Sophie loves doing crafts. It has become her 'staple' activity just before she sleeps at night and right after she wakes up each morning. It gives her a sense of control and freedom which is not always possible in other aspects of her life. I used to intervene in her work process, in hope that she could acquire some skills. Unfortunately, that almost destroyed our relationship and killed her interest. It took us a while before we finally came to a compromise that I won't try to interfere in her artistic expression unless we both agree to it.
Cutting bits to create her paper dolls...
used a straw to hold the paper doll in place...
details are important to her...
Final product - Sophie and Alfee in their boats...
Tonight, she asked me to help her with her creation. She wanted to make boats and paper dolls but she has forgotten how. Thus, I taught her how to do an origami boat. She did the rest on her own with some verbal suggestions from me. I also helped her with the sticky tape and the paper sea.
This craft reminds me of a lovely song we used to sing a lot... Wavy Sea
Sophie's proficiency in the Chinese language is less than satisfactory despite all the reassurance her school gives us. She sounds awkward and her writing is atrocious. Thus, she has an extra hour of Chinese tuition at home every Tuesday.
Reading little Chinese readers before her teacher arrives...
Personally, I don't like to subject them to tuition at such a tender age. Yet I really appreciate Sophie's Chinese tutor. Sophie enjoys her lessons which usually involve lots of storytelling and comprehension. There's little writing and homework which suits her well, of course. Sophie is starting to converse in Mandarin voluntarily and she no longer feels so threatened by the Chinese language. Although she cannot recognise many characters, she does not avoid Chinese storybooks anymore. Thus, we are happy.
Held captive in the room during Sophie's tuition...
During her tuition, I have to confine Alfee in the bedroom so that he would not disturb or distract Sophie. Even though it is just an hour, it really feels like an eternity because he is really difficult to manage. He is too energetic and his attention span is super short. I would have to think of something better to occupy him next week.
I have thought about reviving my old blogs but I prefer to start afresh. The truth of the matter is I do not have the time to go back and create months of entries. I really want to move on and document my current life with my two kids and their dad. And of course, this new interface is pretty exciting to say the least. So here I am, starting to blog again.
I used to think I could manage a couple of blogs, but it was much too tedious and time consuming. Thus, I shall stick to just ONE blog about EVERYONE in this family, from my perspective... naturally. After all, this is MY dragon's lair and I'm the dragon mama. Occasionally, Sophie (turning 5) would attempt to compose a few lines or add a couple of pictures while Alfee (turning 2 very soon) would be our cooperative model and subject. And hopefully we would get some exciting Leica photographs from Papa as well.
I probably would take a couple of weeks to get my old, rusty engine moving... but rest assured, I'm back!
My goodness... I dont mean to sound silly but blogging has become a chore with the new layout. Is this normal or am I missing something in my laptop? What's going on?! Is my software so outdated?
