2 years 10 months

Spring is here and in two months, i am going to be 3 years old. Of course i am not quite sure about this whole age business (if anyone ask, i will say i am 2 years old, until Mami or Dadi tells me to say otherwise i suppose??)..

Aunty Katkat has been asking Mami how come she dont write for me anymore or update about what i know. I guess it is abit hard to keep track of the things i say or what i can do (or cant do) when i started talking in sentences and basically do most things that other kids my age do.

I am still scared of doing some of the more physical stuff... like going down a big slide. I do like the swing and see-saw though. I also enjoyed horse riding when i have the chance. I am enjoying going to school and got to know all my teachers and friends. Most of the time, i like story time in school and also the snack time! I also like to dance and pretend to be a princess. When i pick out my own clothes, Mami always laugh... i just like to wear my princess dresses.. :)

Dadi is still making me lots of toys so i have many friends around me. Over the last few months i also met many of Mami's friends. I met Aunty Lorna, Aunty Mandy and Uncle Tze Loong. Aunty Katkat has also came by twice on her flights here. I've also met Joanne Jiejie's mommy and daddy. Then Gonggong and Laolao visited us for two weeks too.

Now that Sping is here, we have been doing quite a lot of things. We visited the Zoo and also Scienceworks. We went to the Melbourne Museum and National Art Gallery a few times. I've also listen to the orchestra and watched ballet dancers danced. Just recently, Mami and Dadi took me to the Royal Melbourne Show where i saw and touched many baby animals and got very nice presents called "showbags". My favourite is the Abby Skirt because i can pretend to be a fairy like Abby.

Okie.. back to things i know:

1) I am still missing out on my 13 and 15 when i count to 20 but i am interested to count from 20 to 30 (sometimes beyond).

2) I am learning to recognize some familiar chinese words on my storybooks like 一二三, 大小 etc

3) I am learning about humor and what's funny. Sometimes i say things to make people laugh.

4) I am learning to apply logic and reasoning in my daily life. I like to know how things happen and why.

5) I am learning to draw and enjoy making art with Dadi.

2 years 6 months

Amazing how time flies and now Kiddo is 2 and a half year-old...

She has settled into childcare, growing lots and had a really charmed life so far (and well travelled too!)... Most importantly, she has added so much to our lives that we wouldn't want it any other way...

It is hard to imagine her as a baby now and i frequently looked at her old photos to remind myself how much she has grown over the last two years and a half. Sometimes we get so caught up with the the here and now, that we fail to see the road we have taken to reach where we are. :)

You will always be my little 小公主, my darling 颖熙chan... :)

Update from Dadi - Development at 28mths

motor skills:

• not very good with her throws yet
• very cautious when going about running, climbing and jumping. possibly cos there weren’t that many kids that she can model after. hope the situation improves after she has started childcare. physiotherapist friends noted the need to strengthen those core muscles
• enjoys dancing around and better with full body coordinations
• now attempts finer motor movements, like drawing more curves, thread through buttons, turn dials on some of her toys (e.g. wind up toys)
• seems interested in tracing alphabets/characters from books

http://www.facebook.com/v/10150123018511052

cognitive:

• definitely doing representational play with loads of her own scripting. now she’s into reenacting/modeling adult practices like tucking her toys in bed, making food with playdoh and building playground with megabloks for her toys
• sings and dances with her toys. enjoys listening to nursery rhymes/music cds. and can be rather insistent on selective tracks
• imaginative in using of objects as tools
• enjoys and excels at playing puzzles. able to complete >30-piece puzzles on her own.
• enjoys painting but seems to prefer playing on the piano. attempts to play on piano with both hands and sing along, often ‘remixing’ songs she knows or changing lyrics to familiar tunes
• memory holds for about 2 mths (?) cos she cant remember some of the poetry that she cld rattle off just 2 mths back.
• recognises alphabets but still has yet memorised her numbers beyond 12.

affective:

• started childcare 2 weeks back and she’s learning to cope with the separation (when we drop her off). initial wailing/crying/protesting has reduced in magnitude. she is now ‘resigned’ into having to get ready to get off her stroller and wave byebye…no more protest pukings and more explorations and observations of other kids at childcare. hope she will start playing more soon.
• seems more attached to the mom. would prefer her mom to play and work with her if she’s around. but if she realised that i’m the only one at home with her, she exhibits attachment though not necessarily the same level)
• does ‘protests’ deliberately (e.g. tries to cry and make herself throw up when she gets really upset) if she does not get her way and can understand that she’d done something wrong

language:

• talks in complete short sentences, picking up and using phrases and sequences that we use frequently. sentences range from 3 to 5 words in english and mandarin
• can hold simple conversation over the phone
• can ask simple question ‘You want?’ ‘Papa take?’ “ermmm we go there?’, ‘papa & yingxi & mama go supermarket’
• articulates things she remembers and reenacts them with her toys/ found objects
• definitely in Subject-Verb-Object word order. she understands how to reply by rearticulating our simple questions as her answers and changing intonnations. uses the conjunction ‘and’ frequently, uses some preposition ‘at’, ‘in’
• can articulate her intentions very clearly bilingually, but has a preference for english. possibly due to her increasing exposure to english in childcare and her mom. i’d still make it a point to converse in mandarin when i’m with her
• also mashes up her own sentences/speech with ‘phrase-sounding gibberish’, often when she goes into ‘extended’ conversation during imaginative play. other times when conversing with adults her speech is usually understandable
• vocabulary increasing, often picking up from material on tv and whenever we point out to her things on the go. often correctly labeling physical landmarks/objects/activities with related vocab/verbs
• repeats to herself some words/phrases that she finds interesting (she is going on about ‘indonesia’???)
• no discernable ‘accents’ when speaking in Mandarin. general pronunciation issues for her age in both english and mandarin

Lazy Mami

I am been getting really lazy with regards to updating Kiddo's blog and filling in her thought bubbles.

It is hard to 'chart' her milestones because she just seems to come into them quickly and suddenly. And somedays it is quite hard to keep track on what she knew and what she has just learnt. She still surprises us each day. I guess it is also harder now to think about what she will want to say because she is actually becoming quite her own little person and what a little precocious little person she is. She teases. She sulks. She demands. She wheedles. One minute she is driving me up the wall by fussing for no rhyme or reason, next minute she is on my lap kissing and hugging me, pulling my face with both her little hands next to hers demanding that i kiss her back.

What i wouldn't do for that kid...

She will be starting at childcare next week and I am not sure how she will cope there. She had 3 days in another childcare (we had to switch cos our first choice told us they have a place for her) and was doing fairly well till the last day where she broke into tears when i left. After which, she would always say 'no' with her head on her chest when we asked if she wanted to go play with friends in school. I hope she wont have too much difficulty settling into a new routine. I think she may cry, but the good thing about her since our last trip home, is that she has grown more open and bond easier with adults (instead of being fearful of strangers). She can be calmed pretty quickly if she has a stable caregiver that she can identify with. Hoping for the best...

Since coming back to Melb, she has really started chatting alot and getting quite fluent in Mandarin as well. Just the other day, she actually managed to 'converse' (i.e. answer questions) with her Laolao over the phone in Mandarin. Nowadays, she enjoys dancing and singing to Mandarin children CDs and is quite mesmerized by her own reflection in the mirror (she prances and dances infront of it everyday). It is always funny to watch her.

Frankly, i am quite contented with how she is developing and i guess i no longer look at or look for milestones/development quite so carefully anymore. She is showing me that she has her pace of growing and yes, i am sure there are things she should be doing (or doing better) but i am happy with where she is and she seems happy enough doing what she do. I think that's enough for me. :)

2011 and I am a happy 2 year old!

It's a brand new year and i am starting 2011 as a 2-year-old.
How is it so far?

I AM LOVING IT!

First of all, i am back in SG and spending lotsa time with my family and friends. I am eating alot of good food and been on many playdates. Life can be busy for a 2-year-old, i find. Esp one who is on holiday! I always seems to get plenty of attention and Mami said, the reason we are going out so often is because alot of people wants to meet me. Apparently i am sort of a mini-celebrity on Mami's facebook. Most time, people recognized ME before they recognized Mami. Hahaha!

We have been back in SG for 2 weeks now and who have i met?

Gonggong, Laolao, Yeye, Nainai, Gugu, Guzhang, my new baby cousin Jared for family...

And for friends, Blythe meimei, Grace jiejie, Isabella meimei, Ethan korkor, Erin meimei, Aaron korkor, Andy didi, Sue ann meimei and many of Uncles and Aunties as well.. And i finally met Aunty Lorna who has sent me so many cool presents from Adelaide! She and Uncle Mark were in SG for holiday too so it was really nice to finally see her in person (plus she gave me even more presents! Puzzles!!!). No wonder Mami thinks i am totally spoilt... But i am really enjoying myself. Mami also said that i seem to be more sociable and friendly now compared to when we were in Melbourne. She was surprised that i will spontaneously say "Hi" to people instead of hiding behind her! Well, that's cos now i finally see how nice it can be to be around people mah! Of cos i am still abit confuse how come some of the other children don't listen to me (Mami thinks it's cos i am too bossy) but i really enjoyed being around them and playing!

Just today, we went to visit godma Angie and i played with Aaron korkor and Andy didi. It was so fun that i refused to leave! Mami promised to bring me back again.. i cant wait to play with them again! I also enjoyed my other playdates... so much so that Mami told me that i should enjoy going to childcare when we returned to Melb at the end of Feb. Err.... I am not too sure about that though... Childcare means Mami and Dadi will leave me with some teachers and friends for the WHOLE DAY... I hope i don't cry... it sounds really scary! Mami hopes that i will have some good friends there and enjoy myself.. I certainly hope so... but... but.. but...

Sigh.. anyway, let's just enjoy what i have now first and worry about that later!

So.. it turns out that we will be going to Japan during CNY! I've never been there before and i am excited to sit on aeroplane again! Mami told me that it will be snowing and i need to wear a new jacket and also mittens. Hmmm.. i don't like my new stuff... But i dont think Mami is letting me choose at all. Sigh. On the positive side, i may have a chance to go to Disneyland (provided that Dadi is agreeable!). We will be going with Gonggong, Laolao, Big and Small QQ... I think Gonggong is very excited too. He is always telling me about it!

Anyway, plenty to look forward to in the next few weeks before we go back to Melbourne. Sorry that there is not much photos for the post this time cos Mami doesn't have her computer in SG (we have to borrow Gonggong's!). Mami also said now that i am 2, she is not going to chart my monthly milestones already. It is just too tough.

So briefly on what i can do by the time i am 25mths old:

Language
- vocabulary is still expanding. Mami reckons i have a receptive language (that is words i understand) of more than 200 - 250 words but expressively uses about 150-200 (mostly English though i do understand at least 70-80% of the Mandarin equivalent and uses them less in my day to day interactions).

- uses full-sentences most time. Able to formulate 4-6words sentences such as "I want to play bus puzzles" and questions such as "What are you doing Mama?".

- uses plurals and some tense (such as /ing)

- understands and uses prepositions such as in, out, up, down

- uses adjectives in sentences such as colours and sizes (big/small)

- uses pronouns such as mine, I, you (but sometimes confused me/you)

Cognitive
- identifies shapes, colours, alphabets, numbers (up to 20)

- knows A is for __ from A to Z

- count objects confidently from 1-10 (abit unsure from 11-20, esp 13 and 15 seems to be omitted unless reminded)

- have emerging notion of time (such as before and after) and shows some ability to recall past events

- understanding of common categories (e.g. shapes, animals, vehicles, fruits/food)

- attempts and completes interconnected (jigsaw) puzzles of up to 28 pieces using a variety of strategies (trial and error, awareness of error, matching, scanning)

- putting together sequence of events for make-believe play (e.g. pretending to have tea with her toys, cutting, feeding, drinking), developing more complex play scripts that involves brief dialogues (she talking to toys, and getting the toys to 'talk' to each other)

Social/Emotional Development
- recognize and identify family and her friends

- developing more interest in her peers and initiate to interact/play/talk to them

- greets familiar others spontaneously, will respond to other's greetings (even if unfamiliar)

- less 'shy' and more confident in verbalizing to others (often other children)

- less stranger anxiety though still cautious with unfamiliar others

- shows affections readily to familiar others and will return hugs/hi 5 when initiated by unfamiliar others

- develop attachments to her belongings and soft toys

- imitates gross motor movements/actions, sounds, words, and simple expressions

Motor Skills
- running abit more fluidly but with her arms tucked close to her chest and not moving much

- attempts to jump but both feet barely off the ground

- walks up and down regular stairs (up to 3 flights) on own by holding on to the side, able to walk up and down without support for a few steps (smaller steps) with both feet on the same step

- able to isolate fingers to count 1-5

- uses spoon/fork/crayons with palmer grasp

- imitate horizontal, vertical, circular/circle strokes

- manipulate/assemble objects such as blocks, puzzles with both hands working cooperatively

- able to thread with pipe cleaner

Mami said some of these things i learnt pretty fast cos i have good memory and enjoy sit-down stuff so have good attention for them. But i dont quite like the active stuff so even though other friends are already jumping and climbing on their own, i am still pretty cautious and a little scared to try things in the playground. I guess everyone is just different and Mami & Dadi is just happy with the way i am. I am pretty happy too so i guess that's alright! :)