Friday, March 28, 2008

Update on My Girls

I realized I haven't update on my girls progress for awhile and so here it is.



My eldest girl just turned FOUR. She is learning to read and spell. So far she has done very well. We have started her on reading Dora's books. Once she learned the full page, she will be rewarded with a Dora sticker and once she finishes the whole book, she will be rewarded with a BIG Dora sticker. So far this method works very well, she finished one book already. The power of Dora! She can write A-Z, with problem with J and S, and 1-10, with problem writing 3 sometimes. Since she knows how to spell a few words, she can write a few words too. On Valentine's Day, she presented us with a card that she wrote on herself without help that read, EVY (insert love shape symbol) MOM, EVY (love symbol) DAD and EVY (love symbol) EDDA. Oh yeah, even her little sister got a card from her. Not only that, she can draw and color very well and she just finished a Kindergarten level activity book that I bought for her at Barne & Noble. Just got her two more books and she was so excited and did at least 20 pages per day. I had to set a 20 pages limit, if not she would probably finish the whole book in three days. She also knows how to do easy plus and minus already (1-10). I think we have prepared her well for kindergarten next year. With another year to teach and train her, she will be well prepared. By the way, we didn't send her to any pre-school, all home-taught. Not to say she is also conversing in Mandarin and English. Read and recognized up to 40 Chinese characters (from learning cards).



As for miss little Edda, she has turned into miss whiny!!! Oh my Gosh! This girl can whine, every little thing not her way, she will make me that face and start whining, got ignore, turned into crying. OMG! I need to train her to stop whining because I can't stand it! I would tell her, mommy doesn't like whining and you stop whining! I would ignore her whining and crying when I'm doing stuff and it would ease. She has all her 20 teeth already and eating excellent by herself. I didn't have to feed her since she turned one, I gave her a bowl and a spoon/fork and asked her to dig in. She does that in a restaurant too, give her her share and a spoon and she help herself. She is well developed on her motor skill, understood us and does what she is told. But very slow in her speech development. No new word since she turned one. Whereas, her sister could say 40 words already and kept adding new word every week at this age. This girl uses action to let us know what she wants instead. I'm not worry about it now but I expect her speech level to increase after she turns two later this year. If not, then I will start to worry. Finally she is almost sleeping through the night. Sometimes she will still wake up once a night and that's it, down from 4 times a night. One thing though I really need to wean her before she turns two. She is not into cow milk and Milo which makes it harder to wean. Still come to me and pull up my shirt every time she is thirsty or wants to nap. Aiyo! But since she is not taking any full milk, I had to give her the best milk a mother can give to a child right? *sigh* Oh yeah believe it or not, this little one knows how to set a table too. Like helping to bring her sister's rice to her sister and her own rice. She is still too short to get the spoon yet but she sures try. One way she letting me know she wants some cookies is she would open the drawer, bring a bowl and give it to me and when I ask her what is this bowl for, she would walk towards the kitchen. Smart right? If my pantry door is open, she would help herself with cookie bag/ cookie jar that she could reach at the bottom and bring it to me to open. Same thing, she would open the drawer and bring me the sippy cup when she wants water. You see, action speaks louder than words, probably that's why she doesn't see a reason to speak yet! Adoi!

Good thing is now they play together. Evy will talk to her, hug her and carry her around. Sometimes it's really cute to see them together, either playing, watching t.v. or reacting to each other. As expected, playing together also brings on fighting together.

30 comments:

Pwincess linfoong said...

Oh my goodness!! You're daughters are so adorable!!!

I stay with my three nieces in UK and they are 4,3 and 1 yrs old, and honestly, it really inspires me to be a mum in the future!! Your this blog post really affirms it! :D

Anonymous said...

wow! Your little girls are very clever. Edda is learning very fast from jie jie. :)

Mine hasn't say a full phrase yet. She understands French, English and a bit of Chinese. I haven't been speaking to her consistently in mandarin. :( But I do read to her Chinese stories. :) Now her favourite phrase : Maman, where are you? hehehe

Yee said...

At the rate Evy is going, she's going to be bored when she attends Kindergarten! Can easily skip a grade level or two.. there's no stopping her now! hee. Edda is such a cutie-pie, and so smart. You are indeed blessed. Children are a gift from God. May you continue to be the best Mommy you can be to them. So.. time for #3? =))
~Louisa

Anonymous said...

Sounds to me your gals are really bright and smart kids! Good job, Ching! You are definitely a 100% devoted mommy :)

Anonymous said...

They are such adorable girls.. thx for the updates.. really warm my heart and brighten my weekend =)

rgds,
tweetybird ^^

Beachlover said...

It's really cute ,both your gals.It's nice that both of you teach them mandarin at home.Ppls said home schooling kids are more smarter!!..too bad I can't write and read chinese if not I don't have to send Mishu to chinese school .I'm going to send Mishu to weekend chinese school when we go back.When you come back KL go to Popular Bookstore,get some chinese PinYin storybook for them.Yesterday I bought 10 books for Mishu,some with picture to identified the item and story as well.I guess that is a good start at young age.too bad I can't find education VCD,maybe I can't read what they sell in store.You should get them VCD when you're in KL.

Chibog in Chief said...

oh your girls are such a cutey!! i have a baby girl that just turned 7 months old few days ago..and as i read your post about your girls i can only feel excitement as how my baby will be like..hope they will be like your girls :-)

Retno Prihadana said...

Ching....how cute they are. You must be a lucky mother with smart daughters.

ICook4Fun said...

Your girls are so pretty and cute. How fast the grow and soon you will be busy with their school activities :)

Camemberu said...

Your little girls are so sweet and so smart already! They grow up fast, don't they?

Weaning and whining. LOL! Well, I know someone who breastfed her sons til they were four years old!

But whining is the real pain. You don't want to give in but they won't stop otherwise! I don't know what I'll do when my own two girls start doing it!

Anonymous said...

Hi little corner of mine

Your two girls are so adorable and you sure are a great mum.

Little Corner of Mine said...

Thank you Cooking Pwincess. Glad my post affirmed you to be a mom in the future. :)

Thanks Cooking Ninja. I think they are smart too. :) Reading her Chinese stories is good, listening is the start of learning the languague.

Louisa, I haven't thought that she might be bored in Kindergarten. But the Kindergarten here is mostly play and doing crafts instead of learning. #3 ah... hahaha... don't know leh, probably just stopped at 2. :)

Thanks Lin. Can't say I'm 100% devoted. I just have two girls who wanted to learn. Maybe they inherited the smart genes from the parents also.

Thanks tweetybird. :)

Thanks Beachlover. That was what I bought the last time we went home. I bought Chinese Characters reading cards, stories book, Chinese children songs and educational VCD. Will certainly go buy more reading material when I go back.

Thanks Dhanggit. Yes, each development milestone for them is so cute to see. Like first word, first step, give hug, give kisses, etc. Your baby girl will soon be doing all this. It's precious!

Thanks Retno.

Thanks Gert. Oh yeah... not sure I'm looking forward to that just yet!

They do grow up fast, Camemberu. I didn't know you have two girls, how old are your girls? We can't give in to their whining because it will feed into their little minds that whining = attention from mommy and they won't stop otherwise. I try to ignore her when she whines, but after awhile, my ears also hurting and have to carry her instead. Tough job and I'm still working on it.

Indonesia Eats said...

wow they're growing up so fast... Evy 's name reminds me of my first name with "i" instead of y, but in bahasa Indonesia it says the same :)

SIG said...

Hey C, what precious girls. You are so devoted. I am a super lazy mum can't be bothered to teach. Keep saying I must start, but just can't get into gear. ;P

Baking Fiend said...

How your princesses have grown!

Love the look on yr little edda. can imagine her whining... cute! (yeah, i know u can't stand it. LOL)

Edith said...

Ching, time really flies. Now all grown up. The big one is really smart leh and hardworking too. Talking about whiny. Mine we call her Ms Winny.

Little Corner of Mine said...

Indonesia-Eats,
Yup, sounded the same!

Hey D, you are in S'pore, no need to teach, just let the teachers do it. The middle school standard here is poorer, so we have to teach!

Yes baking fiend, not babies anymore! I like the look on my little girl too, I think she is sweet and cute! Hehe...

Hi E, LOL! They sure can whine! Her latest action is knee down on the floor, put her head down on the floor with her hands underneath it and whine!! *cute but adoi!!*

Anonymous said...

Wah your elder girl so smart can write A-Z and read the whole books. Mine same age as yours still not as smart as yours leh. Wah looks like I really got to pur more effort to teach her.

Ya agree with you when you see both your kids playing together it is real cute.

Jo said...

Your girls are so adorable. Having them around is sure the best thing could have in the world. of course we mommies need breaks sometimes too. You have certainly done a good job!

Nilmandra said...

The power of Dora lol! Your girls are so adorable. I want to pinch Edda (lightly) on the cheeks haha... I've got babies/kids on my brain recently and you're not helping... ;)

aiknhoon said...

Wow, Evy is very smart!!! Great job! Edda and Erin must be twin...! Hey, share your tips with me when you did wean Edda off, ok? I have been trying to wean Erin off, but she just didn't want to quit. I AM SO READY, and TIRED because she's still up once/twice wanting nene! :-)

cocoa said...

You are one supermom and super women. I really need some advice on how to juggle with 2 kids and yet able to teach them all the reading, writing, math and language skill... any advices?

My son is picking up more mandarin but he has no interesting in toy that required him to sit down and play. he would rather bang on stuff and make me play hide and seek with him all the time.

Little Corner of Mine said...

Oh so sorry Camemberu, I mistook you for some other blogger the other day. I do remember your two adorable girls. :)

Hi SueSue,
Yes, I put a lot of effort in teaching Evy. I started her at 6 months old and can see the result as early as she turned 9 months old. I didn't teach Edda and so until now still cannot speak or recognize colors, shapes and letters. I need to put much effort in teaching Edda.

Thanks Jo. I have been slacking with Edda and thus she is still like a baby. Her sister was very smart at Edda's age already.

LOL Nilmandra! Nooo...I actually helping you to make up your mind. LOL! Wait no more, don't think anymore, just do it! You will be rewarded in 9 months. :)

Thanks aiknhoon. Right now I also don't know how to wean Edda. I wanted her to self-wean but not seeing it in the near future yet. For me, at least she has to sleep through the night first. Oh mine, they do sound like twin. What about her speak development?

Dwiana P said...

that is amazing how she knows chinese character. My son is 2 year old. Very hard for me to teach him Indonesia, as we use 2 languages in our home. Your girls are so cute!!

aiknhoon said...

Ching, Erin doesn't speak much either. She just said a few words, dada, mommy, nene, NO, candy (ha yes we gave her fruit snacks) and when we teach her to say new words, she would follow but still not pronouce very clear yet. I have heard that younger ones tend to speak later because elder one would speak for them. Does Edda sleep in her own room? Erin still sleep with me...well...Tyler too. ha... my ang-mo coworkers were shocked that both of them still sleep with me, and it seems so easy for them to sleep-train but for me it was the hardest thing...! Sigh!

Little Corner of Mine said...

Cocoa,
For me, we both speak to them in Mandarin since they were born. So, the Mandarin foundation is there. And I also let them watch PBS cartoons like Sesame Street, Barney, Curious George, etc. So, the English foundation is there. This is how they learn their English since one (or whenever they know how to watch TV). Once they started to talk, they will speak in both Mandarin and English. Babies learned by listening first, so that's how I made them learning English by themselves since babies. I guess for the English speaking families and you want your kids to learn Mandarin, you have to do the other way round, let them watch Mandarin cartoon since baby. So, language skill I don't have to teach much. As for homework, just set a time a day to teach them.

Son is still a son, more active! Just speak to him in Mandarin and make sure you and your hubby also converse in Mandarin. He will pick up English when he goes to school.

Thanks Dwiana. I guess the interest has to be there. Evy loves to learn Chinese characters, sometimes she has to beg her daddy to teach her.

aiknhoon,
Hahaha...both my girls sleep with us too! Edda is sleeping in her own crib. As for Evy, she said she is afraid to sleep alone in her room. So, I'm thinking once Edda is sleeping through the night and won't wake up for my milk anymore, I will move two of them out to sleep in Evy's room. I will convert her crib into a toddle bed (Evy has her own bed) and they can sleep in a room and accompany each other. And move her out to her own room when Evy is a teenager and wanted her own room/privacy. You can do the same with your kids too. They will feel safer and less scare when they have their sibling sleeping with them. No pressure, no rush, just try my method. :)

Camemberu said...

Wow how do you keep up with so many comments? :) Hehe, it's OK, I get confused sometimes too. My two girls are only 3 months and 20 months old. But Nadine (older one) is learning to whine a bit - will pretend to sob when she's put in the cot for restraint.

Hmm! I'm definitely more inspired to put in greater effort on the bilingual training. Mandarin is a bit hard as I am the only one in the household who speaks it. Feel a bit more inspired to do it now though. Thanks!

cocoa said...

Thanks for your advise. Hubby and i communicate in cantonese but both speak mandarin to Aidan. Ican tell that he pick up quite a bit after 1 and when we read, i tend to read in both english and mandarin.

You are right that boy tend to be more active that he is really not into ready as much. We started to show him some elmo show and he loves it..

Oh do you have any favorite kid website you can share with me.. like activity you can do with kids at home etc?

Big Boys Oven said...

so cute...........!

Little Corner of Mine said...

Hi Camemberu,
Glad my post inspired you to teach your girls to be bilingual. To me, it's important that my girls know Mandarin.

Hi Cocoa,
I like nickjr.com (lots of activities here) and pbskids.org.

Thanks BBOven!