Recently Shi Xu tends to show tones of curiosity in the anticipation of playing musical instruments .

When he sees his cousins playing recorder , he begs to have a try . When he sees people playing violin , he tends to imitate .Last week , when he went to See Hua (Shi Xu's cousin ) birthday party , he was enthralled to the piano .He is eager to play the piano .We let him sat on the piano chair and played .He didn't bang or hit the keys , but he played gently .Moving his fingers on the piano and churning out "random" tunes made him excited and had a great fun too .He just looked like a little pianist when he was playing the piano.



I should consider to enroll him in Kindermusik class .Kindermusic is a better choice to give him a solid background in music and prepare him for an instrument.


**Shi Xu @ 25 months

Little bits

Shi Xu never fails to amuse us with his funny tricks and actions ,he call


a) palm tree as coconut tree ( well , in fact they look alike )

b) tent as mushroom
(the semi-circular bivouac tents on the grass @ East Coast look like mushroom growing on the grassland ?)

c) Imitate tiger roars but looks like sleepy tiger yawning .


d) he blurt out " Surprise!!" when there was a silence in the car , the former silence atmosphere broke into contagious laughter,he SURPRISED us indeed .haha ...how the little know "surprise"?

e) Recently we try to wean Shi Xu off the pacifier ,we tell him that his pacifer has lizard and worm ,so he can not take it , but his reply was " lizard!? ..Emb!..nice ! " (he sound like he swallow it in one gulp ) .Needles to say , our trick was fail .

f) Last week we saw an accident on the road when we were on the way home , i explained to Shi Xu what was happening .
Shi Xu : "Accident ...bomb!(he made the sound effect )...car car "fall down" (over turn ) le ...
When he reached home , he made his car over turn and replayed the accident .haha ..

g)This morning when we passed by a shop which selling musical instrument , we asked Shi Xu if he want to play violin ,Shi Xu instantly made a violin posture.He was not placing the violin(virtually ) on his left shoulder but on his elbow part,and he was happily acting like he is playing the violin (on elbow part ) .haha ..he is unbeatable cute .

h)Daddy just had his hair trim in the evening while Shi Xu and I had our lesson in LNT . I did not notice he had trim his hair (*sotong wife* ) ,but to my surprice , Shi Xu noticed it and told me ..
Shi Xu : 爸爸 cut hair..
Daddy : 爸爸 handsome ?
Shi Xu: 时旭 handsome ..
Daddy : Mummy pretty ?
Shi Xu : Mummy pretty ..
Daddy never give up , with the hope that Shi Xu would say daddy handsome after his hair cut .
Daddy : 爸爸 handsome ?
Shi Xu: 时旭 handsome ..( Still think that he is more handsome than his daddy.haha.. )
Daddy : .......

**Shi Xu @ 25 months

Leapfrog Junior Tag is always in my shopping list .I have been waiting for its sales since 2 months ago . Yesterday i finally bought it in Robinson 20% sales . Junior tag is great for little children in reading .The Tag Junior book pal will read out loudly with vivid and crisp voice When you touch to any part of any page on the Junior board book.

The sales gift pack includes Tag™ Junior book pal, "If I Were..." sampler book,and storage case which allow you to keep max 3 tag junior board books and one tag junior pal .It is truly worth to buy . I even added Tag Junior board book:1-2-3 Dora in my list as it is in english and spanish!Hoping that Shi Xu will have good ear for languages, I always try to give him plenty of chances to explore different languages.

I have so much delight back from my loots .hehe ..




**Shi Xu @ 25 months

Shi Xu show very little interest in Math .Everytime when i flash math dot card to him , he will tend to turn away and do something else .He just refuses to look at the dot cards.Sometimes i really feel like i am flashing to the air like a mad lady .I hardly put him to sit still and look at the dot cards .He really demoralized me and I have stopped flashing for few months .Recently i restarted the program again ,he still show little interest .

Last week , to my much surprise . he took out some cards and flashed them to me !

Shi Xu : 31,32,34,39,33 ...!

He kept flashing and spoke out the numbers ,although he did not flash the correct card ,he could name out the numbers (which > 10) that set me in awe and this was out of my expectation as he did not look at the card everytime i flashed to him ! (well, perhap he was listening )

I am wondering who is teacher and who is student now ?Shi Xu, are we at wrong position ? haha ..


**Shi Xu @ 25 months

Aquadoodle

Aquadoodle is a mess-free coloring solution for toddlers and kids. It comes with a doodle mat, a magic doodle pen and some drawing shape boards.No ink!No paint!No mess!Just magic pen with water and doodle away .What a mess-free product !I instantly ordered it when i saw this product in BP last month .

Last night finally i recieved it .I can't wait to show little Shi Xu how magic it is . Shi Xu was extremely excited when i show him the "box"(not yet unwrapped) .He sang his favourite birthday song and requested the "present " (he called it as "present ")from me. It seem like the little one still greatly cherish the moment of his birthday .


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaShi Xu was so happy holding the doodle mat


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHow do open it ?


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaShi Xu was making his great art .

But the very next minute , his sense of freshness was gone .His attention span was pretty short . Probably if combines musical doodling with water will bring him more fun in his scribble .It happened that i ran out of batteries that time!Hmm...perhaps I should buy it tonight .

**shi Xu @25 months





Caring Shi Xu

Shi Xu still will reject milk SOMETIMES .Especially when he is not really hungry . He drives me nut everytime when he reject his milk or medicine(he still taking medicine for his cough) .


Daddy resorted to feed him by showing an upset face .Most of the time , Shi Xu just bear not to upset his daddy and will finish them . He has shown so much consideration for his daddy feelings .What a little caring boy .



**Shi Xu @24.75 months

Hair cut


Sometimes i feel abashed of not bringing my litle Shi Xu to salon to trim his hair before ,despite he is already 2 years old . Last time this was usually done by my ex nanny .I have no idea how she deal with it . A trip to the barber or hairdresser can be quite traumatic for a toddler like Shi Xu.I thought it definately would be a very HUGE challenge to me .But when i brought him to my MIL downstair salon,I realized that i was absoultely wrong .

Today was my first visit to salon with little Shi Xu .When we entered to the salon , I even ignorantly asked the hairstlist if I should put him on my lap or let him sit on the chair instead .(of course he should sit on the chair ,what a "sotong "mummy ) .

The whole process of haircut took about 15 mins .Much to my surprise , Shi Xu remained calm and seated ,he didn't move or cry at the hairdresser.he peeked to the mirror time to time . Occationally he would complain to me that the little pieces of hair caused so much discomfort to him .I offered him some positive reinforcement like "wow ,you are handsome boy now " , " good boy!" through the haircut and i told him he was having his haircut and he was doing well . The hairstylist even waste some minutes to answer a phone call ,Shi Xu become a little bit restless and fussy , we tried to talk to him to distract him .He was truly co-operative indeed .


Finally we got his hair cut done .I was proud of his bravery in the face of those haircutting shears.



The new hair makes him look much more grown up. It is awesome .I like his new look,it is refreshing . My little handsome boy !


Shi Xu @24.5months

Yesterday when i bathed for Shi Xu , i saw a bite mark on his back .He was bitten by his classmate !It tugged my heart. What my poor little boy .I can imagine he would probably burst into painful tears .

At first i wonder if he fight over the toys with his classmate so bitten by him .According to teacher , that was no fighting , the boy is new boy and he is non-verbal yet ,so most probably bite some one to express his feeling . I find that the boy is really like a tyrant .Anyway ,teacher had seperated the boy after the incident . I hope teachers will follow-up on counselling the boy after the incident and take note on that . Hope the same incident NEVER happen again .


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaThe bite mark on Shi Xu's back .



**Shi Xu @ 24.5 months

Last night we have our dinner at Sembawang Sakae Sushi .That has a small playground for children .Parent can enjoy their dinner while letting their children playing in the playground .

Shi Xu has his time to enjoy the sliding ,lego,little house etc at the playground .While he was playing his lego ,a girl who is about 4 years old , came and snatch his lego and played at the other corner ,Shi Xu just gentlely looked at the girl and continue playing his lego without any complain .The art of sharing comes pretty easy for him,when we were leaving , he even took some of his blocks and passed to the girl and bid goodbye to her . He is willing to share his toy with others .When it come to the food , he do the same to us , even he leave the last piece of his food (eg :biscuit , raisin etc ) , he is willing to share the last with us generously
.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaShi Xu was playing his lego ...


Shi Xu @24.5 month

We planned to buy some funny and decorative shoes charms to personalise the shoes for little Shi Xu .They are available some styles and themes,but he only insisted to choose his favourite Singapore flag .Since Singapore national day , Shi Xu has fallen in love with Singapore flag !

mummy:Do you want octopus ?(take the octopus charms)
Shi Xu : I want Singapore flag .
ignored his answer as Singapore flag not look so attractive
mummy:Do you want sea horse ?
Shi Xu : I want Singapore flag !I want Singapore flag! ( start showing impatience)

Well, patriot deserve the victory ...


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaNew look of his shoes

I can't resist the cute octopus & sea horse charms , the more is merrier . ...so ,the winner is clear now ~Shi Xu & mummy . Who is the loser ? the poor daddy who pay the shoes charms.


Shi Xu @24 month

Shi Xu has an abundance of energy now ,we always give him plenty of Opportunity to let him run around outside during weekend . Moving can help him build strength and increases his co-ordination.

After Lower Pierce reservoir, Upper Pierce reservoir and Marina Barrage ,today we went to another reservior ~Mac Ritchie Reservoir .Mac Ritchie Reservoir is Singapore’s main water reservoir. More than 1 km2 of primary forest still flourishes there.

We reached there around 4pm .The sun is shining, the skies are bright blue and the temperature is scorching.Shi Xu ran happily around the park .

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaSay hi .............


aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaZig-zag bridge

Shi Xu accidentally fall down when he ran and hurt his knee , he was showing me his wound .
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaWhat are they doing ?


Shi Xu @24.5 month

Letting a child explore his surroundings creates creativity. So Today we were going to let Shi Xu have an exciting cycling escapade !

we reached East coast at the mid morning , we rent a bicycle for 2 riders and with a child car seat . It was prickly and ticklish to put him sit at the car seat .He cried when we tried to belt him up .He probably scared and it turned him into a paper tiger as he never ride on bibycle(adult bicyle) before. People looked at us and wonder why we "forced " our little one to ride on bicyle . Well , we just tried to let him explore and experience it .

He started to calm down when we started cycling , he just found it was fun when the bicycle started moving and he likes it !we have our great time at East coast ,with lots of greenery and sea by the side.



aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaHere we are ...it was a wonderful cycling escapade .





Shi Xu@24.5 month

Last friday , When daddy recited the National pledge in car , much to my surprise , Shi Xu know the action to take National Pledge , he clenched his fist and put on his chest part until his daddy finish the pledge !He really amazed me !

Sunday was singapore 44th birthday .It was a historic first for Singaporean at 9.8.2009 8:22pm .Thousands of Singaporean here and abroad recited the National Pledge in unison.

We ,The citizens of singapore,
Pledge ourselves as one united people,
Regardless of race, language or religion,
to build a democratic society,based on justice and equality,
so as to achieve happiness,prosperity and progress for our nation .

When Shi Xu's cousin recited the National Pledge while they watching the National Day Parade(NDP) on TV in their grandmother's house, Shi Xu participated in it as well .He stand straightly , putting his fist on his chest despite he couldn't recite the pledge at this moment .They sang the national song togather as well ,overwhelmed with joy and national pride .

Happy 44th birthday Singapore !

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaWe ,the citizens of singapore......

Shi Xu @24.5 month


I realized that I’ve skipped the updates on Shi Xu development for few months (After the previous update on language development and his milestone ).



I want to pen down some updates on his development before my memory goes rusty.Over the last 6 months Shi Xu fine motor skills ,language & cognitive development improve steadily.

Scribble ,drawing & colouring
He is able to scribble vigorously although his scribbles yet taking discerbible shape .he's become enthralled by anything he can draw with — crayons, pens, and colored pencils.He also start attempting to incorporate language into his drawings.He always attempts to tell me that this is rainbow ,star ,moon ; that is ant ,spider,circle ,triangle ,singapore flag ,bla bla bla ...Although his draw wouln't look like any picture I recognize ,I totally indulging him in this .He show interest in colouring as well ,despite his colour does not match the real thing , I just let him colour by his imagination .

Cutting
He’s so good with scissors by his 23 month .He refused any help for cutting out the shapes.Most of the times the pieces he cut are out of shapes , but he is dexterous and quick in cutting .

Self-dressing
Shi Xu start do some self-dressing after he started his school life at his 23 months . Sometimes he can wear his pant without any help from us .But he still need to have more practice on this .
He also begins developing his own taste and personality .He will pick out what he want to wear and even sometimes he will mix and match his clothes in front of mirror.He is often drawn to clothes which has his favourite Thomas engine print . Occasionally , he will like to put on his Bob-the-Builder sun glasses and self praise "handsome boy!"

Feeding
After Shi xu start his school life at 22.5 month,he is not as picky and fussy as he was .The previous food strike seem to be far from me now . Especially come to his favourite food , he will happily munch aways them and request to eat more by his favourite "somemore! " . I like to asked him if the food nice and everytime he will give me the standard answer by nodding his head and say "nice!" . I’m so delighted to see him eating. No words can describe it .
Shi Xu has started self feeding with fork & spoon after he started his school as well .He smears over the plate , dish the food up and skillfully put good amount of food into his mouth .
Apart from bottle , Shi Xu had started drinking water directly from our cup with our help since he was 17 months .By he 21 months ,he started using straw to drink . He sip yagurt and my mum's home made Rebena happily by the straw and since then he love them so much . And he is confident drinking directly from cup by his own around 22 months .

Potty training
I started Shi XU potty training quite late . Again , is after he started his school .
Teacher started training him and as a parent , i have to participate in his training as well.I seldom encourage him do a dozen toilet sits each day to get him to learn to relax while sitting on the toilet.As such ,he still has pressure to have a bowel movement on toilet sometimes .
Last month he even has pressure to pass urine .I think he has confliction between diaper and pant because he is diaper-free in school while at home , i let him wear his diaper when he sleep and go out with us .Nevertheles , now he will tell us when he need to urinate ,however accidents do happen occasionally.

Language & Speech development
Shi Xu grows very well in his language development ,he utter his first word at his 9 months old .His Vocabulary explodes tremendously fast .He can name a number of objects to his surroundings since his 16 months .He started speak couplet at his 18 months and phrases/sentense by his 19 months .He pick up the words from us and everyone else around him . he knows to speak teochew( learn from his nanny's neighbour )in simple word , manderin ,english and even cantonese (few words ) when i brought him back to malaysia at his 21 months old .

He is become more of chatterbox ,interactive and curious now. He's likely asking questions in an attempt to keep a conversation going and loves to answer simple questions as well.For instance , when he looks at a new thing ,he will ask in astonishment" wow !what is this!? " .Everything is new and waiting for him to explore .
He is able to answer "What is your name ?" " where do you stay? " and "how old are you ?" now .
He has the cognitive skills to remember what he had seen . For instance ,he will tell me that elephant was spraying the water and the tiger was sleeping after few days we had visited the zoo .He knows to use his growing vocabulary to share his "personal experience " and what he is doing in school .

Wheh he turn to 22 months , he loves to sing and knows the words to several songs.Sometime he will hums the melodies when he forget the lyrics .He is a little pop star in our family .

Personal development
Shi Xu is growing more independent after he started his school , he can take care of his own .He always insist on doing the things himself.Self feed ,dress himself ,brush teeth etc,althought sometimes he is notoriously messy ,but it is fine .He start to follow some basic rules of hygiene as well .He wash hand time to time .Sometimes he probably doesn't remember to cover his mouth when he cough , but when we remind him , he will do that .

He is growing at such an amazing pace. It just a little slower for me to relish the moments .







Shi Xu @24 month

I did the flash card on Flags last few months ,since then Shi Xu used to name all flags as "Argentina ".He would say "Argentina " whenever he sees flag , i have no idea why he only has deep impression on Argentina flag .

National day is approaching , i take this oppoturnity to correct him as now we can see Singapore flag everywhere .

Shi Xu : Mummy , Argentina !( pointing to the singapore flag )
Mummy : no, this is singapore flag .
Shi Xu : (look like agree with mummy)Singapore flag ...

After a while ...
Shi Xu : Mummy , Argentina !( see another singapore flag )
Mummy : This is singapore flag .

After few times to correct him ....
Shi Xu : Mummy , Singapore flag !(pointing to singapore flag )
Mummy : YESS!! This is singapore flag , good boy !

Finally Singapore win!

**Shi Xu@24.5 months

"scissor ,paper, stone !" Remember the game we played during our childhood ?Yes , this is an interesting game and i love it when i was young .

Recently i like to play this game with daddy .We used this game to decide who to serve our little master milk . Our rule is loser have to prepare milk for our little master.

Everytime when we play the game , Shi Xu will imitate us with a smirk .He interested in our hands gesture and keen to play with us . Since then ,he likes to play the game with everyone around him .

"scissor ,paper, stone !" He has so much delight in just playing the game . His innocence shines through in every way.

**Shi Xu @ 24.5 month

Shi Xu has a mind of his own .His sense of himself as a distinct person grows, he'll talk about himself -- what he's doing in school, what he likes, and what he doesn't like.

Recently he told us , "I like Isabel " , "I like Sarah" (his female school peers ) .We just teased that he already has 2 girl friends in school . But I know he just simply feel more comfortable in playing with particular peers .Just like adult ,we are more closer with particular friends .

last week ...
Daddy: "Do you want to kiss Isabel ?"
Shi Xu:" I want to kiss mummy !"

That is nothing beat his say he want to kiss mummy ,it makes my days .

Moment with Shi Xu always bring a glow in me .

**Shi Xu @ 24.5 month

“我的钱呢?”Shi Xu asked his daddy before we went out from our house to Marina Barrage on last Sunday . Daddy literally burst into laugh . How this little fellow know we need money when we go out ?

I think the story behind was we took 2 coins from him the day before , so when he wanted to go out , he just realized that his pocket was empty ,so he wanted to get back his coins from us .

He has his own mind --> Never keep his pocket empty !


Shi Xu @ 24.5th month

Urge to swim

shi Xu has been coughing for 1.5 months .I have stopped his water play in school for sometimes .This make him has a strong urge to swim recently .

Last Saturday , after our dinner , we had a leisure stroll along the river at our downstair .When Shi Xu saw the river ,he excitedly shouted "Swimming !" .I was so sad to tell him that we can't swim in the river but only in swimming pool .

How i hope he can recover soon , i definately will bring him to Singapore Zoo’s Rainforest Kidzworld to have a fun of splash.

**Shi Xu @ 24.5 month

When come to carSSS , Shi Xu never gets bored playing with them .Sometimes they can be very helpful in comforting him . It also one of the MUST-HAVE gear for me .

He has wide variety of cars . his collection from toy car ->Honda airwave(his daddy car model ) , pickup , different colours of racing cars , fire engine ,police car , dump truck ,Excavator,Mitsubishi car ,trains to actual ride on --> tricycle , Fisherprice walker car , and even Little Tike grand coupe car . He even has helicopter and airplane added to his collection .

His cars "drive " to different places . Our house , nanny house , grand mum house , and even to school !

Sometimes it can be a headache to cleanup his mess of car !!




aaaaaaaaaShi Xu car collection (not yet of his complete set , some are them are "driving off " )


aaaaShi Xu Another set of collection ->Thomas & friends ( 2nd year birthday present from mummy)



aaaaaaa his biggest car , Little Tikes grand coupe car . (2nd year birthday present from daddy )





Shi Xu @24.5 months

Lego

Lego is cool, lego is fun and lego goes beyond imagination. But i can't do lego for nuts. I struggled with the pieces . I definately lack of imagination and creativity.Let's hope shi Xu can inherit his daddy flair .

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaadaddy's elephant ......

However ,Shi Xu's made ,which follow his own inclination will be aways a BIG MESS!!

Shi Xu @ 24 month

 
Lilypie Kids birthday Ticker