Chicken Soup With Rice

I chanced upon Chicken Soup With Rice by Maurice Sendak and I thought it is quite an interesting book despite its flimsy binding and tiny size. I thought Sophie would not appreciate the text yet... but she seemed to "like" the book. In fact, she ripped one of the pages after holding on to it for some time.



I found a video clip with the text and song on YouTube, but the volume seems a little too low so I included one video clip with the song only. Quite nice really... it teaches the months of a year too!

Marina Barrage

We were in the neighbourhood so we stopped at the Barrage This was our first trip there although Ah Gong has been flying kites there for countless times. Our first stop - cafe. Can you blame us? It was sooooooooo hot!

From where we were, we could see the rubbish in the water... Okay, so do I tell Sophie the truth that we drink from there?

Maybe when she is older... We then took a walk around and found Ah Gong flying his kite. We sneaked up on him from behind and let Sophie walk towards him. She stopped right next to him and stared, but when Ah Gong finally made eye contact with her, he just smiled and carried on flying his kite! Huh? I thought we made a mistake so Papa went forward to acknowledge him. Then he recognised Sophie (duh?!)... hopeless...

Next, we went to the exhibt to learn more about... whatever... I found it extremely boring. I walked right through without reading anything. Papa, on the other hand, was more enthusiastic about the project. Sophie also seemed restless. I think she enjoyed the outdoor much better. She was running amok and striking conversations with everyone in her path. When she saw anyhting that remotely resembled a face, she would point at it excitedly and "talk" to it.

Too hot and tired to carry Sophie, I let Papa do it. Time to go... Sophie's dinner time soon and hopefully, she would sleep well tonight... from exhaustion!

Where The Wild Things Are

I got introduced to Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak when I was still in NIE. I did not like it then and I left it at that. But, I kept reading good reviews about the story and the illustrations so I gave it another go. Now I love it! Maybe it is because Sophie is fast entering her "Terrific Two" and I can just imagine how I would probably send her off to bed without her dinner... only to leave a snack or two for her in her room ("Wait-She-Hungry-How?!" mentality). Since Sophie has been chit-chatting with her plush toys (especially Momo aka Elmo and Bear-Bear aka Pooh Bear and his Teddy Bear) before she sleeps, I guess it is entirely possible for her to imagine her room as a "La-La Land" so that she can continue whatever she wants there. Hopefully, she will find "Home" still the best place to be... like Max.

Trucks Go

Trucks Go by Steve Light is probably never going to be a "must have" or "favourite" of any typical Singaporean parent (unless their children are "construction and emergency vehicle enthusiasts"). It teaches the names of a few vehicles and the sound they typically make (That's all!); the illustrations are very simple yet appealing (like how a child would draw vehicles).

Fire Engine (Whee-oo... Whee-oo... Whee-oo)

Somehow, I love reading this book to Sophie. It is fun and she laughs when she hears those "noises" the trucks make. She can even say "whee-oo... whee-oo" now when she sees the fire engine. I guess that is why someone once told me that it is tough to raise "writers" in Singapore, most of us become avid but passive readers. I hope Sophie would grow up to appreciate literature and learn to write for leisure, fun and interest (not just for school or work).

llama llama

I bought Llama Llama Red Pajama and Llama Llama Mad At Mama by Anna Dewdney through Sophie's school (Learning Horizon) from Scholastics. I thought they are very cheap (Around $6?) so I just grabbed the paperback copies. I could not find a decent narration or animation of both books but I found a song based on the text of Llama Llama Red Pajama. I included the "Dr Phil" narration of Llama Llama Red Pajama so that you get to listen to the story. But beware... towards the end, it sounds very whiny and annoying (to me).

Song (Llama Llama Red Pajama)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dyMUtoOAkk

Narration (Llama Llama Red Pajama)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTCfyLheNG8

At first, I did not like the silly llama... it looks like an annoying and spoilt brat. However, the stories were good and I have been won over. Llama Llama Red Pajama talks about bedtime struggles and separation anxiety of baby llama, and how his mother eventually gives him the reassurance he needs to fall asleep. I love the way baby llama's anxiety builds up gradually when his mother fails to respond quick enough.

Llama Llama Mad At Mama gives a hilarious but quite honest angle to grocery shopping. I feel exactly the same way as baby llama (I hate grocery shopping!). Llama's mother cleverly tamed the baby llama by showing how fun the chore can be if they work together. I guess both scenerios are totally familiar for some of us so they are good stories to share with the young ones. Plus the fact that both texts seem like tongue-twisters at times... quite enjoyable!

Johnny And The Sprites - Sleepytime Lullaby

Both of us (Sophie and Mama) love Johnny and the Sprites. Besides the wonderful songs and props, the stories are on moral values and character building themes (more updated than Barney I think). In one episode, Johnny "accidentally" turned himself into a baby for a day (he made a wish on Sprite Wish Day). And the Sprites sang him this song to coax him to sleep... I love the song so much I recorded it on my camera and to learn to sing it (before I found it on YouTube). Now, I hum the song to Sophie every night just before she falls asleep.

Sophie's Laptop

In order to keep a healthy stock of materials for art, we (Papa and Mama) are starting to eat cereal for breakfast. Yesterday, Papa came home with 2 different types of cereal (one was not the same size as those I have collected so far!), so I used it for the "laptop" today. Again I "stole" the craft idea from No Time For Flash Cards because it makes a great DIY toy cum teaching aid. Of course, I modified it beyond recognition.

First of all, I cut cereal box at the side and lay it out on two pieces of red construction paper. Next, I stuck the printed side to the red construction paper with double-sided tape. Then the edges were folded down and secured with sticky tape. The size of the border did not matter because I would paste black construction paper over for the screen and keyboard.

While Sophie took her nap, I cut out a frame from a piece of orange corrugated paper and drew small squares on a beige/pale yellow construction paper. Then I gathered the rest of the materials I thought we would need and waited for the little one to wake up.

I let Sophie apply white paint on the "cover" of the laptop to give it an "artistic feel"... But she seemed to enjoy her free play with the leftover paint more.

End Product - Laptop "Cover"

Of course the laptop was not quite done yet. I pasted a sheet of transparency on the underside of the orange frame before securing it to the "laptop" (black side). The top side of the "screen" has been left open so that I can insert pictures or flash cards etc. Finally, I wrote the Alphabet and on the small squares and numbers 1-10 on circle sticker labels (to differentiate them from letters), cut them out and pasted them on the "keyboard" painstakingly.

End Product - Sophie's Laptop

Now Sophie would not have to compete with us for the laptop...

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is like THE book to get for all children. I bought the board book that comes with a caterpillar plush toy. I must admit that Sophie loves the little plush more than the book although she enjoys sticking her finger through the holes in the book. On my side, I like the illustrations and how it teaches numbers 1 - 5 and days of the week, but I am not really a fan of Eric Carle (opps...sorry sorry!). BUT BUT BUT Sophie likes his books! And I guess that is good enough for me. Having said that, I still dutifully completed two crafts with Sophie based on this book. She did a handprint butterfly and a paper roll caterpillar.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

The Going To Bed Book

The Going To Bed Book by Sandra Boynton is one of our earlier purchase from Kinokuniya. It comes with 3 other board books in Boynton's Greatest Hits : Volume II. Sophie still cannot appreciate the text and illustrations (she likes bold, contrasting colours and pictures better), but she probably will after she watches this.

Choo Choo Soul

Yippie... Choo Choo Soul arrived in our mailbox today! Sophie loves to dance to the music whenever she sees Genevieve sing and dance on her music videos. Now she can listen to the audio CD and watch the DVD anytime she wants. Here are two good ones for learning the Alphabet and numbers... Are we fast becoming Playhouse Disney junkies?





That means the rest of my amazon orders will come in soon... Mama is so excited! Very soon, Sophie will have many audio books in her library!

Frederick

Woo... I am waiting to get my hands on a copy of Frederick by Leo Lionni although many people seem to have very "polarized" view about the message behind the story.

Personally, I feel tthat work has become the way of life for many people, especially Singaporeans. We have sacrificed simple pleasures in life and personal time for inner reflection and spiritual growth, for bigger and more assets. We stressed our mind and body to a point before they break down and then "pamper" and "gorge" ourselves with designer food, healthcare products, expensive but totally useless fashion items, and spa treatments etc. An expat once said that Singaporeans eat and eat and eat because we are trying to fill up the emptiness inside... not the tummy, but the mind! Insulting? Or enlightening? You can decide for yourself. So for once, let the children know it is alright to daydream every now and then, and exercise their imagination for creative expressions. Work to live, never live to work!

There's An Alligator Under My Bed

There's An Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer is quite a humorous story but I have not decided if I should buy the book. I probably would not unless I see it in Kinokuniya because Amazon's shipping cost is crazy unless you buy in bulk. Still, it does not stop us from watching the narration by the author himself. A word of caution though... if your child is a little reluctant to sleep alone, this is not the best story.

Dear Zoo

Another favourite book of Sophie is Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell. I borrowed the lift-the-flap edition from the library some time ago and Sophie loved it (I don't know why). So, I did what a doting mother would have done... went to Kinokuniya and bought her a copy. I never regret it, she still loves it very much. It is a classic for a good reason... When I showed her the song version on YouTube, she recognised it immediately and attempted to "lift" the "flaps". What a sight!

Goodnight Moon

Reading was one of my leisure time activity before Sophie was born. However, I seldom read fiction because I actually enjoy acquiring new knowledge and improve the quality of our lives. Nowadays, I am beginning to appreciate children literature more than ever (I used to have a small collection for teaching purposes) and I quite eager to share some of our favourites to others.

To be honest, I could not understand the rave for Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, even after I had bought it from Kinokuniya, until I saw it on YouTube. The narrated version by Susan Sarandon was charming and captivating (for Sophie). To be honest, I love listening to narrations (done professionally, complete with sound effects and music...), they make all the difference although you should not replace actual reading with narrations entirely. Well, now that I understand why this book is such a winner, you can see if you like it as well.

Apple In Papa's Eyes

Papa was on medical leave today due to his dry eyes. Ever since his lasik operation (many years ago), Papa has not been able to produce enough tears to lubricate his eyes. As a result, his eyes sometimes hurt very badly and need "aqua-blink" rehabilitation (my own term for it). However, that did not deter him from playing with his favourite little girl. And of course, she reciprocated by doing what he loves most - jamming with her guitar. In fact, she was singing and swaying to her own music!

Well after her "performance", we decided to let her practice "fishing". We used her original wooden fishing game to "train" her. It took a while but she mastered it well. I bought her this set of wooden fishing game before she was 1 year old. I was still wondering when she would be able to play with it... Well, the time has come apparently!

Then I tried out our own version. Sophie was definitely capable of picking up the "fish"using the fishing rod. However, I think she picked them up at random. If I were to ask her to pick up selectively (e.g. only the fish with "1"), I doubt she could do it. Nevertheless, we wanted to celebrate her success and not maul over what she cannot accomplish... yet.

Sophie, we (Papa and Mama) will always "sayang" you for who you are, regardless of what you do or do not... That's a promise promise...

Fishing Fishy Fish

I got the idea of making Sophie a fishing game from No Time For Flash Cards although I modified it to suit her needs. Partly because I was too lazy to draw and cut and make 26 fish... especially not after the "Alphabet Pizza". So, I kept it modestly at 10 fish... knowing that I would not "survive" anything more than that. Instead of the Alphabet, I wrote the numbers 1 - 10 on the fish. I also nearly bought two hole punchers ($8+ and $6+) and metal eyelets ($6+) just to make the fish. However, I dropped the idea because I knew the fish would be "live" more than a couple of weeks at best. Thus, the humble paperclips and "circle" labels were used instead. And of course, not forgetting the fishing rod... which is a recycled item from Sophie's wooden fishing game.

I was contemplating if I should use coloured craft paper or let Sophie paint on plain drawing paper... I decided that she ought to be involved in the making of her own manipulatives so she was in her highchair again. And Sophie surprised me with her new skill. I turned to pick up the fish templates after handing her the paint bottle, but when I looked at her again, the cap of the paint bottle has already come loose. Unconvinced that she could do it, I gave her a few tries and she never once let me down. Uh-oh, time to keep her away from bottled drinks and containers.

End Product - Fishing Numbers Game

Breakfast With Mr Giraffe?

Papa always wakes up a little earlier than Mama so that he can spend some time with his little girl while Mama sleeps a bit more. This morning, Papa caught Sophie talking to Mr Giraffe on video to show Mama.

Then during breakfast, Papa wanted to show Ah Boh how much Sophie love Mr Giraffe . So possessive! Look at Papa's frown during the "struggle" and the contented look on Sophie's face when she "won". In the end, Papa had to feed her with "him" sitting on her lap. Maybe I should hide Mr Giraffe...

Giraffe Ride-on

Sophie is so blessed to have a doting Ah Boh. She came back from Robinsons with a Giraffe Ride-on for Sophie. The little girl was so thrilled when we put it together at Naenae's place earlier in the day. She kept trying to sit on it even before we were done. When we got home, I nearly had to let her sleep with it on the bed! It was quite a lovely sight really... she actually talked to it and "sayang" it.

New Furniture

The new furniture from Vhive came in today - an open bookshelf and a cupboard for art materials. Papa took leave so that he could do cleaning after the delivery guys fixed them up. And I took the opportunity to put together Sophie new desk from Ikea. It was not difficult, just lots of hammering and screws to force in. My hand really hurt but I am glad that the job has been done finally (we bought it last weekend). Much more to do but at least things are moving now...

"Pepperoni Alphabet" Pizza

This is a craft from No Time For Flash Cards and I thought it is great fun to do. Well, that was before I had to cut the "pepperoni" slices... Even though I did the green peppers yesterday, there was still plenty of "ingredients" to prepare. Fortunately, I got Papa involved last night in the preparations, so he cut the "mushrooms" and pasted the "slices" together.

As the "pizza" was huge, I let Sophie use a roller to apply the "tomato sauce". I love the way, she said "roll"...

Then she used the paint brush to dab on the "crust" of the pizza. I had to roll it up for her, using her drumsticks.

The "pizza" dough was ready for the ingredients finally, after 30 minutes of drying. I know pizzas are round... I miscalculated and it turned out to be an octagon (opps!).

I helped Sophie squeeze white glue all over the "pizza" and guided her in pasting the pieces of "green peppers", "tomatoes", "mushrooms" and "olives". I took time naming all the ingredients as we pasted them on. They are not foreign to her because she has read them in one of her readers (her favourite).

And at last, we pasted the 26 letters onto the pizza. Although she could not identify or say the alphabet, Sophie liked listening to my alphabet chant and she enjoyed pasting the "pepperoni" letter slices. How do I know? Ha! She did not protest or whine as we did it, instead she patiently fiddle with each letter before pressing them down onto the pizza.

End Product - "Pepperoni Alphabet" Pizza

(Should I trim the sides and make it round instead?)

A Couple Of Ladybirds

This was a last minute kind of craft. I was cutting red circles for our next big project in the afternoon, but Sophie kept coming after my scissors. So I stopped cutting and spent the next 15 minutes (before her lunch) doing this mini craft with her. I thought Sophie's sunflowers look a little plain on the leaves and perhaps a couple of ladybirds might brighten them up.

I cut up some black and red circles and made her ladybirds. I did it on the floor with her around, so she was busy "stealing" the plastic eyes from me while waiting for her opportunity to grab my scissors.

End Product - Ladybirds

Green Pepper Art

I had wanted to cook dinner tonight but I changed my mind after I started cutting the yellow capsicum. I was simply too tired to cook, so I saved a portion of the capsicum for tomorrow and used the other portion for Sophie's art. I shall explain why I chose "green" in my next blog.

I was a little concerned that Sophie would not know what to do with the capsicum, but my worries were quite unfounded. She knew exactly what to do - stamp and make prints on our dining table, of course!

After she has made enough prints, I added glitter glue for aesthetic purposes. It did not make a great impact now, but it will when I use it for the craft tomorrow.

End Product - Green Pepper

The rest of the time was for Sophie to do free expression with the remaining paint and a brush. I love the way she painted, like she actually knew exactly what she was creating... I am beginning to consider a less restrictive work space for her.

I-Spy II

A couple of weeks ago, I bought for Sophie We All Go Travelling By by Sheena Roberts in the sing-along (CD) with Fred Penner version. This is a simple story about a school bus load of children travelling towards their school. However, it is told in a rhythmic I-spy manner through various landscapes, introducing colours and modes of transport. The song helps to make the book an even better buy.

Sophie was happily playing with the "binoculars" while I tried to tidy up her room. Then she saw the diaper bag and started putting it over her head. I thought I had better roll up the sides to prevent suffocation... However, that encouraged her to wear it as a hat as she ran around the house, pretending to explore the world with her binoculars. Or was she pretending to be Indiana Strawberry Shortcake on vacation? Oh well, so long as she had fun...

I Spy

I realised that Sophie enjoys "searching" for familiar objects in a "crowded" picture, so I made her a pair of binoculars to play "I Spy" with her. Although it is probably an easy craft to make, I complicated matters a little by using paper mache techniques. I used masking tape to secure a pair of paper tubes and then layed them with kitchen towels and white glue.

When they were almost dried, I covered it with gum paper so that the surface would be smoother. Lastly, I taped construction paper all over and attached yarn at each side. Not my best, but that is alright...

End Product - Binoculars

Catch The Ball

My little Sophie understands "catch" and occasionally she would utter "catch" when we were playing with her ball today. We did not do much over the weekends because on Saturday, I had to attend a wedding dinner and on Sunday, we went to Ikea to get Sophie some furniture. On top of that, Sophie is cutting 4 new teeth, so she has been super difficult to coax and mealtimes were challenging. So, I tried not to agitate her if possible.

My parents got me some bean curd in a paper bowl today so I used it to make a turtle with Sophie. She was quite excited when I was cutting the limbs, but I think she was only interested in the pair of scissors in my hand. In the end, I had to finish up the "turtle" for her... At least she now can identify "turtle" and utter something that sounds like it too.

Fortunately, she was still fascinated with the roller so she was happily experimenting with it. Of course, she had to roll it (with paint) on my table instead of the "turtle". Sophie then surprised me by uttering "roll" as she played with the roller... Ok, I would let her to whatever she wanted, I thought to myself.

And true enough, I did. I let her treat our dining table as her canvas and paint with a brush. She seemed to love it. I think she needs a bigger space to do art.

End Product - Turtle

Papa thought it was a hat... duh!?

Sunflowers

Inspired by Planting A Rainbow by Lois Ehlert and Sunshine On My Shoulders by John Denver, I thought it would be fun for Sophie to make flowers. Maybe she could even identify or utter "flower" after that. I love the way colours and flowers are subtly introduced via a child's experience gardening with his/her mother in Planting A Rainbow. The rich information might not be suitable for toddlers but the illustrations are wonderful. As for Sunshine On My Shoulders, I love it after Papa sang me the song. It gave me a warm and happy feeling, something that I would like Sophie to experience daily, if possible.

I started off with playdoh (since she liked it the other day), simulating one of the Art Time episodes. I made a flower and "talk" to her with a silly voice, but playdoh is too soft to hold the petals and she plucked them off almost immediately. So, we were left with the "face" of the flower. Nevertheless, Sophie was still happy to play with it.

After lunch, I thought of using paper plates to make a sunflower. They are huge and remarkably cheerful so I bet she would love them! Unfortunately, my art project was a little too ambitious for a restless, teething toddler. I had to cut out around 80 petals which translated to 15 plates. Also, I could only let Sophie paint the flower parts so she did not really have any clue to what she was making. In the end, I gave up trying to get her to participate in the project. Fortunately though, she did manage to identify flowers by the end of the day and became more interested in the books.

My sketch...

"Face" of the sunflowers completed and the petals ready for Sophie to paint...

"I" finished the petals... waiting for Sophie to fall asleep so that I could attach them onto the "faces"...

End Product - Sunflowers

What's New?

We explored a new way of learning colours and shapes today. Sophie enjoyed the task much more than I had expected. In fact, I think she loved how I showed "disapproval" when she did not manage to match the pieces to the boxes by their colours and shapes... so much so that she deliberately did it to elicit my response.

Sophie was actually able to match the orange circle to the right box. Occasionally, she also got the purple square, blue triangle and red hexagon right. I am not sure if she can recognise the shapes or the colours, but it was sure fun to watch her learn as she play.

Besides Sophie's new "toy", I also took out her alphabet foam puzzles and placed it on the floor in the hallway. Knowing Sophie, she would probably be able to learn the alphabet better if she could step and run on them! Currently, she is responding fairly well to the traditional alphabet song I play on the computer. She randomly utters letters without any visual cues, so I guess she has little idea what she is saying so far. At least she enjoys saying the names of each letter and knows each one has a name...

The first time when I put up nursery rhymes on the wall for Sophie with blu tack, they were ripped out almost immediately. So, I kept them aside until I bought some 3M self-adhesive board. They are securely on my wall in the hallway now. She cannot take out the nursery rhymes even though she has tried many times already (still trying). Her favourite is Peter Piper because Papa finds it amusing and keeps trying to say it right. So, Sophie finds it funny and keeps pointing to it and saying, "peck peck peck".

Other new features include Sophie's new pocket book display that I have been using to entice her to read. I bought some readers from Edventure Books and they gave me pocket book displays. Interestingly, I am not displaying their readers... not yet anyway. I am still waiting for Sophie to be slightly older before starting on the readers which deals with reading mainly. For now, Sophie's readers from Scholastic and InnovativeKids sit comfortably in the pockets. I also included her Baby Bug and Wild Animal Baby magazines and some other "dunno-put-where" kind of books in the pockets.

Since I was already trying to do some home improvement, I decided to tidy up her Daily Chart. Now, I do not have to dig into its pockets everyday for the right labels. And Sophie can easily see all the labels at one glance. She also enjoys tearing out the labels and pasting them onto the chart.

Before Sophie's bedtime, she picked up her beloved deflated balloon and put it in my face. She then blew at it, signalling me to inflate it for her again. I warned her that it might burst (3rd time I blew into it) this time, but she was willing to take the risk. It burst. Sophie's face darkened and she gave the remains of her beloved balloon a forlorn look. She could have said "byebye" (she can now) to it, but she was overwhelmed by sadness. She carassed it for the last time before I picked it up and dropped it in the bin. She did not cry, but she was quiet (mourning perhaps) for a while. So.... Mama texted Papa and told him to buy a packet of balloons and a pump from Carrefour.

Sophie will be surprised tomorrow mroning when she wakes up to the balloons at her door. The things we do for our children....