Hot Air Balloon Fiesta

Mummies and daddies,

There is the 2nd International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Putrajaya till this Sunday. It is going to be fun for the kids! I am going this Saturday evening as they will also have fireworks display! See you there!

My boy loves hot air balloons and I think it's going to be an eye opener for the whole family. Imagine seeing more than 10 giant hot air balloon around you! :) I am not going to miss it this time!!!

More details:
http://www.myballoonfiesta.com

Reading Progress

If you have been reading my blog, you will realized that I haven't blogged on his reading! Why? Because mummy was too lazy and at one point Reese wasn't interested in reading! I didn't want to push him, he is still young. :)

So after at least 5 months of no reading exercises, I started again 4 days ago with high frequency words (flash cards) and phonics (computer). To make sure he doesn't get bored, I only flash the cards twice (less than 5 minutes) and if he is in a good mood, I will flash it once more. That's it. Then I will repeat this maybe another time in the evening. So less than 10 minutes a day with flash cards. :) I will turn on the Macbook and let him play the phonics and math games for as long as he wants at least once a day (can only do so when at home in the mornings or evenings).

Two days ago, after flashing cards, I will write simple sentences for him to read and it's nice that he can almost effortlessly read the following on his own.

Day 1:

1. Reese can see.
2. I can see.
3. The cat can see.
4. The dog can see.
5. Mum can see.
6. The cat is fat.
7. The cat is on the mat.

Day 2:

1. The rat can see Reese.
2. The cat is for Reese.
3. Reese is sad.
4. Reese is in the house.
5. The fish is in the water.

Today:

1. The pig is on the barn.
2. The frog is on a log.
3. The bug is sad.
4. The rocket is hot.
5. The sun is big and hot.

** Something funny, each time he sees his own name, instead of reading his name, he will replace the name with Lightning Mcqueen (He is currently Lightning Mcqueen the race car)!

I combined both phonics that he knew with high frequency words that I am working with him. So far so good and the learning is kept at less than 5 minutes each time and I tried to do it twice a day. A tip mummies and daddies, never force and do it when the child is ready. Happy learning. Will update more soon.

Kids' Theatre

One of the cast member (She was Gerald the giraffe)

Trying to go on Stage

Waiting excitedly to go in

If you have been following my blog you would know that Reese has a phobia of large crowds, loud music and sudden clapping and laughter. Reese's school decided to take the children to a kids' theatre performance entitled 'Giraffes Can't Dance' before the start of the term break. I was hesitant simply because of his phobia. I was afraid that my money will go down the drain with us leaving the performance the moment it begins. So after some thinking at the last minute I decided to take the risk!

Been prepping Reese for it, the school has been preparing the kids too. The teacher told them the story twice and told them how to behave when at the theatre. I had also been doing my part by showing Reese some pictures of the puppets and what to expect.

So the big day came yesterday. We were all so excited. Reese can't wait to go and once there, we waited for about 20 minutes to get in (Playing and running around with his classmates) and the moment the opened the doors.... my Reese saw a little of the inside... dark, loud music ( music of some animals in the jungle) and the cast members welcoming us!

Reese panicked.... and my heart was thinking... oh no..... He refused to get in and wanted to leave.... tried persuading him but didn't work! so I carried him and he immediately started to struggle and grunt and started to throw violent tantrums! Managed to get him to our sitting place and tried all kinds of persuasion and eventually got some sweets from the teacher to calm him down. He ate 5 Mentos sweets! (First time eating sweets!) So my boy finally calm down and to cut the story short, he had a great time there interacting with the cast members and laughed, screamed and talked and etc...

I was very proud of him and was glad that I took the risk and did not waste the RM80 (We got a free upgrade to premium seats. We 3rd row from the stage!) :)

About the performance:

It's kids' theatre by Blunderbus Company from the U.K.

The performance was quite good with 3 actors taking different roles in the story.

Props were simple. Some puppets and minimal stage props.

Actors were very engaging with the audience. The children loved it. Before the start of the performance, the actors took time to chat with the children at their seats.

Verdict: It's great for the kids and great performance from the actors. It's really meant for young children.

Next step is to bring Reese to the movies! Hehehe....

Buy one free one!

Yesterday after school, we had a little fun eating ice-cream at BR. First time Reese had an entire cone to himself! BR is having a promo where by every Wednesday, if you wear something pink (Reese wore a pink t-shirt) or bring something pink like a mobile, camera... you can purchase a Jr single scoop of any flavours and they will give you another scoop free! I think the promo ends end of April.

So mummies, it's time to give your kids a treat. ;)

Milestones at 41 months

Wah..... been so long since I updated his milestone...... just plain lazy!

Height unknown (considered tall as compared to his peers)

Weight around 21kgs to 22kgs

Speech - Speaks tooooooo much to the point of annoyance!

Vocabulary - Fantastic

Academic -

Writing (not ready to do so)

Math and Science - Random learning (Mummy lazy to teach and have not started this year's homeschooling)

Language - Pick up a few BM words, Hokkien and Mandarin

Physical - Loves outdoor play. Very active. Tried skating and he likes falling and bumping his butt!

Creativity - Getting better, will constantly use everyday things and 'turn' them to something else and play. For example, he will open up hard cover books and place them on the floor like tents and claimed that there are many tents and houses! Once he did that with over 20 books all over the floor! Lately, he will take a bundle of colour pencils and use them to lift up a table calendar (shaped like a triangle) and claimed that the balloons are lifting up the house and flying away! (He has been watching UP). He likes pretend play more now and getting very imaginative. He has been playing with alot of cars, garages and pumping petrol.

Food - Eats alot till I have to control his food intake! :)

Habits - Loves to stick himself to us when he sleeps! He likes his body touching ours and will always request that I hug him to sleep (loves it). He has this really weird habit when he goes to sleep, he must touch a pillow with a very smooth pillow case!! He will keep touching it and feeling the smoothness of the surface before drifting to sleep. :)

Still takes a nap daily and it's between 2 to 2.5 hours each.

Temper - Can be very bad temper but usually controllable. He likes to grunt and jump when upset. At times like a Red Indian moving around a camp fire! Hahaha..

He is also sociable and will play with other kids easily.

Totally not shy and way too active.

Phobia - He still has a phobia of very loud or noisy sound and still dislike very crowded places especially with alot of adults.

Leader Material...

Had another chat with Reese's teachers on Thursday. This is what I was told.

He doesn't like group time. (Requires them to sit together in a circle and do singing and some other things together. He only sings and do actions for songs he likes. At times he will asked to go to the 'Thinking Chair' and then throw tantrum!

He now plays with other children and teacher commented that he is the leader type (I was surprised and happy). He likes others to follow what he does rather than he follow others.

As for learning, has to be done at his own terms! Teacher said he is different from other children because for others, when teacher tells them to come sit with a teacher to learn they will obey but Reese will not and he will grunt!

Looks like Reese IS quite different from the children at school! So far, he is the most hyper and will only do things at his own terms. *headache*

Hope he will settle in school well and start behaving like a student! Hehehe....

If You Give A Mom A Muffin

If You Give A Mom A Muffin - Original Author Unknown

If you give a mom a muffin, She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it..
She'll pour herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
She'll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she'll find dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook ("101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger").
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The check book is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two year old's diaper.
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
She'll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
And chances are...

If she has a cup of coffee, her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

Hair cut done right!

For the past few months, we managed to get Reese to have a hair cut by a professional. It wasn't easy but each time was an improvement! Last weekend, we took him to have his hair cut again and I think we have found the perfect solution to get him to sit still and have his hair cut properly. We gave him the Ipod! He was so engrossed with the game that he didn't bother the hair stylist at all (Usually will move around and refuse to let the stylist use the electric shaver!). He sat there and in less than 15 minutes, all done. :)

Reese has a playroom!

Two tone glow in the dark wall paper (installed when I was pregnant with Reese)

Strong colour combination with simple furniture

We even put up a hot air balloon I bought 2 years ago for Reese

A glow in the dark puzzle completes the room.

Hubby and I bought it while I was pregnant with Reese

Last Saturday I had a sudden urge to turn the 3rd room (previously the maid sleeps here) into Reese's playroom. So we went to IKEA in the evening and got some racks to store some of the things in the room. We also use this room to do our ironing plus store room previously. The next morning, we went to IKEA again and got another rack, bookshelf and a carpet! Then went to a shop in Giza to buy some planet theme wall stickers. After spending half a day, we have a playroom minus the air-cond. The next day, which was FT day, we went to an electrical shop and got an air-cond. Yesterday they came and install the air-cond.

After all the hard work, all three of us are enjoying the room very much. Now I can do ironing without sweating! Still need to work out how to move more of Reese toys into the playroom! There are still half of his toys in the living room! :)

Singing Gong Xi Gong Xi

Singing the CNY song!! He doesn't know Mandarin and yet able to sing the song with weird pronunciation...hahaha...

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

We will be out of town for 9 days! Yippie....

CNY Party

Last Friday Reese had his first CNY party at school. He wore a CNY outfit and had a lot of fun. Too bad I was not able to join in the fun and only managed to capture a few pics at the end of the party. Some parents told me that I missed out on him singing and the teacher said that he was her star singer that day! Wish I could see it!

First Month Report

Had a little chat with Reese's teacher at school yesterday. This is what she said of Reese:

1. High level of concentration in what he does. Totally focus.

2. Likes repeating task that he likes.

3. More active than the rest of the kids in his class. (teacher is being kind.. hehehe.. in other words, he is hyper active)

4. Hates to be disturbed while playing/working on a material (various activities displayed on shelf). He will throw super tantrums!

5. Very good in UNDERSTANDING instructions. For example, teacher told him that if he wants to work on a new material, he must ask a teacher to teach him how to do so. He actually will ask before taking a new material to work on.

6. Not so good in OBEYING instructions but controllable.

7. Teacher thinks he is the physical type. Loves physical activities.

8. He does listen to teachers when told that he should think about what he did and be excluded from group activities for a while. He will immediately obey and he hates to be excluded from group activities. Hehehe... kiasu?

9. Teacher thinks that he is not ready for writing (totally ok with me... no hurry)

10. Overall he is good and a bubbly child in class. :)

I am very happy with his progress at school. At least I know he is not destructive and uncontrollable! Another thing I am happy is that so far no bullies in his class! Every time I go and pick Reese, some of his classmates will immediately call out his name and inform him that I am here to pick him up... sweet isn't it? I am really happy.

Discipline

When Reese was about 2, I always wonder how will I ever discipline him without using the cane, minimum scolding but alot of reasoning? There are books that tell you not to scream or shout at your kid, don't spank and etc.... Is it possible?

Reese is now 3+ and I am glad to say that he can be discipline with a little effort. He was never a difficult child. Over the past years, during his most difficult time (terrible two), he was smacked on the leg a couple of times, shouted at alot and I did scream a few times when it was too much! At the end of each session, we will feel extremely guilty. Kept telling ourselves we have to calm down and use the softer approach and eventually we introduced the 'corner'. Since turning 3, Reese is easier to discipline and by merely mentioning the corner, he will listen to us. He also developed a habit of grunting and stomping his foot when he is angry. Wonder where he pick that up!

I am just glad that we do not have to shout or smack him now. All we have to do is mention the 'corner' or do some reasoning with him and he will listen. I am thankful that I do not have a difficult child (especially seeing how parents beat and scold their kids in public and yet the child seems immune to it! Yikes!) but then again, I wonder when he is a teen, how do you discipline him then? Afterall, many parents will tell you that disciplining a teen is even harder!! Imagine, you definitely cannot shout as and when you like, definitely cannot smack his butt.... gosh... dare not think about it. Hehehehe...

What about your discipling style?

After 2 weeks....

Ah.... 2 weeks past and I am very pleased with Reese and the school. :)

Out of 4 days Reese was sent to the 'thinking chair' twice! He cannot take instruction that was what the teacher told me. He cried when sent to the thinking chair and yet when I asked him whether he still wants to go school..... a very loud YES was the answer. Reese loves school. After 2 days at school, he will remind himself that he has to 'tidy up' after play even at home! :) Wow...

Every day he would report back to us what he learned at school. So far... two weeks of school, he learned a new song and sang to us (out of tune). Learnt to tidy up after playing (at home only when he is in the mood but if asked to.. he would), the names of his classmates and last Friday, he sang a Chinese New Year song to us in Mandarin and told us about China Town.... :)

He loves school so much. Teachers also said he is taking instructions and no 'Thinking Chair' during the second week.

So far I am pleased with the school. There are 12 kids with 2 teachers on Wednesday and Friday and 3 teachers on Tuesday and Thursday. Currently there is a volunteer helping with the class too. So there are 4 adults to 12 kids on certain days! All children are learning at their own pace and they are all given individual attention when it comes to doing activities and learning everyday. The teachers are really dedicated. As for snacks, parents of the children will take turn to provide and I have volunteer to do so every Friday. So children will have quality snacks everyday from Tuesday to Friday. Last Friday was my turn and I forgot! Hehehe... so ended up buying chocolate/sugar doughnuts and yogurt for the children.

Now that Reese has settled nicely in school, I am trying to prepare his homeschooling materials and schedules. Will be coordinating with the school's syllabus if I can. The teacher has agreed to give me a summary of what Reese will be learning and doing this year. Homeschooling for this year will start in March. Yippie....

First Day of School

Yesterday was Reese's first day at school. We were excited and wondered how he was going to react to school without mummy around. Will he cry? Will he ask for mummy? Will he listen to instructions? Will he be bullied?......

So early in the morning, packed his new baby Tigger bag with extra set of clothing and hanky and a bottle of water. Got him ready by 7.30am and gave him his breakfast at 8am. By 8.20am we were on our way to school. I kept telling him what he must do at school and that mummy won't be there. He seemed to understand and kept saying he wanted to go to school.

When we reached school, immediately he head straight for the classroom and started playing. Not even bothered when I left. Those 3 hours for me was like suspense. :) The head teacher told me that usually they will let the new kids go home half hour early so that they don't feel so threatened. But she didn't call me! At 12pm I was at the school, anxious.... as I peek through the window of the classroom, not exactly knowing what to expect.... but Reese was busy playing with other kids! Immediately I was relieved. He was ok. Had a little chat with the head teacher and was told Reese was fine thoughout the 3 hours except that he can't take instructions too well. Ah... I expected that! At home, he gets what he wants and we let him do what he wants within limits. Hehehe... Teacher said that it's quite normal and soon he will learn to be more discipline. Fine with me.

I was also impressed with the school. Student teacher ratio was really great. There were only 11 kids in the school and there were 3 teachers and an assistant! 4 adults to 11 kids. Wow... that's great isn't it? Really happy that Reese managed to get a place for himself there!

First day of school and he already came home telling me he learned about islands and lakes and he was able to describe them to us quite well. Even able to tell us some new friends' names at school.

When I told Reese we had to go, he refused! Wanted to play some more. Hahaha... Took him to McD for lunch and I guess hubby was anxious too cause at 12.15pm he called and asked how were things. :) I am proud to say we are lucky parents because our child seems to like school alot and we don't have to endure all the crying and heartache for the first couple of weeks of school! Phew....

Ah... can't wait to see some photos taken by the thoughtful teacher at school. Will post them once I have them. I am one happy mummy at the moment!

New Year's Day 2010

These are pictures of Reese having fun at Genting yesterday. He kept saying he wanted to go to 'cold cold place' so we took him there on the first day of 2010. The last few times were disastrous because Reese was either sick or too sleepy and caused a lot of problems. This time it was quite good. He also took his favourite ride... the skyway cable car. Don't like Genting anymore simply because it's way too commercialized and hardly any parks to just enjoy the cool air and let children run around. We managed to find this empty spot with a little stage to let Reese run around and enjoy the cool breeze. It was fun taking his photos. Hard to believe he is only 3 years 4 months old! Hehehe... he looks so matured for his age.

What a year 2009!

Happy New Year everyone!

We had a quite new year eve. I took master Reese to Bangsar Village for his favourite fish and chips and mushroom soup for lunch and then bought some groceries and master Reese wet his pants! He had to wear a diaper and tshirt around the shopping mall. Hahaha... on our way home we went to Tropicana City to grab 4 tins of his GainKid milk (15% discount!!!). Then I spent the rest of the afternoon entertaining master Reese and also did some reading. Cooked dinner and then had a supposedly nice lamb dinner (My lamb didn't taste as good like what I expected) with Reese having a difficult time chewing the lamb! Pfff! So master Reese only had croissant and half a choco doughnut, choco milk and grapes for dinner!

We all went to bed around 9.40pm... just tired and hubby woke us all around 11.50pm to watch the fireworks. We had a really good view of the many fireworks display from 1U and a few other places and Master Reese had a great time watching them.

So 2009 saw us continue to master the art of being good parents to an ever growing toddler, welcoming a new a quite demanding maid and subsequently we became one of the statistics of a family with a ran away maid!

We had our first taste of freedom for two weeks after more than 3 years. We backpacked to Europe and had a wonderful holiday. It was also our first time leaving Reese behind for so long. We missed him so dearly. The moment we touched down, we rushed home to see our baby!

We regained our freedom and privacy without a stranger in our home and the feeling was great! Work wise, well we all have our ups and downs but it's ok.

2009 wasn't a good year for my parents, my dad survived another heart attack and a nasty flu, thank God he is fine now and my mom had a scare with bad diarrhea (due to medication), gastric pain and after a scan recently, nothing bad just a pretty sore stomach that needs treatment. Phew...

How was 2009?

Favourite Video 2009

I love this video showing Reese eating his rice on his own. It's a big achievement for him being able to feed himself with very very little practice since the maid left. I love watching him eat because it will really wet your appetite and make you hungry!

Going to School Soon!

Ah... hard to believe that Reese will be attending school next week! Somehow I am not all excited like many parents do when their child first go to school! Mmmm... I need to get him a small bag to put in extra clothes, hanky, water bottle and perhaps some after school snacks.

So far, I merely mentioned to Reese that he will be going to playgroup school with new friends to play with. Will see his favourite teachers there. I told him now he is a big boy and will graduate to school. :) Didn't tell him that mummy won't be around with him but I am confident that he will be more than happy to play with his new friends and not missing mummy for 3 hours, 4 times a week. My decision to send him to playgroup school is so that he has friends to play with and not so much of academic learning. I will continue to homeschool him and hope I will do a good job! :)

Next year homeschooling will be slightly more intense with Reese using Sonlight P4-5 (Explore God's World). I think Reese is ready for slightly more academic learning. Planning to start him on hand writing (Hand Writing Without Tears series), more advance reading and math (Singapore math). I am lousy at arts and craft. Will have to work on that. Oh... will also start him on some music lessons once he is settled in school.

Anyway... 2010 is going to be a great year of learning for both Reese and me! Amen!

Toys...toys...toys....

Toys toys toys.... long ago I wrote a post about buying toys.... how I was controlling myself from buying too many toys... and now? Hubby and I are still buying toys! My living room is filled with toys... we decided to display most of his toys on mats so that he will pick them up and play! Most of the time, we parents will just put the kids' toys in baskets or store them away so that it will be neat but hey... I realised that many of the toys will continue to stay in storage.

We arrange most of his toys on a few colourful mats ( 3 metres long). After doing so, he regularly play with 'everything' he sees on the mats.

Most of the corners found in my living room are filled up with his toys...

From Legos to cars to blocks..... everything is on display in hope that he will play with them. :)

Will we stop buying toys? Wanted to...but hard to resist.... I mean...everything seems to benefit Reese... so how?

Mummy.... play with me!

Thomas collection is growing... not that Reese is obsessed but us parents...hahaha

See the train tracks (another 1/3 hidden from the picture)? it took up almost 1/3 of my living and dining area...

His Christmas present for this year... another Thomas and friends collection

and a pair of sneakers.