Daisy's Sleepover

The idea of this project is to take home a school's doll and write a story about the family's special time with her. You can say that we surely had fun with this assignment!

Anton Lee @ 1.8

You have grown leaps and bounds this month, belloching. You can now say your name (which comes out as, "A-to!"), the names of people close to us, and the personnel at the childcare. You can call out the sounds of some animals - cat (meow), dog (woof woof), sheep (baaa), goat (meeeeh), snake (ssssssss), duck (quack quack quack), and cow (moooo).

Speaking of cows, we have also now shifted from your formula to cow's milk.

We no longer struggle with the seatbelt. Ever since we started reading Stickybeak (a book about a school pet duck), you have understood that everyone must wear a seatbelt - Daddy, Mommy, Stickybeak, and Anton Lee.

Negotiating the use of the seatbelt has also become much easier after we grew into the practice of reading in the car. You have transitioned from "I'm Green and I'm Grumpy" (a guessing game for guests in a party, to "Belinda" (a cow who refuses to be milked), and to our current favourite, "There's A Sea In My Bedroom" (about a boy named David who lets out the sea from a conch shell). Oh how you love Mommy reading to you! Sometimes we go through a book thrice before reaching Childcare.

Your vocabulary is growing. You can name most parts of your body and everyday things at home. You can show how Sully and Mike Wazowski from the Monster University can roar and how the robot child screams in the scare simulator. You know that Dusty is an airplane and that his friend is named Chug (from the book, "Planes"). Because of this book, you also would like now to go to New York (to meet Ripslinger and El Chupacobra, the Mexican star plane!) You can do a pretend cry when we read about the tired baby in "Counting Kisses". You know how the cheese monster laughs in "Charlie and the Cheese Monster".

You have added verbs to your stack of words too! You now now how to "pat" Daddy and Momm's backs, you know how to tickle, hug, kiss, scratch, hop...

We have recently started re-reading "The Potty Experts" and you are showing interest in the potty.

You are starting to enjoy boy things now too! You love hanging out with your cousins while they are doing their thing like playing videos and you enjoy smashing cars with Zio!

Bedtime has become even more sweet. We say our prayers after lights off and tell stories about how your day went. You like singing songs before falling asleep.

You know what's the extra special thing you have learned to do this month? When we are at Church on Sundays, you grab Mommy and Daddy's hands, and we all three say the Lord's Prayer with hands intertwined. Then you say at the end, "Amen".

S is for Stacking

With patience, persistence
And Zia's assistance
You finally made it go
All the way up!

anton lee @ 11 months (part 2)

Oh, at 11 months you can

. . . pick out your bedtime book from the shelf

 

. . . entertain yourself

 

. . . can (most of the time) make your wants understood by pointing and using hand signs (your  favourite being the hand sign for “book” [show by flipping both hands, palms up])

But you know what’s best of all about you turning 11 months?
We’re getting a lot more cuddles and hugs from our belloching!

 

giving you a head start!

Mommy got you yesterday your first music cds. She picked it up from the shelf among several other cds because of this claim:

Founded on research, the "Music for Babies 4-disc Package" is a compilation of music box-type nursery rhymes and popular tunes, famous classics and lullabies. The package also features Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s classic masterpieces that are widely recorded to have positive intellectual, physical, and emotional effects on babies and kids.

We listened the whole afternoon to these cds. Disc 1 has famous classics and the soothing music of Mozart (Playtime); Disc 2 has also the famous classics and the soothing music of Mozart (Sleepytime); Disc 3 has lullabies and children’s songs; and Disc 4 has popular melodies. Mommy will bring the cds to the office so you can listen to them while she’s working.

While we were listening to the CDs, Mommy was reading this book, “How to Have a Smarter Baby”. It has a lot of games you and Mommy can play while you’re still in her tummy and which you and Daddy can play once you come out.

Although Mommy and Daddy can never be actually prepared when you come out to complete our little family, we do what we can so you can be very comfortable and excited with this world you will wake up to.

happy birthday daddy!

You are now 26 weeks little pebble! The book, “Pregnancy from Preconception to Birth” says that your eyes are beginning to open and your response to sound is more consistent.  You now measure about 14 inches from crown to heel and weigh a little more than 1.5 pounds.  You still continue to take small breaths and although you’re only breathing in water and not air, it’s still good practice when you are born.  Your testicles are beginning to descend to your scrotum and this trip will take about 2 to 3 days.

It is Daddy’s birthday today.  We planned to be in Adelaide to spend with him this special day but Mommy and Daddy ultimately decided, after weighing the pros and cons, that it may be stressful for you little pebble to travel 13 hours by plane from Manila to Adelaide and another 13 hours from Adelaide back to Manila after a few days.  We also don’t want you to come out much earlier than your scheduled date. So even if Daddy will be lonely and Mommy will be sad that they’re not together today, they have to make this small sacrifice for you to make sure that you are all right.

 It’s not too long now. Mommy and Daddy are expecting you by 15 September (Saturday), that’s only 2.5 months from now! And you’re their no. 1 priority which means that you are most important among all other important things for Mommy and Daddy.

So what you did this morning was to give Daddy his present and his cake to be opened/eaten when he comes to Manila in September (let’s see if he will share with you his cake when you come out in 15 September).

Speaking of sacrifice, Mommy has read this book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother”.  The book was written by a law professor who has two girls.  The two girls excelled in their classes and became very good at playing the piano and the violin. The friends of the parents of the two girls always ask how they were able to raise such intelligent and talented children.  The parents, especially the mother, only smiled.

The secret? Lots of sacrifice and hard work.  The children had to go home quickly after school to do their homework and then several hours practicing piano and violin.  The children were not allowed to waste their time watching television or playing video games. Of course the sacrifice was not only on the part of the children. The parents sacrificed a lot too. They had to work hard to pay for the school fees and music lessons of the children and they spent lots and lots of time supervising their girls’ lessons.

Little pebble, Mommy and Daddy want the best for you. They want you to be able to go to good schools, excel in your classes, so you can later have a good job and a comfortable life. But Mommy and Daddy cannot do these by themselves. We’re a team. So when Mommy makes you do practice exercises in addition to your homework and not allow you to go to parties so you can prepare for you exams, please don’t think that she’s making life miserable for you.  Mommy and Daddy are doing these all for you.  Oh, for sure we will have misunderstandings, you not wanting to do some things or not understanding why you have to do certain things when your friends are allowed by their parents to freely roam.  But that is not us, little pebble. Mommy and Daddy will devote their time and resources so they can prepare you for a life when you are going to be all on your own.

So really, Daddy’s birthday today when we are not all together is a start of sacrifices Mommy and Daddy have to make for you, little pebble.  It is a sacrifice, however, which is joyous. They know that they are starting today on a journey to making you the best that you can possibly be, our dearest little pebble.