Singapore cheer - Ashley's version

I couldn't resist taking a vid of her shouting the Singapore cheer.  I think the school taught them for the National Day celebration.

What a great buy!

A good bargain never fails to cheer me up.  And I snagged one recently!  A certain US branded bag cost 770 in full retail price.  It was marked down by 30%, at 539, when I visited the store a couple of weeks back.  A quick check via online webby showed 30% disc applied at retail price + 25% on checkout.

Needless to say, I bought online and paid in total 345, including shipping charges.

Yes, it's definitely a great buy! :-)

Ashley's love for Mommy

The depth of love Ashley has for me humbles me...  While her friends draw their other fav person/thing, Ashley drew ME.

Ashley's personal slide

Now, that's creativity!

My teacher?

Sometimes, the words that come out of my mouth does not match with the thought/thing in my mind. Funny though, that most of the time, it happens when i m with Ashley.  Hmmm...

Anywayyyyy....... my daughter then takes on the role of a teacher and corrects me on the spot. It makes her vv happy n she usually smiles cheekily at me after correcting me.

Me: Deardear, mommy take out your diaper for you (Ashley is not wearing diaper anymore, n in my mind i was thinking of panty)
Ashley: Noooo, it's panty.
Me: Oops, mommy forgot.


Me: Deardear, go sit on the chair (me pointing at the sofa)..
Ashley: Nooooo, it's sofa.
Me: Oh, ya hor... mommy forgot.


Me: Deardear, where is your handkerchief? (i was visualising a bath towel, n holding on to the handkerchief)
Ashley: There... (pointing to the handkerchief in my hand)
And before i can say "mommy forgot"
Ashley: Mommy forget.
Me: :-)

Family Day III

3rd stop: Fishing

Family Day II

2nd stop: Potting a plant

Family Day Part 1

Last Sunday, we went for a family day event (those who know me know that i m not usually into these events, but had no choice last week bcos the organiser was none other than Alan).

Anyway, we had really great fun there and i didn't regret going one bit.

We did alot of stuff that day and REALLY, since Ashley was born, that day was the longest time we were out (from 7.30am - 5pm)...

I observed alot of things about Ashley that day and I am really pleased with all of them. She's grown more gung-ho and open to new things like potting a plant, fishing, running on the grass, walking on muddy paths, walking along the goat farm (and keep telling me chou-chou while scrunging up her nose). I am so glad she enjoyed all these outdoor activities. I don't want her to be a "hothouse" flower.

Let the pics tell u the story instead.

1st stop: Bollywood Veggies Farm

Ashley's favourite playground

The vid was taken during her graduation class at JG too. She likes the slide alot, but through this vid, you can also see how overly courteous she is. Even after she's begun climbing up the steps, she will still climb down, intending to let other kids go first. :-) Did i teach her well? Or maybe too well?

Awwwwsssssss.........

The moment I walked into the master bedroom n saw my clothes n towel laid out nicely on the bed, my heart melted...

Sometime between watching Barney n talking to me, Ashley went into the room, took out my clothes n laid it all nicely onto the bed, as she knows i need to bathe after cooking dinner.

Awwww........

And she did it all even without telling me, wanting to give me a surprise...

Double AWWWWssss..........

Reading

I did make good my promise to start Ashley on reading. Shortly after i made her a library card, i went to borrow 4 library books for her. It was a real pleasant surprise when she started reading (ok, i read it to her, but she was the one who reminded me daily that she wants her books). We have since incorporated it into a daily routine of 10 mins of reading b4 she has her last milk feed at 9pm, n then bedtime.

I had to return the books yesterday as it was the due date. And guess wat? Ashley cried a fair bit when i told her the caterpillar book-book and tiger book-book has been returned to the library. She hasn't quite understood the part about "library books are not ours and had to be returned" concept.

Anyway, i managed to pacify her with lots of coaxing n a promise to get the books back asap.

Yeah, the books i borrowed were:

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
2. 1,2,3... to the Zoo by Eric Carle
3. Draw me a Star by Eric Carle
4. Tiger by Nick Butterworth.

She didn't fancy Star, but the other 3 became her daily reading books for the past 2 weeks.

Gonna find time to go to the library n get some books soon...

Motor skills

Undeniably, i m most amazed by the leaps n bounds Ashley makes in her development. Last Sunday during class, the craft activity was to make a neckace. Teacher Farah gave Ashley a gold string and cut pieces of straw ( yellow n red colour). After guiding Ashley to string the first two pieces, alternating the 2 colours, Ashley was able to string 4 more pieces of straw. She could even pick up the alternating colours to string. Fantastic! Even Teacher Farah praised her for capabilities!

Mommy do, Ashley do

Ashley likes to imitate some of the things i do:

1. Take my iPod and keys, walk to the door, turn around n say "Ashley go exercise, bye-bye..." (whenever i go to the gym, i will do exactly the same thing n say "Mommy go exercise, bye-bye.")
2. Take my hair clip n mimic the action of clipping it on her hair
3. Starts patting her face when she's sees me patting my face after putting on toner.
4. Starts flipping her hair to the back when she sees me doing so.

JG updates

The most significant change that i have noticed in Ashley these last couple of months is that she's now singing/humming to alot of kiddy songs, especially when sitting in the car and we play the CD. Even at home, she'll sing these songs out of the blue n forbid us from joining in. LOLz...

She also been enjoying herself at JG classes, even tho she does put up a token protest n tell me she does not want to go school. Particularly likes going to the outdoor playground n ride the cars there.

And I've also discovered that the saying "walk the talk" works! JG classes has sand play and water play on different weeks. And with me showing her how fun it is to play wif sand and water, she does join in n had a great time playing wif sand and water.

Also, she's improved leaps n bounds in listening n obeying to instructions. Now, after she's had her snacks, she will clear her own cup and saucer and bring it to the teacher. Also, she knows how to turn on/off the tap, wash/rub her hands, dry her hands wif tissue/hand towel.

U can run, but u can't hide

That's how it is for common folks like us. Last week, i received a letter from NLB. Considering tt i hv not stepped inside a library for donkey years, i was naturally surprised n curious to know what NLB wants to inform me of.

Guess wat? I owed a $0.40 fine for an overdue item. Lucky for me NLB doesn't practise interest charging or else i'd be paying a sky high fee now, as the overdue item was incurred starting 4 Jun 1995 (yep!, it's more than 13yrs... :-p)

And from 1995 till now, i've moved hse like 4 times... tt's how efficient our govt is!

Yes, i've paid the fine. And at the same time, applied a library card for Ashley.

Stepping into the library gives me a vv good feeling... Since young, I've always loved reading story books, loved escaping into the wonderful make-believe world of story characters. And i've decided to start introducing the magic of storybooks to Ashley, so u shd see me more often in the library from now onwards, wif a little toddler in tow... :-)

Brave girl!

We brought Ashley for the Hep A booster jab at Prof Tan. Recalling Ashley crying the moment we entered Prof Tan's office during the last visit, I wanted to pre-empt Ashley, hoping it will help to get her mentally prepared for it. At the carpark, i told Ashley about going to see the doctor and that she needs to take an injection which is good for her. Could tell she understood by her anxious look, slight shaking and then nodding her head. And when Alan carried her, i could see Ashley was worried by the way she grabbed Alan's shirt collar so tightly. She didn't even return my smile or talk to me while walking to Prof Tan's clinic, which is also not the norm as she's usually vv chatty and smiley.

Pre-empting worked! Ashley, though quiet, tense and holding me tightly, didn't cry or protest while Prof Tan did his routine check. Ashley even obediently stood on the weighing machine for ht and wt measurement (Ht: 92cm , Wt: 12.6kg). And most of all, Ashley didn't cry during the injection. Both Prof Tan and his assistant were so impressed tt they keep praising Ashley and even gave her a teddy bear for being so brave. We too praised Ashley. And i believe encouragements and praises goes a long way to making her feel good and developing her confidence.

Her jabs are all finally completed! Yay! Good timing for us too, bcos Prof Tan is retiring this month. Prof Tan said the next jab would be when she goes to Primary School!

Ashley's 1st day at JG

Big day today!

It’s Ashley’s 1st day at school (ok, ok, it’s only a once-a-week 2hr session comprising learning thru fun n play).

Needless to say, it's a MUST to capture all these on film (technically it should be memory stick. no?).

Ashley was all eager to go to school (think she doesn’t yet understand wat it really means). Anyway, tt’s good bcos I was afraid of any nasty (think wailing/fussing/running away/rolling on the floor/koala bear) scene whereby I’d need to forcefully (haha! Just kidding) pull her into class.

See her all smiley on the way to school...

In school, there was a little girl called Megan was doing just that (minus the running away/rolling on the floor). She was sticking to her mommi like a koala bear, n her face was all red n puffy from the crying. Had a brief chat wif her mommi n found out little Megan was 19mths’ old. Turns out my Ashley is one of the older and bigger babies in the class. Hah! At least I dun hv to worry she’ll b bullied in class! :-p

Ashley passed her 1st lesson with flying colours – no crying or koala bear, participated in all activities including playing toys, actions-accompanied singing, dancing, art-n-craft (ok, she wouldn’t touch the paint/glue, but she pasted the number pad on), story-telling, muppet-of-e-day, outdoor play (her favourite!) and snacks (except I didn’t let her eat the mini sausage).

Ashley impressed me by being confident enough to be alone while I need to go out of the classroom, twice – once to wash my hands of the paint, once to visit the washroom. Both times I told her vv clearly where I was going n tt I will be back later. Both times, she nodded her head n continued with her activities. And both times, I came back seeing her enjoying herself.

Teacher gave her tiny stickers n she was happily playing wif it (this was the 1st scene tt greeted me when i came back from washing my hands). See the kids n parents at the background, they were still busy wif the art-n-craft.

Enjoying her snacks of cornflakes, mini sausage, papaya (even tho she only ate the cornflakes).

Ashley having fun at the outdoor playground.

Ashley's 1st piece of craft. Ok, i helped her paint the purple glue on since she was adamant abt not getting her fingers dirty. She helped to paste the number pad on (even tho it's way crooked). Errmmm... can u all make out wat this craft is? It's a telephone ( Rring-Rringggg... ).

I had a scare just when lesson ended. Wat happened? I told Ashley to wait at a corner of the classroom for me while i went to the other corner to get her crafts from the drying rack. When i had gotten her crafts, i turned back and couldn't find Ashley at the corner where she was supposed to wait for me. It was rather chaotic then bcos alot of parents n kids were getting ready to leave the classroom. I looked 360 degrees but couldn't find her. Getting a bit frantic, i even walked to the door to peer out into the walkway to see if Ashley had wandered out. No sign of her. As i was getting desperate and wanted to ask a teacher to help me find her, i did a U-turn n saw my little darling just standing behind me. Guess she had followed me closely behind whererever i went. And being the little toddler, she wasn't in my line of vision at such close range, thus i couldn't see her until i did a U-turn n almost bumped into her. What a fright i had!

For Ashley's class, i noticed that both parents attended the lesson wif their child. Bcos it was the 1st session, the teachers gave special permission to allow both parents into the class (rule is 1 parent-1 child ratio). Hah! I told Alan to stay home n cook lunch for us, so there was piping hot fried rice waiting for Ashley n me when we got home. We were famished (at least i was! maybe shd suggest tt parents get a light snack too since the 2hr session is quite energy-sapping for us too! yeah rite! n then the sky-high fees will likely increase another $50???)

My Man

Proud of my man, uh-huh... tt's how i feel!

What did he do? Nothing much, just take care of Ashley all on his own for one whole day (technically it's 9am-6pm, while i m at work). Yep, mil had an appt, so couldn't look after Ashley. And, even b4 i knew it, my man had applied for leave... Yay!!!

Anyway, he bathed, changed nappies, made milk, fed meals, played and coaxed Ashley for naps...

All in a day's work!

Surprise, surprise n more surprise!

Ashley gave me a few surprises over the weekend:

1. She started singing “happy birthday to u, happy birthday to u”
2. She started singing the ABC song.

I did the “correct” thing - no overly excited response, so tt she will not be shy n stop the humming, just a word of praise for her at the end of the song “Well-done, my dear. Clever girl.” plus a round of applause for her.

I was amazed that she could sing the happy birthday song (wonder whether she learnt it at mil’s place but doesn’t seem plausible). Surely can’t be from us as we don’t sing it to her routinely (just during special occasions, the last time being during her birthday in Oct).

As for the ABC song, I m real proud of her. She knows the whole song, up to the last sentence of "now i know my ABC, won't u come n sing wif me".

3. Ashley has her own specific bowl for her meals. During last Sunday brekkie, I forgot to bring out her bowl. As I was about to go get it, I heard Ashley say “Mommi, bowl”. When it dawned on me that she was referring to her bowl, I started grinning like a cheshire cat bcos we never taught her this word. The word came out during our normal conversations, but we never specifically associate the thing with the word.

Like the saying goes, babies r like sponges now, absorbing anything n everything we do n say. I absolutely love it!

Barney's "I Love U" song

Check it out! Ashley's very own version of Barney's "I Love U" song...