Beth in Winter Uniform

Beth loves her winter uniform so much that she started wearing it ahead of the cut-off date.

I love it too. I think she looks so much smarter than in her frumpy summer dress which creases so easily.

What Toddlers Get Up To

J loves...

Music.
When the radio comes on in the car, she rocks back and forth or sways side to side. When Beth's Yamaha DVD is played, she positions right in front of the TV to watch. Her favourite song is Big Whales Sneeze. She loves to go "Ah...Ah...Ah Choo!" like in the song.

Drawing.
She has taken to using Beth's whiteboard markers to decorate the whiteboard in our backyard, and sometimes her hands and clothes too.

Food.
She has a great appetite and needs to eat all the time. She knows how to ask for her water bottle (by pointing and making agitated little noises) and food ("mum mum"). She can feed herself and drink from a cup, albeit messily. The floor is frequently littered with remnants of food and spilled drink after a meal. She enjoys playing with her food. For example, if given a bowl with pieces of bread, she might pop them into her cup and watch them get soggy.

Company.
When she's alone with me, she wants my full attention. If I'm on the computer, she comes and sits on my lap and starts pressing the keys. When I hold her and shut my eyes, she yells at me to wake up. When I walk away to do something else (like go to the toilet), she screams. This full-on demand for attention can be extremely draining. She's only happy when surrounded by people. At Mon playgroup, she enjoys the company of the other kids so much she usually doesn't notice if I go out of the room for short periods. Sometimes, CA and I think she might be ready for childcare.

It's amazing how J understands so much, even if she can't articulate it.
When I hold out her pants, she sticks her leg out.
When I tell her to sit down and put on her shoes, she sticks out her foot and tries to insert it into the shoe.
She can say "ball" ("bah") and "nose" ("no") and "blue" ("boo") and identify the corresponding object.
I recently taught her Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes and she can now point to her nose and say the word, though it comes out as "no".
She also knows the Everybody Clap song from The Wiggles and can put her finger to her lips at the part where the song goes "Bear's now asleep, shh shh shh..."

The Yamaha Factor

This afternoon, CA got Beth to sit at the keyboard to do her music class homework.

Homework involves putting on the Yamaha CD supplied by her teacher while Beth plays along with the CD.

I was ASTONISHED - astonished is the word - when Beth played The Fairies, Hot Cross Buns, The Shoemaker and Rollercoaster - accurately, note-wise and timing-wise.

There's also a DVD that she's required to watch. While each song plays, she sings along using do-re-mi language, something I never learnt in my time. We had to learn to read notes from the beginning. Yamaha's philosophy is less stressful for kids and evidently works better.

I've only sat in on Beth's classes a couple of times before she made up her mind that CA would be the one to accompany her on her Sat classes, so I'm completely clueless as to her progress. I kept thinking she wasn't making much headway.

I am so, so glad that Beth's with Yamaha. It's only Term 2 and she has made such amazing progress.

Can't wait to see what happens next term!

Sleepless in Hoppers Crossing

Still trying to vanquish the sleep ogre in our household.

J is feeding more than ever (esp. at night), as though she feels insecure and needs to know Mum's there. I am quite sure there isn't much there by the way of milk, but she's not about to let go. Perhaps she suspects I am planning to wean her off...

I dread it when she falls asleep in my lap midway through a feed. It takes extremely developed fine motor skills to extricate myself and put her down without waking her up.

J seems to be going through a period of separation anxiety too.

Gone is the friendly baby who would let anyone in church carry her. Now, not even the kids and teens who compete to carry her are allowed near her. She just shakes her head, whinges and clings to my leg. How embarrassing.

Beth Loves Sports Days

Beth has sports twice a week.

On Wednesdays, it's called PMP (Perceptual Motor Program). The kids team up with Preppies from other classes and they play pass-the-ball, crawl through tunnels, jump through hoops. Parent volunteers help out during these sessions, and their presence is invaluable, especially as some Preppies (like Beth!) still can't manage their own shoelaces. :-(

On Thursdays, there's Sports (or what we used to call PE).

Beth loves Wed & Thu. She gets to wear her sports polo shirt and skort all day long.

Sleep School

Reactivated J's sleep training today.

I've been somewhat negligent, I know, taking the easy route of having everyone sleep together on mattresses in the one room.

After all, co-sleeping is an Asian thing, no?

The problem is, J won't sleep on her own. Not unless she's having a feed and drifts off by herself. And then if I so much as try to put her down on the bed, she wakes and cries and we have to start all over. She still wakes 2 or 3 times a night demanding to be fed. If I ignore her, she ups the ante by shrieking so loudly that no one else gets to sleep.

The nightly interruptions are getting so draining that I feel exhausted during the day. J is so clingy she won't even lie quietly if I lie down with her. She just tugs at me and whines until I get up and entertain her! The situation is getting desperate.

Chatted with a mum at school yesterday and she told me about the Sleep School conducted by the Sunshine Hospital. Her then 8 m.o. baby refused to sleep on her own, but after a few days of indoctrination with the Sleep School technique, she's fine now, much to mum's relief.

Basically, the Sleep School uses a version of the controlled crying technique. The baby is put to bed by herself. If she cries, the parent comes in at set intervals of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 minutes to pat her. Then the parent leaves the room. After 10 minutes, the routine is repeated at 10-minute intervals until the baby falls asleep. If after one hour the baby is still crying, she probably isn't ready to sleep and the parent takes her out of the cot.

This morning, a friend dropped by for tea and I mentioned J's sleep issues. She suggested I just harden my heart and put J to bed anyway and let her cry until she exhausts herself and falls asleep.

First try:
11.25 am - Put J to bed.
12.25 pm - J still crying! Took her out and gave her lunch. End of mid-morning nap attempt.

Second try:
4.40 pm - Put J to bed.
Let's see how she goes...

Update:
It took a solid one and a half hours before J settled down and stopped crying. She probably had (just) an hour's worth of sleep before dinner. Still, it's a good start!

J's Favourite Word

The terrible 2's have begun.

J has started using the 'N' word, and boy, does she know how and when to use it.

"Time to sleep."

"NO!"

"Come and eat."

"NO!"

"Let's go."

"NO!"

Where do kids get this amazing ability to defy, to challenge and to test the parental boundaries?

Kids, They Grow Up Too Quick

J turns 15 months old today.

At lunchtime, she came whining to me, so I gathered she must be hungry.

When I offered her a bowl of tofu and fishball soup, she cried even louder.

She shook her head when I tried to feed her, sat on the floor and howled.

It's just dreadful when you don't know the cause of the problem.

Finally, the answer presented itself when I placed the bowl in front of J.

She picked up the spoon...and proceeded to feed herself!

I nervously watched her make a mess of her face, her clothes and the kitchen floor, and tried not to wince or snatch the bowl away and feed her myself.

I reasoned to myself that if I overwhelm her with my demand for perfection, she might be completely turned off and regress to being completely dependent on me.

And that's exactly what I don't want!

So I let her be, saying encouraging things while she smeared tofu all over her face.

She got fed, learnt a new skill, and we were all happy.