Cheeks to Cheeks

It is 10.30am and here I am reading through a stack of papers of Mandatory rules, parents authorization on technology and media use, and filling out emergency card. Just two and a half hours ago I was in the Kindergarten trying to get my 1st born settle into her new classroom and making sure she remembers all the hundred and one things she must do throughout the day, such as, “Remember to put your jacket in the backpack” “Remember to wash your hands after you use the toilet” “You will have to take your food out for lunch and if you need help, ask your teacher” “There is snack time and remember to take out your snacks from your lunch box.”

Yes, today my first child has promoted to Kindergarten. We are very fortunate to go through this 1st day of school experience with two other families whom have became very good friends. Today Belle, Abby and Tessa started Kindergarten together. The only unfortunate part is Belle will not be in the same classroom as Abby and Tessa. But we know our baby is strong and independent. She can survive in a new environment on her own and she did not cry when we left. She is quite a trooper!

Things have been going crazy in our lives but I will save that in a different post. Today is all about Belle and her first day of Kindergarten. We arrived at school 8am on the dot. If it weren’t for the traffic lights we would have arrived sooner. So, note to myself to leave the house 20 mins before 8am.

Once we got there, we picked up the stack of must-read documents from the school district and did a little name hunt in her classroom. Her teacher Ms. D.M. prepared a list for us, the parents, to go through with the new students.

First we found her cubby hole and above it there are hooks to hang the backpacks. Next, we had to find the drinking fountain which is next to the sink. This is for the students to take a sip if they get thirsty. The last thing we had to do was to find her table and we did that by look at the name tags that were pasted on the tables.

We picked up Belle’s name tag and proceeded to an easel where she had to write her name. After that the list stated that she has to choose a book from the book shelves and go back to her seat to read that book quietly. There are 25 students in her class and the classroom barely fits everyone (kids and parents).

After a few minutes of watching the teacher doing roll calls, Jon and I proceeded to the coffee table that was set up by the school. There we chatted with Abby’s and Tessa’s parents. Jon and I didn’t leave school until 9.30am.

I’m so excited and nervous for my little one. I do hope she is going to enjoy Kindergarten and making new friends. I guess I will have to wait till 1.30pm to hear all about her day. In the mean time, I should get back to the stack of papers from the school.

These days Cassie has phased in to the 3-word sentences. Her favorite sentence is, “Let me see.” She has blossomed into a Miss Kay-poh-chi (Miss Nosy).

She loves to pull a stool next to me whenever I’m working on the kitchen counter. I would be cutting up vegetables and all of the sudden I would see her little head pop up next to me.

At 2 years and 5 months, she is stressing on her independence. She insists to dress up by herself. If we try to help she will push our hands away and say, “No no nonono.” Then it will be followed with a “Do”, which means she wants to do it on her own. She also loves to feed herself and it happens only when it comes to her favorite food. Among her favorites are Mac-n-Cheese, Pizza, Ice-cream and Meat. Yup, this girl is a super meat lover. For her to eat rice, we will have to entice her with meat, be it chicken, duck, pork or beef. As long as there is meat in her meal she will wallop them. Give her vegetables, she will spit them out or pick them off her rice.

Looking back at it, when Belle was in this phase, I had easily labelled her as going through the Terrible Twos stage. Now I just think of it as a growth development that every kid has to go through. I don’t get work up over Cassie’s need of independence. I guess I have come to accept it as it. I do find it liberating to know there is light at the end of it.

Okay, back to Cassie’s milestone updates. She sings now, well, not exactly in full sentences. For example, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star will be

Star, Star, Star, Star star star.
Star, Star, Star, Star, Star star star…

So, yeah, it is quite interesting to hear her sing. Going to preschool has also open up her personality. She now boogie and jive to songs, plays with kids, gives hugs, which is a HUGE improvement since she is on the timid side. She has realized that making funny faces makes people laugh, and she loves that. She loves it so much she ends up laughing (till she can’t breath) at herself. But this only happens with people she is comfortable with.

Another thing I want to jot down is her OCDism. She cannot stand being dirty. If her hands are dirty, she will have to wash them immediately. If her shirt gets a tiny spot from let’s say her chocolate drink, she insists to change into a clean shirt. If I prolong on changing her shirt, she will strip the top off and say, “Change”, then walk upstairs to her room and gets the new shirt herself. I have been trying to break her constant need to be clean, and it seems to work when we’re outside. That’s because I will the excuse of not having clean clothes with me.

Since this is a milestone update, I’ll end this post with new vocabulary she has gained:

Banban – Bandaid
Pain
Change
Downstairs
M’cine – Medicine
Ice – usually she meant icepack
Train – it can mean Train, Truck or Bus
Pink – referring to her (favorite) pink shoes
Park – all time favorite word of hers. She loves going to the park.
Panty
Me
Cassie – whenever we ask who is Cassie, she will say, “Meimei” of “Me”
Belle – sometimes she calls her sister by her name.
Vivien – she thinks it is fun to call me Vivien ‘cos she would get a funny look from me.

Cassie did it all by herself and without letting us know she was gonna do it! Yay!

I’m talking about going to the big potty all by herself. I was busy washing the dishes this morning and Daddy was busying upstairs. The little one pushed her little stool (that is always in the bathroom) right next to the “throne”, stepped up, sat on her potty ring, did her #2, climbed down, and came out yelling, “Mama! Poo-poo!”

I’m super proud of her! Does that mean one less responsibility for us the parents? I certainly hope so.

Cassie started preschool at LPP middle of March this year. She gets to have fun, art and music with kids her age every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I get to spend 1-on-1 with her the rest of the week. She has fit in the “terrible two” bill and has a very strong personality. She’s adamant with her decisions and loves saying “No” to us. At this moment, I have been trying to psych her into saying “Yes” and it is quite a formidable task. Most of the time we just have our silly games and she loves being silly. She enjoys to be the center of attention and never lose a beat in following whatever her older sister does. She simply adores her sister and I can tell she worships her a lot.

(My little Miss Fairy/Ladybug. She was determined to have the fairy tutu and ladybug wings on her.)

She is currently in the I-like-to-look-pretty stage. She is by far ahead of this game. Belle was not in getting all dolled up till she turned three. Cassie loves to be pretty. She is the perfect daughter for anyone who loves to put frilly dresses, ribbons and bows on their daughters. I, for one, is not that thrill to dress my daughters up. Anyhoo, this girl loves to play dress up and she is very capable of dressing herself up. I guess I should include this as her milestone update. She can put on her socks and shoes by herself. She is very good at stripping off her clothes and putting them on.  Hence, she’s already potty-trained (daytime only). She is quite advanced when compared to her older sister. I guess having an older sibling helps, as she is very observant in whatever her sister does.

This set of photos reminded me of Belle who was four months shy of turning 2. Here’s the link. Sigh, at times like this, I don’t mind having more kids. We have our down times with them but on the overall they do bring us joy and satisfaction. My baby Cass is growing up too fast (I think I’ve said that many times when Belle was at that age).

Love you very much, my baby girl!

Cass has blossomed so much since my last write up on her milestone update. She is a full-fledged toddler and the “terrible 2s” antics have leapt forward four months early. Let’s start with her vocabulary:

For a non-small talk person, she has picked up a few words and decided to say them. We know she understands what we say, be it in English, Cantonese or Shanghaiese, but getting this girl to talk is a challenged. What makes matter worse is she would shake her head no if we force her to repeat after us. She is quite strong-willed and will only repeat the words only and when she feels like repeating it. So, here are the new words she has been saying…

Ung-nya – Junior
Ngo-nya – Dora (the explorer)
Bot – Boots (Dora’s friend, the monkey)
Butt-butt – Butt, of course!
Baat-baat – “Pet pet” (a term we use for female genital part)
Hawt – Hot and sometimes it could mean cold. Till this day she refuses to say “cold.”
Ya-ya – Paternal grandfather in Shanghaiese
Gong-gong – Maternal grandfather. She has mastered the “G” sounding words
Bubble
Mao – Cat in Mandarin
Kaat – Cat in English
Guut – “Guut Guut” (an endearment term for water)
Bok – Book
Ngh – a grunting sound meaning she needs to do Number 2
Fla-wa – Flower. This is a hit-and-miss word ‘cos sometimes she will need us to prompt her for it.

I guess the biggest milestone achievement so far is her willingness to poop in the potty. She would signal us with a grunt and upon asked (Do you wanna go poo poo?), she would nod and runs for the potty, as in the big throne. She has completely skipped the baby/toddler potty and feels comfortable doing her thing in the regular toilet. Of course, we have some accidents and it is perfectly alright. After all, she is only 20 months old! Earlier I have blogged and facebooked about her peeing in the toilet, well, we’re still working on it. Sometimes we hit the jackpot and it has been rare lately.

Despite being a slow talker, we know she comprehends us. She has begun to nod and shake her head to yes or no type of questions. She isn’t impede by her lack of speech ‘cos she would literally show us what is in her mind through her actions . Hence, she has developed this strong-will personality. She will not back down easily and I’m afraid this has caused her to be impatient. She gets frustrated easily and will show her frustrations by lying on the floor with a full fling tantrum. So, now we’ve introduced time-out to her. She knows what it is ‘cos she sees her sister gets it whenever she doesn’t behave. It is funny to see her standing in the corner but as parents we always have to keep our faces straight during time-outs.

She loves her sister so much ‘cos she loves calling out to her jie-jie. Yet, when her sister starts to give her enormous (rough) hugs, she would fight back by biting Belle. Sisterly love, you’ve gotta love it! Cass always insist on following her sister and having her sister doing what she does. For example, I would be feeding both girls breakfast and would call each of them to take a bite. Whenever I call for Cass, she would point to her sister and insists that her sister takes a bite before her. If her sister still has her mouth full, she would not eat until her sister gets that bite. What a brat! Then again, I get to use that excuse to encourage both girls to eat fast.

Talking about eating, Cass likes to spoon-feed herself, as in, she holding the spoon while I feed her. She is still a fingers and hands toddler and loves to use her hands to eat. I know of friends who let their children spoon-feed themselves and don’t mind the mess created by their kids. That is SO not me. I can’t stand mess on the table and floor. I rather spoon-feed them than cleaning up after them. Cass will just have to learn to fully spoon-feed herself in preschool. I’ll let the teachers deal with the mess.

Another note before I pen off, I’ve noticed her left hand being the dominant hand. Could she be a lefty? I thought Belle was until she started preschool and was taught to use her right hand for writing. By us delaying Cass from preschool, maybe it gives this trait (left-handedness runs in the family) a chance to “grow”.  I guess we will just have to wait and see.

We love you, Cassie girl!

Cass is now a full fledged toddler and she is one demanding tot too. For an 18 month old girl, her social skills are developing wonderfully. Whenever she sees someone she will try to wave “hi”. Her speech is still on the slower side if compared to her sister. We aren’t too worried about it and I’m sure she will catch up pretty soon.

New words:

Ga-ga = Gai Gai (Cantonese: walk or go out)
Hi
Mo = More
No mo = No more
Jie jie = Older sister
Dawg = Dog (A great improvement from aak. She refers to Junior as aak)
Ney Ney = Nai Nai (Paternal grandma)
Nen nen = Boobs
Mumm Mumm = Food
Popo = Maternal grandma (My mom will be happy to hear this)
Koko = I think she meant big brother ‘cos we were at a friend’s house few weeks back and had told Belle to call TJ as gor gor.

Her personality has emerges from the shell. She has a quiet personality but is also one stubborn girl. When she wants something her way, she will make sure she gets it. Disciplining this girl will be quite a challenge. She can be an introvert but we’re fortunate to have an extrovert as our first born. Cass would observe her older sister and she builds her confidence by looking at everything Belle does. This meaning Cass climbs onto sofa, chairs, and standing on them. We definitely have a Monkey #2 in the making. People who see her would comment how quiet she is but once they see Old Cass at home, they know she can be quite a mischievous girl.

At 18 months old she has developed likes and dislikes. She likes music and dancing. She can listen to one particular VCD over and over again. That VCD is: ??????. My cousin, Stef, bought it from KL ‘cos we had requested to get some songs like ????, ???, etc. Anyway, Cass totally loves that VCD and whenever I sing one of the songs from that VCD she would point to the TV and insists to watch it. If I ignore her, she will point to the TV, goes, “ngh ngh ngh” and pulls me toward the DVD player.

Despite her stubborness she is quite meek. For example, I would tell her “No”, as in not to touch something, she would try to touch it. If I catch her trying to do that, I just need to grunt and she would come running to me.

Sense of Independence:

When comes to feeding she is a hands-on gal. Hands-on = Using her hands to feed herself. She is a great eater when comes to Breakfast and Lunch, but once come Dinner, we can hardly pry her mouth open.

Her weight has increased steadily (thank God!) and she was at 21 lbs during her last check-up at Dr. Martino’s office. We’ve been told she will always be on the petite side and I guess that is good for a girl. Anyway, we’re not too worried about it. My sister was always on the shorter end when she was a kid. Now she’s taller than me!

Okay, enough update for now. Here are more pics of the little missy:

Trying to look coy here…

Miss I-Don’t-Take-No-as-Answer…

We love you, Cass dearie!

Today I’ve decided to do something brave–I put Cass into undies.

I’ve changed her into one of Belle’s old undies after she woke up from her nap. I had brought her to the toilet before we head downstairs but she didn’t want to pee. I had even prepared 2 extra undies in case she has an accident. When we were downstairs I distracted her with songs and we pretty much spent a good 10 minutes in the kitchen. Why so? It is one of the few places that isn’t carpeted.

The entire time we were downstairs she kept pulling her undies and kept going “unh unh unh”, as though she was trying to tell me “this isn’t diaper!” I then brought her to the toilet but no pee. Then we adjourn to a different activity and that was, Ice Cream time!

After we had our ice-cream fix, I gave her a few sip of water. She started to tap on her head, then her knees. That could only mean one song, “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes.” I sang and she started tapping onto her head and pointed on her nose. In the middle of the song, she started to touch her crotch and tugged her undies. I asked, “Do you wanna go shee-shee (pee)?” She nodded.

We walked to the toilet and I plopped her onto the throne. She insisted to have her undies off entirely. She hated to have undies hanging around her ankles. I leaned at the doorway lazily and thought to myself, “There she goes again…probably no pee.” Suddenly…

tinkle…tinkle…tinkle…

Cass expression was priceless. She actually looked shock!  Both of us were shock ‘cos we didn’t expect pee to come out. Then she gave me the BIGGEST grin. I went, “Yaaaay, Cassie! Good job, girl!” Needeless to say, I praised her endlessly.

Okay, that was 15 minutes ago.

Guess what little missy did (like literally 2 seconds ago)? She closed the doors (the doors connecting kitchen to formal living room) and…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Peed.  Oh well, the elation of her peeing in the throne lasted only 15 minutes. Now, I’ll have to wait and see if she will try to let me know when she has the urge to pee.

Lately the little girl has been asking for a baby brother. I have no idea what spawn that thought in her. Conversations would go like this:

Belle: Mommy?
Mom: Yes, baby?
Belle: Mommy, I have a baby brother.
Mom: Oh. Why?
Belle: I just want a baby brother.
Mom: It isn’t easy to get a baby brother. What if you have another baby sister?
Belle: I don’t want baby sister. I want baby brother!
Mom: Um, go ask your daddy to work on it.
Belle: OK!

Belle: Daddy?
Dad: Yes, Belle.
Belle: Daddy, I want a baby brother.
Dad: OK!

Besides wanting a baby brother badly, the girl has been amusing us with her conversations. For the past few months she developed the tendency to add the word Be into her sentences. Here are some of her favorites:

Mommy, you Be-marry Daddy.

Be-tention, everyone! (She meant Attention)

Mommy, you no bring me to be-nastic anymore! (That would be gymnastic)

Lately, she has begun to use our “reasoning” tactics on us. Just this evening during dinner time, both Daddy and I were yelling at asking her to eat her dinner.

Belle: Mommy! Daddy! Don’t yell at me! I’m telling Ya-Ya a secret.

On another occassion…

Belle: Mommy, you have to ask nicely. We have to be nice then people give you. Say pleeeaaase now.

This little one is quite a chatter. She can yak yak yak and we would have to shush her all the time. She would ask a lot of questions and she loves to do that when we are in the car. At times with her asking me so many questions that made it difficult to concentrate on driving. One day, when Aunty Michelle was here, she managed to get the girl to stop talking by playing the “Let’s see who talks first” game. Belle did pretty well. She didn’t talk until we got home.

Belle is also at the age where we can leave her alone in the room and she can entertain herself. If she is given the TV (aka cartoons) she can sit there the entire time. Sometimes if we’re gone a little longer in another room, she will look for us.  So, when I need to put Cassie down for her nap, I will have to let her know what I’m doing and instruct her to not go upstairs. Most of the time she is pretty good at it but there are days when she refused to listen and wants to join Cass for a nap. When that happens it will only mean both girls will not be napping that day, or at least Belle will not be napping.

She loves to be independent and it can be quite frustrating on us, the parents. She will keep telling us, “I can do it by myself!” When the time comes that she can’t do it by herself, she will throw the biggest tantrum. I have been working on getting her to tell us in words and not throw a fit. She listens well when comes to reasoning. Hence, yelling at her would only make things worse. I’ve been trying to get Daddy to stop doing that too.

Despite all these learning curves, she is still the lovable Belle. She is silly and still has the goofiest dance moves. Oh, I have almost forgotten to add, she is in Dance class now. It’s a class offered in her preschool and her dance lessons are every Wednesday. I’ve bought her a pink ballet outfit and she looks uber cute in it!

I’m sure we have more to look forward to. Right now we are just soaking in every minute of it.

My friends in my Facebook have the privilege to see recent photos of the girls and it’s high time for me to start posting the pics here. I did a post for Belle during her potty training phase and here is Cassie’s. Enjoy!

Here’s one with her having the pants on her head. My silly girl loves doing that.

Taa-dah!

My baby doesn’t look like a baby anymore, huh?

My pretty Cass looking pretty even when she’s doing #2.

I had fun shooting these photos and I hope y’all enjoy the pics.

Oh my gosh!

Oh my gosh!

Oh my gosh!

Cass signaled to go to the bathroom and she peed in the toilet! It’s unbelievable! I guess all those trips to the bathroom paid off. Whenever I’m alone with her and have the need to tinker I would bring her along. I would let her know what I would be doing. I.e.: I would let her know I’m shee-shee’ing (peeing) or ngm ngm (doing #2).

They say that the younger siblings learn faster in terms of potty training. I would have to agree with it but being a home parent is an added bonus too. When a child is being home parented (as in not in a daycare), the parent will have more patience and eagerness to potty train the child. I have friends who have great nannies who agreed on early potty training. If you can find such a nanny, she’s a keeper! Majority (I would say almost all) of the daycare centres in U.S. do not enforce potty training but most preschools mandate that their 3yo students have be potty trained, otherwise these children will not be accepted. That is so contradictive, isn’t it? Just to be clear: a daycare centre is different from a preschool. Daycare centres are more like a place for play groups. Basic learning like ABCs and 123s will be taught. Preschools are more structured when comes to education. Preschools prepares the kids for Kindergarten. Not that I’m saying Daycare centres are inefficient but majority of the daycare facilities are home-based. And, there is nothing wrong with that. I guess in a way the Preschool facilities sort off prepare the kids to the brick and mortar of a Kindergarten or Elementary school.

Anyway, I think I have differ from the main point. I am still flabbergasted and I can’t wait to tell the Hubby about it. Haha…isn’t it funny that I’ve actually blogged about it first? I guess a blogger is always a blogger.