Wearing Shoes - 13months old

Zo Ee at 13months 3weeks old. (30/5/2009)

“NO socks on, NO shoes, Not going out! “

I have been cultivating this idea into little Zo Ee since the day she has her first pair of shoes. It is a must that she has them on whenever we go out, even though it is just a short trip downstairs. So as now she is older, she understood this statement well. If she were to go out, she must have them on.

Here, I captured the eager Zo Ee, couldn’t wait for mummy or daddy's help. Earlier she saw daddy put her shoes outside the door, and she went over there, grabbed them and tried to put them on her feet all by herself. She was all serious, figuring and in great effort trying to put them on herself, pushing hard against her foot.

After mummy helped her with the left foot, she tried the right foot again.

Interactive reading - 13months old

Zo Ee at 13months 2weeks old. (28/5/2009)

Book 1: Quiet and LOUD
Zo Ee’s whispering and screaming as she read the first page. Usually she loves to make the boom boom bang bang sound while banging her hands when she came to the third page, where I read to her "pots and pans are loud" but unfortunately, she wasn’t keen during this video shot. But you can still hear her says ”woof... woof...” (for doggie), singing “aah…” (softly), and imitating the monkey “eee…eee…e….” Impatient her turned to the last page, where she loves the drum (banging her hands, imitating the action of banging a drum), rooster, and her funny version of burp (at least she tried to imitate with understanding, sometimes she is successful sometimes isn’t), alarm clock " claaannnggg!!!! ". Zo Ee’s also pointed at these pictures/words while saying; "pa…" (plant), "clodd" (cloud, sounds more like clock to me), "ba..." (bunny), "drum".

Book 2:Zo Ee imitating those actions mentioned in this book; Clap hands, dance, spin (sometimes she would spin slowly, holding / leaning onto the sofa), moving her mouth (indicating eating), bang her hands (imitating banging a drum), and her version of blowing a trumpet. Zo Ee also says “baby”.

Book 3:
Zo Ee imitating these animals sounds:
Horses "neigh!" , cow " moo… " , panda bear " grr… " , mountain goats " baa… " , dog "woof…" , cats "mao…" (meow) and I was surprised that she can actually says the word “skunks” when she pointed it to me and told me the word “skunks” few days ago (when we got the book from the library).

Maths lesson - 13months old

Zo Ee at 13months 2weeks old. (28/5/2009)

Today is Zo Ee's first day doing 3-steps maths equations and this video is not about testing on Zo Ee's maths ability, just another typical maths lesson. For this video purpose I intentionally lengthen the daily maths lesson to 8 equations in a go. Otherwise, a typical maths lesson consists of 3 sessions daily, 3 maths equations per session. (9 new equations daily)

I rarely tested on Zo Ee and had been showing her answers to all equations up to 2-steps equations. Starting from today (3-steps equations), I'll give her a choice to choose the answers instead, and Zo Ee got 7 out of 8 answers correctly. Personally, neither can I remember the long equations nor is able to calculate the answers as fast as she does now. And when she does get a wrong answer, I’ll just show the correct answer to her instead. Her performance, very much depending on her mood of the day, if she is in a good mood, she’ll zoom through all the equations perfectly. When she is not in the mood, I’ll just stop the lesson and continue the next day. And since I had stopped for more than 2 weeks, I could sense that she misses these sessions greatly. She was all smiles and excited when I started her lesson again 2 days ago.

These are the questions asked in the video:

100 – 84 - 4 - 4 = 16
20 – 5 + 10 - 5 = 20
10 + 4 + 8 + 6 = 28
88 – 55 - 3 + 10 = 40
4 x 4 x 4 / 8 = 8
5 x 16 / 10 / 2 = 4
1 x 1 x 1 x 1 = 1
16 x 6 / 1 / 8 = 12

Considerate Zo Ee - 13months old

Zo Ee at 13months 1week old. (21/5/2009)

Great and relief that little Zo Ee is recovering well. Though her voice is coarse from the excessive coughing, she is back to my active, energetic and happy darling again. I took a picture of her last week, sick Zo Ee was lying down, expressionless, watching her favourite VCD. This was unusual of her normal excited and attentive self while watching the same VCD. Below a comparison of her watching the same VCD.

Even she was sick last week, and went to bed with an empty stomach (vomited a few times before finally falling asleep), hungry Zo Ee was awake around 4am and 5am a few nights, yet she was reluctant to wake mummy and daddy up in the middle of the night. First of all when awoke, she was pretty happy to find herself in mummy’s bed(not her cot), clapping her hands and tapping the bed. Then after all her excitement, she tried to fall back to sleep but when after tossing for half an hour without success, she started to make some discomfort noise, “ eemmm…eemmm…” while sitting up in bed. When I asked her “Zo Ee, what is wrong?” She pointed at the sterilizer where we kept her milk bottles and said “nan-nan” (milk in Cantonese). Seems like hungry Zo Ee couldn’t sleep with a hungry stomach. Patiently she waited for her milk and after she had her milk, she went back to sleep almost immediately.

Many commented that I’m so blessed with such a considerate baby, a baby that understood and respect others’ resting (sleeping) - even as early as 5 months old. She’s just my little charm, who will always let mummy(others) has her(their) sleep without interruption. She will not wake me up unless she is extremely hungry or has a dirty diaper, so mummy will have the luxury to sleep another hour or so, sometimes even longer while she keeps herself occupied in her baby cot. If I were to toss in bed, she will observe me, double confirming whether I’m fully awake or just still sleeping. If she sees that I’m awake, she will happily smile at me and starts a conversation with me, pointing at objects, telling me what they are. If she’s hungry, she will make some discomfort noise, louder and louder until it wakes me up. Once, she has her milk, sleepy mummy can continue her sleep while little Zo Ee entertains herself in her cot again. This also applies to my afternoon nap, if she wakes up earlier than me, she will play quietly, allowing mummy extra napping time.

"Why is this so?" Personally I believe that we have a strong trust and she knows that whenever mummy is tired, mummy needs to rest. And when mummy is awake, mummy will definitely spend time with her. Or is it genetic? My mum said that I was like that too when I was a baby.

Zo Ee - Advertisement - 13months old

Zo Ee at 13months old.

A friend made these photos for us. I like them so much and couldn't resist putting them here.

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0 to 9 - 13months old

Zo Ee at 13months 2weeks old. (24/5/2009)

Past few days (week), we have been doing thorough house cleaning, and today I decided to wash Zo Ee’s playmats. While putting them back to their usual position, I got Zo Ee to help. Of course, she was excited, not really helping but just be part of the team. To get her involved, I asked Zo Ee to handle me those numbers for me to slot them back into the correct mats. I didn’t expect her to know them as I have not really taught her these symbols yet (concentrating on dots cards first, to avoid confusion).

Surprise! Surprise! It’s so surprising that my little Zo Ee could pass me all the correct numbers 0 to 9 because we only have number playmats up to the digit nine. Though Zo Ee can perceive 0-100 dots (dots cards) and has been doing 2-steps maths equations, but all my maths teaching revolving dots only and not numbers in symbol. This is a very interesting finding, kept me wondering, " when did she learn all her numbers (0 -9)? Purely from the few books we borrowed? Maybe she does know more than 9 (didn’t test her beyond 9)? "

A little update on Zo Ee's maths progress:
I am pretty slow in teaching her maths, had stopped for 2 weeks due to many distractions; spring cleaning the house and Zo Ee was sick the whole of last week. Nevertheless, I will try to keep on teaching her. So far, I have completed the 2-steps equations (combining addition with subtraction, eg: 79 + 7 – 3 = 83 ) and I still have a day or two lessons on 2-steps equations (combining multiplication with division, eg: 95 / 5 x 3 = 57). After this, I’ll move on to 3-steps equations (combining addition with subtraction, eg: 12 + 3 - 10 - 0 = 5) and (combining multiplication with division, eg: 1 x 2 x 10 / 4 = 5) I’ll need another 1 week time in preparing these new 3-steps equations. So further delay is expected.

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Then


11 months old
doing 2-steps maths equations with dots cards.



10 months old
Zo Ee can perceive 0 to 100 dots.

Dexterity skill - 13months old

Zo Ee at 13months 1week old (21/5/2009)



Here are some of Zo Ee's latest fine motor skill:

She is able to fit these circles into the holes (number 8), taping and pushing them into perfect place.

She also loves to fit covers and their containers together, especially this little green cover container here and her Sippy cup’s cover. She will keep on trying, pushing them with her little fingers against her tummy until they are tightly tightened, till she hears the “cluck” sound.

Whenever she sees it's left uncovered, she will put the cover back in place.

Occasionally, she is able to fit this yellow elongated oval shape into the middle of the number zero. This shape is more challenging than previous symmetrical square (green container) and circle shapes (number 8 and sippy cup's cover).

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Then

13 months old

scribble

placed her little pillow on top of her head (balanced it while sitting) / mummy's head

slot colour pencils back into the holder

12 months old

wooden shape sorter (she mastered her second shape one week later, but mummy didn't add any new shape to her collection until today).

able to hold a few cards or objects in one hand (as many as possible)

11 months old

placed cover over container (but never completely covered)

placed/stacked things/toys onto shelves/table

10 months old

tried to stack toys/boxes/anything within her reached (trying out her own experiments with things/objects).

pressed buttons on toys/keyboards (on/off keys, music keys, function keys)

9 months old

stacked blocks

stacked cups (different sizes)

8 months old
new toy of the year

Climbing onto the sofa - 13months old

Zo Ee at 13months 1week old. (19/5/2009)

Although little Zo Ee knows how to climb for some time now (at 10months old), she has not been able to climb onto the sofa yet due to its height. But few days ago, little Zo Ee finally found her way up the sofa. I didn’t realize that she was up the sofa until I heard a loud thud on the rubber sheet and a little crying. When I looked around, little Zo Ee was trying her way up the sofa again. She was not afraid of the fall and wanted to climb again.

The sofa’s height is slightly lower than her chest but higher than her waist, thus this makes her climbing difficult as her legs are not long enough yet. But she has figured it out by tip toeing, then dragging herself up the sofa with her hands and elbows(strong hands), dangling halfway with her legs off the floor, keep dragging herself higher until a certain height where her knees’ able to reach the sofa top, and finally there she goes climbing up the sofa." Ghee! Climbing up the sofa is a tough work!" But she seems to be enjoying every moment of it and extremely contented and proud of her little achievement, all smile even sitting there doing nothing at all.

First drawing - 13months old

Zo Ee at 13months 1week old. (21/5/2009)

We just bought Zo Ee some jumbo colour pencils and crayons. And here is her first drawing. (scribbles)

ABC song & 1,2 rhyme - 13months old

Zo Ee at 13months 1week old. (18/5/2009)

Zo Ee likes to sing ABC song with me .

Mummy: “A, B, C, D, E, F”
Zo Ee : “G”
Mummy: “H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O”
Zo Ee : “P”
Mummy: “Q, R, S, T, U"
Zo Ee : “wee” (V)
Mummy: “W, X, Y, and”
Zo Ee : “aa” (Z)
Mummy: “Now I know my A B”
Zo Ee : “hee” (C)
Mummy: “Next time, won’t you sing with “
Zo Ee : “me”


...........................................................................................................

I used to recite this; one, two buckle my shoe rhyme to Zo Ee when she was younger. But some how, I just stopped doing it for months before reciting it again to her recently. After a few days, she is able to recite the last words of each line after me.

Mummy: "One, two buckle my"
Zo Ee: "shooo" (shoe), hold her foot, indicating where she wears her shoes.
Mummy: "Three, four shut the"
Zo Ee: "or" (door), pointing at the door
Mummy: "Five, six pick up"
Zo Ee: "ik" (sticks)
Mummy: "Seven, eight lay them"
Zo Ee: "aet" or sometimes random sound (straight), hasn't been able to say this yet.
Mummy: "Nine, ten a big fat"
Zo Ee: "hen"sometimes she's confused with the word hand, showing me her hand, as she learned this through listening and not seeing the words.

Zo Ee says daddy - 13months old

Zo Ee at 13months 1week old. (19/5/2009)

Just few days ago, I was delighted that Zo Ee called me "mummy" and yesterday, little Zo Ee called "daddy..daddy…"whenever she wanted to be carried. So there shouldn’t be any jealousy from daddy side. "Hmm… Zo Ee is pretty fair to us. Ha! Ha! Ha!" Besides, I also overheard her calling her doll “baby”. I am really glad that she is starting to utter two syllables words, other than her very first… "ti…ger", 2months ago.

Mother's Day - 13months old

Zo Ee at 13months old.



On mother's day.

A particular page - 13months old

Zo Ee at 13months old. (11/5/2009)

Whenever I recite a line or a short sentence from one of the many borrowed library books, eg: “Monkey swings tree to tree, won’t you come swing with me.” Or “ Willy whale loves his waves.” Little Zo Ee will automatically look for that particular book and turn to the precise page without being told to do so. Looking at these many borrowed books, an average of 8-10 books per week, sometimes even up to 12 books in a week (if daddy and mummy have none to borrow), it is amazing that she can remember exactly which book and page to look for, and found that correct page within seconds.

Not only this, she often relates words/information between books (Zo Ee will look up and show me a particular page with the similar word used or picture representative) or with real objects in our home (pointing with her little finger). Sometimes she will point at words she can recognize from a new sentence, indicating to me that she can recognize them. Other time, she will point at new words that she wants me to read to her. Little Zo Ee will point at one after another new or less familiar word for me to read aloud to her.

Most of the time, anxious little Zo Ee will flip through all the newly borrowed books first before mummy has free time to read to her. One day, while little Zo Ee was flipping through the pages, I saw one of the pages contained the picture of an egg and the word egg itself. ( Zo Ee has learned the word egg from her flashcard) Later that day, before we started our reading session, I asked Zo Ee” Where is the egg?” Without hesitation, Zo Ee found that book and page. Wow, she has great memory, even though she has had only flipped through those new books once. Furthermore, my little Zo Ee is able to do her own reading with understanding.

At this age, Zo Ee is very active and energetic, always on the move like any other 13 months old toddler, exploring everywhere and enjoys multi-tasking as if she has so much to do yet so little time everyday. The only time that she can keep still is during reading session (either reading alone or with mummy) or watching her favorite VCD. She can sit and concentrate up to half an hour in a stretch which is a lot for a baby her age or at times until we finished going through all her books, page by page. Let’s us estimate, 12pages per book for 8 books, this is equivalent to 96pages of words and pictures. This is a lot for a 13months old!

If you think that I'm the one who is rigid in wanting to finish all the books in a go, you are wrong! It’s little Zo Ee's big appetite for knowledge that kept us going. Most of the time, she will cry for more until we have finish all the books. Some times, she wants more, pointing at word cards, indicating me to read them to her too. I don’t want to over taxing her but she’s always demanding for more. She has this strong desire to learn and read since she was 8months old. Nevertheless, "Isn’t this wonderful that she loves reading and learning?" " Isn’t this the best gift every parent can give to their child?"

Zo Ee says mummy – 13months old

Zo Ee at 13months 6days old. (17/5/2009)

I am so delighted, touched and thrilled today upon hearing my little Zo Ee says “ Ma…Me” (mummy) as I have been waiting for this special moment for some time, knowing that Zo Ee already knows that I’m her mummy when she was 11 months old. At that time (2 months ago), we came to know that she actually understood the word “mummy” when we were out shopping in a shoes shop. While I was busy looking at shoes and little Zo Ee was busy cruising with daddy’s help, a sales woman who saw my friendly and confident Zo Ee asked her “Where is your mummy?” and little Zo Ee smiled at her, looked around the shop, spotted me at one corner and pointed her little finger at me. We were really surprised then, as neither have we ever asked her such question before nor did we expect her to respond to a stranger. Furthermore, she got it correctly.

Happy baby -13months old

Zo Ee at 13months 4days old. (15/5/2009)

A morning smile.

I am really proud of my happy, contented and social little Zo Ee. She 's always spreading her love and smile to everyone she came across to. She will smile and wave to waiter/waitress taking order at our table without being told. She will try to make friends with little kids in the library or shopping mall. Her sincere and trademark smiles win everyone's heart.

These are the comments that I always received from friends and relatives;

"She's such a happy baby."
"She's always smiling."
"She's such a calm and nice baby."
"She's so friendly and cute."
"She's such a loving little fellow."
"She's super cute with her cheeky expression."
"She's so sporting."


"A Happy mummy and a loving home, resulted in a A Happy Baby!"

Daddy's Birthday

Zo Ee at 13months 2days old. (13/5/2009)

Mummy and Zo Ee bought daddy a chocolate birthday cake from Bakezin.

When I brought out the birthday cake, Zo Ee got extremely excited seeing the cake with the candles and went all out to grasp them. Upon hearing the birthday song, Zo Ee’s face brightens up with sparkling eyes, as if she could recognize this song sung to her one month ago on her birthday in Bali. Maybe this reminds her of her own celebration. It was not easy to have photo shooting of her with the cake and candles as compared to last month but I managed to capture both well behaved and struggling moments of her.

Simple instructions - 12months old

Zo Ee at 12months 3weeks old. (3/5/2009)

Follow simple instructions:

give it to mummy/daddy

put elephant/toy into the cup/container

put food on the plate

put food into your mouth

walk over to mummy/sofa

jump

sit

walk
dancing

Can you say "bye"?

shake your head 'No"

Can you take mummy to the bathroom?

Can you cough/yawn?

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Then



11 months old
cry out loud(prentending)
can you show pear(toy) to daddy?
pick up toys (given names)

10 months old
show mummy your hands
blow your nose
laugh out loud
close your eyes
shake your hands
arms up
arms down
point at household objects (window,door, lamp, bed, cot, air-conditioner, basket, fan, wall, cupboard, refrigerator, clock, switch, etc)

9 months old

clap, tap your hands

look at household objects, when mummy asked where are there? ( window, basket, lamp, wall, fan, refrigerator, clock, flower, vase, etc.)

8 months old

drink some water (will drink independantly from her sippy cup)

7months

kiss kiss mummy

stomp your feet

6months old

roll over

turn pages (next page)

look at the basket, window ( when asked where are they?) 28weeks

5months old

kicking when heard the word "kick" (21weeks old)

wave your hand (23weeks old)

3months old

up (belly)

Overheard -12months old

Zo Ee at 12months 3weeks old. (7/5/2009)

Zo Ee loves to flip pages of books again and again daily. She enjoys every single page of all her books but there will always be one special book. As for last week, she was attached to this book called “Who is hiding on the farm?” She will read it many times a day, and I was surprised that she was indeed reading to herself. While going through the pages, I heard her saying “moo…” when she came across the picture cow. Then she said ”bee” when she saw the bee on the following page, “baa..” when she saw the sheep…, “oof…” when she saw the dog and so on. It’s so cute hearing her reading to herself and my pleasure in knowing that she does enjoy reading.

Celebrating Vesak Day

Zo Ee at 12months 4weeks old. (9/5/2009)

Glenn Doman

I have been reading Glenn Doman’s book on How to Multiply Your Baby's Intelligence. Of all his books that I have read, I must say that this book is a summary of all his other books. Readers will get some ideas on his belief on why the need to teach young children (babies) and his other teachings on how to teach your baby to read, to do mathematics and to expand baby’s general learning potential. I strongly believe in his teaching and belief, which can give every baby a powerful advantage that will last a lifetime. Babies will have the opportunity to be everything good that it is possible for them to be in life.

Excerpt from this book:


The Basics of Good Teaching

1. Begin as young as possible

2. Be joyous at all times.

3. Respect and trust your child.

4. Teach only when you and your child are happy.

5. Create a good learning environment.

6. Stop before your child wants to stop.

7. Introduce new materials often.

8. Be organized and consistent.

9. Do not test your child.

10. Prepare your materials carefully and stay ahead.

11. Remember the Fail-Safe Law: If you aren't having a wonderful time and your child isn't having a wonderful time - stop. You are doing something wrong.

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"It's good, not bad, to be intelligent." - Glenn Doman

"Children who are the most competent are the most self-sufficient. They have the least reason to whine and the most reason to smile. In short, the children who are truly bright, knowledgeable, and capable are the nicest children and the most understanding of others. They are full of the characteristics for which we love children." - Glenn Doman

At the Supermarket - 12months old

Zo Ee at 12months 3weeks old. (6/5/2009)


Little Zo Ee's busy stacking and reorganizing.

Reading aloud II - 12months old

Zo Ee at 12months 3weeks old. (7/5/2009)

Zo Ee is reading some words on this video clip; a portion of new words that she is able to pronounce this month. This is baby utterance so don’t expect perfect pronunciation. Her voice is pretty soft, so it may be hard to hear some of the words... if you do pay attention closely, you can hear her reading. But her utterance does vary a little from day to day, depending on her mood. Sometimes, she can say them better and louder and some days just the opposite.

[baby utterance - blue(bu), tree(tee), shh, bee(b), drink(ink), girl(gr), moon(oon), ring(ing), green(geen), woof(oof), pink(ink), orange(ange), brown(bown), black(ba..at), key]

Zo Ee reading aloud II

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Then




11 months old
baby utterance - car, ish(fish), duck, hair, star, baa(bus), ple(apple), hand, pear, ti..er(tiger)




10 months old
baby utterance - star

Toddling - 12months old

Zo Ee at 12months 3weeks old. (6/5/2009)

This week, Zo Ee is more daring and confident in her steps; never hesitate to toddle towards mummy/daddy’s waiting arms. Sometimes, she loves to toddle and catch hold of me from behind my back, hugging and looking cheekily into my eyes. She is always my cheeky, happy and contented baby. I have to applaud her for not only her courage but her confidence in everything she does.

Watching VCD - 12months old

Zo Ee at 12months 3weeks old. (4/5/2009)

Zo Ee was fascinated seeing her programme being played on the tv.

Zo Ee was getting real serious,

and in deep concentration!

and glued to the programme.

Zo Ee was getting real excited and thrilled!

Sometimes the only way to calm a cranky (tired or lacked of sleep) Zo Ee is to play her favourite VCD. After half an hour show, she'll be happy and fun again.

My body - 12months old

Zo Ee at 12months 3weeks old. (3/5/2009)

Zo Ee is getting to know more of her body parts. When I asked her, “Zo Ee, where is your face?” She will respond by touching her face. This also applies to her other body parts; shoulders, heel, leg, foot (is able to differentiate foot from toes), and fingernail. She will show me her teeth, lips (opens and closes her mouth), and is able to find mummy/daddy’s bellybutton (but not hers yet). Although she also knows these body parts; neck, chin, cheeks, forehead and eyebrows, she is unable to accurately touches hers yet, but she is able to point at mine correctly.

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Then

11 months
shows me her tongue and mouth,

touches her foot and fingers

closes her eyes

10 months
touches her head, hair, knee, toes, and ear

shows me her hands

Shapes -12months old

Zo Ee at 12months 3weeks old. (3/5/2009)



Shapes (pictures, words and objects) that Zo Ee can recognize are circle, square, rectangle, oval, triangle, crescent, star, heart and diamond.

Reading the newspaper - 12months old

Zo Ee at 12months 3weeks old. (3/5/2009)


Zo Ee reading the Sunday Times dated 3rd May 2009.

Some may think that the newspaper is too difficult for a baby, but I have tested Zo Ee and she can read most of the words (80%) as most words used are what we called frequent words. And till date, I have taught her at least 800 written words (those that I can count from word cards and flashcards, but these do not include words from books or other materials).


Frankly speaking, looking at Zo Ee's speed of learning and her ever growing appetite in learning, I am running out of teaching materials. For months, I couldn’t find anymore new categories flashcards for her in the market. So our temporary solution for the pass 3 months is to borrow books from the library weekly. Since then, everyday, I read to her an average of 8 books per day(at least once, usually twice). Furthermore, Zo Ee has started showing new ability in reading words which are totally new to her, so I think it's time to move another step further; I am thinking to start her on short sentences. Unfortunately, there aren’t many books with prints big enough for her age. So in my opinion, the newspaper is a good teaching tool. Big print (titles) , variety of words and most of all, this can save me time in making extra teaching material.

Reading the menu - 12months old

Zo Ee at 12months 3weeks old. (1/5/2009)

Amazing! My little Zo Ee is really reading.

When we were in a Japanese restaurant yesterday, I showed her the menu, hoping to keep her occupied while waiting for the food to arrive. When I asked her “Zo Ee, where is the word special?” Zo Ee looked at the menu before pointing her little finger at the word special. Then the excited me, asked her a few more words; holiday, ramen and soba. And she got them all correct again. Wow! This is truly amazing as these are words totally new to her. Seeing her blooming beautifully; is really motivating me to keep on teaching ,and to give her full opportunity to develop and grow. All my dedication really pays off!


“Babies can learn absolutely anything that we can teach in an honest, factual, and joyous way.” – Glenn Doman

Cheese stick - 12months old

Zo Ee at 12months 3weeks old. (30/4/2009)

Zo Ee's first taste of cheese.

Toy car - 12months old

Zo Ee at 12months 2weeks old. (25/4/2009)


busy maneuvering this toy car

Brushing my hair - 12months old

Zo Ee at 12months 1week old. (19/4/2009)

Little Zo Ee brushing her own hair.

Mummy says NO - 12months old

Zo Ee at 12months 2weeks old. (29/4/2009)

Zo Ee loves to play at the television cabinet though we strongly prohibited her in doing so. She loves to bring her toys over there, placing them on different levels or removing and replacing CDs between different storage levels. I know that she is just trying things out but I get worried whenever she plays near the television even though it’s on standby mode. (Still has electricity stored in the transformer and also electrostatic - Err..some knowledge from my old job)

Few days ago, Zo Ee accidentally knocked one speaker down onto the floor. I knew she wasn’t playing with the speaker nor intentionally pushed it onto the floor like other times. I saw with my own eyes that it was an accident; as she was trying to place her toy next to the speaker and thus accidentally pushed it off the cabinet.

Still, I called out to her in a very stern voice, “Zo Ee, No!!! Mummy says no play speaker. “ Zo Ee turned around facing me and from her reaction, she seemed in shocked hearing my voice and scared seeing my serious face (maybe she was confused as why mummy was scolding her as she wasn't playing with the speaker, to her - the speaker had fallen off by itself). Then I moved towards her, facing her face to face, “ Zo Ee, look at mummy. Mummy says NO touch speaker. You are not supposed to touch speaker. This is not a toy. It’s very dangerous to play with the speaker.” Zo Ee sensed something was wrong and stood there quietly (usually she is very cheeky and playful with me, hugs me whenever I'm nearby her). When she avoided eyes contact, I said in a stern voice again, “ Zo Ee, look at mummy, NO touch speaker, NO play speaker. OK?” while pointing at the speaker with my finger again. I think Zo Ee can understand me in prohibiting her touching the speaker, that's why she was not playing with it. But I doubt she knows the reason behind why it had fallen(accidentally pushed off by her toy) or why she is not allowed to touch the speaker. This may be a little confusing to a baby and her curiosity “why I am not allowed to touch this speaker? or why is mummy angry when the speaker had fallen onto the floor by itself?” as babies have no sense of danger at this age, neither do they understand these abstract words “dangerous” or "accident".

When I was done, Zo Ee tried to make amend with me (though not fully her fault), she tried to distract my attention, pointing at a toy nearby while telling me what it was. But this time, I didn’t react with enthusiasm nor did I look at what she was pointing at. I was still looking sternly into her eyes (I was not angry with her at all, my intention is to let her get the message and be consistent in prohibiting her touching/playing with the speaker/television). When Zo Ee looked into my eyes again, she knew that mummy was really not happy and this of course gave her some emotional stress (afraid and confused). So just for assurance, she willingly tottered a few unaided steps towards me and hugged me tightly. Of course I responded (deep down- my heart ache seeing her worried face) and hugged her tightly in my arms and little Zo Ee was all happy and secured again.