~ Gladys - Reading and Acting ~

Hello November! Exams are over and it's play time! ^_^ I have not been spending as much time and attention on Gladys for the past few weeks (as I was busy coaching Denver) and we have not been borrowing books from the library last month!

Luckily, there are a couple of storybooks at home to keep Gladys occupied where she tries to read them on her own whenever she is in the mood.

Our cheeky little girl also never fails to amuse me with her little imagination. Using a bubble gun as 'hair dryer', toy scissor, combs and a ruler (I wonder what that is), she started acting as a hair dresser. Daddy is her faithful customer, not complaining about how messy or tidy his hair is getting. Its so hilarious to see her in action!

~ Goodie Bags Sourcing ~

It's that time of the year.... Preparation of goodie bags for our little girl to give to her classmates in school. Unlike the previous years where Hubby and I spent more time buying miscellaneous items and  packing everything together. It's always a struggle to think of what to buy and put them in the bags (especially the type of snacks and sweets). This year, we decided to try and find pre-packed goodie bags for the first time.

There are a couple of goodie bags selection available on the website with various price range that parents can choose from. We picked one set (comes in blue or pink) and ordered the amount required online. Hubby picked up the items directly to avoid delivery charges and everything is done swiftly without much hassle.

Pre-packed Goodie Bag from http://bagagoodie.com/

We spent about $47 for the 30 packs and they are packed nicely. Although the actual size is smaller than what I have expected (as seen on the webpage), The package looks nice and cute. I guess the downside is the children didn't get to pack the goodie bags themselves but that really saves a lot of time from our end. :)

~ 童话 - By Denver & Gladys ~

Somehow Denver & Gladys love this song (童话 sang by 光良) very much. Whenever we are in the car, they will request Daddy to play the song in the CD. So much so that Gladys started to pick up the lyrics and sing along with her brother. :)

I took a video of them singing and Gladys covered her ears as she doesn't want to be disturbed by Denver.  ^_^ Cute!

~ Gladys Cycling Lesson - Part 4 ~

After about than 2 months of weekly practising, Gladys is getting better and steadier with her cycling now. This morning she was able to conquer the curvy track. :) Although she had a slight fall after making a sharp turn, I believe she should be ready to cycle in the park next time joining her brother and the other cyclists and runners. :)

~ Gladys Weekly Cycling ~

Earlier this morning, the children went downstairs for their weekly cycling. We are lucky that there are ample space in our estate for our little girl to practice. With me suffering from an injured foot, I rest by the side and watch them cycle in circles.

Still not very steady yet, but in times to come, I'm sure Denver and Gladys will race their way on the tracks.

~ Gladys' Cycling Lesson - Part 3 ~

Earlier this evening, we took the children down for cycling. Due to work committments, Gladys could not practice on a daily basis (as much as she wanted to) but we try to let her cycle once a week.

Gladys still needs more practice on how to start her bicycle and learn to control it better. She still has the tendacy to sway her bike and ends up losing control. Today, she fell down from the bicycle but didn't cry. Gladys may be stubborn but she has the determination to try and get it right.

~ Handicraft - Gladys @ Art & Craft Stall ~

I'm not exactly sure what this handicraft is called but it is commonly seen at the little art & craft stalls in the shopping malls. Simply choose a picture of your preference, apply the colour substance on the art work. Using a toothpick and cotton bud to touch up. Upon completion, it will be heated up in a toaster and the final art work is complete.

We were at Downtown East and Gladys has been pestering me to let her try it. A small art piece is at $5 (prices may vary slightly at different stalls). As an exception case, she finally got to try it. Denver and Mommy also helped to do this together and it's finally completed putting a big smile on Gladys.

~ Where's my Invitation Card? ~

Since last week, Gladys has been telling us that she is going to her classmate's birthday party in a hotel at Sentosa. Hubby and I got so confused by her statement that I gave her teacher a call this morning to seek clarification.

Indeed, Gladys' classmate will be celebrating his birthday in Sentosa but there was no official invitation yet. He got so excited that he told everyone in the class and that got Gladys extremely excited too! Gladys' form teacher helped to explain to the class that you will need an invitation card in order to attend the party.

When we got back home earlier this evening, Gladys very much assumed that she will have the invitation card (from us) and get invited. You can imagine how upset she was when we explained to her that the card needs to come from her classmate's parents and there isn't any concrete plans that she is going to get invited.

After many conversations and persuasion, Gladys still does not want to give up and decided to get her invitation card from her classmate pro-actively. Not only that, she even suggested to have her up-coming birthday party in a hotel! We are not obliging to her requests nor setting up her expectations.

Sometimes, it may be best not to tell the young child on party or travel plans in advance. We had a similar experience with Gladys when she over-heard that we will be going to Genting and she got so excited and broadcast this to her teacher and classmate for a couple of weeks!

It's good to bring out the good news, however, we will also need to manage expectations that may comes along the way.

~ Gladys' Cycling Lesson - Part 2 ~

It's lesson no. 3 and Gladys needs continuous practice in order to control her bicycle well. This evening, Hubby is teaching Gladys how to start and stop her bicycle. At times, she was able to start peddling, the difficulty comes in getting her to brake.

As Gladys wasn't able to clench on to the brakes, she has greater fears of falling and does not wish to peddle hard. Hubby has already adjusted the brakes for Gladys and hopefully she will be able to bicycle soon with more practices.

~ Gladys' Cycling Lesson ~

Recently, we have been taking the children to the Serangoon Park Connector (that now connects to the Punggol Promenade Riverside Walk). On some days we would walk all the way to the Riverside Walk, while on other days, we took the kids down for cycling.

Hubby has took great efforts to teach Gladys how to bicycle. On her first lesson, Hubby hold and run with her while she is 'cycling'. On Gladys' second lesson, she gained more confidence and progressed tremendously. Now, she can bicycle for a very short distance.

Gladys' still has a lot more to learn. (e.g. she needs to know how to start and control her bicycle.) Once our little girl can bicycle, we can look forward to engaging the whole family on a cycling journey along the Punggol Promenade. :)

~ Handicraft - Gladys' Tree ~

Gladys always love art and handicraft. Every weekday, she will scribble and draw on papers, fold and wrap around with rubber bands and giving it to me as my daily present after work. It could be a simple "Gladys love Mommy", "Mommy love Gladys" to a picture of both of us together. :)

Today, she did her very own handicraft without Mommy's instruction! It's amazing to see how creative a child's mind can get and it all started with a toilet roll.

Here I was helping Denver with his art homework while Gladys sat down to do her own art work as well. By the time she calls me, she has made some cuts at the bottom of the toilet roll, placed it on a paper and drew some shapes around it.

I couldn't make out what it was and asked: "What is this?"
Gladys : "I'm making a tree!"
Mommy: "Wow!"

When I got back shortly, Gladys glued the toilet roll on the paper and there are more shapes around the roll. The kids said it is an 'upside-down' tree. :) I helped to cut out the border of the leaves and the tree is finally completed (after a nice flip) !

To make it more interesting, I labelled the parts of the tree. "Roots", "Trunk", "Branch", "Leaf". Gladys gets to learn as she has fun with her art. :) It is really a nice artpiece and I'm impressed!

~ Drawings - Gladys' Art Showcase - Part 1 ~

It has been 2 half months since Gladys started her drawing and colouring class at the community centre. She has been enjoying her lessons so far and completed 12 drawings. ^_^

Initially I thought it might be too challenging for her to follow as the pace of the lessons are very fast. However, never underestimate a child's learning ability and adaptability. Not only was Gladys able to keep up from second lesson onwards, she had heaps of fun.

These are the artworks that she did using oil pastels and water colours. From lions, flamingoes, bugs to Doremon, fishes, kite flying. There are different theme to draw each week.

On their final lesson for this term, the teacher taught them to draw Santa Claus, Christmas tree and presents. This is a perfect Christmas card. :) Here's wishing everyone MERRY CHRISTMAS!

~ Gladys wishing Singapore Happy 45th Birthday! ~

This was taken during the weekend before Gladys falls sick. She has learned a few some songs in school and wanted Mommy to video her singing. :)

国旗,国旗,我爱你。有红有白真美丽。

弯弯的新月五颗星，看见国旗行个礼。

S-I-N-G-A-P-O-R-E, S-I-N-G-A-P-O-R-E, Ohhhhhhhhhhhh - SINGAPORE!

HAPPY 45th Birthday Singapore!

~ My Princess @ 3 Years ~

Gladys is going to celebrate her 4th Birthday in 2 months time! She has grown a lot and becoming a pretty little girl. Although still acting very boyish, she starts to pick her dress, occasionally wants mommy to comb and tie her hair and sees herself in the mirror. Lately, she also refuses to have her hair cut. :p

Gladys with her short hair (帅气)

Gladys in her little dress (美丽)

Gladys posing in her casual wear (调皮)

Gladys in her school's P.E attire (童真)

That's my girl! Cheerful, active, expressive and full of tricks on her sleeves. ^_^ 

~ Writing my name ~

Teaching Gladys to write her Chinese name is a big challenge compared to Denver. There are too many strokes in her name and even some adults have difficulty writing it correctly.

To start off, it all begins with teaching her learning some simple basic strokes, 横,竖,撇,捺 and eventually writing simple Chinese words like 大, 小, 上, 下, 人, 口.... etc. she started to recognize these words as she writes and reads.

Eventually, she was able to write 王 and 平 as soon as she starts Nursery but 馨 is simply too hard for her. (Why did we choose such a difficult word in the first place? :p) So, the word is 'broken' down into 声 and 香 where she practised writing it for a couple of weeks more. I guess the simple writings that Gladys did in Nursery school also helped to improve her understanding of Chinese strokes and enhanced her learning curve.

After 6 months of practising, Gladys finally learned how to write her Chinese name - 王馨平. Definitely an achievement for her! I didn't expect Gladys to learn this before she turns 4. She remembered the strokes and this is her name! :)

~ 我们美丽的小公主 ~

上个周末, 馨平突然说要穿裙子.. 真难得啊! 我们的小公主平时都是穿清凉的上衣和短裤, 很少会主动说想穿裙子。她自己挑了她最爱的粉红色, 开开心心地对着镜子笑。然后问我:"妈妈, 我美吗?" 我当然说：＂真美啊＂！这样的她才像个lady。 如果头发在长一点就更美了。但是为了平时上学不用花时间打理头发，所以一直没有让她流长。（对不起咯，在等多两年吧。）　馨平穿上漂亮的裙子，但动作还是很顽皮，一点也不斯文。哈哈！不过，在我的眼里还是最美丽，最开心的小公主。：）　　　

~ Diaper Free Training Continues ~

Recently we put Gladys back to her 'Diaper Free Training program' again. :p Currently she only wear diapers in the night and we are trying to get rid of it once and for all.

Actually, we started to train her about 10 months ago. (http://phoebelau.blogspot.com/2009/05/diaper-free-training.html) But even taking Gladys to her potty twice in the night doesn't stop her from wetting the bed. She was not even disturbed when her pants and shirt got wet.. and continues with her sleep. Eventually we stopped trying after a few weeks when Hubby went overseas for his job assignments and I became too tired to wake up.

Until recently, Gladys seems to be able to control her bowels better. I have been monitoring her diapers for months and realize it is not as heavy as before and there are times when it was dry. With this observation, I decided to put her back to her potty once in the night.

Instead of taking her to the bathroom (which is so tiring), we have placed the potty by the side of our bed. Since the previous weekend, she has been carried to her potty and by morning, her diaper continues to stay dry! ^_^ So far so good!

If this continues till the end of the week, I'll remove her diaper completely and we'll see how it goes this weekend. This will be her real test!

Denver was able to go diaper free in the nights before going to Nursery school. I hope Gladys will be able to grow out of it too. With patience and preserverance, I'm sure we can do it! 加油!!

~ Schooling - Observations & Thoughts ~

It's the 2nd week of school and Gladys Really seems to have settled down. Unlike her older brother who cried through Nursery and even K1, Gladys is more confident and brave. (I'm still observing her and keeping my fingers crossed!)

On the other hand, how's Denver doing so far?

• Need to get use to waking up early at 6:10am. Daddy/Mommy has to spend about 5 mins to wake him up. (I'm thinking of getting him an alarm clock to slowly cultivate that habit ^_^).
• The Buddy system will end this week and Denver was able to purchase his food by himself during recess time today. (Looking at his expenses report so far, the maximum purchase he had was $1. I have been reducing his pocket money from $1.50 to $1.40 and $1.20. Maybe $1 is next. :p). What has he been eating? (spaghetti, kway tiao, coco crunch, pizza, chicken rice...). He wanted to buy Jelly and Soft Drinks too but I will have to say no to those for now.
• His Homework/Curriculum file has been helpful to keep all the forms that I need to vat through. There has been a couple of forms and payments made so far. (e.g. Subscription to some Chinese Magazines - $14.80 and Art Pass Program - $10). Awww.. $$ $$ $$..
• CCA - For term 1, the CCA program for P1 will be Dancing. We did not enrol Denver into the program (which is Optional) due to the timing. Every Monday (3:15pm to 5:15pm) will be too tiring and difficult for my Fil to take Denver to & fro from school. Maybe next time...
• Timetable - We received his Timetable last week and personally I don't find it reader friendly. :p So I make my own version of the Timetable with slightly different formats and fonts. heheheh. One A4 size version so that Denver can review it while packing his school bag daily and another smaller booklet size version in his Pupil's Companion Book so that he can check his lesson schedule.

So...why tracking the details?? In another 3 years, it will be Gladys' turn to go to P1 and by then Mommy will have some notes and pointers to reference to. Hahahah. It will also be interesting to compare the differences/changes 3 years can make.

~ Day 2 - Settling Down ~

Day 2 of school and I hope the kids have settled down already. Denver has to get up early every morning to have his breakfast, bath, change into his uniform and gets ready to go to school with his cousins.

All P1 and P2 students will assemble at the parade square while P3 to P6 in the school hall. They will have the "Whole School Reading Program" at 730am.

Denver is seated according to his class.

Gladys on the other hand seems to be doing ok. 阿公 brought her down to wait for her school bus and she started going to school on her own. The only thing is she is even more STICKY to me when I'm back home. I can sense that both Denver & Gladys needed my attention more now. Every night I'll have to go through Denver's school work and check his bag. On top of that have to spend time with the children for storybooks and squeeze in a bit of play time if possible. I think I have to start planning my own timetable too to make time for both of them.

Side notes: It's so kind and thoughtful of my neighbour to give Denver a present to congratulate him on his new milestone in Primary school. Thank you!

~ First Day in Nursery - Gladys ~

While Mommy is with Denver in his primary school, it's also Gladys' first day of school in Nativity Church Kindergarten! She looks really cute in a dress and taking a photo with her friend. ^_^

Here we go! Daddy accompanied Gladys to take the school bus together on Day 1. Mrs Wee and the other teachers were definitely busy attending to the children (Some crying) and anxious parents. Gladys was seated down and started to warm up.

Making a line to proceed to the school's hall. Gladys happens to stand right in front which makes photo-taking so much easier. :p

Seated according to class.

Time to Sing & Dance! A good way to de-stress the children and let them enjoy School Life and have FUN!

The children are being led back to their classroom where they are seated down once again. Mrs Wee called their names individually and the child goes up to collect his/her name and pin in on the board.

Time to go to the Toilet to wash our hands before we break for our "Morning Tea".

The children had porridge for lunch. Luckily Gladys is able to feed on her own and is more independent now. (Don't need Daddy or Mommy to help)

10:00am - Time to go home. Yeah!!! Great Job Gladys!