Parent Teachers Meeting on 19 May..

Some of Isa's work in school when we met his teachers back then in May..

one word: impressive.

Thank you Tr Elisa and Nie Lao Shi for your hard work.

Hands..

Does your little photographer likes to take pictures of himself?? Mine does. Narcisissist? Maybe.. *cough* oky it's in the blood perhaps.

Anyway we are in a waiting game now.. *twirl fingers*

So engrossed..

Traits of a young photographer..?

How to nurture a enthusiastic reader since young..

I am always proud to say that Isa is a enthusiastic young reader since young. I had started reading to him since he was in my womb. It may seemed to be a bit exaggerated but hey.. I was a preschool teacher then so its just part of my daily job to read to my students then so Isa actually got to benefit since then, do you rem those day Astrid? :D

Footnote: Astrid was my attachment teacher back in 2006. She was heavily preg with her first born Noah and I was expecting Isa. Both of us had a whale of a time eating and chatting abt babies and children whenever my sch children were taking a nap! How time flies! Noah is now 5 and Isa is 4!!

Anyway then I continued reading to Isa when he was as young as 6 mths old with simple flash cards and story books with short stories in both languages. Tough job back then cos due to my change of job, I was simplly running out of print resources.

This whole journey continues even till today. And mainly of Isa's storybooks collections come from this another bestie frd of mine, Christina. She is a beautiful mom of 2 children (now 8 and 10). She is my "main" supplier of passed down toys, clothes and other stuffs for children. And alas she decided to stop at two children otherwise I would have passed those stuff back to her.

Now that I am back into the education line, not only Isa but myself also benefit lots more as recently I printed a whole list of Dolch List words to my printables for Isa to do as a game at home. Not forgetting to give credit to my very hardworking helper at home who is reinforcing positive vibes to Isa and his interest.

So other than the above, I also label Isa's toy boxes in this manner:

Well, here is my humble suggestion of nurturing a enthusiastic reader and good luck to you nurturing yours!

My uniform boys..

Love them to the bits! And oh.. Isa recovered from HFMD on 9 may n he was certified fit to attend school on 10 may! Thank God! It was really a difficult ordeal to go thru but our lil man was such a brave boy!!

HFMD.. contd

06 May:

Isa slept for more than 10 hrs at night for the last few days and on top of that, he also took a close to 2.5 hrs nap which is not normal cos my little frd can usually survive on a total of 10hr sleep routine everyday. Today is pretty much the same. Totally no food intake, just ice cold milk, ice water, ice cream and some yogurt. The ulcers on the tip of the tongue is just so terrible! Seeing them makes my heart ache so much.

07 May:

Slight improvement for today as Isa managed to eat some biscuits with yogurt. Don't ask me why such a combination and he can still take it. Well I just don't bother. So as long as some food can go down his stomach, I am fine. On top of that, he ate some pancake from Prima Deli (squashed and smashed), some bits of bread and some instant pizza. Sounds good?

By the way, his tongue has a bad milk thrust due to no food intake and little brushing of teeth. And there is a weird stench coming out from his mouth.

08 May:

Woke up and managed to brush Isa's teeth. YEAH!

Its coming lunch time. Let's see what he can eat later :D

HFMD hit Isa.. again

Not sure if you remember but Isa got hit by the HFMD virus when he was abt 2.5yo.

http://rayconniebaby.blogspot.com/2009/07/hfmd.html

Anyway here is the 2nd time and which I hope it will be the last.

03 May: I felt something was not right as Isa seemed to be running a low grade fever in the morning at around 615am. I took his temp. Bingo. 37.5'C. Sms school bus aunt not to come fetch him. Sms Manager said I need take child sick leave. Brought him to the doc when he woke up at 11am. Doc gave him 2 days MC and said monitor for another day before bringing back for review. Isa told me he has a ulcer on his tongue. No spots noted for palms and feet.

Thru out the day Isa's appetite does not seemed as good as normal. He seemed more lethargic compared to normal days. Took a long afternoon nap and even slept early that night.

04 May: I went back to work and request to get off work early as I am still covered under child sick leave. I sorta felt lousy as I knew that little fellow at home needs me but somehow I felt obligated to go back to work. Anyway I reach home at around 4pm and brought him to the doc again. This time, blisters were obviously seen on his palms and feet. Doc certified him as a confirmed case of HFMD and requested me to fill up a form for the Ministry. I called Isa's school and report his case. Our frd still had dinner, just half a bowl of porridge with ice water. Wonderful combination isn't it?

05 May: I went back to work again and request to get off work earlier. Ray papa is at home accompanying the lil man. When I gave Ray papa a call at around 1.30pm, our lil frd was crying badly at home. I knew it was Mr Drama at action so I decided to come back as soon as I could but the earliest time I managed to go was 4pm. Darn some stupid person who gave me some stupid task who left before I did. Anyway I called when I left school and since lil brat was taking his afternoon nap, I took the chance to go AMK Central to catch up with my beauty supplies, my dose of bubble tea and also to stock up on my "cooling" tea supplies.

Accordingly to Ray papa, lil brat did not eat much today. He had his morning milk (chilled), abt 3 teaspoons of macaroni and some water, he basically did not eat anything else. I thought I was clever enuf to buy beancurd for Isa but alas! He did not even had more than 3 teaspoons too. Dinner was just another tetra pack of chilled milk and 2 cups of ice chilly water.

Let's see how he is tmr..

Please keep us in your prayers.

One very nice person and a very nice comment..

One very kind person who echo-ed my thoughts of a beautiful name for a beautiful child.

Thank you for your compliments. And thank you for gifting me my first bible too :D

and here is the Wiki meaning of the name Isadore:

and here how the god of Isis was supposed to look like:

Short getaway to Batam!!

finally reached!

at the entrance of the Hotel while waiting for our transport to bring us to Nagoya Shopping Mall

On the way, nothing to do so cam whore..

"What is this Mama?" Isa asked..

What is called a Batam trip without this signature drink from A & W?

One word verdict: Yummy!!

Anyway the story: Just when I was hoping to have a short getaway, my Sis called me from Batam on Saturday afternoon to ask us to join her there since her frd n her got a 2 bedroom suite! So we did!! In a span of less than 24hrs from the call, we reached Batam at ard 3plus pm on Sunday! And for once I was a millionaire.. In rupiah of course. :) anyway thought a short n pretty rushing trip, I would say I still enjoyed myself!! :)

By the way, early wishing for our wedding anniversary to Baby n me!
Baby I love you! May we celebrate many years to come! :)

Totally awed by this gigantic Wilson..

Pretend play..

Extracted from "http://www.scholastic.com/resources/article/the-importance-of-pretend-play"

Young children learn by imagining and doing. Have you ever watched your child pick up a stone and pretend it is a zooming car, or hop a Lego across the table as if it were a person or a bunny? Your child is using an object to represent something else while giving it action and motion. But this pretend play is not as simple as it may seem. The process of pretending builds skills in many essential developmental areas.

• Social and Emotional Skills
  When your child engages in pretend (or dramatic) play, he is actively experimenting with the social and emotional roles of life. Through cooperative play, he learns how to take turns, share responsibility, and creatively problem-solve. When your child pretends to be different characters, he has the experience of "walking in someone else's shoes," which helps teach the important moral development skill of empathy. It is normal for young children to see the world from their own egocentric point of view, but through maturation and cooperative play, your child will begin to understand the feelings of others. Your child also builds self-esteem when he discovers he can be anything just by pretending!
• Language Skills
  Have you ever listened in as your child engages in imaginary play with his toys or friends? You will probably hear some words and phrases you never thought he knew! In fact, we often hear our own words reflected in the play of children. Kids can do a perfect imitation of mom, dad, and the teacher! Pretend play helps your child understand the power of language. In addition, by pretend playing with others, he learns that words give him the means to reenact a story or organize play. This process helps your child to make the connection between spoken and written language — a skill that will later help him learn to read.
• Thinking Skills
  Pretend play provides your child with a variety of problems to solve. Whether it's two children wanting to play the same role or searching for the just right material to make a roof for the playhouse, your child calls upon important cognitive thinking skills that he will use in every aspect of his life, now and forever.
  
  Does your child enjoy a bit of roughhousing? Great! Some researchers in early brain development believe that this sort of play helps develop the part of the brain (the frontal lobe) that regulates behavior. So instead of worrying that this type of activity will encourage your child to act out or become too aggressive, be assured that within a monitored situation, roughhouse play can actually help your child learn the self-regulation skills needed to know how and when this type of play is appropriate.
• Nurturing the Imagination
  Not enough pretend play at your house? Consider creating a prop box or corner filled with objects to spark your preschooler's fantasy world. You might include:
  • Large plastic crates, cardboard blocks, or a large, empty box for creating a "home"
  • Old clothes, shoes, backpacks, hats
  • Old telephones, phone books, magazines
  • Cooking utensils, dishes, plastic food containers, table napkins, silk flowers
  • Stuffed animals and dolls of all sizes
  • Fabric pieces, blankets, or old sheets for making costumes or a fort
  • Theme-appropriate materials such as postcards, used plane tickets, foreign coins, and photos for a pretend vacation trip
  • Writing materials for taking phone messages, leaving notes, and making shopping lists

Today Isa was the director and actor in his own play, his co star was Bigbird. He pretended that he is the "korkor" changing diaper for Bigbird. He asked Bigbird "questions" and "answered" them all by himself. Though it was just a short 10min stint but it was such an interesting scene to watch.

Witnessing these scenes really makes me wonder how much precious time I had lost while trying to work to earn more for my expenses or how much more precious time do I still have left still before the second one comes in or how much precious time can I spend with this little mature man who seemed to so understanding now towards all my needs.

Lord, with this wonderful weekend, I pray for more wisdom and more patience and a bigger heart perhaps to help me in nurturing this little man in which I hope he can be groomed into a fine young man with Your words.

Sentosa.. again

it was a lovely Good Friday so we decided to head to Sentosa for a picnic!

This time round, it was Siloso Beach and not Palawan as we missed our usual turn.

Oh well.. it still turned out to be a beautiful afternoon with the LOVELY sun which gave me a terrible sunburnt mark on my shoulders *ouch*

Our little man having his usual play with the sand..

Mr "Macho Man" gearing himself up for his IPPT.. -.-

then he continue "roasting" himself..

Little man eating his new favoourite snack:

Mammi!

We left the beach around 3pm, head home and all of us knocked out till 630pm.

What a day!

And thank God for the wonderful weather and have a blessed weekend!

Assistant for car wash..

ok the little man is just helping out to fill up the box of water. I think Papa Ray would have fainted if Isa really went to help him accomplish his weekly routine of washing his car. Anyways..

Home made play dough..

Recipe:
2 cups of flours
1 cup of salt
1 cup of water
2 teaspoon of oil
4 teaspoon of cream of tartar
Food coloring (add as desired)

Instructions:
Mixed the above ingredients in sequence n mix them with a whisk. You should reach an even n watery texture.

Pour the mixture into a non stick pot for a couple of minutes over small fire. The mixture will then harden up.

Remove from pot and knead till you reach an even texture in the dough!

Store the dough in a air tight container or plastic bag in the chiller. It should last 2-3 mths.

Google this recipe under "cooked dough"

This activity will keep your little ones occupied for a long time! Add some accessories such as dough cutter or plastic knife to keep their imagination going on!

Have fun!!!

Prayers needed..

If you had not heard abt it, I'm moving on to a new job. N u might go: what, again??

Oh well.. I guess this is not my first as my resume actually reflects that I'm quite a job hopper but I always believes that one should be versatile n resilient to changes.

Anyway I can only I guess this new job will most prob be my last cos im more or less bonded to this new company. Not in terms of contractual bond, rather it's more of a relationship bond as this student care is currently run by my bestie cousin n her bf (or husband to be). thus my level of commitment to this new place will definitely be different! As this new place will be like my new 2nd home, at least for a couple of years before she or I ventures into another centre :) anyway liked i wrote in the title, all I'm asking for your attention is your prayers. I hope you can also help me pray for my good health n success in this new venture. And also my other wish of having another little one in my life.

Thank you!! Have a blessed weekend in advance for Good Friday!!

Sent from Connie's iPhone

Someone seems grown up..

Isa insisted using the earphones as he said the restaurant was a tad too noisy.

At Toysrus at Tampines Mall. Barney was as almost as big as him.

Barney used to be his favourite character :)

Just another day Kiddy Palace Compasspoint..

How time flies.

Isadore is 4 yrs and 2 months+ old. It just seemed like ystday that he was swaddled inside that little bundle of cloth and now he is so grown up.

Each time I looked at him with a intense look, he will always ask me, "What are you looking, mama?"

And I will always answer him, "You baby.. you are such a big boy now. Do you know I love you very much?"

He will reply, "I love you mama." before he turned his head back to what he was doing.

Secret discussion..

Hmm.. Just another father and son discussion..

A day in the Lego shop..

At the playground today..

So funny..

When you put grandparents and grandson together.. it is only joy that you see from them!

Just a simple game of baskets and ball.. it is enuf to make them tickle their funny bones.

:D