Cousin sisters Sunday splashpool!

It was a Sunday yesterday and since she has chicken pox, which the blisters have just crusted over, we couldn't go out for any Sunday outings, so we had a splash pool moment at home!




Video over here :)

A Short Stay at the Palace of the Golden Horses

My final exams for this semester is around the corner, I'm blessed to have hubby coming over to lend me a helping hand to look after Sonia while I can revise for my exams.

He is super patient with her, never raised his voice and granted her every single request to play different versions of "Wheels on the Bus" song on youtube.
Trust me, that was tough work, as she would request to play the song twohundredandfourtyseven times, change to many different versions when she is bored with the previous version. Only her papa would be patient enough to still talk to her in a soft voice despite her weird frustrating requests.

I am still able to manage my revisions for exams as I only enrol in two subjects this semester. The tough assignments and presentation parts were over and I have completed one paper out of the two papers so I only have one paper left. Plus, tomorrow my parents and sisters are coming for a short trip for a cousin's wedding so I have to finish my revision in order to go out to play. =D

But first I have to update last week's trip since I have a little time now before continuing my revision.

We went for a stay in the Palace of the Golden Horses on the courtesy of my mom for letting me have the complementary night stay from her membership. We brought my mother in law along too.
Sonia was excited to see her dad and popo after so long.

The hotel unit was comfortable and spacious. I requested for a lake view and the receptionist gave me a room overlooking the swimming pool. Wonderful!

I swear that Sonia wanted to jump off the balcony straight into the pool.

We went swimming, which Sonia enjoyed the most. It was fun to watch her walk around the children's pool with her arm floats and her laughter put smiles on our faces as well.

After the swim we went for a water taxi ride to the Mines shopping centre. It was RM9 per pax for a one way trip, we will be taking the hotel's shuttle van service back. We booked the 7.30pm water taxi and sadly it was already dark when we boated the taxi, so no good photos on the water taxi.

We arrived at the Mines Wellness resort so we have to walk some distance to the shopping centre. We had dinner there and miss Sonia threw a short tantrum after I went into a kids' shoe shop and came out without buying. She wanted to try on the shoes on display and I believed that she would walk away with the shoes so I did not let her. She followed us out angry and sat down on the floor whining, waiting for us to pick her up. I walked away ignoring her but still aware of the surroundings in case someone else kidnap her. Despite my efforts to ignore her, her popo still has a soft spot for her. She got away with some comforting from popo and some food afterwards. 

Alright, I have a soft spot for her too. =p

The next day me and hubby have a body check-up in the Golden Horses Health Sanctuary, also from my mother's membership. Sonia stayed with popo in the hotel room and walked down to lunch with us when we were done. After lunch we granted her a short swim before the rain. She was equally happy to be in the pool.

A video of the hotel stay still in process =)

Next we drove off to look for the Mines Wonderland Theme Park. I had lovely memories in this theme park and can't wait for Sonia to build memories there as well. 

Alas, when we got there, there were no theme park and the car wash fella nearby told us that the park has closed down A LONG TIME AGO. =( 

That's why I did not get much info from google anymore! And I googled again regarding the close down and seemed that it was due to hygiene and safety purposes. Oh well. Memories are meant to be memories.

Change of plans then. i-City coming up next!

Playdate with Ashley

Finally compiled my post and did the video for the playdate two weeks ago on the 9th of November 2014 with little Ashley! We went to IPC Shopping Centre to have dinner, and then headed to the kids e-world playland.

This was their second playdate and its fun to watch them interact more this time compared to the first time they met. Ashley is so sweet and darling, Sonia seemed quieter but bold in her ways. Looking forward to our next playdate! Possibly with more kids =)

Video here:

19 months and 18 days

I have decided to start a blog journey about Sonia's development, I know its a little late but late is better than none. So I will have something to look back, and maybe one day she will read this too and understand more about her childhood.

As she grows and understands the would around her, things have been really different compared to when she was a baby. It was really tough to care for a baby with endless needs to be met, nursing a day and night, changing diapers every now and then, patting her to sleep and end up failing. Those times I keep reminding myself that soon all these will end once she has grown older, walking and eating well; things will get easier and easier. 

But hell no! There is no such thing as EASY in nurturing your child. Now she is a toddler, walking talking gibberish and can feed herself easily, I found myself in a state of a more challenging journey to begin. She has emotions, she has wishes, she has her own thoughts and opinions; and mind you it wasn't easy to deal with, especially when we have our own. 

Little bit of psychology information here, Piaget (read more here) has came up with a cognitive theory that describes stages go development in children. Children between age 2-7 years develop an egocentric view of the world, which they see the world only from their perspective (read more here ). 

Sonia would see everything in her perspective, developing a sense of possessiveness as they learn that they can manipulate objects and gain control. I shared on Facebook and Instagram she hits and pushes other children in her daycare if they take a toy she is interested in. 

   "Toddlers often want the same toy that another child has,

 not because they really want the toy, but to test their ability to dominate the situation."

- Carla Poole

As I shared on my Facebook wall, sharing is still an issue I'm working on, trying to get her to wait for her turn and teaching her to take turns with me holding an object by playing a 'my turn, your turn' game. She laughs when its my turn but still refused to hand me the object, I had to take charge and make her hand it over.

Its hard when it comes to disciplining and often we do not know how to balance autonomy and boundaries. I want to build her autonomy in deciding and going with her thoughts, but I do not want to kill her own thoughts and creativity. 

Post by Trinity Kids Malaysia.

Learnt something great from articles and through chatting with her daycare principle (my relative) that being firm and keep boundaries intact helps to balance things up while not letting her cross the line and gain too much control of us. The younger she start learning that there are certain behaviour which are not accepted, rules that are not supposed to be broken, the easier we can keep control of her behaviour growing up without bashing and cause her to lose her character. 

29/10/14

Today her daycare teacher told me that she is more active in class activities. 

I can see her difference in socialising as she is not as afraid as before in meeting new people, it might be due to the familiarity she gains in her daycare after almost 5 months being there, and she starts to understand more and more of the world around her. 

To a behaviourally inhibited child like my daughter, new people and environment are perceived as threats to her. I chose my thesis topic to research about behavioural inhibition as I want to get to know more about this temperament. 

She isn't arrogant, it is a trait of behaviourally inhibited children to smile less to other people as she is afraid of novel situations. 

She isn't spoiled, she is a sensitive child and therefore clings to me when she is afraid. 

I have to tend to her need for safety, but at the same time I have to avoid overprotecting her. Overprotecting will not help in her inhibited personality. 

30/10/14

I was told that Sonia now says 'NO' to her teacher when she was asked to sit down or other instructions. Her teachers describe her as tiny but fierce. I do not know whether this is a compliment or a bashful statement. I believe in granting autonomy in children but with the right boundaries. I explained to Sonia about obeying her teachers and saying 'YES' when she was asked to sit properly. She repeated 'YES' after me and I smiled. 

However, I do not acknowledge those teachers who asked their students to sit quietly for the whole day. They are children what do you expect? They are bound to move around and jump around to satisfy their need of motion. (Of course not referring to Sonia's daycare)

"In order for children to learn, they need to be able to pay attention. 

In order to pay attention, we need to let them move. "

- Angela Hansum

Here are more links highlighting classroom needs to provide students the space to move. Especially in Malaysian setting, where we are required to sit still through classes and those who move around being labelled ADHD. =.= Here

Sonia has a strong character despite of her shyness, she is strong willed and knows what she wants very well. I hope that she can grow up under the positive shade of her personality and my proper guidance. Educating a child is never easy!

A Day in Kepong Metropolitan Park

We went to Kepong Metropolitan Park today after Celine mummy's recommendation. She took some time to get used to the environment and enjoyed the swing the most. She saw lots of other kids on their bikes and little cars, she kept requesting to ride on theirs. Fortunately there were little cars and bikes for rent so she could have a go on one. It was a pleasant day, will definitely come back when papa is here next month.

                        

                        

Sonia's first year

不知不觉，我的Sonia已经一岁了！

怀孕后就没再写blogpost 的我，今天突然想update 一下自己的生活…
一岁又17天的Sonia, 已经开始学走路了～


早在几个月前学的事情更多，会挥手bye bye,会flying kiss，会拍手，跳舞，爬楼梯, 知道头发在哪里，有时听音乐会乱哼歌 等等我忘了～

这两天还可以渐渐放手站，今晚还站了整30秒钟哦～ 现在的她叽叽喳喳讲很多宝宝话，也会叫我和她爸爸papa mama，问她公公婆婆会转头看他们，给她东西会摇头说不要，知道睡觉要眯眯眼，会brush teeth, comb hair, 问她要不要她要的话就开嘴巴说‘啊’，告诉我们她要～ 问她眼睛她会指她洋娃娃的眼睛～
学会的事情真的越来越多，也渐渐让我觉得不纪录下来真的会错失好多回忆了 ＝）

Below are photos of Sonia's little party.

 A video to end =)