Learning Colours With Bieny!

Bieny is already 2yo - such a big girl - but I feel like I haven't spent as much time playing and teaching her as I did Bielet. Of course, I feel similarly like I should spend more efforts on Bielet too. Sheesh, what happens when you have two kids.

I used to read a lot to Bielet and taught her all her alphabets, numbers, colours, animal sounds etcetc. She might have been really shy in school but at least she knew what was going on. Bieny, though, speaks well, is really good with her numbers and has her streetsmarts in place, but her basics are in shambles. Her favourite reply to me when I ask her anything about colours or animal sounds is, "Don't know!" With an accompanying gleeful grin somemore. -___-"

Since we're back home and I have a more fixed schedule now, I'm trying to start each day with more fruitful activities for the wee one. Like, learning her colours! I played this game with Bielet when she was younger and it seems like Bieny enjoys it too yay!

You'll need a colour chart and colour coordinated toys (we use whatever's around the house).

1. Pick and choose various coloured toys to place in a tray. Lego blocks work really well for this game because the pieces are so brightly coloured! It also helps to have a wide surface (as opposed to a narrow box) for better visual clarity.

I got this book of A5 sized basics charts from Times bookstore - think those nursery wall charts but more conveniently sized. 

2. Start by picking out each toy and get your child to match the right colours, eg "Where does this red bus go?" By doing this, I hope that she learns colours as well as what the toy/object is.

Sorting her red and yellow buses.

3. Cheer her on when she gets the right colours!

Bieny was really pleased to have done her Tayo and friends buses right (Gani, the red bus, moved forward by the time this picture was snapped!) Thanks again for the buses, Godma Emm and Uncle James!

4. After she gains the confidence to match independently, get her to choose her own toys from the tray to match. I still helped by saying out the colours (that's the point of this game innit), eg "Oh, you chose the purple grapes. Where's the purple box?"

Success! She mixed up the first few oranges and reds, but realised it soon enough. Given the size of the chart, I chose only 3 toys per colour for her to match (the same span of her attention too, actually). She got really upset that I used her pink rubberband for the game so I had to tie her hair up, hence her pink box only has 2 toys! 

*Sorry about the mess in the background, we aren't properly packed yet...*

I play a similar game of getting her to match shapes to pictures (in books or cards), and it's working for now. How do you teach your child to learn her basics?

Bieny's Quirks (Part 2): Pet Phrases

After getting caught up with my travel posts and new eats recently, I thought I'd better do a catchup on Bieny's Quirks too. With two kids + a little more work + other family commitments + wedding planning (for my sis and future bil) + goodness knows what, each day seems to fly by faster than the last. Bieny also seems to be growing up way faster than I expected! Psycho-motor wise, she might not be as quick (remember I was beside myself with worry when, for the longest time, she refused to walk unassisted), but boy is she another chatterbox.

At 21mo, Bieny is really smart and super observant. She learns from the best, of course. Jiejie Bielet is a wonderful example to follow: Caring, Good Natured, Thoughtful, Mature, Hardworking and loads more. She also learns the bad stuff from jiejie, but that's another story. Mostly, she learns and picks up what Bielet is saying or doing, and can mimic them to quite a tee. Bielet was already 2yo+ when I compiled her pet phrases but here are Bieny's anyway:

1. The Basics: ABC's & 123's
Ever since I tasked Bielet to teach her meimei the basic alphabets and numbers, she has been really serious about it. Before we nap or sleep every day, she would point out the letters on the alphabet chart (stuck on the wall next to our bed) and get Bieny to repeat after her. Seeing as there are twenty-six letters and Bieny's attention span proceeds no further than 'J', it's a monumental task.

Not bad, up to 'L' liao

Bieny's favourite alphabet is "O". Everytime she sees the alphabet in a poster or book, she would jab the letter enthusiastically and holler "OOOOOOOO". It's the same when she spots it on my keyboard (it doesn't help that "O" and "0" are practically next to each other on the laptop). I've had to backspace on the chubby alphabet quite a few times when blogging or typing an email...

As for her 123's, Bieny likes to follow on after Bielet and she's now confident enough to count by herself. She goes from 1 to 6 (sometimes 7), then completely skips 8 before moving on to 9. Or sometimes she goes backwards after 6. Funny little girl.

2. Thank You
Children start out by repeating only one syllable, and "thank you" was one of the earliest phrases that Bieny learnt. To her credit, she tried combining two into one, and it became "kyu" (sounds like "cute). My friends were really pleased at her manners when she first said it to them, and they - very encouragingly - told her that yes, you are very cute too. Babies, they get away with anything.

Need to be so smug, anot?!

3. Bye See You
From that one syllable, she slowly progressed to more and the first multi-syllabic phrase she managed (that I could make out) was "bye see you". That's usually what we say when we bid farewell, right? Well, Bieny knows that part so she would use this phrase when we are going off from home, or when a family member is leaving. The funniest, though, is when she gets a scolding and still tells us "bye see you" when she makes her way out the room - in tears. So yah, it's more like "(sniff) bye (sniff sniff) see you (sniff)".

4. Morning Mama
This. Is the perk of being the first person she sees when she wakes up. As she opens her eyelids still heavy with sleep, peeks at me, blinks, then a look of recognition flashes across her face as she stretches her little arms and gently greets me with a dazed "mor-nin-ma-ma". It makes me feel I can do anything. (While awesome, that feeling fades as the day goes on and there are just soooooo many things to do. But then, it's morning again and I feel awesome again.)

Bedhair Bieny

5. Where
(Funny! I just re-read Bielet's pet phrases and #5 was also a similar "Where"!!!)

When Bieny is awake enough to realise it's just me in the room (and after her melt-my-heart-and-make-me-happy-plus-plus "mor-nin-ma-ma", see #4 above), this exchange ensues:

Bieny: Heidi where?
Me: Jiejie is at school, meimei.
Bieny: Papa where?
Me: Papa sent jiejie to school, then he went on to work.

If she walks out of the room and sees Granny or Yiyi or Ah-pa or whoever else who is supposed to be there, but isn't, the exchange continues. Bieny isn't as persistent as Bielet was - but then, it might be too soon to tell, eh?

"Excuuuuuuuuuse me, Mama, but geniuses always asks loads of questions." (Photo c/o ClickSmiles, from Arnold's birthday party)

6. I Ready (sometimes "I Really")
There are various intonations of this one. Bieny gives a chirpy "i-re-dy" when she's ready to go "ou" ("out") of the house or a fidgety, impatient "I-re-dy" when she wants to get off her high chair. The impatience usually stems from nobody helping her when she first asks, "elp me" ("help me").

At times, after she gets scolded for doing something wrongly and asked if she is ready to be a good girl yet, she manages a sniffly/sobby "i-re-ly". I think there is a discernible difference, but no one else seems to be with me on this on. Guess "i-re-ly" dunno.

"Cheyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" (Photo taken by Bielet)

7. Anna
Yes, this is Anna from the animated hit Frozen. When Bieny first started uttering "uh-na", we thought it was because she preferred the little sis from the cartoon - ya know, seeing as she is also a meimei, and maybe because Anna is so lively, and happy, and selfless, and bubbly, and so loving to Anna. Uh-oh, yes. Bieny calls Elsa "Anna" too. So maybe she's just confused. Then again, if you ask her to point to the respective characters/dolls, she does choose the right ones. She just calls them both "Anna". Hmm.

As my friend Zuzu put it, grumpiest Anna ever.

8. Hot
My little foodie loves to dive into her food and depending on her hunger meter for that meal, this could come out as a shocked "ot" and a pull-back of her hand (on touching the hot food on her plate) or a shrieked "OT" and an accompanying wail and tears and arm-flail. She can get so demanding. On that topic, she really is a fast food kid - not the Mcdee's or KFC kind, but the I NEED MY FOOD RIGHT THIS SECOND type. C'mon now: jin drama #1.

"Oh HAI, are you talking about me?!"

9. Happy Happy Happy Happy, Do
When doing up a photo/video montage of this little baby for her first birthday party, one of the songs I selected was Happy by Pharrell Williams. Then somewhere along the way, it became Bieny's favourite song. Maybe it was because Bielet kept singing the song and butchering it "because I'm happy aloooooooooooooooooone" (it's supposed to be "because I'm happy, clap along...") Or because Despicable Me 2 kept re-running on cable. Or perhaps she's really just happy.

I loved this pic so much, I cropped it to passport size for inclusion in her pre-nursery registration form!

Bieny has one of the biggest and brightest smiles, which never fails to light up the room. She is also extremely good natured (unless you're hiding her snacks, then good luck hor) and loves to dance or bop to whatever you are singing. And if you're singing Happy, she'll sing along:

Me: (with body bops and hand sways) Happy
Bieny: Happy Happy Happy Happy
Me: That's what you wanna
Bieny: Do

10. See? Nice!
Exclusive term for after you have taken a picture or a video of her (or whoever else and she saw the action).

Or if she takes the picture herself

After so many outfit photos I have taken of her and Bielet, Bieny now knows to stand against a wall to take a photo. Ideally she should also flash me her winning smile, but oh well. And after I put the phone or camera down, she would amble over, press her cheek to my face and excitedly request to "see see?". Whatever the photo that appears (it could be a really awful snap), she would exclaim loudly, "NICE!" So supportive, this one.

Even when wearing an oversized dress (my shirt, btw)

11. Why
I posted this on my facebook a while back,

Bieny: Re re re boo, pease (translates to "read book, please")
ZX: NO
Bieny: WHYYYYYYYYYYY

She loves 'em, books

Welcome to the wonderful world of toddlerhood, Bieny. So many WHY's for you to be inquisitive about, so many where's for you to explore, so many who's for you to make friends with (don't anyohow get chummy with strangers tho!), so many what's for you to conquer, and so many when's for you to get to. And I can't wait to tag along! (I promise to be fun, okay?)

Even when you insist on flossing your teeth with beehoon...

(Sigh) Or dig for boogers in public..................

Mama loves you xoxo

Bieny's Quirks (Part 1): A summary

Can you believe that my baby has turned 13mo? Bieny has blossomed so beautifully, not just filling out her cheeks and growing into her doll-like features, but in the way she interacts with her sister and us. It always warms my heart to see the two girls play with each other, share their favourite toys (okay, most times grudgingly!), give the other a hug or kiss, sneakily stuff their faces with snacks when they think we aren't looking... This list is endless!

I loved jotting down Bielet's quirks and while an update on that is long overdue, I wanted to start one for Bieny too. If you're thinking: how come this lazy mother is not bothering to come up with a different, catchy phase for the little one, I CAN'T! Like literally. Totes wrecked my brain left right centre but nothing stuck. So I'm just sticking to quirks. I liiiiiiiiiiike.

1. Pat pat

When Bieny is afraid or she needs to calm herself down after accidentally choking on some food, she pats herself on her chest. Imagine that little hand with five chubby fingers (four chubby fingers and a large baby thumb, whatever) going thump-thump-thump, as she rounds her eyes and mouth for dramatic effect. It's the cutest thing ever, trust me. Especially if you cough and she pats you. When she does something wrong, though, she skips the pats and just waves her hands up in the air (ala mock it-wasnt-me flailing). For a small kid, she is surprisingly alert. One time I rapped her for taking a sticker (she's banned because she eats them all) and she looked away while desperately trying to shake the sticker off her hand. It was a major fail meme moment, but probably also the second cutest thing ever. 

Said arm flailing

2. Semi Miss Chatterbox

Unlike Bielet who talks and talks and talks AND TALKS, Bieny comes across as quite subdued. All that seems set to change because she can call jiejie, papa, mama, manny [a combi of 'ma' (from 'mama') and 'ny' (from granny), for Granny of course], a-pa [what Bielet calls Grandpa too] and does it all day long. She could say yiyi previously, but I think I might have been somewhat harsh on her (what's with calling my sis 'yiyi' before saying MAMA?!) and she hasn't called my sis since. Oops. In other news, she also knows amen (mostly, it's menmenmen), where (if you're lucky, sometimes with the outstretched, upward palms), there (with accompanying point of the finger), baby, dog, bird, apple, bb (for banana), light among other imperceptible babbles... NOT BAD RIGHT!

3. Leg wag

Okay, this is probably because Bieny spends too much time with my bro's sheltie. From where she's usually perched at in her walker, it's the perfect height - of the doggie's wagging tail. And Mitten (our sheltie) is known for being overzealous and enthusiastic, so the tail probably wags a bit too much. Just like how Bieny's leg (mostly the right leg) wags a bit too much. There was a time this placid baby only showed her pleasure with this leg wag: slightly amused = a couple of leg swings, happy = a couple of leg swings and maybe, an upturned mouth, over the moon = rigorous rocking of the leg, upturned mouth (maybe teeth too!) and at the extreme, you get a rocking belly dance too. For the record, it only happens when she watches the Let It Go singalong video. Baby addict.

I don't have any pics for her leg wagging stunts, but she usually has this mega chuffed look accompanying the rocks.

4. Jin drama (translation: very dramatic)

Bieny has been dubbed "jin drama number one" in the family. The rank order is arbitrary, because Bielet randomly assigned the rank number (she said she's number three and my bro is ranked number two - but if you know my bro, he's the least dramatic person in the world). But actually, Bielet might be on to something. Because Bieny is ULTRA dramatic. When she throws a temper, she flings herself either fully forward or backwards. She could be seated in her walker, on the floor or in someone's lap: doesn't matter. I've lost count of the number of times her head had a full on collision with the chair back, floor, wall or even that someone's chest. Oh, and did I mention, the uncountable decibel range of her accompanying shrieks? All together now: jin drama.

Screaming as loud as she can

5. Goodbye kiss 

As you would expect, Bieny has mastered quite some actions. Other than those above, other notable actions include turning round and round while seated on the ground (using her heel to manouvere her spinning), high fiving the whole world (even when we're high fiving each other, and not her, she raises her hand for your palm - demanding for seconds, sometimes thirds), making weird noises by popping her arm in and out of her mouth (ask to see her video), and throwing her legs up and down lying in bed. She also does a fairly normal wave of the hand to say goodbye, but it's her "goodbye kiss" that is classic. First, it was a raise of her hand to the nose instead of the mouth (a bit off, never mind, give chance). Some time later, it became a finger to the nose (her favourite daily action, btw, to see the ewwwwwwwwwwwwww response of everyone around). Then, it was a finger into the mouth maybe because that time had bad teething pains too). Next, was a hand to the forehead (getting in on salutes to Papa early). And now? Back to the finger in her nose. EW.

Sigh.

6. Kiss

A tad more civilised than her goodbye counterpart. When you ask for a kiss, Bieny actually dips her head towards yours and plants a smacker. I love to disturb her and ask for multiple kisses. Hee. She's so used to her crazy mama that just the other night, I laid next to her while she rolled around in bed and every time she rolled to me, she would aim a kiss on my lips. These times are really precious, 'kay, because Bielet doesn't like me to kiss her anymore. *WAILS* 

7. Spoon and cup

For some time now, Bieny's favouritest toys have been a spoon and a cup. Any spoon and any cup, actually. (It used to be a pen - which was what she chose during her first year birthday traditional crawl too!) Now, she grabs from the masak masak box or off the table during mealtimes. She is really focused when she stirs the little spoon in the cup, then proceeds to feed herself (pulling out a very slobbery spoon) and then whoever's next to her (umm thank you but no thank you). Another thing she loves doing with the spoon and cup is to tap the inside to make a kok kok sound. Funny!

(Thanks for the brilliantly captured snap, Winnie!)

8. Sound of Music

This little girl loves her sound toys. Whenever we go out, I always make sure there's at least one toy with loud noises and many buttons to press so that she's sufficiently entertained. Those books where it starts singing a different nursery rhyme or song when you turn the page is one of her favourite toys. Also, my cousin and her husband bought a walker-cum-motorbike for Bieny's first birthday and it has super, awesome loud jingles. Bieny loves to ride on the motorbike, just to push the buttons, then maybe she'll kick around to get forward. It's quite unglamorous, to be honest, but hey as long as you get from A to B right?

Bieny more intent on pushing the buttons

But she looks SO GROWN UP here, doesn't she? Thanks Doreen & Gerald for the wonderful gift :))

9. Selfies

Yes, we have arrived, haven't we. I take so many photos of Bieny that she gets all excited when I change my handphone to selfie mode. She doesn't preen or pout, thank goodness, but she delights in crawling to the phone and poking her fingers all over the screen (her face). That results in many failed pictures, obviously, but I still download them all anyway.

Even Bielet wants more action packed shoots!

There's so much more but these round up my favourite quirks of my littlest girl. The older you get, the funner you are, Bieny. Mama relishes all the time spent with with you, hearing you laugh, making you cry so I can get the warmest hugs, chasing you around the house so you're all sweaty and clammy but still the best smelling baby in the world to me. Mama loves you xoxo.