To all mums, my own mum too, Happy Mother's Day!
Kaelyn wished me a Happy Mother's Day this morning and gave me a hand made card, with lots and lots of help from her Dad of course. I think it's more like Dad drew the card and she helped to put some colouring. And Dad's drawing is like a kid's! Will post a pic up the next time. Nevertheless, it's really cute and sweet.
The girl also knows how to sing the Chinese nursery rhyme 'Ke Ren Lai' (When the guests come).
Original version:
Ke ren lai, kan Papa (The guest came to visit papa)
Papa bu zai jia (But Papa is not at home)
Wo qing ke ren xian zuo xia (I invited the guest to have a seat)
Zai jing yi bei cha (And served him tea)
Kaelyn's version:
Ke ren lai, kan Papa bu zai jia
Wo qing ke'en xian zuo xia
Airplane cha!
It's 80% accurate! I am impressed! Although i dont think she really knows the meaning. Note how the Yi bei cha became Airplane cha. We've filmed her on viewcam, will post it up next time.
My wish for Kaelyn is to be able to bite her food and vomit less! More of this in another post, it's a big issue for us now.
Meanwhile, enjoy the rest of Mother's Day with your mums/ kids.
NB: No photos these few blogs as David's hard disk got wiped out with all the photos too. So we are now in the 'desperately salvaging data' stage. Hence no photos / videos etc for now..
By the way, I used David's account thinking it's mine. So, no daddy is not wishing himself a Happy Mother's Day although he's quite sore about Mother's Day being more celebrated than Father's Day...
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Mama mama mama........
Just a year ago, I was very earnestly teaching Kaelyn how to say 'Mama', repeating 'Mama' to her like 30 times a day to drum it into her head. Hoping that one day she would finally be able to call out to me. And when she did utter the first 'Mama', I was over the moon.
Today, one year later, she calls out to me like a broken recorder. Within a span of 5 mins, I think she can say 'Mama' like 20 times! And it is not as if I was ignoring her.
While having breakfast / lunch / dinner..
Kaelyn: Mama
Me: Yes, darling?
Kaelyn: Mama, come
Me: Mama's eating. I'll come and play with you after I finish ok?
Kaelyn: Mama, mama, mama, mama, mama..................!
While just walking around the house / reading newspapers etc
Kaelyn: Mama
Me: Yes, what do you want?
Kaelyn: Mama, mama
Me: Yes, mama is listening, why?
Kaelyn: Mama, mama, mama, mama..................................!
Me: ??!!!?!?!
Even when I am at work, this doesnt stop
Kaelyn: Mama, where?
Nai nai: Mama's at work
Kaelyn: Mama, where?! (even louder).
And she will go searching round the house for her Mama, and repeating Mama, mama, mama............!
Sometimes it gets really annoying, but other times it's music to my ears..
Today, one year later, she calls out to me like a broken recorder. Within a span of 5 mins, I think she can say 'Mama' like 20 times! And it is not as if I was ignoring her.
While having breakfast / lunch / dinner..
Kaelyn: Mama
Me: Yes, darling?
Kaelyn: Mama, come
Me: Mama's eating. I'll come and play with you after I finish ok?
Kaelyn: Mama, mama, mama, mama, mama..................!
While just walking around the house / reading newspapers etc
Kaelyn: Mama
Me: Yes, what do you want?
Kaelyn: Mama, mama
Me: Yes, mama is listening, why?
Kaelyn: Mama, mama, mama, mama..................................!
Me: ??!!!?!?!
Even when I am at work, this doesnt stop
Kaelyn: Mama, where?
Nai nai: Mama's at work
Kaelyn: Mama, where?! (even louder).
And she will go searching round the house for her Mama, and repeating Mama, mama, mama............!
Sometimes it gets really annoying, but other times it's music to my ears..
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Kaelyn loves to draw, write and read books
Kaelyn enjoys reading when she was very young.
As early as 1-2 months old, Hann Sze and me has already started reading out to her flash cards on numbers, "ABC"s and objects/things.
She is very keen whenever we read to her, and will sit quietly listening when we are reading to her.
She will also point and ask for "book", and will flip through the book (some mama's books with mainly words) as if she is reading..
Kaelyn at my sis place.. reading Koko Gaven's book!
She would expect us to read to her in car, whenever we are around. When we come home after work/or during weekend, she will take a book, hold our hand and say "come", then she will sit on the floor and expect us to read to her.
See Ma ma reading to her..
She also likes to draw. we taught her to the outline of our hands only once. Then she always like to draw outline of her hands and even legs!
Kaelyn drawing outline of mama's hand!
Kaelyn drawing in deep concentration at nai nai/ye ye's house
I wish that she will continue to be interested to read and write for the rest of her lives!!
In fact, we just bought her a new set of table and chair from IKEA for her to read and write yesterday!
As early as 1-2 months old, Hann Sze and me has already started reading out to her flash cards on numbers, "ABC"s and objects/things.
She is very keen whenever we read to her, and will sit quietly listening when we are reading to her.
She will also point and ask for "book", and will flip through the book (some mama's books with mainly words) as if she is reading..
Kaelyn at my sis place.. reading Koko Gaven's book!
She would expect us to read to her in car, whenever we are around. When we come home after work/or during weekend, she will take a book, hold our hand and say "come", then she will sit on the floor and expect us to read to her.
See Ma ma reading to her..
She also likes to draw. we taught her to the outline of our hands only once. Then she always like to draw outline of her hands and even legs!
Kaelyn drawing outline of mama's hand!
Kaelyn drawing in deep concentration at nai nai/ye ye's house
I wish that she will continue to be interested to read and write for the rest of her lives!!
In fact, we just bought her a new set of table and chair from IKEA for her to read and write yesterday!
English or Mandarin
English or Mandarin? This has been something which David and I had been struggling with since Kaelyn was born.
I grew up speaking Mandarin at home and David mainly Hokkien and some Mandarin. English, although I wouldnt say was a huge struggle, is something I wished I could master better. After all, all subjects through my entire school life was thought in English (except for Chinese of course). You have to do well in PSLE English, GCE 'O' level English and GCE 'A' level General Paper before you can progress to a good school. And as I am working in a British Bank working with many 'ang mohs', it is all the more important for me to express myself well in English. Whereas for Chinese, the subject never really counted as a core subject in school. You are still able to get into a good school even if you do badly in this area. And I thought Mandarin was only useful with the 'uncles' and 'aunties' in the market / supermarket / coffeeshop / hawker centre etc.
With all the odds stacked against Mandarin and so much pros going for English, of course English was the way to go! We decided that we wanted our dear gal to have a headstart so we began to only converse with her in English since the day she was born. The idea is for her grandparents to speak to her in Mandarin and everything will just fall in place.
So 19 months on from that day this decision was made, how have we fared?
Kaelyn's language report card 1 month back:
English - A
The tide has turned...
I just hope the poor gal doesnt get confused with Ye ye and Nai nai speaking to her in Mandarin, Aunty (our helper) speaking to her in English, and Papa, Mama, Gong gong, Popo speaking to her in a mix of both....
I grew up speaking Mandarin at home and David mainly Hokkien and some Mandarin. English, although I wouldnt say was a huge struggle, is something I wished I could master better. After all, all subjects through my entire school life was thought in English (except for Chinese of course). You have to do well in PSLE English, GCE 'O' level English and GCE 'A' level General Paper before you can progress to a good school. And as I am working in a British Bank working with many 'ang mohs', it is all the more important for me to express myself well in English. Whereas for Chinese, the subject never really counted as a core subject in school. You are still able to get into a good school even if you do badly in this area. And I thought Mandarin was only useful with the 'uncles' and 'aunties' in the market / supermarket / coffeeshop / hawker centre etc.
With all the odds stacked against Mandarin and so much pros going for English, of course English was the way to go! We decided that we wanted our dear gal to have a headstart so we began to only converse with her in English since the day she was born. The idea is for her grandparents to speak to her in Mandarin and everything will just fall in place.
So 19 months on from that day this decision was made, how have we fared?
Kaelyn's language report card 1 month back:
English - A
- Responds very well to her English name, Kaelyn.
- She understands English instructions very well.
- She is able to express herself with simple English terms. e.g. Mama hand walk walk (means asking me to hold her hand to walk); Papa leg pain pain; Aunty eat; Mama hand draw; Come, sit etc etc.
- Takes a while to register her Chinese name, Yixuan.
- She understands instructions in Mandarin sometimes, but still not very well.
- Usually doesnt use Mandarin to express herself other than 'Bu yao, bu yao'.I think she understands quite a number of words as her grandparents have been speaking to her, but she doesnt naturally use them. A ball will always be 'ball' instead of 'qiu'; and bird is never 'niao' to her although we have been repeating these words to her. It is only when we ask her where is 'qiu' then she will point to the ball.
The tide has turned...
I just hope the poor gal doesnt get confused with Ye ye and Nai nai speaking to her in Mandarin, Aunty (our helper) speaking to her in English, and Papa, Mama, Gong gong, Popo speaking to her in a mix of both....
Lady Kaelyn
Our Kaelyn is a typical girly girl.
- She loves it when we comb and clip her hair and tells her 'mei mei' (pretty) after its done. So she'll keep very still while we are at work.
- She loves her soft toys... from Ernie...
... to Pooh bear....
.....to Minnie mouse..... to Bert, Cookie monster, angel bear, care bear, bean toy etc etc... which we didnt have a chance to take a photo of all of them. Maybe we should.
- She loves shopping for shoes (high heel ones...) Yikes, hope she doesnt grow up to own hundreds of pairs of them!
- She loves to cook for us and her soft toys and feed all of us, behaving like a Mother hen at times.
- And last but not least, she 'nags' ! Yes, no kidding. If you dont keep your shoes away when you come home, she'll pick up the shoes and asks you to keep them. And when David carries my handbag for me sometimes, she'll show her disapproval and says that that's 'Mama's bag' and so has to be carried by Mama...
- She loves it when we comb and clip her hair and tells her 'mei mei' (pretty) after its done. So she'll keep very still while we are at work.
- She loves her soft toys... from Ernie...
... to Pooh bear....
.....to Minnie mouse..... to Bert, Cookie monster, angel bear, care bear, bean toy etc etc... which we didnt have a chance to take a photo of all of them. Maybe we should.
- She loves shopping for shoes (high heel ones...) Yikes, hope she doesnt grow up to own hundreds of pairs of them!
- She loves to cook for us and her soft toys and feed all of us, behaving like a Mother hen at times.
- And last but not least, she 'nags' ! Yes, no kidding. If you dont keep your shoes away when you come home, she'll pick up the shoes and asks you to keep them. And when David carries my handbag for me sometimes, she'll show her disapproval and says that that's 'Mama's bag' and so has to be carried by Mama...
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
From Bs to Ws...
Kaelyn has progressed in her range of vocabulary.
Several months back when she first started to talk, her vocab was restricted to words beginning with Bs.
Bird, Ball, Baby, Back (means to put things back), Bao bao (to carry her), and of course her all time favourite even till now - Bu Yao Bu Yao (dont want)
Now she seems to take a liking for all things W..
Wet wet - used when she spilled (or rather intentionally poured) water on the floor, or when she wets herself sometimes.
Why - used when we asked her to do something or do something for her which she doesnt like. E.g. 'Kaelyn wear your socks, we are going out'. Refuses to wear her socks and screams 'WHYYYYY'!
Walk walk - used when she wants to go out. She will pull your arms / clothes etc and point to her shoes and door. Sometines also used in pretend play. E.g. she carries a basket in her arms and when we ask her where she is going, she replies 'walk walk'.
Wum (means I want) - used to indicate her preferences and demands. e.g. 'Kaelyn do you want to eat bread?' To which she replies 'I wum.'
Wait - used by us when we asks her to wait while we get her food / water / toys etc. Most of the time she will obey and repeats what we told her. 'Wait!' with the hand action.
What - used randomly, sometimes when she is angry or throwing tantrums.
I wonder what alphabet will be next..
Several months back when she first started to talk, her vocab was restricted to words beginning with Bs.
Bird, Ball, Baby, Back (means to put things back), Bao bao (to carry her), and of course her all time favourite even till now - Bu Yao Bu Yao (dont want)
Now she seems to take a liking for all things W..
Wet wet - used when she spilled (or rather intentionally poured) water on the floor, or when she wets herself sometimes.
Why - used when we asked her to do something or do something for her which she doesnt like. E.g. 'Kaelyn wear your socks, we are going out'. Refuses to wear her socks and screams 'WHYYYYY'!
Walk walk - used when she wants to go out. She will pull your arms / clothes etc and point to her shoes and door. Sometines also used in pretend play. E.g. she carries a basket in her arms and when we ask her where she is going, she replies 'walk walk'.
Wum (means I want) - used to indicate her preferences and demands. e.g. 'Kaelyn do you want to eat bread?' To which she replies 'I wum.'
Wait - used by us when we asks her to wait while we get her food / water / toys etc. Most of the time she will obey and repeats what we told her. 'Wait!' with the hand action.
What - used randomly, sometimes when she is angry or throwing tantrums.
I wonder what alphabet will be next..
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Kaelyn goes to school
'It's our time, let's sing together
It's our time, let's sing together
It's our time, let's sing together
Sing hello hello....'
This is the opening song at her weekly Kindermusik class at Tanglin Mall, which we have been bringing her to for several weeks now.
She's the youngest in the class, so she cant really catch everything the teacher says or follow closely. She is also one of the more 'disobedient' ones, always running around the room when the teacher is conducting an activity.
But I think she does pick up some things from attending the class. At least at home when we sing the song to her, she responds by swaying side to side. And she learnt how to hug people and keep her toys after use.
Where's papa? (who's outside the class taking this photo)
Let me perform somersault for you! (actually i dont know what she's trying to do)
Kaelyn's favourite time - playing with balls! Not sure why she is so fascinated with balls.
Time to keep the balls away..
I dont know whether I should continue to send her here after this series of sessions end in 2 weeks. It's quite ex, and very far from our place...
It's our time, let's sing together
It's our time, let's sing together
Sing hello hello....'
This is the opening song at her weekly Kindermusik class at Tanglin Mall, which we have been bringing her to for several weeks now.
She's the youngest in the class, so she cant really catch everything the teacher says or follow closely. She is also one of the more 'disobedient' ones, always running around the room when the teacher is conducting an activity.
But I think she does pick up some things from attending the class. At least at home when we sing the song to her, she responds by swaying side to side. And she learnt how to hug people and keep her toys after use.
Greeting teacher 'Caelin' (ya, same name but different spelling) for the first time
Where's papa? (who's outside the class taking this photo)
Let me perform somersault for you! (actually i dont know what she's trying to do)
Kaelyn's favourite time - playing with balls! Not sure why she is so fascinated with balls.
Time to keep the balls away..
I dont know whether I should continue to send her here after this series of sessions end in 2 weeks. It's quite ex, and very far from our place...
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