My toddler learns to SHARE

I am glad that Miss K has somehow grasp the concept of sharing.

During the recent playdate, I was pretty proud to see her sharing her snacks with her friends. This somehow surprises me as she has been behaving rather spoilt lately.

Miss K sharing her alphabet biscuits with her friends

Then again, there was also a moment of  'Mine, its all Mine!!!!' behaviour which was captured by Koala.

Stuff'em in before they are gone!

Playdates does give my toddler an opportunity to share with others her age, especially if the todd is the only child.
I am also sure that her teachers at childcare have been infusing the concept of sharing with her everyday and for all I know, she could have been sharing with her friends at childcare, but its nice to be able to witness her sharing moments during playdates.

I find this article really helpful in reinforcing my idea of teaching miss K how and when to share, especially around toddlers her age.

Playdate at Sheryn's

Miss K is blessed to have so many friends of the same age.
This long May holiday weekend, we were invited to a playdate at one of the most amazing (and tidy) toy-filled home ever! Little Chloe has a huge collection of toys.

Sheryn and Chloe were great hosts.
All five mums (two dads) and todds thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
This is one picture which had the adults clowning around, behaving like monkeys, trying to get them to sit and look at the camera. And finally, thanks to Koala, we managed to get this shot.







What was the attraction of the day? The Playground! 

Miss K loved climbing up the 'ABCs' onto the slide (refer to last collage below). The slide was just right for our toddlers as it wasn't too high and steep. The kids definitely had lots of fun at the playground.

Climbing Up and Sliding Down

Miss K and her friends on the slide - such fun!


Thanks Koala and Sheryn for the lovely photos! (Didn't bring a camera and the phone wasn't reliable)
Here's to more playdates! Woohoo!
I am definitely not a Tiger Mother in the making - I allow Miss K to go on playdates.

On a Bicycle

Would (she) be scared? or have any kind of bicycle phobia?
Will (she) like it?
Will (she) sit still?
Will I manage the bicycle and a toddler in FRONT of me?
(* she is in brackets because it applies to both child and dog)

Miss K and I totally enjoyed our first cycling experience together!
She was not scared and sat rather still, holding onto the handle bars, sometimes fiddling with the bell but most of the time, she sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the sea breeze.

She constantly turns her head behind to make sure her furry friend and Papa are close by....or will hasten me to pedal faster if Papa and the little furry one is ahead.
Well, the furry one enjoyed herself too! We were glad she's just right for the basket!

At $7 for each bike fitted with either a basket (for the dog) or a bicycle child seat (for Miss K) for a duration of 2 hours, I think its really reasonable!
Looking forward to more cycling at East Coast Park.

My 20 month old Toddler

THEN.....and NOW.

Much has happened these past 20 months. Miss K has grown so much, not only physically (she is at the 95th percentile of height and weight) but also in other aspects such as speech and gross motor skills.

When I look back at her baby photos, I sometimes wish that she will not grow up so fast....but on the contrary, she is at this age where she has just discovered her independence, so much so that mummy is no longer needed when it comes to:

Putting on (and taking off) shoes
- mummy just need to say "go put your shoes on" and she does it to perfection. Recently am impressed that she could buckle her own shoe!

Feeding herself
- mummy can enjoy her meals while she feeds herself

Washing hands
- well trained from childcare, she washes her hands, (with mummy's and "the stool's" help) before meals

Sitting on sofa watching her favourite show
- mummy does not need to worry about her climbing up and down the sofa as she has mastered the skills of climbing

Rationalising
- Miss K can now understand and is able to reciprocate, thus, reducing mummy's frustration :)

For the past week, she has been obsessed with writing and drawing, and would always have a pen and a piece of paper in her hand.

Drawing lines -check!
Drawing circles -check!


I do not always follow the milestones at babycentre.com, but I just so happen to visit the site and the correlation is uncanny! If you have a 20 month old toddler, take a look at this site.

Welcome note

A special hello to my Buzzy Readers,

A very warm welcome from Miss K.

 

Easter Baking Fun

I hope everyone had a great Easter 2011!

Miss K had her first baking 'experiment' today. As I was clearing my food cabinet 2 days ago, I discovered an unopened tin of Nestum (amongst other things which I had no idea existed in that cupboard!), I had no idea what to do with it, so I decided to make some Nestum cookie.

Well, off I went to google for a nestum cookie recipe, dig for my blender and baking stuff which I have not touched since I last made Miss K's first birthday cupcakes, and excitedly told the hubby and the little one about it.

We had a great time in the kitchen, a little messy, but it was fun. I think the little one enjoyed it too!

The cookies were not as crispy as I thought it would be, but the little one loved it!

Our first project in the kitchen....I hope there will be many more to come.

Flying with Emirates

I have to say Emirates has very good service on board and also throughout check-in and transit. At least, the quality of their service on board the economy cabin which we were in was much much better than Singapore Airlines or Lufthansa (the only 2 airlines which I have flown long distance with a infant/toddler in tow).

My only grouse was, although the little one is below 2 years old and therefore do not need to purchase her own seat, she was too heavy for the bassinet which had a max weight of 11kgs!

We were very fortunate to have empty seats on our SIN-DBX and DBX-JFK route, so Miss K had a seat all to herself. That allowed her to sleep pretty well on both legs of the flight.

On our way back, we had a full flight for both legs, so, we had a really horrible time trying to make ourselves and our little one who has to  (and sleep) on our lap comfortable throughout the whole duration of the flight.

Dubai airport is neat. They have these free Maclaren stroller for toddlers 3 years and below. You will see it at soon as you walk from the aerobridge into the terminal. Very convenient for transit passengers like us.

They also have a transit lounge were passengers on transit (at least in Terminal 1) can sit and have some food and drinks (free of charge) and surf the net (free of charge too). One just has to show their boarding pass.

The range of toys and enterntainment materials for children on board the flight were also more varied. They had bagpacks, colouring and activity booklets, colouring pencils and these hand puppets:

Our collection of the little Emirate "friends".

We were hoping for a cow to complete the collection!

The air stewardess were also going around taking polaroid photos of the kids on board. We had one made into a little booklet (which I have no clue where it is right now, the hubs might have lost it!) and this one which was made into a photoframe.

All in all, very good service with a smile, two thumbs up for Emirates. My airline of choice for now.

My Todd and I in Manhattan

Although Manhattan is not the most child friendly place on earth, Miss K and I managed to fit in some sightseeing, some fun activities and of course not forgetting the many food stops for quesadillas and pizzas along the way.

Central Park was our No.1 spot. We love the lush environment, the cherry blossoms in full bloom, the different breed of doggies taking their walk in the park and of course the ducks and squirrels who made the park their home.

Cherry Blossoms in full bloom.

I stumbled upon this nice park for toddlers at West 68th Street. There are actually many nice playgrounds at Central Park. Should we visit NYC again, we'll definitely explore the other playgrounds at Central Park.

A little too much fun!

A visit to New York will not be complete without visiting the Statue of Liberty. A cheap (free of charge) and less crowded way to see the statue of liberty is by taking the Staten Island Ferry. We had a nice cinnamon pretzel and coffee while waiting for the ferry. Ferry departs every 30 minutes to the hour. It was a nice ferry ride to and back from Staten Island. Miss K was free to walk around the half empty ferry, went out to the deck to look at the low flying seagulls and admired the view within.

It was lovely.

Miss K's first ferry ride :)

A visit to Brooklyn Bridge was totally unplanned. However, I was glad I got lost while taking the subway, hence ended up at the oldest suspension bridge in USA. It was a really HOT day in Manhattan the day we visited the bridge, too hot to walk the length of the longest suspension bridge in the world!

It was also on the bridge when we saw two NYPD helicopter flying really low, circling around while patroling the city. Yes, the heli kept the little one occupied throughout the 30 minutes walk along the bridge.

A very hot day, little one in a bad mood.

On the day we got lost and ended up at Brooklyn bridge, we got lost again on our way back and ended up at Wall Street where the NYSE is located. A place with high security, not interesting for the little one, however, this picture is just for keepsake.



I'm quite glad to say that this trip is actually not ALL about shopping, really!

Lubber Tote

Miss K picked this bright Phua-Chu-Kang-boots look-a-like bag when we were shopping at Century 21 in Manhattan.

I haven't seen this in Singapore but its a Lubber Tote.



Its pretty cool as it has the same concept as the Crocs shoes, you can add "Lubbs" to personalise the bottom holes, change the straps to funky looking ones and it has a shoe-like bottom.

How cool is that!

I got myself a red one :)

Heatwave in Princeton

Just when I was complaining about the chilly spring weather in Princeton, a heatwave of 86 degrees Farenheit (30 degrees celcius) hit Princeton yesterday!

I had never walked for 1.5 HOUR under a sweltering 30degC heat in Singapore before... but I just did here in Princeton! What was supposed to be a nice and cool walk by the Delaware & Raritan Canal, became an unbearably sweaty and hot walk along the canal all the way to Princeton Uni at Nassau Street. The results of the walk - I had a very nice tan.

Princeton Univeristy's grounds and its halls are pretty similar to those at Oxbridge. However, I still do think that the individual colleges in Oxford and Cambridge carries a more unique charm in comparison.
Princeton University Campus is rather small and convenient as there are shops and eateries around it.
It was a nice "pseudo-summer" day yesterday, so most of the students were out and about enjoying the sun.

We did too!

Mama, can I come to Princeton when I grow up?