My Parentology Lab

Last evening when picking up the kids, teachers complaint my boy hit someone on the head(again?!!). Teachers said whenever he didn't get things his way, he starts to punch, squeeze, bite, pinch, throw things and talk back to teachers. 

'Time out' is useless on him, whenever teacher raise their voices he'll take a chair and sit facing the wall on his own, but repeat the foul behavior soon or later. 

Last night I let him starved, no dinner and no milk before bed. He came to me at night and pleaded, " Mama, I'm hungry, give me some food please ?! Pretty please!" .... So cute~! But a big NO from me! I gave him some water and sent him to bed. 

If he didn't change, soon we'll need to sign him for anger management!

Scenario 1:

I bought doughnuts for the girl and boy(one each). My girl finished her share earliest while the boy left it for snack. During the Snack Time, my girl confronted me, she told me her little brother agreed to share his doughnut with her(which he actually didn't). Before my girl can take a bite on the sugar frosting doughnut, my boy approached...

"Why are you eating my doughnut?"

My girl was disappointed, guess the boy feeling sorry for his sister he added, "You eat, but make believe only har!"

Scenario 2:

One night I applied a sheet of facial mask, when they boy saw me he started to giggle. "Do I look funny?" I smiled. He answered right away...

I was taking bath just now, calling umpteen times for the boy to join me but he kept dilly dallying(Probably enjoyed ransacking my stuff). All of a sudden I heard he was crying for help, when I rushed out the privy I found this...

Silly boy stuck got stuck underneath the bed, which reminds me the guillotine, muahahahah!

So the second day( Tuesday) was quite a drama!

Right after the teacher brought him into the school compound, he closed the gate and waved me goodbye(and didn't even turn around to check me)! He undid his shoes and without prompting, he washed and dried his hands before entering the classroom. Seeing he was quite comfortable at school, I told the teacher I will pick him up later. I went to Kopitiam for a wholesome breakfast that morning, I suppose it's the 1st decent breakfast without the interruption of my little sprouts(since their deliveries)!

When I came back to fetch him, I found him standing in front of the door. His face was wet with trails of tears. I asked the teacher why was he crying but the teacher just told me he suddenly burst in tears, "probably looking for me?" I inquired and the teacher smiled and nodded. When we were back at home, I personally asked my boy about his crying baby, he uttered, "Teacher angry with me."

Afternoon I got back to school(to fetch my girl),  I told the teacher what the boy had told me. Then only she be frank with me, she explained he actually trying to put the material into his mouth(which Juan told me it was dried pasta). The teacher stopped him and he raised his hand to threaten teacher, thus the teacher scolded him. Well I can imagine that...

Day 3...

My boy happily holding hand with his sister all the way to school(Probably didn't bother much by  yesterday incident). He mirrored what his sister did, like undoing the shoes, washed hands and pulling a chair and sat by the table. I had a few chat with Teacher Carol about my girl
s reading issue(which I will write in detail in another post). I told the teacher I'll leave him until 9am, then I walked to Teacher Lee's office(The headmistress).

We discussed further about my boy's enrollment in February. The teacher also agreed it'd be more suitable not to enroll him on the school opening day, which she afraid the crying baby kids might influence my boy(I couldn't agree more). After 30% discount for the 1st child, the total enrollment fee will be RM725(Monthly RM300, Term RM150, Material RM80, Uniform RM95, AIA RM20, Concert RM80).

When I returned for my boy, the teacher told me he was looking for me, but didn't make much fuss. I left he having fun playing with other kids(just for a little longer), then I brought him home, which he happily obliged.

Well, it's literately going to school. I have signed up my girl for a week of 'holiday programme' in her Montessori. It wasn't much of a holiday camp, she was just joining the other daycare kids in the daycare(for one whole morning session, from 8am-12n).

So, since the school headmistress didn't mind  my boy joining her sister in the school, as by the mean of get a custom to the school environment. So,I brought the boy to his jie jie's Montessori, joining other kids and school activity... alright, I won't call it a day, he was there not even for more than an hour.

Let's recite what happened on the 1st day(which was yesterday). This boy has no problem mingle with other kids, he even washed his hand and dried it before went to into the classroom. He happily playing dinosaur with Hao Hin and a Malay boy. When the Malay boy tried to take his Dino, as usual he fought for it and fenced himself. To be frank, I'm quite proud of him since he knows how to stand on his ground and protect himself(though it's wrong to get violent and quarrel with others).

When the other kids were out for the outdoor activity, he was too engrossed with his own material(A set of marine animals). Still after persuaded by teachers, he cleaned up his material and join the others. At the front yard, he initiated holding hands with other boys when teacher gave commands(we were surprised). He joined them for some warm up exercise then started to look for me. Later he started to play on his own(at the caterpillar tunnel), which Teacher Lee said it's quite normal for kids at 2 to be solitude. At 4 they well learn grouping and teamwork and 6 will know certain game and rules.

 Getting engrossed playing on his own, and didn't follow the kids to outdoor when teacher asked to.



We left the school and 9am, I can see my boy had a great day!

Recently the terrible 2 whines a lot, especially after I stop breastfeeding him. Now he is pestering me to let him play the jigsaw puzzles(I kept in a box right on top the bookshelf), with his puppy face and 2 rows of tears and mucus running from his nostrils... am I giving in?!! Of course NOT! I know he will stop this hell noisy bugging after I ignore him for a while... right now(realising his trick or perhaps sandiwara(drama) didn't work on me, he is now messing upconcentrating on the flags I gave him).

These few days he shows some improvement at night, in which he no longer wet the hammock or mattress. Most important when I woke him up for pee wee, he no longer make a fuss like before! Hurray!

His speech is developing well(indeed very well), still gibberish but the family members are now able to catch up with what he said. At the age of 2, he is able to talk in complete sentence with proper grammar(most of the time). He sang too, quite a number of songs... sluggishly but the tune and melody are there! Kudos my child!

His attention span for books has improved too, now he is able to listen to a whole story book of 32 pages without distracted... so far. He is quite good at filling up the blank for his favourite story book too, for instance, Chugga Chugga Choo Choo, Upsy Down Town and other Monster story.

My boy X(20 months old) has finally potty trained... alright exempt at night whereby I still insist to put him on diaper, he was rather reluctant though but I can't take the risk he might wet the bed! Ok... frankly, in the other hand I didn't want to waste those expensive diapers(4 packs of Mami Poko and 3 packs of Huggies Dry Comfort) I bought during sales(head knock on the wall)!!!

How did I potty trained him? Neah... unlike J the 1st child, I didn't put much efforts on potty train. During J's time I scheduled myself to force put her on potty every 1/2 to 1 hour, I reckon that was tiring especially for lazy mom like me! As for X, it was a bliss for me since he was those Monkey see monkey do type of child. The credit goes to his Jie Jie, who constantly showed good example of wee and poo routine.

These days whenever he has the urge to wee or poo, he will either hold his crotch or just inform me or other family member that he need to go to toilet(how sweet)! Quite a surprise to me, as he will show the sign or tell us his urge regardless of venue or the person to inform(anyone available will be fine to him). Unlike his Jie Jie or paternal side cousin, in which at the initial stage of potty training, they refused to cooperate when they were out of their comfort zone and they even have their selected personnel to assist them in toileting(rolled eyes)! My girl preferred me or MIL to help her with the holy job, if we were not around, she would rather wee in her pants(slapped forehead)!

Yesterday night, I was so proud of my boy! Although he was on diaper, he still woke up in the middle of the night and bugged me to help him to wee, how smart! I remember vividly, (not trying to compared) my girl at 2 years plus still needed me to wake her up every night and remind her to pee, if I failed to do so(sometimes I can't help it since my eyes refused to open, chuckled) she will certainly wet the mattress... (sigh)!

So, jotting down my boy's potty training milestone and again, I'm proud of you my boy!

Just now when I was blogging X's potty train milestone, he fretted and kept pointing the packet of chocolate I placed on the shelf. Since his lips were red (sign of heatiness), I didn't allow him to have any of it but I did console him by giving him Cocoon jelly instead.

After he finished 1, he requested for another, I complied since the portion wasn't that much(approximately 10g per jelly cup). He finished it too in a split second and wanted for more, I stared at him and said sternly, " You already have 2!"

To my surprise he replied, " *Ai three!"
*Ai= Want in Hainanese

Yesterday marked the 1st time X(19 months old) went napkin-less! Yes, I only put him on diaper at night or during family outing, other time he will be wearing napkins.

Yesterday morning after a nice warm bath, he requested to put him on a bear printed pants. I warned him, if I put that for him he will have to inform me anytime when he feel like peeing. True enough, yesterday was the 1st time he didn't urinate in his pants(he did wet his pants during some uncontrolled water play in the bath room). From time to time he will tell me his urge for peeing and he even successfully pooped in the potty, though some might be faked alarm!

Today, he still insisted to wear pants. He did peed in his pants this morning, but that was in the playground when he got too engrossed into exploring the field. When the time he told me, he already incompetently peed in his pants.

Anyway, I must admit he did a great job in initiating potty training, proud of him!

Instead of taking commands, X(19 months old) actually likes to instruct and give orders!

Yesterday morning X patted his diaper, looked at me while bugging me, "Mama, change!" pointing at his diaper, he repeated the same sentences until I grabbed a napkin and changed his soiled diaper! Just now in the Kopitiam, when I brought him to have lunch he kept pointing at the pau steamer and pestered me to buy a pau for him. Since I didn't buy any pau for them for quite some time, I just got him one char siew pao. Without guidance, he peeled the paper off the pau and slowly munching and nibbling on the filling, when it's time to fetch his sister, I found he finished the char siew(braised pork) filling and left some of skin untouched(sigh~! What a picky eater)!

This morning, he kept bugging me to give him spirulina tablet, he insisted to wear shirts with bear or ducks printed on it, he handed me a box and ask me, " Mama, open!"... well, congratulation to him for knowing what he wants but frankly, it's kind of bothersome too... *bitter smile!

At 19 months old, he is learning to count from 1- 10. When we say 1, he will recite 2; if we said 3, he will reply 4; the numbers go on till number 10(although the number 6,7 and 8 sound sluggish)!

I never thought X(19 months old) would be so eager to attend school, not until this morning!

All this while I pushed him in a stroller while walked his sister to kindie, but since now he is old enough to walk on his own without straying away (I reckon), I dared myself to try holding his hand and allow him to walk on his own!

He was rather submissive along our way to J's kindie. Upon reaching, coincidentally J's teacher wanted me to sign a document and I had to let go of X's hand. In a split second, this little boy of mine rushing into the kindie compound, straight away invading entering the classroom! He didn't even bother whether I was tailing him nor the presence of other strangers (teachers)... (rolled eyes)!

The teachers were giggling and chuckling when X complied of what they asked, to take off his shoes and wash his hands before entering the class(he actually queuing behind his sister in order to wait for his turn to wash hands)! However it was getting late for class, the teachers tried to sweet talk him back to me but he refused and struggled by flinching their hand away, he left the teacher no choice but to carry him to me, muahahahaha!

I can see through his face, he was rather upset that he couldn't join his sister at school. However I have tried to inquire J's headmistress about sending X to her school by next year, indirectly she rejected X's enrollment. She explained they are having more children compared to before(when J's time), they'll only take those children who will be 3 years old or older. What a pity!

My boy X is a 18 months old energetic monkey bunny, but he is one little gentleman that really makes me proud of him!

At time he can be very playful and naughty. There were a few times he hurt me (unintentionally) when he started to play rough, he then open his mouth to kiss me and cuddle me while uttered, " (s)orry mama, (s)ayang mama!" before he started to stroke my face... how sweet!

Last Saturday when we stopped by MIL's house, while he tried to ride on a toy cart, which belongs to his older cousin(a 3 years old single child), his cousin started to fret and whine. Obviously his cousin didn't want to share the cart with my poor little boy. Whilst FIL trying to sweet talk this bossy cousin, I turned to my boy and asked, " Would you mind to let kor kor (refer to his cousin) take the ride 1st?" He immediately got down from the toy cart and pushed it to his cousin and patted on the seat, signing him to sit on it!

Later when his cousin bothered FIL and bugged FIL to bring him up stair by yelling, " Ai phone!"(actually it was 'ai room', which means want to go to the bedroom) anyway X mistakenly heard it was "Phone" and hurriedly handed the toy mobile he was playing to his cousin and said, "Take!" Such a sweet pie~!

This evening we were invited to my cousin's 1st baby Fullmoon party. At my cousin's little warm and cosy house, both unbashful X and J treated it as their own house and chasing around like running 'amok'. They played with the wooden door(the main enrance) and for twice they banged it hard and jerked the little fullmoon baby while I was not aware, they played under the altar table and throwing question like, " Why is there no 'Di Du Gong'?" since my cousins only praying Guan Yin but not other deity. I found what they have done were rather embarassing, I can't help myself to stop thinking that my cousin's family and other guests might thought I didn't educate them well( I did gave my kids some stern warning). But in the other hand, I was grateful that it seems my kids know how to occupy themself and enjoy the party in their own way(compared to kids who cries in unfamiliar ground)! I personally think the playful, adventurous, and sociable self they portrait play a big role in their future success(especially when they join the society).

A little incident that worth mention was X had totally mesmerized by the fresh little Fullmoon baby. When I asked him to 'sayang' (stroke) the little fellow, he gently hold his hand without saying anything but later on his way back home he can't stop reciting, "Baby~! Baby!". In the party, he innocently followed (staying close at minimum distance)and stared at the baby, he didn't attempt to touch the baby but his expression was priceless, he was like looking at precious and newly discovered species on earth, naive and crueless!

God gracious, now I just realize how I have slacking in updating my boy's milestone and development! Let's start with something general...

Height: Not available since I forgot to measure!
Weight: Gosh~! Last month during checkup he was 9.2KG!

Physically wise he is learning to hop like her jie jie, he bent his knee to spring from the ground and of course he didn't really get to jump since it still way beyond his ability. He can really dance by twitching, turning and spinning his body(his balancing has obviously improved tremendously). He walked up and down the staircase without holding the railing(sweats), and fell thrice from the staircase with a big thud! He has got 10 teeth, and pretty keen to give everyone a nasty bite!

Verbally... gosh~! I have to admit for boys at his age, he really can talk! He uttered with ease most monosyllabic(like tea, cat, bird, hat, hair, eat, milk, tree etc) and pronounced sluggishly multisyllabic words (for instance bamboo, Mc Donald, upstair, tv etc), but since he is good with baby signs, he has no problem to convey what he wants to us(especially me)!
He sings and hums songs too, like "pass the parcel" as "Ahhh the Di Di"(his own version but apparently the tune still there), and very keen on imitate what we said or taught him. He likes to make animal sounds like horsey(neh~! Shaking head to and fro), dog( woof with sign), cat(miao~! with sign), cow(moo~!) and etc.

Mental development wise, he is definitely a fast learner(TK and I agreed he learnt even faster than J) and very alert('Sing muk') too! He understands 95%(if not 99%) of what we said. A very handy boy(for now) and willing to pick up and throw rubbish into the dustbin, put his soiled nappy or pants into the laundry basket, place bowl or plate into the sink after used and place the books back after read to him. Sometimes he will help his Jie Jie to complete the chores that she reluctant to do too, like pick up toys and junks.

Diet... sigh~! He is getting picky on food, and always prefer eating meats that he hardly chew and swallow(normally he will munch until dried the juice before he spits out the debris). He eats potatoes, broccoli, carrot and green leafy vege's stem. Pathetically he likes tidbits and junk food like his Jie Jie does, although he normally nibbled a bit and passed it to me later. Still very rely on breastmilk, which I'm trying to weaned off the night feed so that he can have a more peaceful sleep(off late I found he woke up at least twice at night for nen nen). Aside from what he eat, he is quite a neat eater too. He will pick up the debris or crumbs that dropped, and put it into the plate or bowl that hold the particular food.

Potty train is progressing well(probably). I found there's privileged of having an elder siblings, which he urged himself to pee and poop like his jie jie does! Whenever J requested for loo, he wanted it badly too(sort of kiasu)! He'll hold his undies and tell us he wants to pee or poop. He used to inform us after he did his business, but now he can even tell us or bring us a potty before he pee or poop(most of the time, even if he was on night diaper).

Special skills... I would say he is now learning to count, I had make it a practice to count the steps when we walked downstairs(he loved it). Now when I say 'One', he would sometimes continue 'two'( he is good at reciting one, two, four, six, nine and ten). His vocabulary and general knowledge(animals kingdom is his best subject)has widely expanded compared the precious month, he will point out most objects or living being from the pictures we showed correctly. Unlike J, he enjoyed being questioned and will be proud to answer, which he really makes me proud of! He loves books(of his category) and will nonchalantly bubbled like he was telling a story or knows how to read(full of expression and action).

Brotherly relation with J, well... basically he will do whatever J does and hysterically excitedly play with her! A very jealousy boy(compared to the precious months), he will push J away if he found she clung to me or worse he'll throw something on J and me if J refused to move away(shake head)! Whenever I wanted to read to J, he will come forward with another book(his preference), then grabbed J's book and close it or threw it away before he sat on my laps and begged me to read for him. Of course I won't give in and he ended up whining and resulted none of J nor him got to listen to stories before bed!!!

I didn't aspect X(14 months 3 weeks) will have tremendous improvement in speech. Today, after prompted by FIL, again he blurted words like, "ice cream, rubber band, ball ball, dog dog"! Wow... I reckon pretty soon he will be as bubbly and chirpy as his sister does!(smirk)

He obviously has advantage in speech since I read to him a lot. On top of that, he also has a talkative sister to tag around and most important he is a very energetic and active boy, which he trains his lungs from time to time and benefited him to have better speech development!

Yesterday evening, X(14 months 3 weeks) took out a "Health Today" magazine and handed it to FIL. FIL looked down, pointed to the magazine with US president on the cover and asked him, "Who is this?" before he say anything, FIL said "Obama!"

In a split second, FIL was amazed when X giggled happily and repeated after him, "Obama~!" loud and clear! I was astonished too to hear what he had recited! FIL then prompted him to speak again, he uttered another soundly "obama". FIl got over excited and kept badgering him to repeat more, but then he failed to say it.... instead of a clear and loud "Obama", he uttered, "O dada" ...

However, this morning when I showed him the magazine again, without prompting, he pointed at the cover and happily exclaimed, "Obama"! Hey, this reminds us that kids learn better in a spontaneously pace, don't they?!(wink)

It's actually a shocking news to me, after reading Domesticgoddess's Our World My World today, I hopped straight to "What We Have Learnt About Gifted Children" and found that J is actually a Visual Partial Learner while X, an Auditory Sequential!

All these while although I have sensed that she is gifted, but I never thought she is a VPL! I used to play jokes with family and relatives, telling them that J might not do well in her study, as she would encounter the same problem as Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison had at school! Now touch wood, my words are probably came true... no wonder I found it's hard to coach J with her study and homework, she just couldn't accomodate with those serious syllabus and proper teaching, which she learns complex concepts easily and struggles with easy skills! Sigh~!

Great! Now I have to really crack my head over how to guide her through her future study...

Below are some characteristic of X- AUDITORY-SEQUENTIAL(A),
and J- VISUAL-SPATIAL(V):

Thinks primarily in words
Thinks primarily in pictures

Has auditory strengths
Has visual strengths

Relates well to time
Relates well to space

Is a step-by-step learner
Is a whole-part learner

Learns by trial and error
Learns concepts all at once

Progresses sequentially from easy to difficult material
Learns complex concepts easily; struggles with easy skills

Is an analytical thinker
Is a good synthesizer

Attends well to details
Sees the big picture; may miss details

Follows oral directions well
Reads maps well

Does well at arithmetic
Is better at math reasoning than computation

Learns phonics easily
Learns whole words easily

Can sound out spelling words
Must visualize words to spell them

Can write quickly and neatly
Prefers keyboarding to writing

Is well-organized
Creates unique methods of organization

Can show steps of work easily
Arrives at correct solutions intuitively

Excels at rote memorization
Learns best by seeing relationships

Has good auditory short-term memory
Has good long-term visual memory

May need some repetition to reinforce learning
Learns concepts permanently; is turned off by drill and repetition

Learns well from instruction
Develops own methods of problem solving

Learns in spite of emotional reactions
Is very sensitive to teachers’ attitudes

Is comfortable with one right answer
Generates unusual solutions to problems

Develops fairly evenly
Develops quite asynchronously

Usually maintains high grades
May have very uneven grades

Enjoys algebra and chemistry
Enjoys geometry and physics

Learns languages in class
Masters other languages through immersion

Is academically talented
Is creatively, mechanically, emotionally, or technologically gifted

Is an early bloomer
Is a late bloomer

Today J was down with a horrible cough, instead of sending her to Montessori, I brought her to playgrounds. Morning and evening, I brought her to our neighbourhood playground while in the afternoon I brought both J and X to Giant's Playland.

The incident happened in the evening, when X engrossed into picking up dried leaves and junks on the field. There was once he picked up a tiny winy circular dried leaf and intended to put it into his mouth, I hurriedly warned him, " Your hands are dirty, don't put it into your mouth!!!" he looked up and stared at me, then he wobbly walked to a nearest swing. He placed the dried leaf on the seat of the swing then lowered his body... Alas~!! He was trying to bite the leaf into his mouth without using his hand!!! OMG! I shouted at him and he got statled before he managed to get the tiny winy piece of leaf into his mouth...

At one point, I think he is not only able to comprehend what I said but also have a little intelligent to get what he wants... in another way!

Yesterday evening, TK came back earlier from Gemas so he suggested to have our dinner at MIL's house. It's definitely an ease for me since I didn't need to cook, hurray~!

After dinner at MIL's house, X vigorously poured out all the toys from a basket that FIL had just cleaned up. Therefore without hesitation, I asked X to clean up the toys with a firm voice, he looked back but continued mingled with the scattered toys. FIL chuckled and exclaimed, " I wonder how well does he understand you, he probably wondered what were you saying when he scatters the toys!" Immediately I approach X while holding the basket, again I said firmly, " put the toys into the backet, ONE BY ONE!" my index was pointing at one of the toy. X looked up and started to picked up the toy and placed it into the basket as I ordered, one by one and wihout a split second he managed to clean up the mess.

FIL was stunned then I continued, " If a little kid knows nothing that because we didn't teach them!" FIL nodded and looked at me with a smile.

p/s: Kids need a chances to learn, it's the adults' responsibility to provide apportunities for them!

Wednesday, 7 July, 2010

I carried X(10 months 2 weeks olds) in my arm while strolling in the morning breeze, suddently he raised his arm and pointed to the sky... I looked up, the sky was painted with beautiful cumulus clouds that reflected in shades of pink and violet( certainly more beautiful and breath taking than the picture above). Then I overheard he babbled something, sort of like a chain of multi syllable words. I looked at him, he looked back and repeated, "art it this" I was startled... my rusty brain kept processing and trying to pick up something from the vocabulary I've learnt. Gosh~!! It sounds like "What is this" to me!

Without much thoughts, I replied, " those are beautiful clouds." Immediately he hugged a smile on his face and pointed with his arm to another direction, again he uttered, "art it this" I traced his arm and looked up, it's the bamboo plants. I gave back a smile and explained, "It's papa's bamboo!" he smiled back to me happily with excitement and satisfaction.

Since then, whenever we heard X babbled, "art it this" or "thiss", we will respond by telling him the name or story about the object he looks or points(assuming he is asking questions). He looks happy and we were grateful too!