Note to new readers: This article is part of Vee’s developmental milestones update series. It summarises my parenting approach, Vee’s progress, challenges we face and how we overcome them.

Inspiration this month:

Being a mother of 2 means I need to master an entirely new level of multi-tasking. Imagine this: nursing a newborn, urging a toddler to eat faster and gobbling down my food all at the SAME time.

Now that baby Jae has arrived, Vee’s officially promoted to be an older brother. I’ve stretched his growth updates from monthly to bi-monthly to tri-monthly. Ha… time’s very limited as I learn to juggle between the needs of 2 young boys. Kudos to mums who have even more children!

Anyway, the boy turned 2 years 9 months old (33 months) and here’s his progess update:

Learning & Communication

Through the final trimester of pregnancy, I managed to homeschool Vee using The Shichida Method almost every week day. We’d a break for the first 2+ weeks when baby Jae arrived, and just resumed guided activities again. He certainly misses his home lessons!

• Senses: Perhaps with the senses play that we’ve been practising, Vee has super-sharp senses. A few days ago, we were playing in the living room. Then he suddenly exclaimed, “Mummy, your handphone is ringing!” My phone rarely rings and it was in the bedroom upstairs. And I seriously couldn’t hear it at all. When I checked, it indeed had a missed call and 2 SMSes. Wow!
• Memory: We started learning 三字经 (Three Character Classic) through CDs and homemade flashcards. He’s very good at reciting them with minimal effort. In contrast, I need to practise MUCH harder to recall the verses. The power of learning using the right brain! Bit by bit, hopefully we can cover the entire classic through next year. This is a fantastic way to strengthen his audio memory, widen his Chinese vocabulary and instil good moral values.

• Reading: Recently, he has shown great enthusiasm in reading Chinese books aloud by himself. I’m putting a lot of emphasis on his Chinese language because we’d be enrolling him in a Chinese primary school. And I always think that Chinese is a beautiful yet very difficult language to master.
• Favourite books:

1. My First Things That Go Board Book* by DK Publishing: I bought several books from this My First series when Vee was about 1+ years old. This book on transport vehicles is his all-time favourite. From this book, I also learnt about vehicles such as digger, front loader and tractor with bale loader. I’m not a vehicle person at all, yet this little knowledge helps me to connect with Vee when he goes all EXCITED seeing them on the road. Other books from the series that we love:
2. My First Animal Board Book*: I like that this book introduces a wide number of interesting animals, such as the boa constrictor and fire salamander.
3. My First Word Board Book*: This book covers a big array of items in and out of the house. Ideal for expanding vocabulary.
4. My First Phonics Board Book*: I didn’t learn phonics as a child, so I can’t teach Vee phonics. This book covers many of the common sounds, so we learn together by reading it.

Montessori: For his first 3 years, we’ve been focusing more on right brain education. From age 3 to 6 years, it’s time to start bridging the right and left brain. This means besides “input” to the right brain, we’d also cover more logical reasoning and explanation. Vee started asking “Why” all the time since several months back, so it’s a sign that his left brain is kicking in.

After some exploration, I’d be implementing more Montessori activities into our home learning. To kick this off, I’ve enrolled in a 12-month online Monterssori Teacher Training Program offered by Karen Tyler, beginning on 1 December 2011. You’re welcome to join me and Shen-Li (of Figur8) if you’re interested.

Motor Skills

• After a few weeks of regular practice on his balance bike, he can move very fast on it, maneuvering in circles and sudden swerves.
• These few months, he finally could pull his underwear up by himself. So he doesn’t need my help to go to the potty. Just in time since I’m busier with baby Jae now. He managed to put on his pyjamas pants by himself too, but still needs more practice.

Behaviour & Social Skills

• With baby Jae’s arrival, I’ve less dedicated time for Vee. In the early days, he saw his baby brother scream, so he followed suit. He behaved in a very unusual manner during that first week when I rested a lot. Now that I’ve more time for him, he’s more his usual self.
• To ensure he continues to feel loved (and therefore behave well), I give him my full attention once baby Jae is asleep. We read, sing, play, hug and he totally enjoys these special 1-to-1 moments.

Diet & Feeding

• Vee used to be very easy during meal-times. Now, if I’ve to breastfeed Jae when he’s eating, he’d be very difficult and wait for me to feed him after I’m done nursing. I wish this is only a passing phase!

Potty Training

• Several months back, he’d a week of staying dry through naps and nights. Then he completely regressed. Nowadays, he wakes up wetter than in the past! More patience needed here…

Sleep

• He’s finally used to Daddy putting him to bed and sleeping beside him through the night. Miraculously, Granny managed to put him to bed on the night I delivered Jae, even though it was 1a.m. when he finally zonked out.
• I’m also teaching him to stay calm (and not cry) if he doesn’t see me when he wakes up. Many times, I’ve to breastfeed baby Jae in the next room.

It’s been a steep learning curve being a Mummy of 2. Thankfully, Jae has been a very angelic baby who already sleeps up to 4 hours in a stretch at night! Hope I’d be able to manage well when the confinement lady leaves in 2 weeks. Catch up again!

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P.S. View more developmental milestones (from 8 months old onwards).

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Disclosure: Mummy’s Reviews™ is a review site that receives compensation if readers make purchases from affiliate links (these are marked with an *). If we receive compensation from the companies whose products we review, this would be disclosed. These compensation help to maintain and grow Mummy’s Reviews™. We test each product thoroughly and give ratings according to our experience with it. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.

© 2009-2012 Veezian Pte. Ltd. | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Mummy's Reviews™ subscribers. If you like this post, you may share its link: [Learning] Vee Turns 2 Years 9 Months Old. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited.

Related posts:

1. [Learning] Vee Turns 2.5 Years Old
2. [Learning] Vee Turns 28 Months Old
3. [Learning] Vee Turns 25 Months Old

Note to new readers: This article is part of Vee’s developmental milestones update series. It summarises my parenting approach, Vee’s progress, challenges we face and how we overcome them.

Inspiration this month:

A child can grow up so much within a few months. I’m glad to have jotted down our journey through this blog.

Vee and I just recovered from high fever due to some viral infection after a relaxing Penang trip. This time, Vee had 2 episodes of febrile fits and we’d to sponge him diligently to keep his temperature down. Thankfully, hubby was around to help. Vee threw 2 weeks of mega tantrums due to the illness and I’m relieved he’s back to his chirpy self again.

Anyway, the boy turned 2.5 years and here’s his progess update:

Learning & Communication

In case you’re new to reading this series, Vee is homeschooled using mainly The Shichida Method. Other than 1-hour a week Shichida class, we don’t follow a specific curriculum. I’ve a set of broad learning goals for his preschool years and I let him guide me in what to cover.

On a typical weekday, we spend 1/2 to 1+ hour on guided activities — play games to develop senses, memory, speed reading and logic skills, do puzzles, practise writing, do simple art & craft, sing and go through a few minutes of flashcards. The flashcards cover a wide range of topics.

Before nap and bed-time, he chooses English and Chinese books for reading time. It can range from 3 to 10+ books at one sitting, depending on how much time and enthusiasm we have.

During his free play time, he gets to… PLAY, of course! While he’s playing, I often play different forms of music or audio recordings in the background. This lets him appreciate music and subconsciously absorb information, which is very powerful in strengthening his audio learning skills.

• Speech: Over the past months, his speech blossomed and he talks like a mini-adult. He has started adding “Why”s before and after almost every little thing, including, “Why is Daddy home? Why?” Instead of answering his every question, I sometimes ask, “What do you think?”
• It’s heartwarming when he blurted out, “I want to grow up, go to work with Daddy, and be a useful person.” I’ve been instilling this idea to him (according to Shichida’s teachings) since he was a young toddler and I’m amazed that he gets it at this age.
• Singing: One of his favourite activities now is to replace song lyrics to make them sound really funny. Then everyone gets a good laugh. He showed a keen interest on the piano when a sales person demonstrated it to us. We’d see if he’s really that interested in a few years.
• Drawing: Vee can control the pencil quite well and has started to draw simple pictures instead of random doodling. He loves to draw Daddy — in a very abstract form though (see below)!

• Puzzles: He can manage 12-piece puzzles with no or minimal help. I just bought more challenging ones to keep up with his pace.
• Math: After 1+ year, we’ve completed the 4th and final round of Shichida’s 63-Day Lightning Rapid Calculation Programme. Now, we’ve progressed to doing dots practice with recycled bottle caps and Shichida workbooks (1 page of 5 questions a day). He’s able to recognise quantity by sight.

Based on the right brain education method, I don’t teach him to count items 1-2-3-4-5, etc. For example, I show him 23 bottle caps and say “23″. I’m the one who has to do the counting first.

• Favourite books over the past few months:

1.  The Very Quiet Cricket* by Eric Carle: This book is beautifully illustrated as per Eric Carle’s usual standards. I like that it introduces a wide range of interesting insects such as the cicada. At the end of the battery-operated book, the cricket finally makes a sound, which is Vee’s favourite part. (The battery is replaceable.) Bought at RM30.
2. Dr. Seuss’s Beginner Book Collections* This set consists of 5 hardcover books stored in a box — Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish, Green Eggs and Ham, Hop on Pop, and Fox in Socks. Vee’s favourite so far is Hop on Pop, which has short, simple rhymes. Bought it at Amazon at USD26+ after discount. Quite a steal for 5 good books.
3. What Baby Needs* by William Sears, Martha Sears and Christie Watts Kelly: I got this book to prepare Vee for baby #2′s arrival. After scouring many books at Amazon, I settled on this because it’s in line with our family’s attachment parenting practices — breastfeeding, co-sleeping and babywearing. Bought at Amazon at USD10+ after discount.
4. Night-Night, Spot* by Eric Hill: This is actually part of our first series of the popular Spot books. I got the Chinese-translated set of 8 books (小玻系列图画故事书). This series is for older toddlers and doesn’t have any lift-the-flap. Vee loves dogs, so is naturally attracted to this series. Bought the 8 books at http://shop.ibaby.my/ at only RM63.38 after 33% discount.

Motor Skills

• He’s very proficient at climbing up and down the stairs, with alternating feet on the way up. But the stairs is a highly hazardous zone, so I watch him closely.
• On his second visit to the beach, he still dislikes the sand. Once on the beach, he becomes rooted and says he can’t move. Then he refuses to sit on the sand and insists on sitting on Daddy’s lap instead!

• Finally, he got interested in a balance bike, so we bought him one to learn balancing and eventually cycling.

Behaviour & Social Skills

• With his speech development, he shows his emotional sensitivity. Often, he’d ask, “Mummy, are you angry / happy?” Or “Mummy, can you smile?” I’m glad to see this progress because having a high EQ is very important for a person’s success.

He’s probably modelling my behaviour because I often acknowledge his emotions by asking questions like, “Are you upset because you can’t get what you want?” We also play games to recognise various facial expressions to raise his awareness of others’ feelings.

• During Shichida classes and a recent music trial class, I realised that Vee is more of an observer than active participant. He hardly moves when the teacher starts singing and dancing, even with my encouragement.

Diet & Feeding

• He has begun to recognise the foods that he can’t eat due to allergy — soy, mushrooms and strawberries being top of the list. Because of his eczema, I need to be very vigilant in screening his diet and teach him to politely reject food offered by relatives and strangers. In a way, homeschooling helps to keep this in check until he’s old enough to really know what he can’t eat. Of course, I hope he’d outgrow these allergies in future.

Potty Training

• Surprisingly, he started having dry diapers quite consistently during nap and night over the past week. We didn’t do anything special. He’s still on the same cloth diaper when sleeping. Then I ensure he pees before sleeping and remind him to keep his diaper dry when asleep.

Sleep

• Well… he refuses to let Daddy put him to bed nowadays and only wants me before bedtime. The best I can do is slip away after he’s asleep. During the night, he’s fine to snuggle with Daddy. I wonder what’d happen when baby #2 arrives in November!

As we learn along the way, I’d be sharing more with you. Catch up again!

Help Needed: I need to learn Bahasa Melayu with Vee. Can anyone recommend a good children’s BM reading series with translation in English? Please drop your suggestion in the comments box. Thank you very much!

P.S. View more developmental milestones (from 8 months old onwards).

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Disclosure: Mummy’s Reviews™ is a review site that receives compensation if readers make purchases from affiliate links (these are marked with an *). If we receive compensation from the companies whose products we review, this would be disclosed. These compensation help to maintain and grow Mummy’s Reviews™. We test each product thoroughly and give ratings according to our experience with it. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.

© 2009-2012 Veezian Pte. Ltd. | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Mummy's Reviews™ subscribers. If you like this post, you may share its link: [Learning] Vee Turns 2.5 Years Old. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited.

Related posts:

1. [Learning] Vee Turns 2 Years 9 Months Old
2. [Learning] Vee Turns 28 Months Old
3. [Learning] Vee Turns 25 Months Old

Note to new readers: This article is part of Vee’s developmental milestones update series. It summarises my parenting approach, Vee’s progress, challenges we face and how we overcome them.

Inspiration this month:
Within four months, I need to learn how to handle a toddler and a newborn baby, all by myself at home.

Vee turned 28 months old last week and here’s his progess update:

Learning & Communication

Our homeschooling have been progressing well since my energy level is about back to normal. Time is catching up because Vee would be reaching 3 years old in 7+ months, when the peak of his right brain’s learning ability starts to taper off and the less efficient left brain starts to kick in.

To reinforce my understanding of The Shichida Method, I’ve read these 2 books:

1. 七田真天才胎教法 (Shichida Pre-Natal Education): This guides pregnant mums how to show love effectively to baby during pregnancy. I like that it aims to raise a calm, healthy and happy baby. Bought at www.ibaby.my at RM15.80.

2. 七田真0－6岁育儿法 (The Shichida Method for 0-6 Years Old): This helps mothers with young children learn more about The Shichida Method. Even after attending Shichida classes for more than a year, I still discovered new information and ways to apply the method.

Most importantly, it emphasises that parents must first focus on building a strong relationship with the child, before being able to educate him effectively. And education is way beyond giving him knowledge — it also encompasses building a strong and ethical character. Bought at www.ibaby.my at RM15.80.

• Creativity: Recently, Vee has started to build structures independently with his LEGO Duplo* blocks. He plays with them almost daily and enjoys making vehicles. Ha, typical boy!
• Since he has finally stopped mouthing things, we started playing with his Play-Doh Meal Makin Kitchen* once every 1-2 weeks. He can play with this for 1+ hours, making lots of noodles and other food!

• Puzzles: This is another favourite activity, and he once did 15 jigsaw puzzles at one sitting. It trains his hand-eye co-ordination, photo-memory, patience and determination. Now, he can do the simple 4-8 pieces puzzles ones with no or minimal help. We’re working on 12 and more pieces.
• Flashcards: He likes flashcards but has very short attention span for them, so we run through only 100+ a day, within 1-2 minutes, rotating new cards every 3-4 days. I’ve almost exhausted our current stash, so am diligently making more. I flash physical cards, not via the computer screen. Now when he picks up a set of cards, he also tries to flash them and sing to me at the same time.

Though physical flashcards are more expensive and time consuming to make, the advantage is no glare on delicate eyes and I believe it’s more personal (showing the child more love) and effective. This philosophy follows The Shichida Method closely.

• Math: Several months ago, he started counting down from big numbers to 0, and sings “Ten Little Indian Boys” from 10 to 1 boys. Initially, I was surprised how he mastered it. Then I realised he picked it up after I’ve been counting down to end his activity (e.g. bath or play time).
• Sometimes, he blurts out the Addition +1 to +4 and Multiplication x1 songs. I continue to play the song tracks daily.
• After doing Shichida worksheets for a few months, he can independently match answers by drawing lines and trace numbers. One step closer to real writing.
• Favourite book for the past few months is Nursery Rhymes published by Brown Watson, beautifully illustrated by Gill Guile. Before nap, we go through the book and sing together. This activity has helped him learn to sing many songs. Bought it at Popular Bookstore at only RM15+ after discount.
• I’ve also gotten a pair of wooden toddler chopsticks from Shichida centre and letting him learn at the end of every meal. (These are mini adult chopsticks, not the Edison chopsticks.) Using chopsticks can supposedly stimulate the brain development and develop fine motor skills. It’s tough to learn yet he’s very excited over this!

Motor Skills

• He’s getting better at swimming. Now, he can waddle by himself with his floating vest to and fro the small pool many times, until he exclaims in exhaustion, “Daddy, last time, then orh orh (sleep).” Ha! The next step is to gradually remove foam inserts in the vest and let him improve his floating skills.
• He can also go down the pool’s slide by himself while staying upright. Several months back, he’d be slanted or even flip halfway down the slide.
• At this age, he’s climbing up furniture in the house whenever in the mood, jumping down from a side sofa onto the mattress, jumping on the mattress, etc. As long as the action isn’t vastly dangerous, I let him explore while keeping a close watch.
• During a resort trip, he even ran on the bed (thinking it’s only a mattress like home) and fell flat down onto his nose, and escaped with no injury. Ever since, he has learnt his lesson.

Letting him learn through little bumps is way better than me trying to nag a million times.

Behaviour & Social Skills

• Thankfully, he no longer throws his food or bib onto the floor. It’s a stage that’s passed.
• When he’s bored or frustrated nowadays, he presses my pregnant belly and says “按宝宝“ (press baby). I’ve been trying very hard to remind him to be gentle and give him as much attention as possible.

Diet & Feeding

• During weekdays, he eats mainly homecooked vegetarian food. I’ve introduced a rotation of his current favourites: Mon – soupy multigrains, Tue – wholemeal pasta, Wed – soupy multigrains, Thur – wholemeal noodles, Fri – soupy multigrains, Sat – fried rice. The pasta and noodles are lightly fried with olive or sunflower oil, with loads of vegetables and beans. He also gets a hard boiled egg for lunch, oily fish (salmon or mackerel) for dinner, plus soup and fruit for every meal.
• During weekends when we dine out, it’s tough to get vegetarian options for him because his eczema flares up with soy and mushrooms, so I’d offer him some chicken. Though he has only started trying meat (except fish) after 2 years old, he doesn’t reject them, but doesn’t eat a lot either. Fortunately, no allergic reaction.

Potty Training

• He continues to use the potty or toilet consistently at home and outdoors. Daddy has taught him to pee into the toilet while standing.
• For nap and night-time, there seems to be some regression, with no dry diapers. This might be linked to his huge intake of soup during meals. I’ve already limited his bedtime milk intake to only 2-3 oz. (He eats bread or oats until full.)
• On the bright side, he wakes up in the early morning (5-7a.m.) to request for a diaper change once wet and may continue to pee in the potty.

Sleep

• For many weeks during pregnancy, I slept with him during nap and bedtime, so he regressed and required me to be really close to him. Now that I’m more energetic, I’ve switched back to letting him sleep without close body contact (that is, I’m further away while he sleeps). Or simply let hubby sleep with him. He’s taking time to adjust and could sometimes fuss and wail up to 1 hour. On best nights, he sleeps through 11 hours if he doesn’t wake up for a diaper change.

As we learn along the way, I’d be sharing more with you. Catch up again!

P.S. View more developmental milestones (from 8 months old onwards).
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*: affiliate link to support the growth and maintenance of Mummy’s Reviews™

© 2009-2012 Veezian Pte. Ltd. | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Mummy's Reviews™ subscribers. If you like this post, you may share its link: [Learning] Vee Turns 28 Months Old. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited.

Related posts:

1. [Learning] Vee Turns 2 Years 9 Months Old
2. [Learning] Vee Turns 25 Months Old
3. [Learning] Vee Turns 2.5 Years Old

I’m excited to share this review on KidzGrow Online with you! Like many parents, since Vee was born, I’ve been tracking his developmental milestones. It isn’t about reaching his milestones earlier than anyone else. Instead, it’s about helping him reach the best of his potential while being amazed at how fast a baby grows.

Now, I’m using KidzGrow Online to achieve this easily at home. No need to read thick parenting books, scour the Internet for information and getting overloaded, or engage a home-visit nurse. What’s more, I’ve got a GREAT deal to give this to you free of charge! Read on…

About KidzGrow Online

This site offers a comprehensive child development tracking programme designed by a team in Singapore. It aims to empower and equip parents in their personal involvement of their children’s development from 3 months to 6 years old.

For a one-time fee, parents can access all 6 years of professional advice, suggestions and recommendations covering Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Cognition, Speech & Language and Social Skills development.

It’s supported by a group of therapists and professionals in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech-language therapy, psychology, education and teaching, I.T. and Management. The programme has undergone a trial involving more than 800 parents, and has shown positive results mentioned here.

First Impressions

Until Vee was about 20 months old, I engaged a professional home-visit nurse to check his development every month. This service was very useful in the early months when I was grasping the ropes of motherhood. However, it reached a point where Vee has progressed very well and the nurse is unable to give us much value-added information anymore. That’s when I decided to stop the RM100 monthly visits.

Shortly after, KidzGrow Online approached me for a review and I found it an interesting way to keep up with Vee’s development. After some Googling, I realised that 60% of the project’s funds were contributed by The Enterprise Challenge (Prime Minister’s Office of Singapore). Read details here.

Registration: There were some initial hiccups while registering for the service. Perhaps because I was using an Apple MacBook, I received an error message when keying in Vee’s birth date. After I tried using a Windows PC, there was no confirmation page and email after clicking “Check Out”. The project manager promptly asked the developer to send me a confirmation manually.

Our Detailed Review

Rating Guide: ★ Oh no!     ★★ Poor     ★★★ Fair     ★★★★ Good     ★★★★★ Excellent!

(a) Design: ★★★★ There’re slight design issues such as the ones I faced during registration. After successful registration, I could log in using an Apple MacBook, but the logout button doesn’t work, so I’d to simply close the window.

Upon logging in, I was impressed by the colourful animation, clear instructions, and simple layout. The animation is very kids-friendly and attracted Vee’s attention every time he sees me checking the programme for updates.

Only once, a task couldn’t load, so I’d to exit the window then it worked when I logged in again.

(b) Ease of Use: ★★★★ The programme is easy to navigate, from 3 months to 6 years old. It clearly shows Vee’s exact age and suggests the months that I should be reviewing. Updating particulars and password is a breeze.

Initially, I kept forgetting to log in to use the software. Then I set my electronic calendar to remind me to log in every 2 weeks.

(c) Effectiveness: ★★★★★ At every 2-week age group, there are several ideas on age-appropriate activities. This is very useful for any parent — either homeschooling or simply finding meaningful activities to do with your child after work. For each task, there’re detailed steps, things you need, animation, choice of appropriate response, therapist’s comments and suggested activities.

Besides Shichida classes 1 hour a week, Vee is homeschooled. The various areas on motor, cognitive, speech and language, and social skills give me ideas on new activities to try out with him. As an example, it took much practice before he could thread a lace through 3 consecutive beads.

Sometimes, it’s easy to get used to mothering a child and some gentle reminders are useful for helping him instil independence. For instance, the programme prompted me when was a good age to let Vee start putting on his shoes and pulling down his pants.

Because I can view activities for all age groups, in areas where Vee is more advanced, I can move on to the activities for higher age group. Where Vee is behind, we can simply keep reviewing and practising the activities.

I like that the indication of a “normal window” for a child to achieve the task. This way, I’d know if Vee needs any special intervention by a therapist.

Here’s the module introduction for a 28 months old:

And a summary of tasks for a 29 months old:

(g) Overall Value: ★★★★★ The fee of the programme depends on the subscription length — from as low as USD72 for 72 months (average USD1/month) to USD22.50 for 6 months (USD3.75/month) for the first child. Subsequent children can be enrolled at a discounted fee. Considering I’m getting so much ongoing information from KidzGrow Online and was paying RM100 per month for nurse visits, this is superb value for money!

With a big range of suggested activities, easy navigation and an attractive fee, I’d highly recommend using KidzGrow Online through a child’s first 6 years.

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What we like about it:

• Big collection of age-appropriate activities, with therapist’s detailed comments
• Easy to navigate
• Excellent value for money

What can be improved:

• Slight design hiccups — ensure the programme functions well with Apple computers

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Get Your Own (FREE for Parents Club members!)

To get your own account to track your kid’s development, visit KidzGrow Online.

EXCLUSIVE privilege if you’re a Parents Club member:

You’d receive an email on 21 June 2011 (Tuesday) 0700hr (KL/Singapore time) giving you an exclusive discount code. The code would be valid until 30 June 2011. You may choose to get a free 6-month membership worth USD22.50 or 35% discount off USD72 (worth USD25.20) for a 72-month membership.

• If you’re receiving this article with a Parents Club logo right on top, then you’re already in the club and simply need to wait for your special email.
• If you’re reading this article with no Parents Club logo on top, then join in the club now before the email is sent out. Submit the simple form below or visit here.

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Disclosures: I received a 72-month KidzGrow Online membership for review. I found it of great potential to help parents, so also provided marketing consulting service to KidzGrow Online.

© 2009-2012 Veezian Pte. Ltd. | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Mummy's Reviews™ subscribers. If you like this post, you may share its link: Review: Track kid’s development with KidzGrow Online. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited.

No related posts.

Pretend play -- using recycled boxes as shoes

Note to new readers: This article is part of Vee’s monthly developmental milestones update series. It summarises my parenting approach, Vee’s progress, challenges we face and how we overcome them.

Inspiration this month:
My goal is to raise wise and independent children who would contribute to the betterment of the world.

Vee turned 25 months old more than 2 weeks ago and I’ve been feeling unwell again, so haven’t been writing for a while. Here’s his progess update:

Learning & Communication

Our homeschooling went well in March as I was still energetic enough to guide him.

• Linking memory has always been Vee’s favourite learning activity – I realised he can easily remember sets of 10 pictures after some practice. Now, he can rattle off up to 50 pictures in sequence very quickly, while I struggle to recall if that’s the correct order. We practise with simple picture board books and linking memory sets bought at Shichida centre. Only about 5 minutes a day, treating it like a game.
• Vee loves reading time and can recite several books by memory, with or without flipping. He’s interested in reading independently, but still more interested in pictures than reading individual words, if they appear on the same page.
• Learning to read Chinese: For more than a month, we’ve started on two Chinese reading series. Vee enjoys them and recognizes some words. He seems to remember Chinese words more easily than English words, likely because Chinese characters look like little pictures. Once, he blurted out “妈妈” (mama, meaning mother) upon seeing the word card lying around, which surprised me! So I know he’s absorbing somehow. These are the reading series we’re using:

1. 我会读™: published by Teach-A-Tot (Singapore). 5 levels in total. Level 1 comes in big flashcards or books, while the rest are books with small reading cards. I like that the words are huge, and printed on alternate pages with the pictures. Pronunciation in hanyu pinyin is provided at the last page. The reading cards are too small for my liking though.

Levels 1 and 2 are suitable for 1-year olds. I bought Levels 1 to 3 at Popular Bookstore, at RM220 per box. Each box consists of 12 books and more than 100 word cards.

2. 学前阅读计划: published by Odonata Publishing Sdn Bhd (Malaysia). Available in a large collection of books covering at least 1000 characters (if I remember correctly). The first set of 8 books covers about 100 characters. Words are on the left page, while pictures are on the right. The hanyu pinyin and strokes for new words introduced are in small font at the bottom of the page.

I also bought the corresponding box of reading cards. The cards are big enough but printed on weak cardboard paper, so I laminated each of them.

Parents who need help on pronunciation may buy the CDs that read the stories aloud. Each book is RM5.50, and cards are RM18.50 per box. I also bought them at Popular Bookstore.

• He has started doing Shichida worksheets, which focus on pre-writing skills at this stage. Only 1 worksheet a day.
• He shows association skill when he spun a bottle and asked “What’s the time?” relating to the hands of a clock. I took the opportunity to teach him about clockwise and anti-clockwise concepts. We do a lot of such spontaneous learning through the day.

At his play area, I leave some recycled items for him to explore free play and develop his creativity. Examples are bottles, milk boxes, plastic bottle caps, pegs, old spoons, and small balls or scraps of paper. For a younger child who’s mouthing things, make sure only large objects are within reach.

Motor Skills

• Hubby has started bringing Vee to swim once a week, barring rainy days. He loves the water slide and tries waddling by himself (with a floating vest) when Daddy lets go of him. At least I’m glad that he has no phobia of the big pool because it’s been a year since we last swam.
• Occasionally, he manages to catch a medium-sized ball! We’re practise every few days and he should get better with time.
• He’s jumping a lot higher and can stand on one foot for a short while.

Behaviour & Social Skills

• Tantrums usually occur just before breakfast, possibly due to hunger.
• Otherwise, when he’s done eating, he tests my reaction by throwing his bib, tray and food onto the floor. Grrr! I usually handle this by turning his highchair away to face a corner and asks him to apologise. The mantra that I repeat to him daily, “Food is meant for the mouth. When you’re done, just give the food to Mummy. Understand?”

Diet & Feeding

• When we dine outdoors during weekends, Vee’s no longer interested in homecooked food. So he shares my food and we eat at places with healthy food choices. For instance, pumpkin soup, vegetarian pizza plus baked potato wedges with no salt.
• We’re still battling with his eczema, which flared up after he ate strawberries. Then he tried 1 pumpkin seed and a small patch of swelling appeared under his eye for a while. I suspect the pumpkin seed has been cross-contaminated with nuts.

Potty Training

• He’s finally diaper-free outdoors. Usually, I let him wear cloth training pants. For a longer trip and where toilets may not be easily accessible, I put Knickernappies or GroVia All-in-One cloth diapers (to be reviewed) on him. They pull up and down easily. Over the month, he has only wet himself twice outdoors, while on the car seat because there was no way we could get to the toilet in time.

To protect the car seat, I fold a traditional square nappy into many layers and place it on the car seat. It absorbs a pee accident rather well.

• About half the time, diapers are dry after nap. Less success during bedtime because he’d usually pee once early in the morning and tell me only after that.

Sleep

• I started lying down below his feet during his bedtime, so that he learns falling asleep without seeing me up close. Body contact also discouraged — no patting, no hand on him, his feet can’t touch me. It took a while for him to get used to it.
• Sometimes, I read on my iPod Touch so that he gets the idea that he can sleep while Mummy’s doing something else.
• During the night, if he awakes, he’d squeeze onto my pillow. If I’m energetic enough, I’d move him back to his own mattress, which is right beside mine. Very small steps every night, to move towards the big goal of him sleeping independently SOME day. (In case you’re a new reader, my arms were Vee’s pillow for 18 months and I’ve been literally jailed onto the bed whenever he’s sleeping. Sleep has always been our biggest challenge. )

I hope to be well again soon to share more information with you. Have a great day!

P.S. View more developmental milestones (from 8 months old onwards).

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1. [Learning] Vee Turns 2 Years 9 Months Old
2. [Learning] Vee Turns 28 Months Old
3. Vee Turns 17 Months Old

Vee's first finger painting artwork

Note to new readers: This article is part of Vee’s monthly developmental milestones update series. It summarises my parenting approach, Vee’s progress, challenges we face and how we overcome them.

Inspiration this month:
Birthdays can be celebrated without any present, cake or party. Most importantly, may my child(ren) stay happy and healthy all year round.

Vee’s turning 2 years old on Friday and it’s amazing how much he’s grown in such a short time. (In case you missed it, read his birth story here.) Here’s his progess update:

Learning & Communication

This section is growing longer as our homeschooling activities are in full force. I schedule 1-2 hours after breakfast for learning and games. Sometimes, Vee requests for more “lesson time” after tea break and after dinner. He’s definitely more hardworking than his teacher.

• He surprises us by singing a new song every few days. I attribute this to listening to nursery rhymes daily since he was a newborn. We’ve a huge 20-CD collection of 250 English and 250 Mandarin nursery rhymes (bought at Popular bookstore). Through these songs, he has mastered the alphabetical order, days of the week and gained a large library of vocabulary. It’s a super-easy and fun way for toddlers to learn.

Tip: Besides playing the CDs, you’d need to sing the songs to your baby so that he can see your lips move and learn to speak faster.

• For more “serious learning”: he has listened to “Addition +1 to +12″ songs for many months, so I started playing “Multiplication x1 to x36″ songs, which he enjoys. (Both sets are bought at Shichida centre.)
• I bought a new load of learning materials at Shichida centre, including memory games and many more linking memory cards, which Vee loves. Nowadays, we spend some time in the evenings playing memory games as a family. Even hubby’s hooked onto the games!
• Vee’s speech starts to involve abstract concepts such as “Mummy forgot” when I turn around to get something and “Daddy, be careful on the road” when the car jerks.
• He likes doodling with marker pens and I adore his first finger-painting artwork (see picture right at the top).
• Reading is still a favourite activity. We’ve completed Read at Home series 1A to 3C published by Oxford University Press. I chose it because it’s well-illustrated, contains interesting activities and uses British English, which is taught in Singaporean and Malaysian schools. Then I just bought a few books from Usborne’s First Reading series (also British English). The first book we read (The Wish Fish) was a big hit with Vee! You may view examples of the books at Amazon.com:

Read at Home (Level 1C): Mum’s New Hat*
Usborne First Reading (Level 2): Clever Rabbit and the Lion*

Homeschooling costs us just slightly less than putting Vee into a private preschool. And I’ve to put effort into gathering and preparing his learning materials.

Yet the benefits of homeschooling are vast:

1. we’ve tonnes of fun playing together,
2. learning contents and pace are tailored-made to his interests and progress,
3. the learning materials are ours to keep for future children, and
4. no need to leave the house and beat the famous jams in KL.

Oops, I digress… More on homeschooling next time.

Motor Skills

• He has learnt to remove his underwear all by himself, so he can go to the potty independently. And nope, he can’t put it on again yet.

Behaviour & Social Skills

• He started throwing tantrums over the slightest discontentment since his illness last month. On a bad day, he can throw 3 to 4 bouts of tantrums, especially when he can’t have what he wants. Typical sequence:

Vee: Mama, o-cereal, o-cereal, o-cereal.

Me (smile) : You’re having a slight cough, so no o-cereal for now. Let’s have bread instead.

Vee (shakes head and body in agitation): O-CEREAL, O-CEREAL, O-CEREAL!!!

Me (trying hard to smile): You’re having a slight cough, so no o-cereal for now. Let’s have bread instead.

Vee (wants to eat Mama up): AHHH!!!!! (Throws things, beats table & bursts into tears) Don’t want bread! O-CEREAL, O-CEREAL, O-CEREAL!!!

Every day, I’m challenged to prevent a melt-down, which means an uncontrollable toddler who’s making no sense at all. Prevention is certainly better than cure, when it comes to discipline.

So far, these techniques work best at dealing with his tantrums:

1. Distraction: offer another MORE interesting item or activity
2. Exchange: instead of taking away what he’s holding, offer something interesting as an exchange
3. Keep calm: deal with his tantrum calmly, tell him to calm down. When I’m agitated or angry, Vee doesn’t calm down and gets worse. So I need to calm down first.

Diet & Feeding

• Vee’s still thriving on a largely vegetarian diet with regular servings of fish for DHA. When dining outside, I continue packing homecooked meals with no seasoning for him. Needless to say, he’s often more interested in my food, especially vegetarian pizzas and pastas, which I gladly share with him.
• Due to his soy allergy and eczema, I’m still delaying introduction of allergenic foods such as oranges and strawberries. It’s probably time to start trying in a few months. Chocolates and nuts would have to wait a year or two longer.
• Since recovering from diarrhoea, his huge appetite has returned and he’s eating greens again. Oh, and his belly is even bigger than before!

Potty Training

• During his bad bout of diarrhoea, we’d to change his soiled diapers up to 5 times a night! It was worse than the newborn phase, and I’m so glad it’s over.
• At home, wears cotton underwear or shorts and is considered potty-trained, peeing about every 2 to 3 hours. For outdoor trips, he still wears cloth diapers and has been using the toilet rather consistently, with some accidents in between.
• For nap, he’s still not consistently dry because he drinks a large bowl of soup for lunch. If he wets himself, he’d cry in shock for a change or ask to go to the potty. After that, he can fall back to sleep. Phew!
• At night, he’d also wake me up for a diaper change if he’s wet. But it takes a little longer to get him back to sleep.

Based on our recent experiences, I’m planning to write a sequel to 18 Sure-Fire Tips for Early Potty-Training Success. And before he officially graduates from wearing diapers, I’m completing as many cloth diaper reviews as possible. Ha!

Sleep

• Since the illness, he has become clingy to me at bedtime again. He often cries when I tuck him into bed and needs me to hold his feet. Fortunately, he sleeps through the night quite well.

Dearest Vee, when you were a little baby, Mama set 3 mini goals for us to reach when you’re 2 years old. Now, you can feed yourself, sleep through the night, and go to the potty all by yourself. I’m very proud of you and thank you for being my wonderful boy. Happy birthday!

And thank you for reading this long post too!

P.S. View more developmental milestones (from 8 months old onwards).

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1. [Learning] Vee Turns 2.5 Years Old
2. [Learning] Vee Turns 2 Years 9 Months Old

Vee fixes a 6-piece puzzle by himself.

Inspiration this month: I thank God for giving me a strong and healthy child. Even though he’s ill today, I’ve faith that he’d recover and be back to his normal self very soon.

Vee turned 23 months old on Tuesday, but was hospitalised for a day due to high fever of 39.6 degrees Celsius that even led to febrile seizure (fits). I’m writing with a heavy heart as he’s still having diarrhoea, and not eating nor drinking much. I’m very concerned about him being dehydrated. While he’s napping and recovering, let me jot down his recent developmental milestones and try to cheer up a little…

Learning & Communication

• Finally, my little singer has blossomed! Over the weeks, he started singing many of his favourite songs, including most of the lyrics and the correct rhythm. He even had his first karaoke experience, and totally enjoyed himself.
• He’s speaking in short, complete sentences such as “爸爸，快点下来！” (Daddy, come down quickly!). Since we’re planning to send him to a Mandarin school in future (and I find Mandarin a tough language to master), I’m glad that he’s doing well in its pronunciation, sentence structure and has a wide range of vocabulary.
• For the first time, he fixed a 6-piece puzzle by himself!
• He started counting up to 30, with a bit of help in between. When he plays with his Melissa & Doug Peg Puzzle*, I observe that he recognises most (if not all) of the alphabets. He also knows the basic phonics.
• We started practising pre-writing skills and he can draw vertical, horizontal and circular lines. He likes “writing” and is more interested in colouring on blank sheets of paper than on pictures.
• Vee enjoys speed reading and memory games — he can recite the 10 animals in The Very Busy Spider’s Favorite Words (by Eric Carle)* faster than I flip the pages! To meet up to his challenge, I also learnt to recite as quickly as him. Nowadays, he wants to recite without holding the tiny book. It’s such fun home-schooling him and witnessing the wonders of right brain education.
• His new favourite book of the month is Dr. Seuss’s ABC*. It covers the capital and small letters with interesting rhymes and illustrations. Great for practising speed reading (while trying not to get tongues all twisted) and widening vocabulary.

Motor

• Working as a team, both of us broke last month’s record and stacked 21 blocks!
• He feeds himself well with a spoon and can drink independently from an open cup.

Behaviour & Social Skills

• He asserts his independence by saying “excuse me” to us when he wants personal space.

Diet & Feeding

• He became fussier during meals and started spitting out food and rejecting some food just after glancing at them. He’s not interested in greens, which he used to eat a lot. Also unwilling to try new foods. Hope his previously good appetite would return soon.

Potty Training

• He’s mostly potty-trained in the day. Even when outdoors (and in Shichida class recently), he’d request to pee in the toilet. At night, he’s wearing fitted cloth diapers without a cover. Once I feel that he’s wet, I’d change him. Hopefully, over time, he’d learn to hold his pee until morning. (Tip for easy night-time diaper changes: let child wear diapers and leg warmers instead of pants. Place a fleece blanket underneath child to protect bedsheet.)

Sleep

• Due to the current high fever, he has been sleeping like a newborn: needing a nap after being awake for 2-3 hours.

Vee’s turning 2 years old next month and all I wish is for him to get well soon.

Any Mummy with experience of child having high fever, febrile seizure, diarrhoea and dehydration, please share your knowledge in the comments box. Thank you very much!

P.S. View more developmental milestones (from 8 months old onwards).

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1. Vee Turns 16 Months Old
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Inspiration this month: Time is so precious — once lost, it can never be earned back again.

Finally, our home-learning activities resumed full momentum this month. I’m so charged up with the regained energy and we’re making good use of every waking moment. Here goes his progress…

Learning & Communication

• Vee has begun reciting nursery rhymes in Mandarin (“排排坐，吃果果”) and English (“Rain, Rain, Go Away”). Just last week, he attempted to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, in a rather garbled way. And when he recites or sings, he’d be upset if anyone tries to guide him. Ha!
• He likes to describe opposite terms: big vs. small, long vs. short, high vs. low, etc.
• His favourite learning activity is “Linking Memory” and he attempts to arrange the cards in the correct order. He enjoys sticker activities, but is still not keen on colouring. As for counting, he tries to count daily items in this manner “1, 2, 3… 10, 11, 12, 13, 8, 8, 9, 9, 20″ (?!?)
• We’ve started on the 2nd cycle of The Shichida Method‘s 63-Day Lightning Rapid Calculation Programme. His attention for the daily short flashcard session is still considered good. Tip learned from the Principal: insert some interesting flashcards such as pictures of favourite family members and cartoon characters.
• His new favourite book of the month is The Very Busy Spider (by Eric Carle)*. It has textured pictures, beautifully illustrated, and again suitable for practising linking memory. Vee loves reading it with My Favorite Words Library (also by Eric Carle), to match the small and large animals from the 2 books.

Motor

• Stacked 12 blocks when I can only do 14 with the same blocks!
• Going up and down stairs with no or minimal support
• He has finally started jumping with both feet lifted off the ground! Erm… or more like hopping forward like a frog.

Behaviour & Social Skills

• He’s asserting more independence by wanting to do things by himself or his way — no touching him when he’s on the potty, and he must wear NICE shorts for going out (mini vainpot!)

Diet & Feeding

• To help him pee less at night, we increased his milk intake in the morning and afternoon, and let him drink only half a cup before bed. It seems to work! Now, he pees only once at night or early morning.

Potty Training

• Fantastic progress! Since the day I started using prefolds + Snappi (without diaper cover), he has been telling me several times a day before pee-ing, with sufficient time to reach the potty. Once, he was “bottomless” while I was in the bathroom and he needed to pee. I told him to go to the potty by himself and he DID IT! AND once last week, he woke up DRY after sleeping for 10 hours!!! Otherwise, he’d request for a diaper change if he pees at night. Hope he’d repeat the feat again.
• Now, I let him eat 2 prunes FIRST thing in the morning when he’s hungriest, so that there’s no excuse for skipping them. Result: only 5-10 minutes needed on the potty for his big motion. Great for earlier bedtime.

Sleep

• To let him learn falling asleep independently, after our bedtime routine, I’d lay him on his tummy while I sit behind him. Quite often, he turns around to look at me. Then it’d take a little coaxing / negotiation (that sometimes escalates into threatening!) before he’d obediently drift off to dreamland by himself.

It’s amazing that Vee’s reaching the final year of toddlerhood when he turns TWO in 2 months’ time. I must treasure this very innocent and lovable stage…

P.S. View more developmental milestones (from 8 months old onwards).

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1. Vee Turns 17 Months Old
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Vee's obsession with trains and vehicles has started!

Inspiration this month: To take good care of my child(ren), I must stay healthy.

This update is overdue for 2 weeks as I just recovered. Vee grew up over the month with minimal care from me. Most of the time when he was playing, I could only lie down and give him some guidance. It was a month when every toy in the house came in useful, especially his new LEGO Duplo Legoville Deluxe Train Set*. (If you’re planning to splurge on a Christmas gift for a child who loves trains, this is THE one.) Otherwise, I read, sang or chatted with him. Here goes his progress…

Learning & Communication

• Vee’s speech development accelerated at an amazing pace. The longest phrase he said contains 7 Chinese words — 我和妈妈捉迷藏 (translated as “I play hide-and-seek with Mummy”), which is the title of a book he loves. He also began using short phrases such as 谢谢爸爸 (“Thank you, Daddy”).
• Since we’re a bilingual family, he has picked up both English and Mandarin in his unique way. He uses terms such as “ter ter 水” (for water), “包包 bread” and “玩 play”. When he’s eager to play, he even says “玩 play” PLUS the hand sign for “play” — that’s 3 languages at one shot! Very effective way of delivering your message, dear son.
• His favourite book of the month is Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? (illustrated by Eric Carle)*. It’s colourful, builds his vocabulary, and suitable for practising linking memory.

Motor

• Like most toddlers at this age, he tries to jump. But with words sounding much LOUDER than action — feet still not lifted off the ground yet.

Behaviour & Social Skills

• During the past month of resting, I began to appreciate his behaviour. Being a food-lover, he’s very cooperative during meal-times. At play-time, he would play near wherever I was resting, without tearing the house down. As long as he’s well-rested, there’s hardly any tantrums. What more could I ask for?

Diet & Feeding

• Since he’s nearing 2 years old, I’ve started letting him taste more restaurant food, such as vegetarian pizza and lasagna. So far, he enjoys everything that he has tried, except for olives.

Potty Training

• Progress with pee control is still slow. Before nap and bedtime, he’s able to give sufficient notice before peeing in the potty. During the day, he doesn’t bother telling me, probably because he’s engrossed with playing.
• Though he’s potty-trained for poo, he MUST eat 2 prunes daily to soften his stool. Otherwise, at bedtime, he’d feel uncomfortable and INSIST on sitting on the potty for up to one dreadful hour, sometimes without any output.

Sleep

• After 1 month of effort, he’s finally sleeping on his own side of the bed, without squeezing onto me at night.

In the upcoming weeks, I must resume momentum for our home-learning activities, while juggling loads of writing backlog. Enjoy your weekend!

P.S. View more developmental milestones (from 8 months old onwards).

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Inspiration this month: I hope to let Vee learn from life’s experiences, beyond what books can teach.

Here goes Vee’s progress…

Learning & Communication

• Vee had his first overseas vacation to Perth, and we stayed in a working farm for 1 night. The trip certainly broadened his exposure to geography, nature and animals. Since returning, he has been blabbering about roo-roos (kangaroos), chook-chooks (chickens), trains and buses. Before having Vee, I used to think that bringing young children overseas is a waste of money since they won’t remember the trip years down the road. Now, I think it’s a great opportunity to bring his home learning to life — reading about a kangaroo is entirely different from feeding a REAL kangaroo. And Perth is a fantastic destination for children. Our trip was mostly about nature, hardly any shopping.
• With 2 trips during the past month, we had no Shichida Method‘s classes for 4 weeks! I almost didn’t make any new flashcards and now he gets super-distracted during flashcard sessions at home. In contrast, he was a PERFECT student during class last week. He really missed his sinsei (teacher), lessons and friends. This reinforces my belief that weekly classes are important in getting our learning momentum going.
• He still loves linking memory and we’re at our 4th set, practising with 6 cards each time. (Each set typically consists of 72 cards.) If it’s a familiar picture, he usually gets the position correct.
• While waiting for our return flight at Perth airport, Vee was captivated by this board book, Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell*. I bought it with our remaining small change. Before this book, Vee has NEVER seen the picture of a camel and I’ve not taught him the word. On our second reading, he actually said “mer-mer” when I paused at the camel’s picture! This little boy is full of surprises…

Motor

• Occasionally, he stands in an inverted “V”, with his head on the floor and attempts to roll over. Gosh… I always try to pull him back in case he makes “forward rolls” a favourite past-time.
• Throughout the week, we’d do a mixture of drawing and water play. Yesterday, instead of water, I gave him some uncooked pastas and red beans to practise his scooping and pouring.
• I’m 90% sure he’s right-handed, as he prefers using his right hand for activities such as threading.

Behaviour & Social Skills

• During Perth, he suddenly started shouting “Ahh!!!” whenever his request isn’t granted. This certainly gets on my nerves. Sometimes, he can go “Ah! Ah! Ahhh!!!!!” Occasionally, he’d even try to hit us! It’s his way of expressing discontentment, which seems absolutely RUDE. To counter this, I tell him to “calm down”, “Shh!”, “be gentle” or say “Please” instead. Lots of patience is needed in dealing with toddlers.

Diet & Feeding

• I tried rubbing a little tofu (soya beancurd) onto his arm and there was no redness. Soon, I’d feed him some and pray that his soy allergy is gone. Egg white is another food he needs to try again too. Eczema, please go away!

Potty Training

• Using prefolds or fitted cloth diapers without any stay-dry layer helps him feel wet in the day. Yet, he can ignore the wetness at times and I need to make him change after every pee.

Sleep

• Technically, he’s sleeping through the night without waking up for milk. However, during the night, he’d always squeeze over to sleep over my chest and disrupt my beauty sleep. Grr… I must find a way to glue his head onto his pillow!

And it’s unbelievable this boy is TWENTY months old and turning TWO in 4 months!

P.S. View more developmental milestones (from 8 months old onwards).

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