Matty though a little slow in learning to walk has been picking up new words fast and furious. Though it can be both exasperating and comical when he gets some of the words mixed up or mispronounces...
Us: Close the door
Matty: Off
***
Us: Turn off the tap
Matty: Gone
***
Us: Balloon
Matty: Bar-Bar (translation - bubble)
(He used to say "ber" for balloon... but ever since he was introduced to bubble, anything that is round and floats is a "bar-bar".)
***
Us: Up
Matty: Up
Us: Down
Matty: Up
***
Us: Train
Matty: Car-Car
Us: Chair
Matty: Car-Car
(Anything that has wheels and move is generalised as "car-car".)
***
Us: Bear
Matty: Dare-Dare
***
Us: Truck
Matty: Gar-bi-Gar (translation - garbage truck)
(Any vehicle that is large and has a big storage at the back is a "garbage truck".)
***
Us: Watch
Matty: Clock
(Anything the can tell the time is a "clock" whether you hang on the wall or wear it on the wrist.)
***
Us: Taxi
Matty: Tat-tee
***
And the most ultimate one so far....
Us: A-B-C
Matty: A-A-A or M-M-M
(The alphabet contains only "A" or "M" depending on his mood for the day).
Tuesday 31 October 2006
Monday 30 October 2006
Head-Spinning Week
So much had happened in the past one week and Mummy haven't had the time to document anything.
What started out as a long weekend to be filled with loads of outing... ended up as one filled with germs. Daddy came down with a bad headache on Sunday morning (22 Oct)... so we decided to head home to rest after we had lunch at Hog's Breath Cafe to celebrate his birthday. True enough... by nightfall his throat was starting to itch.
Daddy had to turn up at work on his birthday to clear some work despite we had planned to take leave together for the day since early this year. Not wanting to waste the whole day sitting around at home... Mummy and Granny took Matty to the newly opened Vivo City. We spent a total of 2 hours in Toys' R Us... with Matty fingering all the buttons and switches that he can lay his hands on. Again we decided to head home after lunch with Daddy as he was looking worse than the day before. He badly need to see a doctor for some prescription. Unfortunately... Matty came down with fever that evening and we decided that both of them should be separated physically for the night. While Daddy went home to rest, Mummy and Matty spent the night over at Granny's place. It was a gem that Matty slept through the night that day. He needed the ample rest to keep the fever away.
Tuesday (24 Oct) was recovery day for both boys... with Mummy shuttling between both places. Another day burnt! We had initially planned for an outing to Botanical Gardens.
First day back at work was a disaster. Never did I expect my inbox to be so filled with emails even though I was only away for one working day... not to mention that most countries in the region should either be celebrating Deepavali or Hari Raya Puasa. Not too sure if it was because of the flu bug that I might have caught from Daddy... or I was too busy to realise how cold the office was (probably a concoction of both)... Mummy started to sneeze non-stop towards the late afternoon. The itch at the back of the throat is usually not a good sign as well.
Darn! I officially declared myself as sick on Thursday (25 Oct). The fact that Matty was wakeful the night before didn't help with my condition. The ultimate torture is to be sick when you are pregnant... and still need to handle a teething toddler. You can never feel more sick than this. But the good thing was the family doctor certified me as unfit for work for 2 days even though I had requested for only 1. I think being a preggie does give you some perks... like this one!
Decided that I should try and drag myself to work for at least the morning the next day to prevent the volume of work sitting in my office from escalating. Good decision there... as Mummy ended having to rush out some last minute urgent work. By 1 pm... I was famished and tired... wrapped up my work and headed home. But that was not it. Matty's nose was dripping like a tap by then. Rushed him to the paediatrician for some medication and by the time I plonk myself into bed for a nap it was past 4 in the afternoon.
Mummy's head has been spinning since I got into work this morning. I think I am allergic to work. Chalked up more than 30 emails for just being away on Friday afternoon. How not to be stressed out? Hopefully I will be better tomorrow now that things are pretty much under control.
What started out as a long weekend to be filled with loads of outing... ended up as one filled with germs. Daddy came down with a bad headache on Sunday morning (22 Oct)... so we decided to head home to rest after we had lunch at Hog's Breath Cafe to celebrate his birthday. True enough... by nightfall his throat was starting to itch.
Daddy had to turn up at work on his birthday to clear some work despite we had planned to take leave together for the day since early this year. Not wanting to waste the whole day sitting around at home... Mummy and Granny took Matty to the newly opened Vivo City. We spent a total of 2 hours in Toys' R Us... with Matty fingering all the buttons and switches that he can lay his hands on. Again we decided to head home after lunch with Daddy as he was looking worse than the day before. He badly need to see a doctor for some prescription. Unfortunately... Matty came down with fever that evening and we decided that both of them should be separated physically for the night. While Daddy went home to rest, Mummy and Matty spent the night over at Granny's place. It was a gem that Matty slept through the night that day. He needed the ample rest to keep the fever away.
Tuesday (24 Oct) was recovery day for both boys... with Mummy shuttling between both places. Another day burnt! We had initially planned for an outing to Botanical Gardens.
First day back at work was a disaster. Never did I expect my inbox to be so filled with emails even though I was only away for one working day... not to mention that most countries in the region should either be celebrating Deepavali or Hari Raya Puasa. Not too sure if it was because of the flu bug that I might have caught from Daddy... or I was too busy to realise how cold the office was (probably a concoction of both)... Mummy started to sneeze non-stop towards the late afternoon. The itch at the back of the throat is usually not a good sign as well.
Darn! I officially declared myself as sick on Thursday (25 Oct). The fact that Matty was wakeful the night before didn't help with my condition. The ultimate torture is to be sick when you are pregnant... and still need to handle a teething toddler. You can never feel more sick than this. But the good thing was the family doctor certified me as unfit for work for 2 days even though I had requested for only 1. I think being a preggie does give you some perks... like this one!
Decided that I should try and drag myself to work for at least the morning the next day to prevent the volume of work sitting in my office from escalating. Good decision there... as Mummy ended having to rush out some last minute urgent work. By 1 pm... I was famished and tired... wrapped up my work and headed home. But that was not it. Matty's nose was dripping like a tap by then. Rushed him to the paediatrician for some medication and by the time I plonk myself into bed for a nap it was past 4 in the afternoon.
Mummy's head has been spinning since I got into work this morning. I think I am allergic to work. Chalked up more than 30 emails for just being away on Friday afternoon. How not to be stressed out? Hopefully I will be better tomorrow now that things are pretty much under control.
Monday 16 October 2006
Road to Independence
It was a busy busy weekend for us. MMR jab, wedding luncheon and shopping trip. So busy that Matty got knocked out so badly on Sunday night (much to our delight!) that he slept before 10pm and woke up briefly once at 5.30 in the early morning for some water before falling promptly back to sleep.
Matty has taken a liking to walking in the past few days unlike before when he will instinctively crawl rather than walk. But our dear boy is still the slow to warm type and will only venture around a new place on its only after gaining some familiarity. He had quite a bit of fun pacing around the wedding reception area and the shopping mall after a bit of getting used to. Once that happens... he won't allow anyone to hold his hand and dictate where he should go.
We bought a pair of sandals for him yesterday so that he can walk to granny's place every morning and back home every night. He is getting a bit heavy for Daddy (now weighing 11.4kg) to carry all the way home and up 3 storeys. The downside is that a 3 minutes walk can now stretch to more than 6 minutes long... with his little "detours" along the way. Too many distractions... like the car, a dog or even a neighbour's gate.
Matty was trying to feed himself with the spoon last evening over dinner. The thick and sticky consistency of macaroni and cheese is a good practising dish as the food sticks to the spoon and doesn't fall off easily. Each time he manages to scoop the food and put it into his mouth is enough to make him fill up with self-pride and beam from ear to ear. He even attempted to feed Mummy though I have to admit that the smell of his formula milk added to the dish doesn't quite agree with my palette.
The doodle board given to Matty as a birthday present is starting to gain favour. He finally worked out that he has been holding the pen upside down (despite being told many many times) and can scribble on the board. But he seems to enjoy the "erasing" rather than "writing"... and each time he erases his own "chicken scratches" away... he will declare with a loud "gone!".
(I must get Daddy to blog what happened last Saturday when Matty creeped up behind Daddy and stuck his little hand through Daddy's legs while Daddy was peeing and tried to catch the "rain". Ewww... gross!)
Matty has taken a liking to walking in the past few days unlike before when he will instinctively crawl rather than walk. But our dear boy is still the slow to warm type and will only venture around a new place on its only after gaining some familiarity. He had quite a bit of fun pacing around the wedding reception area and the shopping mall after a bit of getting used to. Once that happens... he won't allow anyone to hold his hand and dictate where he should go.
We bought a pair of sandals for him yesterday so that he can walk to granny's place every morning and back home every night. He is getting a bit heavy for Daddy (now weighing 11.4kg) to carry all the way home and up 3 storeys. The downside is that a 3 minutes walk can now stretch to more than 6 minutes long... with his little "detours" along the way. Too many distractions... like the car, a dog or even a neighbour's gate.
Matty was trying to feed himself with the spoon last evening over dinner. The thick and sticky consistency of macaroni and cheese is a good practising dish as the food sticks to the spoon and doesn't fall off easily. Each time he manages to scoop the food and put it into his mouth is enough to make him fill up with self-pride and beam from ear to ear. He even attempted to feed Mummy though I have to admit that the smell of his formula milk added to the dish doesn't quite agree with my palette.
The doodle board given to Matty as a birthday present is starting to gain favour. He finally worked out that he has been holding the pen upside down (despite being told many many times) and can scribble on the board. But he seems to enjoy the "erasing" rather than "writing"... and each time he erases his own "chicken scratches" away... he will declare with a loud "gone!".
(I must get Daddy to blog what happened last Saturday when Matty creeped up behind Daddy and stuck his little hand through Daddy's legs while Daddy was peeing and tried to catch the "rain". Ewww... gross!)
Monday 9 October 2006
Can't Place a Name Yet
It was time to check in on Baby Junior again last Saturday. Wasn't as active as the last visit... and just snoozing away.
We couldn't see if Baby Junior is a boy or girl due to the positioning and the lower half of him/her was blocked by the placenta. The placenta is right at the front... around Baby Junior's feet and I think it will be a while more before Mummy can feel the kicks. Hopefully we can determine if Matty will have a baby brother or baby sister 4 weeks later when we get a detailed scan.
We couldn't see if Baby Junior is a boy or girl due to the positioning and the lower half of him/her was blocked by the placenta. The placenta is right at the front... around Baby Junior's feet and I think it will be a while more before Mummy can feel the kicks. Hopefully we can determine if Matty will have a baby brother or baby sister 4 weeks later when we get a detailed scan.
Friday 6 October 2006
Flashcards vs Magazines and Flyers
Ever since Matty got his little table and chairs from Ikea... he started to spend a fair amount of time sitting and "reading"... though not quite the usual publications that most toddlers read - magazines and flyers that we receive in the mailbox... and even catalogues from flora/gift shops.
Matty has never shown a keen interest in story books and Mummy kind of gave up reading to him. We never made it past the first house getting blown down in Three Little Pigs. Recently... grandpa bought a few sets of flashcards for Matty... as expected he messed up the sequence of the cards within minutes. Mummy has never been a strong believer of teaching with flashcards even though it seems to be the latest craze with a lot of fellow mummies of this generation. It may have proven its worth but being able to pick out the right cards at 12 months old does not make the kid a genius. It definitely takes a lot more to say if a kid is "gifted" or "intelligent". Different strokes different folks. So I am not too bothered that flashcards does not hold out to be an appeal to Matty. He will eventually learn the words through other means.
Magazines and flyers seems to work wonders with Matty though. He points to things that he is familiar with when he flips through the magazines and name his favourite objects like car, ball, clock and flowers. He remembers which magazine has what object and at which page. He has even learned brand names like "Esso" and "BMW" through the magazines and flyers.
Looks like our boy has a very different sort of library from others!
(Something cute to put down as record - We finally figured out what "kar-pi-kar" means. Matty has been saying it repeatedly since last weekend. It means "garbage car". Actually grandpa has been telling him its "garbage truck". But I guess he really like cars alot!)
Matty has never shown a keen interest in story books and Mummy kind of gave up reading to him. We never made it past the first house getting blown down in Three Little Pigs. Recently... grandpa bought a few sets of flashcards for Matty... as expected he messed up the sequence of the cards within minutes. Mummy has never been a strong believer of teaching with flashcards even though it seems to be the latest craze with a lot of fellow mummies of this generation. It may have proven its worth but being able to pick out the right cards at 12 months old does not make the kid a genius. It definitely takes a lot more to say if a kid is "gifted" or "intelligent". Different strokes different folks. So I am not too bothered that flashcards does not hold out to be an appeal to Matty. He will eventually learn the words through other means.
Magazines and flyers seems to work wonders with Matty though. He points to things that he is familiar with when he flips through the magazines and name his favourite objects like car, ball, clock and flowers. He remembers which magazine has what object and at which page. He has even learned brand names like "Esso" and "BMW" through the magazines and flyers.
Looks like our boy has a very different sort of library from others!
(Something cute to put down as record - We finally figured out what "kar-pi-kar" means. Matty has been saying it repeatedly since last weekend. It means "garbage car". Actually grandpa has been telling him its "garbage truck". But I guess he really like cars alot!)
