Zo Ee was very excited seeing Mummy packed her school bag the night before. She was asking Mummy, "What is Mummy doing?" Mummy explained to her that Mummy was getting her school bag ready for tomorrow orientation, "Tomorrow we are going to Zo Ee's school." Surprisingly, the moment Mummy switched on the bedroom light the next morning, little Zo Ee was immediately awakened and up from her bed. Excitedly, she was telling Mummy, "Zo Ee's going to school."
Zo Ee loves playing with this new assembling toy, BYGGA which we bought from IKEA Singapore. Although she cannot assemble all by herself yet, she loves helping us getting the screw, the board and doing simple fixing with our help. Mummy also guiding her in reading the simple instruction-step by step on building her choice of transport.
Mummy helped me with this helicopter. (Making funny faces in front of the camera.)
When little Zo Ee saw Mummy dusting the TV cabinet, she insisted in helping Mummy, she kept saying "Zo Ee's turn! Zo Ee's turn to dust the TV cabinet."
Zo Ee was arranging these number mats and was seen hoping on them. So curious Mummy joined in - giving simple instructions. She found it fun and was responding to them quickly and with ease, so Mummy increased the complexity of the game. Amazingly, she understood and had no difficulty at all. Since little Zo Ee was enjoying herself so much, Mummy immediately grabbed the video camera to capture her in action.
Mummy has no interest in teaching her the names of the chess pieces... but little Zo Ee persistently asking the name to each piece. All it takes was only a few minutes for her to master all the names and remembered them well.
So never ever underestimate a little child's ability....
Little Zo Ee was asking Mummy, "where is Mummy made in?" :O
She spontaneously asked this question after Mummy told her that some of her Disney soft toys were made in China, one made in Singapore and she insisted one is made in France(the one without label).
Little Zo Ee has been telling Mummy, "Zo Ee is scared. Numbers can dance and letters can sing!" Ha! ha! Little Zo Ee is confused; she cannot understand why non-living things (numbers and letters in her VCD) can sing and dance. So Mummy explained to her, "There is nothing to be afraid off, they are not real, this is called animation."
Today little Zo Ee surprised the waiter and those sitting next to our table. She thanked the waiter spontaneously, "Thank you." for setting up her high chair.
Upon hearing this, the mother (sitting at the next table) was telling her teenage children, "all of you should learn from her."
What an unexpected big THANK YOU from my little fellow....
................................................................................ Then thank you - 19-month old
Little Zo Ee surprises Mummy; tidied up her play areawithout being told before came telling Mummy, "Oh! Zo Ee tidied up. Look! So neat and tidy! ". Finally, this moment has come!
Mummy was mad and confronted little Zo Ee for pouring her leftover juice onto the table top. To Mummy surprise, little Zo Ee defended herself, " Because Zo Ee's hand slippery." trying to explain to Mummy that it was an accident. : O
It took little Zo Ee about a month to master these names. We don't read this book everyday, only when little Zo Ee is interested; she will bring this book to Mummy. In fact, Mummy doesn't have a fix schedule or time-line to teach her. What Mummy has been doing is sharing knowledge with her in a fun way.
Some of the leaders mentioned by Zo Ee here are: Pope John Paul II,Margaret Thatcher, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander the Great, Yasser Arafat, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Dr Martin Luther King, Indira Gandhi, Mao Zedong, Lenin, Dalai Lama, George Washington, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, Aung Sung Suu Yi, Helen Keller, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, etc...
Zo Ee kept saying "What is Ai yit?" It actually means "saluting with her hand like some of the leaders."
Past few months, Mummy was so occupied with this relocation and is too busy to notice her development. Suddenly, Mummy realized she can sing so many children songs, recite so many nursery rhymes (full version), read a short paragraph without the need of finger tracing word by word and she can recite 1-50 all by herself. She can play hop scotch;hoping with both feet. WOW! she has grown so much after turning "2"!
In fact, little Zo Ee is singing all day long. She can sing more children songs (complete version) than Mummy now. For example, if she is eating on her highchair, she will sing "finger food song.", she will sing "hair, hair beautiful hair song" whenever she brushes her hair after bath. She will sing hot cross bun whenever she is eating a bun...etc...
Last week, Mummy overheard little Zo Ee talking to her favourite soft toy - Piglet; "Zo Ee miss(es) Piglet." before picking it up and gave it a big hug. Deep down, Mummy was thinking then, when will it be Mummy's turn. Surprisingly, today during bedtime, little Zo Ee told Mummy; "Zo Ee miss(es) Mummy." with a compliment surprise big hug too. Woo Hoo..... What a touching and sentimental moment to Mummy! I wish my little Darling will say that to me everyday... : )
Little Zo Ee can differentiate between left and right. When asked, she is able to show us her right hand, left hand, left leg/foot or right leg/foot correctly. Mummy didn't know exactly when did she actually pick up this, but is surprised that she knows them well.
What would you do when your toddler throws things/toys onto the floor to free some space for her/him/ toys; for example throwing magazines onto the floor so that she can use the coffee table to do her drawing?
Do you scream at her for throwing the magazines onto the floor? Which I believe most Asian will do that; especially the older generation. Maybe some may even spank the little child for doing so which is such a sad event to see. It’s so sad; many caretakers only scream and yell at the little ones for their inappropriate doings without guiding them or showing them the correct way to face the situation. It’s often heard, “Don’t throw! Why did you throw them onto the floor?” But they never offered any solution or guidance so that the child will know how to handle such similar situation in the future. How sad?
As responsible parents; we should evaluate each situation calmly and soundly (not to be affected by our bad mood or tiredness.). Did the child do it on purpose? If yes, why is it so? Is he/she seeking attention? Have we been ignoring him/her for quite some time due to house chores or have we been away from him/her for sometime?
Try to see what is the reason behind? As for the example above, parents should tell the child that it’s inappropriate to throw things onto the floor, even though to make way for his own activities. Parents may teach/guide them to put away their toys or put aside the magazines or ask Mummy/Daddy to help. Of course the best solution is to get a table for the child for his/her own activities.
Moreover, parents didn’t see the bad example of themselves in screaming/yelling at the little child. Over the time, it will come the time when the little child yells back at his/her parents. And when this happened, the parents get angry; blaming the child for misbehaving and rude. Can you guess what happened? Again the child gets punished for yelling. Why are so many parents (Asian) scream and yell at their children while expecting their children to behave politely in return? This doesn’t make sense to me at all.
Once my university professor told the class; “Never scold your child STUPID.” This is because your child actually reflects you yourself. Your child is your own reflection!
What I hate most is parents like to belittle the child in public. They like to make comments like, “Aunty is looking at you.”, “Aunty will scold you.”, “Uncle laughs at you.”, “People laugh at you.” Again these selfish parents are using these inappropriate statements to tame the child without noticing the severe damage that can be done to the child. These are all negatives statements that can harm the child’s self-esteem for life.
