Sunday Morning With Papa

Papa likes to take Sophie out for a bike ride or simply let her run amok for a while on the weekends. Sophie really enjoys such special moments with Papa.

"M" Based Activities - Mice, Monkey And M&Ms

We made two different animals that begin with “m”. At first, I only wanted to make a mouse, but we ended up with a big mouse and a baby mouse. Then we made a monkey mask.

Then we feasted on M&Ms as we learnt to count 1 to 5. Sophie was sneaky and she tried to eat without counting but I was quick too!

"M" Based Activities

Today, we gathered some materials to test if they are magnetic objects. I thought it was pretty simple until I found out that “keys” and “coins” are non-magnetic and we did not really have many magnetic objects in the house. I also took pictures of the objects, printed them out and let Sophie categorise them on a chart. After that, we laminated it and kept it in Letter “M” Book.

Later in the afternoon, we used Jumping Clay to make the letter "M" and "m". Sophie was keen to play with the clay and watch me do it but not quite ready to do it on her own.

Letter Of The Week - m (Marshmallow)

We started the day with marshmallow-printed letter "m". I could not find small marshmallows so we had to make do with huge ones. Sophie painted the letter white first so that the colours would look more vibrant on the cardboard.

I think the huge marshmallows did not help much in making the prints look good. Sophie did it anyway.

I thought we could stain some marshmallows for a sculpture later. Unfortunately, it only made them all sticky and yucky. Sophie did not even want to touch them.

Sophie was more interested in tasting the marshmallows than doing art prints with them.

The end product looks alright, I guess. At least Sophie had the chance to mix blue and red paint to make purple.

Letter "M" - Marshmallow Prints

After that, I tied to use Playdoh, satay sticks and marshmallows to create a sculpture with Sophie. However, the marshmallows were too big to be supported by sticks and Sophie did not want to touch the stained marshmallows.

So, I had to use pipe cleaners instead. They worked much better although Sophie had a bit of difficulty poking them through the marshmallows.

Well, at least she had a feel of using something different for art. After Sophie's nap, she ate macaroni soup for lunch. She could not eat much but she could name "macaroni" and "marshmallow" now.

Poor Little XD

Poor little XD is in trouble. And I am totally clueless to what I should do now. I don't want to lose XD, not after we have already bonded. My little baby, I will always love you...

Poo Sophie!

After yet another successful attempt (after 3 other failures) to urinate in her potty, Sophie went on playing her Lego while I put away her towel. When I turned back and looked at her, I found her in a semi-squat position, red-faced. Okay, poo poo... Quickly, I dragged the unwilling Lego enthusiast into the toilet and seated her onto the potty. Some of her poo was already in her diapers but I wanted her to try releasing in a sitting position. As expected, she could not.

"Poo... Poo!" I urged. Sophie was crying for help and I thought to myself, "Did I rush her too much or something?" Then she grabbed me by the arm, pulled herself up from the potty and stayed in a semi-squat position. And it happened! Her poo poo dropped and landed in the potty. YEAH! She was ecstatic and I was relieved. Then I realised. I was hardly prepared for poo poo in the potty. I called Papa in for help. He washed the potty while I cleaned Sophie up and washed her. Luckily, Papa was around. Next time, I shall be more prepared.

Letter Of The Week - M (Macaroni)

I started preparing the materials for the letter "M" a few days ago, but somehow I did not have the energy to work on it with Sophie. Maybe it was the aftermath of Chinese New Year or perhaps we had stopped for too long. Anyhow, I just gave it a go this morning while Papa was out doing marketing with Naenae.



Sophie was lukewarm about painting and that saddened me a little. After all, she used to be so enthusiastic before. I guess she has grown up and there are alternatives to art that she enjoys doing. Apparently, she has not forgot everything about painting. She could do it quite independently this time. Of course, she could not resist playing with the paint in the palette. She mixed the blue and yellow with glee but when I asked her the new colour she had created, she refused to answer. She is still not good with colours. I wonder why.



Sophie used to lose inhibition and paint all over the table when she still did her painting on the highchair. Now, she seems significantly more controlled although she still painted a "monster" and made it into a "giant" on the table.



I did not intend to let her use glitter glue, but I needed s cue to stop her painting. Sophie loves glitter glue but dislikes the feel of it on her fingers. I had to prepare a damp cloth to wipe her hands every now and then. I love the way she said the glitter glue was a worm. She has such great imagination and creativity sometimes.

The next step was challenging. Sophie had to paste the macaroni onto the letter "M". She was definitely reluctantly to touch the white glue. So, she kept finding excuses not to do it. She would play with the macaroni and ignore my instructions.

The end product was better than I had expected. I thought it would be a boring piece but it turned out quite decent. I was glad Sophie was able to do it without making a huge mess.

Letter "M" (Macaroni)

Wee....

We are currently trying to toilet train Sophie. It is a challenging task because she does not like to tell us if she needs to wee wee or poo poo. Even when we ask her, she would evade and run away. So, I intend to incorporate potty visit as part of her daily routine. So far, we are on dry run to the potty and she still has diapers on, instead of training pants. I am slowly getting her used to potty visits before going without diapers. Last evening, we experienced our first success as Sophie managed to wee wee in the potty. Usually, she would let go after we put on her diapers again or when she is in the bath tub. She is too used to peeing while standing up. We were ecstatic and she was also very proud of herself. However, she still seems to dislike potty visit and I am not really keen to make potty visit into a game.

Today, we experienced our second success. I let her drink lots of water 30 minutes before "dragging" her to the toilet. At first, she could not let go so I left her on the potty and told her I wanted to wee wee too. The moment she saw me letting go, she let go too! Yeah! I quickly took the opportunity to show her how to wipe herself dry with toilet paper before washing with water. I also showed her how to clean her potty before flushing everything down the toilet bowl. Sophie was clearly fascinated when I let her flush the toilet for me.

Honestly, I think she is not really ready for toilet training. She wets her diapers every hour or so and she does not show any signs when she lets go. She can hardly pull off her pants without my help and she hates the idea of potty visit. However, we have to start somewhere. I am targeting to toilet train her in 6 months but I think she still needs some time before she can go without diapers at night.

Happy?

Ah Mah has a nasty frown that creases up between her brows perpetually, even in her sleep. The only time it disappears is when she smiles or laughs. Somehow, I inherited that particular feature. For me, the frown is in the shape of a "m" between my brows. Once, I was scolding my ex-pupil when suddenly he smiled. Naturally, I got even more worked up and asked if what I had said sounded funny to him. To my surprise, he simply pointed to my frown and said, "Teacher, there is a 'm' on your forehead.". In the end, we both just laughed.

So what does all this got to do with Sophie? Apparently, she has noticed my "m". Everytime she sees it, she would say,"Mummy (is) angry!" and stick out her finger to smoothen it out. After that, she would ask, "Mummy, happy?" and give me a hug and a kiss. Her little gesture reminded me how I used to also smoothen out Ah Mah's frown when I was a little girl. To me, Sophie's gesture means a lot to me. She is so loving and thoughtful for a little girl of her age.

Little XD

We did our Oscar Test on XD today. Little XD was all curled up and it took a lot of probing to get him/her to straighten up for the scan. Just 3 weeks ago, we saw the little limb buds moving. Today, we could saw the arms and legs moving around. I even took a good look at his/her face (2D profile only) and apparently, XD has CK's nose (similar to Sophie's nose). We would only get the results on Saturday so meanwhile, our fingers remained crossed.

XD At 12th Week

This was XD's image when we did the Oscar Test today.

Little Miss Muffet

As usual, Sophie got interested in the nursery rhyme "Little Miss Muffet" the moment we started on the lapbook. Prior to this, she simply ignored me when I recited it to her with a picture card. As I am beginning to feel better, I can carry on with Sophie's activities from now on (fingers still crossed). However, I am moving at a slower pace because she is also undergoing toilet training. Anyway, we are doing the letter "M" now so I picked this particular nursery rhyme. Sophie was quite fond of the spider so she carried it around wherever she went for a while.

Chinese New Year 2

So far so good, we had a relatively peaceful Lunar New Year. This morning, Ah Boh and Shushu came over for a visit. Naturally, Sophie was excited to have her favourite playmates. They spent most of the time playing Lego.



After Sophie's nap, we went to Naenae's place again. There were many guests so Sophie was a little overwhelmed. We did not wait for her to become overstimulated. We left early to give her some quiet time.

Chinese New Year Day 1

We started the day by visiting Ah Gong and Ah Mah in the morning. We reckoned that that would be the best time since my relatives tend to visit them just before lunch or in the afternoon. Ah Mah was super thrilled to see Sophie dressed up like a "princess". We very seldom put a dress on her and prior to this, Sophie never allowed us to put anything on her hair. Somehow, she suddenly loves to dress up and whenever she has her hair combed and pinned up, she calls herself "Princess Sophie".

After her nap, we made our way to Naenae's place. Surprisingly, no guests! Sophie could spend quality time with her favourite Naenae, Ah Boh and of course, Shushu (who bought her a Lego set). Just before we headed home, we visited Papa's maternal uncle in Toa Payoh. Everyone was there as well. Sophie became the centre of attraction instantly. However, she was only interested in one of her cousins who was dressed in a pretty Korean costume. Sophie thought she was a princess and quickly sat next to her and refused to move anymore.

Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner

This year was special for us because we had a joint reunion dinner at Beaulieu House. We took the earlier slot at 5.30 pm because we did not want to disrupt Sophie's sleep schedule too much. Also, the other two slots were fully booked. The dinner went smoothly and peacefully, to our pleasant surprise. After our dinner, we even had time to take a stroll around Sembawang Park. Sophie was very excited to spend the evening with all her favourite people.

Just For Fun - Learning Words

During dinner, we grew bored and restless so I picked up Sophie’s magnetic letter tiles and attempted to teach her some words. She responded quite well and she could remember the five animal names.



Of course it was just a matter of memorising the arrangements. Sophie could not retain her learning at all. Still, we shall rehearse again tomorrow… Just for fun!

Papa Reading To Sophie

Sophie 's diaper leaked so we had to wake her up to change the bedsheet. Naturally, it was hard for her to go back to sleep. Papa had to read her stories to make her sleep. Poor Papa was also tired.

Signs Of Recovery

Though it is a little too early to say, I think Sophie's rash is under control finally. I still think I was right to say that she was allergic to the fungal cream. However, the doctor at TMC said it was eczema - plain and simple. That still did not explain the cause, unfortunately. Apparently, it did not seem like fungal infection at all to her. There you have it! Different opinion from different doctors! We are going round and round for a cure when no one is able to determine for sure what it is in the first place. We have asked the doctor to perform some tests to determine for sure what it is, but she was reluctant. Why? We wondered. Not like she is paying for it or doing the test herself! Anyhow, I am tired of running around at their mercy. We will do some allergy test and find out once and for all, what Sophie is allergic to.

Before anyone starts congratulating us, Sophie has developed a cough. I doubt it is anything new, it is probably part of the mystery fever she had recovered from. I anticipated it so she has been taking Chinese medicine since then although we need to replenish the supply tomorrow for the long weekends. Oh well, what else can happen, I wonder. Everyone, except me, has got a turn falling sick lately. I guess I will be next in line. Perhaps during the Chinese New Year?

"B" Based Activity - Behaving Badly

What can I say?

Our Little Artist

I found this mini magnetic board in our old diaper bag so I let Sophie doodle during her dinner. To my surprise, she drew me a "happy face". I asked her what she did just to be very sure. She was very convicted and named me all the facial parts.

Happy Face

She drew a line and told me the line it was a snake's tail (right). Then, she drew another line (left) and said it was a monkey's tail.

Tails - Monkey and Snake

Sophie likes us to draw for her as well. She asked for an elephant so I drew one for her. Before that, I told her I would like to take a picture of her drawings so she "ordered" me to take a picture of the drawing of the elephant and HER.

Mummy's Big Elephant

Last, she drew a picture of a face (eyes, mouth and ears) and said, "PAPA". Okay, that one... maybe we need a bit more work...

Portrait Of Papa

Poor Sophie

Sophie's fever has gone down after 3 days. We were almost in a celebration mood when we suddenly found out that her fungal rash has become worse! How can that be? I thought it was subsiding? I was hit by a new wave of panick and fear. What is going on? Her whole arm is now covered with rashes that itch a lot. In fact, other parts of her body seems to show signs of the same rash. I am so afraid for her. I suspect that she might be allergic to the very same cream that is killing off the fungal infection. Steroid or anti-fungal cream now? I am so confused and worried. I washed her arm and left it alone for now. Tomorrow, we will take her to TMC to see a doctor. Hopefully she will have the answer for us.

"I Look Me"

Papa was giving Sophie her breakfast this morning when suddenly he felt like taking pictures of her. After taking a couple of shots, he put away the camera without showing Sophie the pictures. So, Sophie protested, "I look me! I look me!" It took us a while before realising that she actually meant she wanted to take a look at her pictures in the camera!

Down With Fever

Last evening just before Sophie's dinner, I found out that she was hot so I measured her temperature. I was surprised to see 38.4 degrees. Panicked (I usually am when she is sick), I called Papa to ask him to get Panadol and something stronger in case the fever did not subside. He must have been very worried too because he took time off from work to buy the medication in a pharmacy.

However, I was too worried to wait for another 2 hours before Papa came back. I rushed to the hospital near our place in hope to buy the Panadol at their pharmacy. Fortunately, I was there just in time to be the last customer. Armed with Panadol, I ran home. I should not have done that because my tummy hurt after that. Unfortunately, after four 4-hourly dosages throughout the night, Sophie was still feverish this morning - 38 degrees.

So, I clenched my teeth and took her to the Eu Yang Sang at Rivervale Mall just now. I did not sleep much last night, I am plagued with bouts of morning sickness and giddiness but I still did it. The sun's glare and heat were punishing and wait for taxi was torturous but Sophie took it well. We waited 30 minutes at the taxi stand but no cabs came. Everyone started calling for cabs but I refused out of principle. We should not have to call a cab and pay extra if we are at the taxi stand. I apologised to Sophie for being so stubborn in this case, but I refuse to perpetuate the problem by being a victim of such systemic abuse.

On the way, Sophie fell asleep. Her sleep routine is messed up again, but we will have to deal with that another time...

Where's Ah Gong Ah Mah?

Sophie can be very hyperactive when she is sleepy or tired. This morning, she fell from the sofa and landed on her bum right before my eyes.

Sophie : Ouch! "Tong tong" (painful)... Mummy, egg please!
Mama : Egg? What egg? Your backside is painful?
Sophie : Yes, Mummy... Egg... Egg... Egg, please!
(Then I recalled. The other day when she fell and hit her forehead, I applied a hard boiled egg on it... )

During her shower, I had this conversation with Sophie.

Sophie : Where's Ah Gong Ah Mah?
Mama : They are at home.
Sophie : (Are) Ah Gong Ah Mah coming?
Mama : I don't know. Maybe.
Sophie : Don't worry, Mummy! I'll find Ah Gong Ah Mah.

I felt a bit of heartache then. Ah Mah has been sick lately so she cannot visit us. And Ah Gong does not come every day anymore. I miss them actually, just did not expect Sophie to miss them as well.

Sing A Song Of Sixpence

We managed to complete a simple lapbook today on "Sing A Song Of Sixpence". I reproduced the materials in Literature Pockets - Nursery Rhymes and added the "lift-the-flap" numbers. Sophie was never really into nursery rhymes until she was around two. I guess the audio CD I have been playing daily works. Still, this is probably not her favourite. And like me, she does not like to do colouring at all! I had to do it myself and it was quite a pain really.

And The Mystery Is Solved!

For 3 weeks, we have been trying to fight a recurring rash on Sophie's arm and diaper area. We thought it was eczema so we carried out the standard procedure of dealing with an outbreak. However, it kept coming back with a vengeance. Out of desperation, we tried antibiotic cream, aloe vera gel, moisturizer, Mopiko and even prickly heat powder. Still, we cannot get rid of it. Finally, I took her to a pediatrician and he said it is actually a fungal infection. No wonder. So now we have to apply anti-fungal cream on her for two weeks. Apparently, we still need to apply the cream after the rash has gone off because the infection will linger for a while. Hopefully, Sophie's rash will be gone before Chinese New Year.

Dinner Time

Dinner time is always a matter of pain and pleasure. Sophie does not like to eat so we have to find ways to make eating a little more enjoyable for her and a lot more bearable for us.



Sophie likes to pretend that she is sleepy during dinner time just to escape eating. My theory is she is not tired at all if she can tell me she is. She would just doze off when she is really sleepy during mealtimes.



This was my way to make Sophie put away her toys and call it a day.

Haircut

It was quite challenging to trim Sophie's fringe because she was squirming and grabbing my scissors throughout the session. Still, we did it!

Typical Day @ Cherrytots

Today in class, we started off by watering the “kang kong” that the children have planted a couple of weeks ago.

I am so happy that Sophie has learnt to ask her teacher politely to refill her watering can. Although she was not very clear, we could make out "Ms Stephanie, may I have some water, please?!"



Next, we had circle time which was great. Sophie got to choose the book she wanted her teacher to read and she picked "The Very Busy Spider" by Eric Carle since she saw a small one in the garden earlier.

The children then fed the fish, something that Sophie really enjoyed doing. Her teacher also showed them some mealworms, pupas and beetles. Sophie dared not touch the mealworms until I demonstrated how we could do it. Not my favourite part of school, but I did it to make Sophie feel at ease.

I love snack time. Sophie got to set her own table, pour her own water from a pitcher into a small cup, and self feed. And that is not all, she had to wash her own cutlery after that.



Although Sophie paints t home, she has never had to follow rules or clean up. At school, she has to learn how to be organised and clean up after herself.

The last activity I managed to record was "spooning". She also did cutting, grooming, stacking and a couple more.



Soon she was tired and cranky so her focus was lost. And it happened during her Chinese circle time. n fact, all the children were tired and struggling to focus. By the time we got into a cab, Sophie was ready to drink her milk and take a nap.