus.

10. She is finally ready for school.
She has been showing some awareness for letters lately, so we will be showing her some stuff....
Right now, she is at Letter B. Tiger tries his very best to teach her something but, and I quote, "I cannot teach her. She is too crazy"

11. Extra:: She loves to boogie
but I told her, "Sweetie, I always say that you can do anything BUT professional striping or anything that involves papa and I seeing you butt naked is not acceptable."
She laughed. I'm worried.

Kakak is in 8 out of 10 pics of Dragon. Can't blame my girl for madre confusion

Some school pics

She loves the Dot Markers, esp on human skin

Some practical life work:: pouring

She loves cleaning and wasting wet wipes

 Sudden interest in the mini knobbed cylinder

 

We usually end classes with a party,

dancing to Sandra Boynton's crazy songs 

Got this book + CD from BBW sale for RM8

Art & craft: Tack-It Plum Blossom Tree

We have a lot of blossoms left (I bought too much) and since there is no way Tiger could make a tissue paper blossom tree, I thought why not just put it up on the wall. So easy too!

The initial plan was for Mommy to place the tack-its strategically, hopefully artistically while Tiger tack on the blossoms.

Unfortunately, he struggled with the flimsy plastic flowers and ended up

dropping them more than tacking them

So, we switched roles.

He places the Tack-its and instructs me to place the flowers :p

We also used some pink pom-poms for flower buds.

Smiling for the camera.

Poor boy, he thinks smiling includes closing his eyes as well.

It happens when your parents are Chinese squinty-eyed people.

The blossom tree after some tweaking by Mommy.

I added a tree trunk and some leaves with pipe cleaners,

Tadaaaa!

Our little piece of spring

Easy craft for a 18 month old..

Maybe I'll make a bigger version for the living area.

@@@ 12 days to Chinese New Year @@@

Art & Craft: Making Chinese New Year Cards

Monday nights are Tweedlewink nights but that didn't stop him from schooling @ home   ^.^

His girlfriend played truant last night but Tiger had a new classmate. A sweet 20 month old boy. The boy was accompanied by his father. Halfway through the class, the boy started crying for his mother. Guess what my busybody son did?

He looked at the boy, tilted his head and pointed at ME.

Then he shouted, "Neeeeh (there). Mama."

Me: ROFL

Apparently, I am for sharing too, not just his toys. Now I am 100 percent convinced that there will not be any sibling rivalry with Little Dragon's arrival. Aaahhh, I just have to admire this little tot's big heart. Did I smother him with kisses after that? You betcha!

At home, Nerd Boy requested for "Up"

So, UP we went and did some trays

His fav will have to be this ornamental tree

He had some difficulty separating the tiny strings and requested for help.

When he completed his task, he picked up the tree and did a victory dance ^.^

After a few more trays, we moved on to our CNY crafts.

My initial plan was to make a hand print dragon but the little brat wouldn't let me trace his hand.

Instead, he snatched the pencil and started scribbling writing on the folded papers.

Therefore, we switched to Plan B and made CNY cards for Grandma, Po Po and Kung Kung.

See how gracefully he is holding the pencil?

He he...yeah, I am showing off...

He also insisted to parade his ornamental tree on his desk.

Of course, his bestie, Mr Dragon have to hang around.

After a milk break, we were back at 10.30 pm for another half hour of work before bedtime.

This time, he decided to use his Pip Squeaks markers.

Please ignore the fatty Daddy in the background.

Asking for my contribution.

I usually don't interrupt unless necessary, so that his work is all Tiger.

Then we put on his IKEA smock and decided it was time for some bling bling

He experimented with some glitter glue and

 he LOVED it!

The finished cards: The front.

The insides: His greetings in toddler language :)



Now I just have to get some envelopes and seal it with love  ^.^

@@@ 13 days to Chinese New Year@@@

Tot School: CNY Countdown

‘Un’schooling Tiger Week 17: Chinese New Year Countdown Week (Part 1)

Tiger is 18.5 months

Little Dragon is 13 weeks :)

Since we are counting down to Chinese New Year (CNY), we are a little more 'semangat' this week.

I have decided to do a post of the trays setup followed by his activities the following week to slow down a little. So, here they are:

Fine motor: Hanging ornaments

A mug tree stand (stolen from kitchen) and some ornamental firecrackers and pots of gold.

Tiger was having difficulty with his Christmas ornaments because the strings were short

and the Christmas tree made it tricky.

We'll see if he likes this.

Matching Colours

Gold lumps with paired coloured bases.

I flipped two over for demo purposes :p

If Tiger don't want to match, he has the option of dropping them into the appropriate cups.

He has NEVER matched colours but he can do 2 piece-puzzles of nine different animal faces

?? rebellious or stubborn
Maybe learning colour is his Achilles tendon? Still calls everything 'purple" ^.^

Music tray:

Note: Middle C

A hollow box with the 'C' tuning fork and bell.

He is crazy in love with the forks (purchased from Tweedlewink)
Some corresponding flashcards.

There is one card with the highlighted 'C' on keyboard which I forgot to include.

Wringing: Nuts & bolts

Tiger has been unscrewing bottle caps and spilling water everywhere.

This is just to reinforced his skills and umm, spill more water.

Stringing:

Flower sponges and a pipe cleaner

We haven't done stringing in a while.

This is a stolen idea from Tweedlewink

I wished the flower sponges were pink in keeping with CNY but they only had blue (Daiso)

Vocabulary and Sensory:

Since Tiger ignored the stacker last week, I pimped it out a bit.

Added his favourite pop-out shapes book.

Sensory component is via the touchy-feely flashcards from ELC (30% off).
Very colourful and textured like the Osborne books.

That's all for the trays. I have decided to put out 6 each time and have a few back ups in case he gets bored or simply uninterested.
I have learnt to take the cue from Tiger and pursue HIS interest instead of mine. We'll see if this week's trays are a hit.

The boo-boo tray:

This is a flopped tray. I was trying to make a tree from pipe cleaners for him to place some pink tissues...

What a joke!
In Malay, we'll say "Tak jadi...."
In Hokkien, I'll say "Ka Na Sai"

Update on the World Map:

Tiger has a sudden renewed interest in his map.

He just realised that I replaced the car stickers with flags and he was PISSED!

Threw a tantrum and requested for his cars stickers.

He signed driving and said "Booom, boooom" ( He can say car, btw)

Simply because he was cute, I gave him two...hehe..

A look at his 'new' map

Tiger and the maid (accomplice) removed all the puffy car stickers!!

I had no choice but to put on the flags which aren't as cute.

 Our CNY wall.

Please excuse the ugliness. This is Work In Progress

It will be gorgeous by CNY :)

@@@ 14 days to Chinese New Year @@@

Linking up to:

Tot School at 1+1+1

It's Playtime

Living Montessori Now

Letter: Why I Love You So?

Letter To Tiger Thursday

Dear Tiger,


I am not sure how you perceive my growing belly but you rub it affectionately. So, I hope that's a good sign. Without a doubt I know you will be the best big brother in the world because you have such a big heart and don't mind sharing anything with others (except Grandma, who you bully to the max). I am already excited about you having a playmate and best friend.

You are such a rock star. When I come home tired, all it takes is your smile or a cheeky monkey grin to lift my spirit. Can you imagine the effect when I see you bouncing up and down, crying for me at the door? I know it is because you want to go to the park but what the heck, I'll take it as a sign of extreme affection.

Everyone keeps telling me that you have grown so much, so tall. Unfortunately, you will always be a baby in my eyes, even when you are fifty years old. On Tuesday, you surprised me by going down the slide alone. I guess it is time to let go a little...

When you climb up the stairs, you will always count in your haphazard manner.

"Six, four, nine..."

Here you were taking a break, pointing at me :)

What did I do?

Getting ready to go down.

You sit down way before the slide and shuffle your butt over.

So cute that I want to smack you but don't worry,

I didn't, that would have been disrespectful.

You will say  Wheee! when you slide down...

For some reason, you have always been a serious kid, even at play.

See?

When it is time to leave, all I have to say is let's go see Snoopy (the neighbour's dog who died 3 weeks ago) and you would gladly take my hand and say bye-bye to the playground. No tantrums or major showdowns.


That's why I love you but what on Earth did I do to deserve you?

Lots of love,

Mommy

Linked to Melissa's What's New Babe @ Vibrant Wanderings

Chinese New Year Sensory Bin

Mommy have been bitten by the Chinese New Year (CNY) bug!

Besides cleaning like mad, we have already put up all the red and festive CNY decorations.

I would love to do a CNY activity a day and I am planning to delegate the some tasks to Grandma on the days I am working till late.
I am currently gathering ideas for toddlers and I will be more than happy to share all of them here.
I have pinned some of them on my Pinterest Chinese New Year Stuff board. So, feel free to repin.

We love sensory bins around here, so I thought why not have one for Chinese New Year?

This is our Chinese New Year Sensory Bin.

I keep his tools in a separate container to save time between bins.

A closer look at the bin.

Tiger will get to see it tonight!

His toy dragon decided to take a peek first..hehe..

Ingredients:

1. Blossom flowers (base)

2. Angry bird Ang Pow packets

I am not a fan but the birds are red and each packet has a different greeting.

Can practise Chinese!!

3. A small pagoda

4. Two fire cracker ornaments

5. Two buckets of gold

6. Gold lumps

7. Red & orange pom-poms

8. Reuse ribbons and shiny balls from Christmas bin

Updated: 10th Jan 2011

Tiger & his love affair with the Dragon, his current BFF

First intro to his CNY bin.

Check out the grin  ^.^

We did a little transfering and he got bored quickly

Then he did a little scooping

@@@ 15 days to Chinese New Year @@@

Toys: Playroom Update 2

This post is a reminder of the setup as I rotate Tiger's toys. As my gestation progresses, my IQ drops.

Ask me what I had for breakfast and I'll need a minute to recall...haha! Leaky brain.

The alphabet wall decals were from his study room.

The Days Of The Week Bears has been ravaged but still holding up.

We moved the alphabet EVA mat into the room. He loves the mat by the way.

He has a new tent.

I thought it would be handy for camping theme later :)

Came with a Indian teepee (For Indian theme, haha) and a crawling tunnel

Currently, the tent houses his cars, some balls and soft toys

Speaking of soft toys, Tiger is one of those kids who loves them to bits.

He would kiss his bear, turtles and Scout (the dog) but not Mommy!

Unless I have a piece of food in my mouth, hah!

This is his new Dragon.

I think it is super cute that he walks around with it.

Anticipating the Dragon Year with glee!

Tot School: No Theme Week At 18.5 months

‘Un’schooling Tiger Week 16

Tiger is 18.5 weeks

This was such a milestone month and I have been half dead...arrghhh.....

Definitely happy to be in the second trimester :)

Social:

Finally using spoon to feed and straw to drink.

Phew! Finally some sign of civilisation

Still not keen for toilet training...brat...

Language: 

FINALLY, HE IS SAYING MAMA AGAIN, WOOHOO!!

Calls the clock,  "cock"

Gross motor:   

He is able to go down the huge playground slide alone.

I think he has been ready for some time now but I was the too chicken to let him go. 

Fine motor:

Obsessed about his puzzles, especially the cheap EVA foam ones.

He can sit still for 10 to 20 minutes to complete a few in a stretch.

Math:

He can say 4, 6, 8, 9,10 only but he is able to recognise numbers 0 to 9.

I didn't test him but grandma did by asking him to bring her the numbers randomly.

100% accurate so far

He doesn't seem to mind the testing, he thinks it's a game

Alphabets:

He reads alphabets in phonics :)

Able to make the sound for a, o, i, b, c, k, m, p, j
We do both upper and lowercase without problem thus far

Letter A is Ah, ah, apple..damn that youtube video

Tot School:

 Unimaginative Tot Tray Setup for the past 2 weeks :p

Clockwise from upper right:

1. M&D stacker

2. Cord tie to insert into can

3. Bugs rubber band & geo board

4. Numbers puzzle

5. Rotate to Match Blocks

6. Mini bean bags and bowl



To entice Tiger, I placed the bugs in a bag.

He placed the bugs into the stacking cups instead :)

Only after I made shapes with the rubber band bugs did he show some interest in the geoboard.

He is able to recognise square, circle and triangle. 

He also tried making shapes but it was too delicate at this stage.

Bonus points for trying :)

He has learned to use the chalks on the blackboard.

He used to write with the knobbed side.

 Present from Aunty Sharon from Singapore.

A little advanced but he did fine.

Tiger got bored with the trays very soon.

He couldn't manipulate the rotate to match puzzle yet.

The toss-the-bag game was also a little advanced for him.

The M&D puzzle was untouched.

He created a new tray by asking for his pom-poms and art sponges.

He emptied and transfered repeatedly.

I didn't get a pic of the massive mess he created.

My cutie reader  

This week, he was in love with the Chinese spiral set.

He carried them everywhere he went.

Absolutely in love with the new board.

Tripod grip is a little off this week.

I love blogging. It reminds me that I have been ignoring some lessons that Tiger's been avoiding. Too much Tot School, art, puzzles and un-schooling.

Time to get back on the train:
1. Brillkid
2. Chinese
3. Right brain work
4. Music

In the near future, we will also be doing a lot of crafts and activities with reference to dragons and Chinese New Year.

Finally, Mommy's back.

Joining others at Tot School @ 1+1+1