Dora, science centre water play

This June holidays have been filled with fun and laughters.  Had signed up my Cutie for a robotic workshop where she had a funtime building her crab robot and learned about other robots like R2D2.  

Besides watching the Elmo and Hello Kitty Performance at the malls, Mummy had also brought them to watch the Dora Performance.  Many parents were curious where Mummy got the beautiful Dora backpack for them as it was not available in Singapore (bought it in USA). 

Haha... told my darlings that this will be the last time that Mummy will bring them for this kind of Meet-and-Greet Performance (super time-consuming activity to be in the queue just for a few seconds of photo taking session with the characters).  Luckily, my darlings nodded their heads.

When Daddy was on leave, we went to the Science Centre again.  But this time round, my darlings had some waterplay.  They were very happy (haha... guess it brought back sweet memories of the funtime they had at Everland waterplay).

Ending the day with a delicious meal at our favourite Japanese restaurant again (haha... got to get some commission from them for being advertised in my blog so many times).  The last photo was taken by my Sweetie.  Quite well-taken to me.  Really can't believe they have grown to be so independent now, nevertheless they will always be little babies in Mummy's eyes.

Kite Flying

It's been a while since we last fly the kites.  We had wanted to on a numerous occasions, but just couldn't manage to.  So today, besides being a holiday, the weather was nice and cooling too for kite flying.

My darlings were very excited as they finally got a chance to fly kites (dun think they remember much about their kite flying sessions in their younger days).  The open space near our house is a popular spot for kite flying and my darlings will always look out for the kites whenever we go past the place.  Even Mummy is fascinated with the variety of kites that we saw - giant size kites, uniquely-designed kites and kites with lights that are used for night flying. 

We got a Dora kite which my Sweetie can't wait to lay claim on, hee... Dora's her favourite.  My Cutie was equally happy to have her Elmo's kite too.  My darlings had an enjoyable time and of course, a meal at the McDonald nearby, adds more joy to the kite-flying session.

Watch my Sweetie flying her Dora's kite here.

Meet and Greet (Nov / Dec 2010)

December has always been a busy month for most people, guess it's even more so for the parents bringing their kids to meet their favourite characters in the malls.

1) Strawberry Shortcake

This is the 1st performance that my darlings went to.  They were not very excited (partly cos' Mummy did not accompany them to sit in front of the stage) and they were not used to the loud music from the speaker and screaming/shouting by other kids (see my Sweetie covering her ears in the photo).  They only brightened up when the place was filled with bubbles towards the end of the show.  

2) Elmo
We dropped by Plaza Singapura after knowing Sesame Street Characters are in town and my darlings were happy to see "Elmo".  We were there just in time for the performance, but my darlings were equally happy to watch the performance on the 2nd storey (near to Mummy).  After that, we had a relaxing moment in the Family Lounge of the mall after shopping.

3) Dora

We went to the Volkswagen open house to see Dora (haha... of course it's the cars for Daddy).  We spent the whole afternoon there, as the place was full of of fun-filled activities for kids.  Haha... not to mention about an hour's queue for the special balloon sculptures (cos' more sophisticated design = longer queueing time).  Hee.. we were smart to get Daddy to queue up while we went to the "Meet and Greet with Dora".  My Sweetie was very lucky to win the Diego's Bedsheet/Comforter Set and they also got the chance to hold Dora's hand and took photo with the mascot.  Most of all, they love their beautiful balloon princesses.

4) Hi-5

This is the only performance that we had watched twice cos' my darlings love the Hi-5 characters who have been tagged to each of us at home.  My darlings managed to do a hi-5 with some of the Hi-5 members and my Cutie told me that their hands are not furry, unlike Dora (hahaha... because the mascots and TV characters that they had met, ALL of them have furry hands).  As she had often been quite advanced for her age, Mummy had almost forgotten that she is still only 4 years old. 

After the show, when we were shopping at the merchandise area near the stage, my darlings was lucky to be able to do another round of hi-5 with "Casey" and "Stevie" (as we were really caught by surprise and thus only managed to snap this photo after the moment).  Later in the night, we bumped into both "Casey" and "Stevie" again at Suntec City again (hee... guess they were out for supper).  What a small world.

5) Thomas the train @ Millenia / Pokemon @ Tampines / Toy Story @ Parkway Parade

We didn't go to the Meet and Greet for the above events, we only took photo with the static display while shopping at the malls.  My darlings were very happy to have the Pokemon bags and also a Toy Story mug, which comes with some purchases.  They also had a great time playing at the outdoor Toy Story theme playground @ Parkway Parade.

December is the month of fun and shopping for us.  Yeah.

Meet the Snow Whites

Today has been a happy day with us winning the $80 voucher at the Ichiban Sushi Japanese restaurant as well as a $5 voucher at Parkway Parade. In addition, we have spent enough for both my darlings to go for the Disney Princess Makeover.

My darlings were very happy to be able to put on makeup (hee... just like Mummy) and best of all, to wear the princess costumes. See how pretty they both look, waiting for their photoshoot.

For this school holiday, Mummy had also brought them to other Meet-and-Greet sessions.

1) Looney Tunes with Baby Bugs Bunny and Tweety (didn't manage to find the photo)

2) Dora the Explorer and Spongebox Square Pant





3) Kailan

A Day for Mummy and Sweetie

Sometimes while in Korea, Mummy would spend personal time with each of my darlings at times. This is important for their well-beings as my darlings love the individual time they have with Mummy.

Today, Mummy got to buy some stuff and souvenirs for Daddy to bring back to Korea. It wasn't an easy task, as Mummy got to get light stuff so as to minimise the weight in Daddy's luggage (he just had an operation).

For my Sweetie, it had been a fun outing with just her and Mummy. Look at her sweetie smile and you know that she's really enjoying it. She loves to help to pass the money to the cashier and then after that tells me that she bought the stuff (for me). Haha...

This little Sweetie has actually grown up now. She can communicate well her thoughts to Mummy and speaks proper sentences. Actually, she is already potty-trained for a while but her kia-su Mummy (aka me) still wants her to wear her pampers everyday (just in case and also partly still have a number of pampers at home anyway).

Now, this little darling of mine is also a fan of Dora too.

It had been a tiring day for Mummy, but looking at her beautiful smiles just drive all the tiredness away. Well, that's magic.

Pappy

Give it a try. Call "papa" and "daddy" alternatively non-stop and see what you ended with.

Mummy has this problem last time while indecisive whether to call "papa" or "daddy" and thus ended up with "pappy". Recently, my Cutie also encountered the same situation. We had a good laugh over this as daddy can't help wondering why we seem to have the habit of calling him "pappy" (which hee... sounds like "puppy").

The other day, to our surprise, we heard Dora addressed her father as "pappy" in the show. Surprisingly, Pappy is, in fact, Spanish language for "father". So cute, really wonder did the word originate in the same manner as our situation?

Talking about this Cutie, here's a picture of her with her "DSLR camera" cos' recently Daddy has bought the Canon EOS500D DSLR (this camera has won a thumb-up from mummy) and this Cutie just loves to imitate what her daddy does, haha... with her toy. Below picture is my Cutie with her "oranges" (hee...actually basketball and balloon in netting).

This Cutie has, in fact, grown up a lot over the past few months. A great helper to mummy - to switch on/off lights, take things from another room, take things from the refrigerator, pack her toys and best of all, is to help to take care of and play with her Meimei.

In addition, this Cutie has improved tremendously in reading, not just simple words). Mummy realises this few months back when she asked me "What is Every Little Thing?" as she pointed to the words on television (which was then showing the MTV for J-pop band "Every Little Thing" singing "Sakurabito"). Mummy was quite taken aback that she could read them correctly. Last month, she surprised me again when we were at Everland. She looked at the signboards below and read "fruit bat" and "eagle owl) to me.

Yesterday, Mummy has bought a packet of roasted sweet potatoes snack and told her it is sweet potatoes when she asked. Then she looked at the wrapper and read "roasted sweet potatoes" and mummy was really stunned with what I heard.







Why is mummy surprised? Cos' I haven't been spending time to teach her reading and yet this little girl was able to do it herself. Guess her love for books is the main reason and also her phonics foundation helps too.


Her use of tenses is also improving. She knows when to use "found", "have eaten" etc. From this, guess that's how she can tell me she "has keepen" (has kept) her toys". If based on the 6 Developmental Stages in Reading by Jeanne Chall (an expert on reading development), my Cutie should be at the Grades 1-2 (Reading/Decoding) stage and my Cutie is only 3 years 4 months old now. She has surpassed the Prereading stage (birth to kindergarten).

Mummy is quite speechless and of course happy and proud of my Cutie.

Yeah, life is getting better for mummy - this great helper can to help to read stories to my Sweetie in future. *wink*

Mickey Mouse Fans

Gee... mummy realises I've been crazy over mickey mouse lately.

I've bought a set of mickey mouse tees for everybody cos' hee... the design makes me feel as if I'm being hugged by mickey mouse. My darlings love them too.















I've bought a set of cushion covers with small mickey prints for our home. Even our humidifier is of a mickey mouse design/brand too.









For our car, we bought a mickey mouse contact number tag (fyi, it's important to have a contact number tag on your car in Korea). Of course, with mickey mouse sunshades too.

Besides mickey mouse, our territories have also been invaded by Winnie the Pooh, Miffy, Pororo, Tweety Bird, Dora the Explorer and definitely, Hello Kitty too. (There wasn't much Elmo stuff here in Korea).





See my mickey tee and hairclip too.

2 years old Cutie (Part 10)

In about 2 weeks' more, this Cutie of mine will turn 3. Gee... but this Cutie always tells me she doesn't want to and only wants to be 2 years old. Mummy is glad that she loves being 2 years old so much that she wants to be 2 forever. But mummy can't make time stop tho' mummy would love to (hee... cos' mummy wants to stay young too).

A few days ago, found her alphabet album which mummy has created for her last year in Singapore. At that time, my Cutie has already known the beginning letters of quite a number of words. When my Cutie saw it again, she was very excited cos' it has gone missing for months.

My Sweetie was also very excited to see this album again and shouted "bum" (album) the moment she sees it. Guess she remembers how she tries to get hold of the album when she was around 15 months old. The badly torn condition of the album shows how successful she has been then, hee... poor mummy has to constantly "fix" it with scotchtape.

Mummy has wanted to record the whole process, but too bad the memory card was full and so the video was stopped abruptly and mummy couldn't continue recording. From the video, it shows that this Cutie is proficient with the vocabulary of each word, the beginning letter of the word and also her ABCs.

Playing with Wii is also not a problem for this Cutie, see how well she plays.

Here's another video of her playing, mummy was surprised that she knows how to move down the ladder too. The interesting part is to see her getting so engrossed and jumped with the character (which even we adults would have done so if we get too engaged in the game).

So cute.

Copycats

Hee... of course mummy is referring to her darlings.

Young toddlers are great at copying what they see and test it out at home, especially when they are around 2 years old (guess that's how the Terrible 2 Stage comes about). It's usually worst when they starts to attend pre-school/playgroup.

I thank God that my Cutie's Terribe 2 stage seems to have reached the peak and now she seems to be able to be able to see the light of being good vs being naughty. Mummy is glad to have the old sweet-natured Cutie back again.

Lately, this Cutie enjoys immitating what Daddy and Mummy do. She loves to wear her apron, so that she can "cook" like mummy. When I placed the coffee table near the wall, she is so happy. Why? Cos' she wants to study like her Daddy. Immediately she claims it as her study table and starts to place her laptop, cup, tissue box on it (just like her Daddy's study table).

Watch the following video to see how possessive she is of her "study table" and doesn't want to be disturbed cos' she's very busy studying.

As for my Sweetie, she's constantly imitating whatever that her sister is doing. She's also learning to exercise her rights, to fight for things that she wants etc. When mummy was sick last week, this Sweetie also copied that. Thank God now her vomitting and diarrhoea have stopped and her stool tho' is still soft, but at least not as watery and often as the early stage. Gee... guess she's too young to know what not to copy. Recently, she loves to sit on her Jie Jie's study chair and doodle on the table (just like her Jie Jie). Mummy will need to prepare a study area for her too when we shift to our new house soon.

2 years old Cutie (Part 5)

My Cutie has often imagined herself as Dora and at times, Diego. When I call her "Darling, help me...", she will say "I am Dora/Diego". Often I will play along with her and say "Dora/Diego, can you help mummy to..." and there you will see her happily helping along. The magic is "it works" and it's much easier to persuade her on things that she may not like.

The other day, I called her "Mandy" (Mandy is another name for Amanda) and she says "I am Dora". As I'm busy, I just call her "Mandy" again. Guess what, she says "mmm? [very short mmm] What did you say?". So I repeated what I say and she also repeated what she says. It was then I realise that this is not a question asked, it serves more as a command. Haha... it's clear that she had heard me well, so she was indirectly telling me "Call me Dora first". When Mummy called her "Dora", that's where things get going.

In the past, my role is simply Dora's/Diego's mummy. Recently, I have more roles given to me and Meimei too. Once, she and Meimei are doctors, mummy is the nurse. During meal time, she said "This nurse (aka mummy) is feeding this doctor (aka Meimei). This doctor (aka herself) feed herself" The other day when going to the park, she said "Boots' sitting on stroller (referring to Meimei). Cow (ie. mummy) is pushing the stroller." [Both Boots the Monkey and the cow are characters associated with Dora].

The only problem is we are fixed to our roles and the role-playing is endless. So things relating to meimei, she will constantly say "Boots is ...." and for mummy, "Cow is ....". Though I'm born in the year of Ox, doesn't feel good to be constantly called a cow somehow. Guess I had better find another character in the show and assign a new role to myself. *Sigh* Here's a video of this Cutie reading a book. Gee... she could be reading based on memory (remember I shared about her great memory?). On the other hand, she already knows a number of words too. So guess both contribute to her reading ability now. Well, here's our "Ms Bunny".

2-year old Cutie? (Part 3)

The other day, I tried to use my teeth to tear the tea satchet (arrgh, bet you have experienced opening a satchet and the tear failed, that's where our teeth comes handy hee...). This Cutie saw and told me "Mummy, don't eat the plastic" (referring to the satchet). Haha... had told her earlier that mummy is going to make a cup of tea, could she have thought that mummy is too hungry?

Went to VivoCity today and pointed to her the tram and the Sentosa island across. She recalled our visit there last month and started to talk as if she's the adult and I'm the baby, "We went there uh the other time, remember uh, Dora, Patrick was there, remember uh."[must read with a tint of cuteness especially the "uhhhh" ]. (During that time then, she had taken pictures with Dora and Patrick mascots at the Nickelodean's Day of Play.) When she said this, standing near her was a tourist (I think so) and he was in fact also quite amused by this little girl's speech.

Now, this Cutie is an expert at completing her jigsaw puzzle. See her complete them within 8 minutes. Uploaded into 2 parts in youtube. Click here.

She's also a master at counting now, hee... watch her here.

A New Cutie Day

Now my Cutie is a fan of Dora. Hee... got another Dora's jigsaw for her. Every morning, after she wakes up, she will ask for permission to go to the living room to "play" with Dora, hee... the jigsaw puzzle. Then she will sit there quietly, fixing up the jigsaw while I take care of Sweetie or cook rice. Here's a pict of her playing the puzzle wearing her sunglass herself (haha... but it's night time).

Everyday during lunch time, Dora is a motivation for her to finish her meal. She knows that once she finishes her meal, she will be able to "see" Dora on television (the VCD). When I told her Dora's "coming" soon, she will say "Boots (the monkey) also". I'm glad that my Cutie can self-feed now, but it's a dilemma as a parent. On 1 hand, we want our darlings to be independent, yet when she doesn't want me to feed and only wants to feed herself, I can't help feeling sad (mixed feelings). Guess I have to comfort myself that my Cutie is a big girl now.

Though I can't really have much freedom in shopping, I'm glad that there's online shopping where I can place my order and get the items sent by post. As it's a bulk purchase by various mummies in the forum, so it is slightly cheaper than retail. But with postage, guess the items cost almost the same or more. Recently, I've ordered 2 of these cute pancake pans (1 hello kitty, of course and the other Doreamon). Yes, bet you can guess that my Cutie is into cooking lately (imitating mummy). Sometimes she will "bake" cookies or doughnuts or cook a meal for me, hee... and I'll gladly play along and "finish" the food. Here's a pict of her placing her pan near the fan as it is "hot" (haha... after "cooking").

My Cutie's vocab is getting better, she's using prepositions now eg "on the bed/table/sofa", "in the room", "behind mummy". It's really a joy to have her especially with my failing memory. The other day, forgot where I placed my handphone after using it and just commented "Where did mummy leave my handphone?" This Cutie pointed to my handbag and said "in the bag". Hee... this cute cute helper is really my great help.

Her singing and dancing are also getting better. She can hum the tunes and filled in most of the lyrics. She also loves to dance now. My Cutie has really grown up now.

Singing "1,2,3,4,5, once I caught a fish alive, 6, ... )

Singing and dancing Mickey Mouse Clubhouse "hotdog" song.

A New [Maidless] Year

Aiyoyo, it's the beginning a new year and I'm already lacking behind in my posts.

Well, what to do? Sent the maid back to the agent already, thus have to handle everything myself. But surprisingly, I am coping quite well (kekeke... still have time to watch television programmes and do some spring cleaning). So far, the only sad thing is that the big washing machine suddenly died on me. Thank God still have the Scense mini washing machine to help to wash the kids' clothing.

See picture on right, that's my Cutie playing with the water catchment device of the washing machine, gee... that's her "hat".


Hmmm..... talking about my Cutie. She's really a sweetie since my helper left. On the 1st night without a maid, I had to pack up her toys after she slept. On the 2nd night, before we went to the room to sleep, I pointed and showed her "See, your toys all over the place, mummy will have to keep them later". To my amazement, she went to keep her toys on her own accord. I felt so touched. Sweet.

Now, it's actually quite a joy to engage in conversation with her as her understanding of speech improves day by day. The best is that she's starting to form not just simple but also complex sentences. The other day, she said "Mummy happy, cos (because) Amanda good girl". Though gramatically, she's not correct, but for a 21-month old child to say this, I find it quite an accomplishment already.

So far, her complete sentences are:
1) Amanda have (has) 2 eyes.
2) I eat bread/starfruit pease (please) .
3) Mei Mei seep (sleeps)/bathe ready (already).
4) Feed mysell/yoursell (myself) .
5) I want pee pee/poo poo .
6) May I take fone (phone) pease (please) .
7) Mummy itch (switches) on first.
8) Amanda have (has) car car/bubble.
9) Dun bite your hands [telling Mei Mei]

[Oh my, think my Cutie can speak complete sentences already]

My favourite is to hear her say in her cute cute Cutie's voice "fall fall, how? Mummy cry cry"
[cos' have been telling her not to stand/jump on the bed].

Recently, we're into playing jigsaw puzzle. Well here's what she accomplished on her own.

Though as seen from the picture (left), it's quite improperly placed. I'm actually quite happy that she is able to see that these few pieces actually go together. See the complete puzzle on right.





Here's our "conversation" during mealtime.

Confidence-building Sessions

Been going round from malls to malls to meet the cartoon characters. Seeing my Cutie gaining confidence with each outing session, it's really worth the effort to squeeze in with the crowds.



1st phototaking session - wailing loudly on stage.

2nd phototaking session, clinging tight onto mummy.

Almost froze to the ground at the Dora and Boots performance (cos' she has only "met" them on television before). No phototaking session, but still nice to be able to hug Dora the doll.

That handshake with Spongebob Square Pants must have left a deep impression on her. Now, she will say "punchbox" (Spongebob) instead of Patrick whenever she saw them.








At last, at ease with the characters.

[having some problems with the camera]

Finally, willing to go solo with the characters.

[Hee... happened to bump into this Santa Claus at Punggol Plaza foodcourt.]

After meeting the various characters, my Cutie was thus able to form associations with what she saw on television. She will say "Amanda, hug, hug" (referring to her photo-taking sessions and hugging the characters). Now, she is better at distinguishing them, eg. she will say "Care Bear" and not "bear". Now, she will glue to television to watch the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Cartoon (previously, she only looked out for Donald Duck and Daisy cos' have these 2 soft toys at home). Been hearing her saying "hotdog" (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse "Hotdog" tune) or "Meeska Mooska Mickey Mouse". So cute.

We had gone to PP again and this time round, my Cutie was more confindent in venturing around the Interactive Media Floor on her own. We also went to the Tanglin Mall for another round of snow experience (tho' PP also has the "snow" session, it's not as fun as that in Tanglin Mall). This time round, my Cutie was fully prepared with her raincoat and cap (so that her whole body won't be so soapy after that). My Cutie simply loves the "snow".

Fun sessions at Tumble Tots.