Last week, we moved on to a White theme.  Initially I had some trouble putting together activities for the week’s theme, but after searching on the internet, I got some ideas together for the kids.  In the same week, I also helped to look after 2 other kids (a 20 months old and a 2.5 yo kid).

So, it requires a little twist in my planing in order to accomodate for the different age groups.  For a start we made a wooly white sheep .  I cut out the templates for them before hand, but put the cotton wool and glue in a bowl for the kids. The older ones like JD and the 2.5 yo could do this craft pretty much independently.  But the 20 months old needed a bit of help, but really enjoyed applying the glue and slowly sticking the cotton wool onto the sheep.  The process of the little ones sticking on the cotton wool actually help them in their fine motor skills.  Sometimes it really doesn’t matter if their sheep has got more wool on the head than its legs, it is really about the process they took.  The handling of the material, applying the glue, the sticking of the cotton wool and etc.  That’s more important than the final product itself.

As for Chloe, I put her on the high chair and let her squeeze the cotton wool in her hands to have a feel of it, tickle her face and head with it, and it was more of a “feel n touch experience” for her.  But I needed to watch that she doesn’t put the cotton wool in her mouth.

After the craft, I talked to them about sheep shearing.  The kids were really fascinated with the fact that the wool from the sheep could be made into nice thick wooly jumper to keep us warm in winter.  I also had a sheep soft toy that I took out to show the kids, but that’s particularly helpful for the younger ones like Chloe or the 20 mths old.  At this age, not only do they need to see a picture of the word, but having the object in a physical form actually helps them to relate better. 

“Look mom, my sheep” or “Is that Judge JD?”

Well,  it would be great if I have a real sheep, hahaha, but I don’t think my neighbours would appreciate me keeping a sheep in my own backyard

Apart from the wooly white sheep, we also did a polar bear craft.  JD wasn’t too interested in the craft, but was quite fascinated with the story behind polar bear. Once again, I showed the kids a polar bear soft toy.  And you know what, I never realised I had so many different soft toys at home, but it has been a great tool! 

“Full focus and concentration”

While JD refused to do a polar bear, he chose to make a snow man instead.  It was a cute one.  Because his snowman has a pouch in his belly that can hold a baby, hahahaha!  As I said, the final product may not look anything close to the real thing, it’s the process and his imagination that really counts. 

“My snowman has a pouch to carry a baby!”

We didn’t get a lot of outside play this week because it has just been rain rain rain everyday.

But we spent lots of time singing, and I must have sang “The Wheels on the Bus” for a million times in one week, all with the kids imagination.  We have versions from “the sheep on the bus goes baa baa baa” to “the dogs on the bus go woof woof woof” to some that I just laughed so hard such as ”the power rangers help the people on the bus” and one for Chloe “the baby on the bus goes waa waa waa” ….

JD continued on with his numbers and alphabest recognition.  This week he learns to recognise the big B and kept on practicing with his writing.  He learns the phonic sound of A & B.  We have this little alphabet fridge magnets at home and I have noticed JD paying more attention to it and sometimes singing along to the tune from the magnet toy. 

He is doing well with the numbers.  On one afternoon, I took him out for an ice-cream but also brought along the numbers puzzle for him to practice and to make the learning more fun (plus the ice-cream for bribery, hahaha).

With Chinese this week, we covered 白色 and 棉羊.  JD struggled a bit with pronouncing 棉羊 but he got pretty close to it which I was proud of.  Apart from that, I also took out a stack of flash cards and tried it on the other kids I was looking after.    It was a fun experience because the 20 mo just absorb it like a sponge and I am soooo looking forward to the day when Chloe will also repeat the flash cards back to me.  On other hand, I think she said something very smilar to 哥哥during our daily cards session.

But that is if she pays some attention and stop climbing up and down the stool

“Here I go again, my favourite activity!”

“What, I didn’t do anything!”

JD has had this fascination with monsters for a number of weeks now.  It all started with this Monsters Warriors show he saw on the TV.  The show usually comes up at a time when I am preparing dinner and I don’t particularly pay much attention to it.  But I know for a fact when the show is on, he is usually very quiet, and would once in a while jumped from one sofa to the next trying to catch a monster.  I have to stop him each time.  I had no idea what the show was called and JD had to tell me it was Monster Warriors.  So I guess he wasn’t just watching the pictures, he actually listens to what is said on the show!

So, JD being JD, has always been fairly creative in his imagination.  One night, I heard him rummaging through the craft box, and from the background, I could tell he was trying to do something with the sticky tapes, his robotic arm and the balloon pump.  He was trying very hard but I could feel he was getting frustrated.  Anyway, after a while, he came to me and told me about his idea.  He was trying to make a rocket and a monster warrior weapon with some recycled paper rolls, his toys and some sticky tapes.  Charming!  I was rather impressed with his imagination but he just needed a bit of help to execute his plan

And this monster warriors weapon can also turn into a rocket.

JD is a funny little guy.  I could give him a recycled paper roll, some marbles or rocks and he could still have hours of fun with it depending on his own imagination.   He is good like that, my funny, imaginative, self-entertained little man.  

My husband has been taking a few days off this week and last.  The kids love it when daddy is home.  JD would be jumping up and down saying “Yay yay, my daddy is not working today!”.  And JD got a nice surprise when daddy picked him up from kindy.  Chloe wouldn’t have to stand at the door looking sadly at her dad going off to work.!

Instead they get to muck around, and I was rolling on the floor laughing when my husband showed me what he did to Chloe!

“Look mom, I can eat a whole fish!”

“And how about this, do I look cool?”

I have always wanted to try making a Cannelloni dish but was always wondering of the best way to insert the stuffing into those cannelloni tubes.  Until one day I saw this guy on the cooking show using a piping bag to fill up the cannelloni tubes.

I am also at the stage of gathering quick and easy dishes to make and serve.  This dish doesn’t require any stove cooking at all, and which makes it all easier for me on a busy day.  I chopped up pumpkin, mushrooms, capsicums, onions, tomato, zucchini, seasoned with salt and back pepper before roasting them in the oven.  15 mins later, I took it out from the oven, let it cool before mixing the ricotta cheese and some parmesan cheese into the roast vegetables.  Then with my wonderful pipping thingy, I quickly stuffed the cannelloni tubes with the roast vegetable stuffing.  Next pour some pasta sauce over the bottom of the baking dish, arrange the cannelloni tubes in the dish, sprinkle some cheddar and parmesan cheese over it, cover with foil and bake for 15-20 mins.  Take it out, remove the foil, and bake for another 15-20 mins.

Verdict:  Quick and easy pasta dish, house filled with aroma of roast vegetables and cheese, kids love it, hubby had 2 helpings of it, I love it, so it was a great dish!

Since Chloe turned one week a few weeks ago, she has been practicing to stand on her own.  She would first kneel on both legs, then squat before pulling herself up to a standing position.  Looking at her, she must have used a fair amount of strength in her legs and feet to do that. 

I remember in the child development course I attended, that the trainer said a baby first developed her strength and muscle in the neck, back, spine and the last will be the feet and fingers which then leads to walking, writing, holding a pencil and etc.  So that’s the reason why the instructors at Gymbaroo have always advised parents not to rush a child to sit, stand or walk on their own by propping them up with pillows or pulling their hands up high to help them walk or stand.  A child will do so when they have developed the right muscle tone and strength at the right area to do what their body is ready for. 

And she is a cutie too.  Once she got herself to stand, she would sway to the right and left with much joy.  Then with all her might, she would just stand there, still, until she got tired and plonked her bottom onto the ground.  But she would do it over and over again till she gets tired and lay on the floor to have a rest.

Bringing JD out for a special treat of cheese and “100s n 1000s” sandwich with a strawberry milkshake, while I had my coffee with an apple danish and Chloe had a slice of her brother’s cheese sandwich.

Going out for groceries shopping, and stopping at the food court for a quick bite before letting him ride (pretending) a motorbike. 

Laying a big mat in the backyard and let the 2 kids have hours of fun with blocks, balls, toys and being in the wide open air.

Putting a big box of sand, water, some real kitchen utensils in the backyard for many more hours of fun.

And when we are done with structured play, JD decided to come out with his own gymnastic “plank balancing” session.

A few days ago I was in the kitchen preparing lunch.  Then I heard some commotions, sounded like the 2 kids were fighting.  Already?  I thought to myself.  And when I listened carefully, I was almost killing myself laughing.  JD has a really “Aussie” accent when he try to speak Chinese and there he was teaching the sister to sit down.

Then one night, the 2 kids sat side by side and I thought it was very sweet that JD tried to play “把把手” (clapping hands) with his sister. 

Finally, I am getting around to update on the yellow theme week.  Our weekly theme is progressing a bit slower than usual and we have stretched it over 2 weeks.  But it has been a very eventful yellow week with the school holidays, me working little bit for these 2 weeks, Chloe’s birthday and a few playdates at home.

With the yellow week, we did puppets, a fluffy duckie, which turned out to have a storyline of its own, we baked some delicious lemon buttercake and we continued on with our weekly Chinese lesson.

Since JD likes puppets, we made this lion puppet together.  He had fun with it, but I think he had more fun trying to scare his sister with the lion.  And it really tickled her everytime he roared ar her!  Chloe  was really fascinated by the picture of the lion in the book, and kept pressing the button to hear the sound of lion roaring.

There was also this fluffy duck we made when I was looking after a few kids this week.  It was a fun craft as the kids had more fun tickling their noses with the feather before settling down to do the craft.  Somehow they have all liked it and were proudly showing it off to their mums at pick up time.

As JD had this real facination with red, it is sometimes very hard for him to paint with other colours.  Most of the craft he brings home from daycare and kindy are usually fully coloured in red.  His carer has tried encouraging him to use blue, green, and any other colours, but he would always go back to red.  So, to widen his interest, I brought out some yellow and green paint and let him decide what he wanted to do.  Ended up we stuck some paper on the floor and did some hand and foot printing. 

Today when it was pouring down with rain outside, we cut out the hand and food prints with the intention to make a sunflower!  Half way through the cutting and gluing, JD decided that it looks more like a tree.  So it became a big gum tree!   Then the lion came to live under the tree, and that a little duckie flew past one day and landed on the tree, hahaha.  It was JD’s storyline, so I can’t agrue with that

Apart from the craft, JD and I also got together to make this lemon butter cupcakes for Chloe.  It was for her birthday when we also had a playdate at home.  JD helped to mix the lemon icing, and was very tempted to do the quality control check.  It was also my first time piping the icing, but I had lots of fun doing it.  Now I keep wanting to make cupcakes and play with the icing.  Ah, but too little time, too many other things to do :) 

JD continued on with his counting and numbers recognition.  This week I took out the numbers puzzle for him to work on.  And as usual, JD would improvise on the lessons.  He started taking out the basket of pretend fruits and matched the number of fruits to the numbers.  He is funny and he makes me laugh.  But if it works for him, all the better it is. 

In the last 2 weeks, I also tried reintroducing the alphabets to JD.  I tried letters recognition with its phonics sounds a few months ago and it just bored him to bits.  So I stopped after a few attempts.  We tried again last week, and he was more receptive towards it.  He didn’t reject it but was quite happy with the writing and beaming with pride when he got the writing right.  JD is a left-handed and he has the tendency to start writing from the right rather than the left.  I had to keep highlighting to him that we read from the left, write from the left, count from the left and etc etc etc.  It took a number of attempts, I persevered and he got it all the end.  It was really great when he did it. 

With Mandarin lesson this week, we covered 黄色 and recognised fruits/vegies yellow in colour: 香焦,黄梨,玉米.

We also revised the numbers again in Chinese and I shall post a video of him talking a little bit in Chinese later on :) 

Chloe’s 1st birthday celebration continued today with a party at King’s Park!  It was a beautiful, sunny day with clear blue sky.  We couldn’t have asked for a better day.  

This time round, we decided to cater our food through  jackies cooking.   Honestly, if you live in Perth, and looking for an Asian gourmet caterer, call them!  We had  a spread of food from noodles, bee hoon, suen kuih, beef rendang, curry chicken, kuih paiti, curry puff, kuih dalam …it was very good.  I didn’t have to worry about cooking and could sit back to enjoy.  

The only thing I did was baking Chloe her very first birthday cake with idea from this site.  I really enjoyed making this cake.  It took me 2 hours to decorate the cake, well the same time I spent in the labour room with her a year ago :)  I love how it turned out and the cake was a hit at the party too.

Here’s little Chloe enjoying her birthday cake.

We had about 12 kids at the party, and they enjoyed blowing the birthday candles most.  JD was particularly excited to help his sister blow out the candles.  JD was a great helper at the party, constantly asking all the children if they need a drink, giving out the plates, putting the candles on the cake for me.  He was my great little helper :)  As part of the party, I also prepared a little present for him as I didn’t want him to feel left out by the attention on little Chloe.   The kids also went home each with a goodies bag of rice cracker, sultanas, stickers and balloons! 

I like this photo of Chloe checking out her cake.

Chloe came home very happy, spoilt, with lots of presents, well wishes albeit a little tired

Chloe is now officially on her way to toddlerhood!  

Chloe turned ONE!  I just can’t believe she is a year old, from that to now.  What a wonderful first year she has been for all of us.  She is so much joy, so much fun, with her in addition to JD, our household has become even more homely and fun in the last year.  Chloe, we love you so much and we hope you will always remain this happy and cheeky.   

6 little cupcakes, with 6 candles, we sang Happy Birthday, wishing her lots of happiness.

Yesterday, JD walked past the newsagent on our way home from groceries shopping.  He stopped to look at some cards and turned around to ask he could get a $1 card for Chloe.  It was such a sweet and kind gesture, that I couldn’t say no to.  This morning, he ran into her room upon hearing her woken up, singing “Happy Birthday” with all his heart before giving her a big kiss and squeezing her chubby cheeks.  BTW, squeezing her cheeks is his daily way of showing her affections :) 

Now, mommy, quick, I want my cake.  Please!!!!!

Happy with her cupcake.  But I had to swap her with a non-icing one later on.  Don’t think it would be a good idea to have a 12 months old baby overdose on yellow and purple food colouring Nontheless, she absolutely enjoyed the lemon butter cupcakes!