L has always been an observant boy since he was an infant. I took the opportunity to sign the letters when I sing the alphabet song to him (I learnt basic sign language a couple of years ago). His dexterity is quite developed, so he's now signing too! But for some of the more difficult signs, he'll say "I don't know". I find this phrase so cute when he says it.
Bought this set of plastic toys to cheer the kids up while they recuperated from their flu and fever. Also, I liked the bright colours and how they can learn to "pot a flower".
Ch potted a yellow flower, and L had a pink flower. After "watering" the flowers, Ch asked me what type of flower she had. We had a little discussion and agreed that it's a daisy. Immediately after that, we heard L pointing and saying that his pink flower is a Minnie. Ch and I were puzzled. Huh? A Minnie Mouse flower? What's the link???
Turns out he thought we were talking about the yellow flower as a Daisy Duck flower... so, his must be a Minnie Mouse flower!! Haha!! Funny L!!
This is L, at 1y9mo.
Cheeky.
Mischievous.
Loving.
Helpful.
He loves imitating his sister, in words and actions. When Ch puts on her bracelets, he does it. When Ch brings her doll out, he wants his teddy too. When Ch carries a backpack, he follows. He loves his sis, but also irritates her. He'll keep her shoes for her, and will bother to take the kitchen cloth to wipe any dirt/ water left on our coffee table.
Recently, he started talking in this manner- e.g. when he sees daddy using his iphone, L will go to him and ask "Daddy, what's this?". After dad replies "it's my phone", he'll respond "Oh? Your phone?" We find this so amusing, coz it's like he's pretending he doesn't know what it is.
On Sunday (18 Apr 2010) in church:
L saw this poster in the babies room while waiting for his milk. Then I heard him, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.... no eight, no nine, no ten..."
(Drew this on L's face during my god-son, J's birthday celebration. He looked so comical that many of my friends took a photo of him too. But oops, he rubbed his face on the sofa, and stained it with the face paint. Sorry gan ma!)
Was reading my past blogs dated 2 years ago... how time flies. As I was reading, I realise that I did so much with Ch when she was between 1 to 2 yrs old! Probably because I was on no-pay leave for about 6 months. Being a SAHM really makes a lot of difference to a child's development and growth. Sigh, I seem to be doing much less for L now. He just turned 18 mo, but he has never attended any enrichment classes. He can't use the spoon to feed himself properly. He doesn't get to go to the zoo as often as Ch did. I didn't really do flashcards with him (only once, I think). I must use this one-week holiday to catch up on what he has missed.
His developmental milestones so far:
Taken from the health booklet:
Personal social:
1. Your child can indicate what he wants without crying or whining. He may do this by pointing, pulling and making speech-like sounds.
L does this very well. In fact, he either manipulates our hands, or tells us using simple words. Sometimes, he'll even point to the object and say "拿" (take).
2. When you are doing housework, the child copies what you are doing.
Haha, this one I've not seen before. Perhaps it's because I don't do any housework 
. Hmm, time to take out Ch's cleaning toys for L to experiment 
. Hmm, time to take out Ch's cleaning toys for L to experiment
3. Your child can hold a regular cup himself and drink from it without spilling much. The cup should not have a spout.
L was able to do this since 11 mo. He can hold the cup really well, and finish the drink without much spillage. In fact, he bypassed the sippy cup and drinking from straw stages and went straight to the regular cup. He'll also hold the cup himself.
When he sees a cup of drink, he'll say 喝水!
Fine motor-adaptive:
4. Your child can pick up a small object like a raisin, using only the ends of his thumbs and index finger.
L uses the pincer grip with ease. He can easily pick up small specks of dirt on tables and floors.
5. Your child can make purposeful markings on the paper when you give him a pencil.
Recently, he's been writing the number '1' on doodleboards, paper etc. He'll also make his daddy write numbers and alphabets according to what he dictates. Oh ya, he started drawing simple faces today.
6. Your child can put 2 or more blocks one on top of the other, without the blocks falling. This applies to small blocks of about one inch square in size.
Tried this with him.. he can stack 4 blocks so far. Then he'll use his hand to topple the tower of blocks, and give me a cheeky laugh.
Language:
7. Your child uses the word "Papa" and "Mama" specifically.
L used to call me "mom" and ZY "dad", but now he calls me "mommy" and "daddy" for ZY.
8. Without coaching, pointing or helping, your child can point to at least 2 parts of his body such as nose, eyes, ears, hands, hair, legs and stomach, when asked.
Hmm, L can say & point to these parts of his body: hair, head, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, chin, cheek, tummy, belly button, hands, fingers, legs, toes, buttocks, penis.
9. Your child can say at least three words other than Papa/Mama, which means the same things each time he uses them.
L speaks quite well, considering he's a boy. Oh yes, today, he surprised me by saying "enough" to indicate that he didn't want to stay in the bathtub anymore. He also said "dance" and started swaying his arms and body in an awkward and funny way that made all of us laugh so hard.
He can string 3 to 4 words into a sentence. Like "where (is) daddy?" and "where big ball?".
Gross motor:
10. Your child can stand alone, without having to hold on to something, for ten seconds or more.
He definitely does this with ease.
11. Your child can walk well with good balance, rarely falls and does not sway from side to side.
This too. He does have a very good sense of balance. Can dash around and almost nearly falls, but somehow will manage to balance himself and prevent a fall.
12. Your child can walk up several steps of the staircase by himself. He may use the wall or rail for support but not hold on to a person.
I caught him experimenting with the stairs, trying to walk up and down without any forms of support. And he actually did it without falling.
My dear girl. Finally got a chance to see her in her cute kindy uniform on a school day. Usually, I'll leave for work shortly after she wakes to brush her teeth. Today, I only needed to start work at 9am as my school is rehearsing for our school musical production, Wizard of Oz.
So, I took the chance to bring her down to wait for the school bus today. It was really a nice feeling, and I could see that she was delighted too.
On her first day of school, Daddy helped her brush teeth, change and brought her down to wait for the school bus. Should have been Mommy's job, but I had to be in school with my own school kids. Daddy also went to Ch's kindy to see if everything was alright. She cried a little when she noticed Daddy peeping in.
Every evening, ZY and I would ask her if she had a good day, and the things she did in school. Initially, she commented that she didn't like her Chinese class, but she enjoyed the dancing, singing and drawing lessons. Hopefully, after a few more weeks, she'll gradually learn to appreciate and love Chinese lessons.
L is also growing very fast physically and linguistically. He is progressing from single words to two words in a sentence now. Like, he will say "eat bis" (eat biscuit), "Mom neck" (Mom's neck). I love it when he says Mm-ah (for Ah Ma), Da-Du for 大姑, Du-Dang for 姑丈. He can also call my sis, my bil and my parents correctly.
ZY sent me this photo (right) coz L kept saying "bag bag" and refused to take the bag down. He just kept carrying the bag around the house.
I love my kids! Am missing them already!!
