Saturday, August 22, 2009

The Shichida "Secret Training"

As part of the Shichida classes that Mei Mei is attending, we are also required to conduct home practices everyday to stimulate her development. I like the idea of this, as it enforces a bonding regime (to stop me, the TV addict, from being distracted by ever-interesting drama serials).

Flashcards and a mathematical exercise called “Dots Programme” is what we will typically do. It’s actually not very interesting, but somehow Mei Mei loves it so much. Whenever she gets cranky, this is like a secret weapon we have. The moment we say “Dots Programme”, she will stop whatever she is doing, turning from cries to smiles, and race into the room to point to where the flashcards is kept. It’s so funny, cos it works just like a spell on her.

Oh oh..it's "Dots Programme" time again...I LIKEEEEEE..

Flashcards are her favorite, so much so that we realized that she attempted to mimick us doing flashcards. It’s quite an amusing sight when she starts reciting in her baby lingo while flashing the cards.

SHAPES!

CIRCLE!

OVAL!

Monday, August 17, 2009

En Xi is back for more action

It’s been a while since we have updated the developments of Mei Mei. Tracing back from the last posting, it’s close to 4 months since our last update!

Sorry for the silence, En Xi has been growing up too fast that we are so swarmed with running after her, and spending most of our time serving the whims and fancy of this sassy princess. Okay, bad excuses but we will try our best to re-collect the highlights of her growing up milestones.

At 18+ months, this little girl has taken on another level in her milestones. We have also started her on playgroup lessons at Ykidz Montessori and she is enjoying herself tremendously with her new found friends. For us, the biggest reward is her ability to get into a fixed routine and sleep pattern, after her brain cells is drained out in the day. Comparing to before, when our Mei Mei can only sleep after playing “treasure hunt” (ie she will ransack all the things she can find before she is finally happy to settle down for sleep) till it’s past 11pm, it’s definitely a godsend change for us.

Singing is definitely her biggest fanatic now. She is simply crazy about it, that we have to play Wiggles music in the car and put on her favorite nursery rhymes at mealtimes so that she can sing along with it. The amazing thing is that she probably has heard the same song for at least 500 times but never get tired of it. What is interesting is that she can remember when to come in at the key chorus point on rhythm. And when she hears the song “Are you sleeping?”, this is what she will do…


As she is picking up more words, “NO” is definitely her most articulated word, you can hear it for at least 20 times a day. She can say it with different accentuation to express her emotions, like “No” with her head shaking vigorous like she is on ecstasy means she doesn’t want her food anymore. And the weirdest thing is, she will only say “Mami” (that’s how she pronounce it, which I suspected she copy it from Dora) when she needs something.

huh..boring porridge again?

Now that her looks are more defined, we are still debating who she takes after.

Is is Daddy's girl?

Or Mummy's mini?

Mei Mei seems to have a distinct look herself, but somehow, she seems to look very close to Ponyo, a Japanese anime character in one of the recent movies. Judge for yourself..

One of the key highlights would also have to be Mummy getting a new job. Wondering how does this got to do with Mei Mei (since this is her blog)? You see, I used to work grossly long hours, managing to touch down on home pad only when Mei Mei is close to asleep. Although Mei Mei has never compromised her love for me because of this, but I know that it’s not fair to her since both Daddy and Mummy work equally long hours. I have started my new job for almost a month, and glad that I’m finally able to come home to her when the sun is still high and up. Now, the quality bonding time with her has been something that I look forward to every day, especially her big hugs to welcome me back home.