what i learnt from my little one

i learnt not to look at ideology when i see the national flag, instead i see very nice twinkly stars.
i learnt that each puddle of rain on the ground are not irritating bits to avoid. they are fallen moons.
i learnt that dancing amongst bubbles always makes the day better as it teases out the giggles.
i learnt that it doesn't matter if you fight with and bite each other just minutes ago, doesn't mean you can't kiss and make up immediately with no bruised feelings.
i learnt not to read the words in cereal boxes or road signs or adverts, but appreciate the stars, alphabets, dancing balls, animals for what it is, not what it's trying to tell me.
i learnt to say hello to everyone, and i really mean EVERYONE! and forget shyness, prejudice, fear and whatever else that made me not say hello.
i am humbled by the many things my 20 month old taught me.

just like mummy!

Everyone tells me my little one is just like me. from looks to temperament to interests to vanity. hmmm.....here she is playing dress-up. most favoured activity for the moment.

top (free) places to bring kiddies to...

...according to the little one at least! In no order of preference.

1. The airport. T3 is best right now. no crowds, huge empty spaces to run and pretend to be a plane taking off (or a bird depending on mood).
2.Ikea at Tampines. Again, huge space. lots of pretend things to do in the pretend rooms. Maeve loves cooking, so the little pots and pans etc serve her well, and following the footprints to some activity or chasing the rotating light Ikea signs are great fun too.
3. The Jacob Ballas children's botanic gardens. lots of fun in the sun with sprinklers (bring a change of clothes and a towel), mist machines coming out of flowers etc.
4. Vivocity. If the weather is nice, lots of outdoor spaces with slides, sprinklers, shallow pools of water or just enjoy walking on the perimeter or the mall taking in the (limited) sea view and (lots and lots of )crane views. If weather's nasty, indoors is also great fun as the space is big enough plus there's a nice cafe with outdoor swings and good views.
5.sentosa. at least i trust that the sand is relatively clean. just bring a spade, some cups and maybe a change of clothes and remember to slip, slap, slop.

the not free (but free for us because of our co-op membership) favourite place is currently the bird park for its lori aviary where she gets to feed (and pet) the lorikeets. now, our recent trip had her distinguishing the various colours, red, blue, orange at the moment. she was also tickled by the penguins (and has been trying to walk like that ever since) and the big-eyed owls.

we're planning our next few sat morning excursions to the following places:
1. pony riding (or pony feeding if she's not allowed on it) at Pasir Ris Gallop Stables.
2.Go-go-bambini at dempsey where you pay $6 for under-2s to play and parents get to chill out at the attached cafe. (i think it'll be a great place to meet friends with other kids. they socialise, you socialise. everybody wins)
3. some farm. I've seen the sign for a goat farm on the way to work somwhere in the boondocks, so i'll try to locate it and bring her to milk goats or something. she's "into" animals right now, but which toddler isn't!

as for rainy/too hot weather where i'd rather not expose her to the elements, then blowing bubbles is also popular (by this i mean, i blow, she chases and pops them). The other fun to do thing is to pick locks. i take her downstairs with a set of keys and she tries each letterbox (it takes a whole hour!) and sometimes pretend-posts letters. The positive externality of that is that i've gotten to know more neighbours this way, especially when she picks their letterbox! when she gets bored, playing hide and seek behind the pillars always works.

my little barnacle

my little barnacle firmly attaches herself to my tummy every night at 9.30pm and no matter how you try to shake all 10 kgs off, she cannot be moved. I wonder if my gastric juices sound like womb sounds that lull her to sleep. every night when i hear baby snores, i extricate my barnacle, ever so gently, to her own little mattress, where she spends the rest of the night (hopefully)asleep dreaming of baa baa sheep and twinkle stars.
Before she sleeps though, there is always the prelude of must-do activities, which include handstands, headstands, long circuitous renditions of the above songs, kicking little feet into the air and thumping them down, jumping on the bed and my tummy, telling her own version of the david and goliath story (she does it with sound effects,and the starting word of each sentence coupled with very dramatic actions such as the giant being attacked by david, david pointing in fear at the giant, ladies clapping and cheering etc) and finally ordering daddy and mummy to sleep. "mummy gao gao ju" (grandpa's baby cantonese talk for sleep).
while it is a very long 1 hr of bedtime wind-down (or wind-up dedending on how you see it), these are the precious moments that will be etched in my memory when she grows up and would rather text messages to friends or use the MSN (or whatever equivalent in 10 years time) then cuddle in bed with me. so for now, I am in no hurry to move my barnacle off. she can stay on this rock for as long as she likes.

thoughts on education

Of late, i've been reading a plethora of books on education, from homeschooling, to child psychology,to various kinds of pre-school syllabi just to get a sense of what might suit the little one (and me). I'm torn really, part of me wants to keep her home till it becomes compulsory to send her to formal education (I'm not sure i want her to memorise lists of spelling or doing homework when she should really be playing), but the other part wonders if she'll miss out on social interaction, building resilience, learning how to share and stand up to bullies and such.Homeschooling her in the initial pre-school years sounds wonderful, after all, who'd give undivided attention to her and cater to her learning style specifically and her interests? That too is a double-edged sword. Precisely because she can get such individualised education, it'll be a huge adjustment once she gets herded into primary school and has to learn passivity.That is just the thing, i hate for her to be taught in a passive manner, to learn about trees and birds by looking at pictures, to learn to count by counting drawn apples, to memorise words in a list.
right now, she learns about the world through touching, exploring,smelling, tasting and the absolute wonder and joy in her face when she learns is something i wish i could bottle forever. Recently, because she was being fretful and a real pain at home, hubby and i took her downstairs to look at the flora and fauna (what little of it). We stuck sticky tape on her little wrists (sticky side up) and proceeded to find petals, leaves and such to "collect" on her "sticky wrist-board". Not only did she learn about colours, shapes, texture, names of plants, she also learnt the word "sticky" and "tape" and what sticks and what does not. Of course, subsequently, she wanted to wear her sticky wrist tapes every day to stick all sorts of things on! now tell me that isn't education! combining botany, language, physical fitness, science!

stop the baby talk!

Hubby approached me gravely one day and suggested that i stop the baby talk as our baby is no longer a baby, but a big girl.

"stop saying poo-poo"
"okay, erm...should i teach her 'bowel movement'? perhaps 'defecate'?"(of course, my mind is racing, how in the world will she be able to pronounce those words??)
"no. just say 'poo'."
" as opposed to 'poo-poo'?"
"yes."
i'm left having linguistic debates with myself. what's the difference between the two? one less syllable and it becomes adult language? Men. i don't get them.

Almost weaned toddler

It has been 5 days since Maeve has not nursed. A good sign. I haven't needed to resort to chilli or bittergourd juice to make her repulsed by nursing, all i've done is major DISTRACTION.
"mummy, milk milk! please! milk milk!"
"darling, look! mummy's wearing trousers on her head!"
(bursts of giggles with attempts to knock it over and put said trousers on own head)
OR making the alternative sound like its the most exciting ever.
"mummy milk milk!"
"oh wow! look! its SMOO milk, its SOOO YUMMY!Yum! Yum! All for you! say thank you."
" thanks mummy" and promptly holds packet of milk in joyful gratitude.
If all that fails,
"mummy milk milk please" (in tears, pulling at my top)
"there's no more, all gone, but you can lick mummy's tummy. its the same".
(lick lick. sob. lick. sob. slobber all over. sob.)