Theo's Treasure

learning to read

2011-08-12T02:13:00.000-07:00

Reading
KB is having fun making 'at' families words and matching pictures to the right word, together with Bob books.

We also learnt some sight words "The" , "is", "a" and "and"
These are the sentences KB made using sight words.

And - The squirrel is hanging and finding food.
And - A hippopotamus is climbing on an elephant's trunk and a ladybug is trying to snatch from the back of the elephant (bad ladybug, she's is trying to snatch the elephant's mummy).

The - The bird is trying to eat a worm on a tree
The - The bat is flying in a dark dark place looking for ants and other animals in the dark dark place.

is - The cat is 7 years old
is - The ladybug is kind and beautiful.

A - A caterpillar is climbing up to a safari car
A - A butterfly is hanging on a boat.

Delight-Learning
KB was interested in how we swallow and digest food, and basically the digestive system, so we showed him how things worked. It was good we had a anatomy model to play with. we could see which part of the body goes where. pretty awesome. KB would wake up from a nap and tells me "mummy , I can hear my heart pumping blood into my body!" hahaha..

We also read "see inside your body, Usborne flap books, to learn more about our body.

Making ice-cream
I seriously didnt think this was possible until they did it! Both boys slurp it up as quickly as the ice-cream melts.

Pretend Play
This would be the most hilarious pretend play we ever had at home because KB suddenly turned the envelope over and made it his crown. Everyone joined in the dance and it was just pure hilarious. We talked about us being the King's (God) son - princes. Look at the goofy picture on the left, the boys just have to do that for a picture!

Math
Rule of the game - For each bottle that gets knocked down, you get two tokens which can be used to purchase ping pong balls to play for the next round. We learn counting by twos.

We also ventured into cuisenaire rods. We loved that it is so easy to see numeric values at a glance and the more the child plays with it, the more familiar he would be. KB is at the free play level.

Outdoor
Playing by the lawn. Relaxing by the lake.

Catching National Day rehearsal @ the Pinnacle. Beautiful sunset.

Craft: Spider web
We just finished reading a book on spider and we thought of making a spider web. This craft takes two days as it is important to let the glue dry out completely.

We use a balloons and got the boys to dab starch (home-made) on yarn. It is really slippery and provides great sensorial fun, although the yarn hardly sticks on the balloon! Once they are done with it, mummy uses PVC glue to go over it. Once the glue dries, the yarn would become hard and a random shape would be formed. Viola! Thei very own spider-web!

Then the boys could pry their spider - web from the balloon and paint it. The process is loads of fun. KB paints it and put some glitter glue on it as well. We put a plastic spider in the completed spider-web.

Character: Servanthood
KB is asked to help little brother button his shirt. Other responsibility includes putting his little brother's slippers in the right order, and delegating which toys little brother should keep. Loved it when the big brother help out this way.

Raising little business men with a heart - FUn FaIr FUN!

2011-07-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

Homeschool fun fair was round the corner and that got everyone excited. Mummy was thinking of popcorn, and son was thinking of probably a million things to make and sell.

So we started brainstorming and KB came up with close to 20 ideas, amongst which were making jeans, house, aeroplance, rockets ... and finally he said "mummy, I like music, I would make a trumpet to sell" and I had to say YES!

So we figured we could let him paint his beautiful drawing board in whichever way he likes and mummy would help to roll it up for him. These are the completed 'trumpets' or 'loud hailer', but we decided to call it a trumpet becuz the name was more catchy.

KB looks at his wallet (probably deciding there were too few coins), picks up his loud-hailer and calls out for customers... ha haha... this is so cute!

After some logistic challenges (something to do with bringing extension wire to hook up our popcorn machine!), mummy decided to scrap the idea of making popcorn and decided to just go for Game-for-charity. There was a Food Crisis at East Africa and that provided an excellent cause to go for. It would be meaningful yet fun to do something like that as a family.

Game-for-charity : Scoop as many balls as you can under 10 secs. Highest scorer of the day wins Family Boardgame, "Chutes and Ladders". Game is suitable for aged 2 yrs-old onwards!

My 4 yr-old is in-charge of giving out stickers to those who completes the game, though sometimes he would also tend to his 'trumpet' stall.

Which child would say no to ice-lollies? ;)

Face-painting!

All good things must come to an end. Many (little) hands make work lighter.

All about planes

2011-07-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

KB asked about learning the aeroplane. He wants to know how a plane flies, why a plane can fly, what type of plane are there and what is inside the plane etc.

We read The Flyer Flew by Lee Sullivan Hill, On the Go: Planes by David and Penny Glover, I love Planes! by Philemon Sturges.

Creating a scrapbook about planes
We put together photographs we took at our recent airshow , our visit to The Philatelic Museum which had lots of child-friendly history about things that fly and planes, print off the interior of an airplane and various airlines. We learnt about the first inventors and their attempts at flying a plane and made it into a scrapbook.

Science Centre Omni Theatre: Legend of Flights.
It was certainly the most inspiring documentary about airplanes as the world watches the revolutionary aircraft Boeings 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus 380 make its maiden flight into the skies. KB enjoyed it tremendously, sat through the entire film with eyes zooming in on every single shots. (Trailer below)

More than just taking an airplane, it is probably every boy's dream to know everything about the airplane. It is an amazing flying machine.

This is a bi-plane. It has wing on the top and a wing at the bottom. We build a wooden airplane.
KB painted every single part of the plane. Looks really wonderful!

Free Play
Pretend play at the Museum and building train tracks

Joining in the fun when we did The Very Hungry Caterpillar with Otter. KB loved crafts but dislikes mess. Hahah... see how he puts one hand in slowly...

Making butterflies on coffee filters, see the colours fly.... ! Really quite fun.

KB played with the fruits and made wonderful discoveries about numbers and additions.We practise still life drawing. He was given a set of numbers and all the fruits the very hungry caterpillar ate, plus two pairs of tooth-picks.

We visited Butterfly Park at Hort park. Loved that place. The landscapes were beautiful. Loved the variety of plants. We drew again. We just LOVED the swing enveloped by lush foliage.

I am a stamp

2011-06-27T02:42:00.000-07:00

Science/ Nature: Parts of a tree

We use this book, "seeds, seeds, seeds" by sunshine publication.

KB made a paper weight using different coloured beans and laying them. We also use beans to design a flower.

Hunting for assorted leaves and sorting them out. We read "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert and KB decides what animals and which leaves he wants to use to create his animals. He described his turtle and 2 fish in the lake in one picture, and an elephant diving in a river in the next! I totally love his creations.

Nature: Seed walk Discovery

We use a jumbo colour pencils for better feel, to color over paper on tree trunk. The rough texture of a tree trunk provided nice woody texture.

KB went walking with his socks on and collected assorted seeds with his socks! Then we would talk about how seeds were dispersed and how they look under the magnifying glass.

Social: The world of stamps through Singapore Philatelic Museum
We read the Seven Little Postmen
We also bought him some stamps and he started his little hobby of collecting stamps.

Pretend play: I am a Postman, I am a stamp!
KB planned and designed his mailbox, the upper one for mails to Singapore, the lower one for mails to Jakarta.

Language Arts: Reading
We started on Book 1 of Bob books with really simple "-at" family words.

Outdoor/Free play: Swing, using chopsticks to pick up clay balls!
KB is quite apt at using chopsticks since he was 3, so we were trying to see if he was up to this challenge and ... he was!

Family Easter Celebration - 4yr old

2011-04-24T08:06:00.000-07:00

This year, our family's Easter celebration spans over 2 days. We use alot of symbolic play.

We use this book The Story of Easter by Patricia A Pingry. It uses very simple language to communicate the reason for Easter. Then we enact Jesus' triumph entry into Jerusalem right up to Jesus's empty tomb.

Good Friday morning. We went out to look for 'palm branches' together, and we took turns to play the character of Jesus. The rest of us, play the role of the crowd who waves our palm branches and shouts 'hosanna, hosanna, Jesus is our King' and sang Hosanna by Carl Tuttle.

The song goes like this: Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest. Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest Lord we lift up Your name With a heart full of praise Be exalted, oh Lord my God Hosanna in the highest!

Then Daddy tells us why we need to be close to God. It is so that Jesus can make us good and help us to do the things we cannot do ourselves.

But when we become naughty (Sin), we get further from God. so when we snatch toys, or tell lies, or hit someone, or speak rude words, we get further away from Jesus. And when we don't have Jesus, it makes us sad.

(And daddy would pull the other chair further as he illustrates a sinful trait, and ask tot to try of ways to go over to Jesus (daddy) who is seated on the other chair by not stepping in the sea full of sharks!)

BUT, Jesus came and died for us! And took all our naughtiness away and make us clean. And because of that, He made a bridge for us.

(cushions 'as bridge' )

(tots walked over bridge and was greeted by 'Jesus' (it was daddy really playing the part *wink*. Both tots got a big hug from daddy. Daddy said now that they are close to Jesus, Jesus can protect them, and help them.)

Friday night, our family went to church for a time of prayer and reflection. We walked through a chronological each 'station' leading up to Jesus's cruxification. Life-like props were set up for The Triumph Entry, Table of the Lord's supper, a basin with water for washing of disciples feet, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the eventual betrayal and cruxification of Christ. Adults confessed our sins on a piece of paper and nailed it on a block of wood representing the cross that Jesus died on. It was awesome.

On Saturday, our family got some goodies to prepare to bless our little friends we have invited to church the next day.

We got some plastic eggs and stuffed marshmallow in it.
Then mummy wrapped it up and made a little bookmark to go along with it. We also created a little bird nest (using bronze raffia strings) with the eggs perched up in our little tree at home.

Tot and Mummy had a short conversation on why bird's eggs are used to symbolize new life. Tot asked me when are the hatchlings coming. Then he tells me about ants laying eggs. I had to keep from laughing.

Resurrection Sunday. Our friends came to church with us and we were delighted to have them.

We spent an afternoon playing and chatting with them at their home.

Sunday night, Daddy had a surprise for us. We re-read the Bible. We pretended to be the disciples who would go look for Jesus on the third day. Suddenly we saw.... an empty tomb and a piece of linen!!

(using a camping tent)

We use our torch light to shine upwards, pretending to see a glimpse of an angel who would tell us that Jesus is alive. We end by singing "Celebrate Jesus and Arise by Brendon & Cathie, International school of worship.

Arise: A is for all you done for me, R is for really do believe, I is for inside where I breathe, S is for son who sets me free, E is for everything you are, my Lord, my God, my King, my all. ...

We played a game of opposites. Mum says "If we are weak... God will make us ...?" Tot says "Strong!" Mum says, "If we are scared, God will .... ?" Tot says "Protect us!", Mum says, "if we are ill, God will ..... us?" Tot says, "Heal us!" That's because Jesus is alive!

To see what we do for Easter in year 2010, go here.

Back from Hiatus!

2011-03-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

Language Arts/Social: We watched a Black Light Theatre performance brought in by Act 3 from Argentina, entitled; Circo Fokus Bokus. Beautiful colours and skillful puppetry enhances the gentle story of 5 friends who were roped into a circus to perform quite by accident. KB enjoyed the character of a juggler the most.

KB's first scrap-book craft!
This was a homeschool co-op on scrap-booking that was surprisingly fun for me but especially for KB! There were about 6 kids altogether. The fact that KB did 80% of the craft all by himself is what made this session so special. He chose and painted all the three cardboards, chose two variety of fancy papers, picked a photo, chose the stickers, did all the pasting and select the title "I love you" to go with the photo. And mummy just tied the knots and string the three pieces together. We intend to use this art of scrap-booking to create note-books for topical study in the future. On the way home, KB said "my craft very nice leh". Very delighted boy.

Free play/imagination: KB tried to create a slope. I got him a mitten for fun and I guess that got him inspired as well. A cardboard is easily a child's BEST toy. He had so much fun trying to build it in such a way it would hold him, but as any child would, he also enjoys tumbling.

Writing/Reading: KB really likes scribbling so he naturally likes writing too. We start by writing all the letters of his name. Doing word family of '-at' to start. We're using Ruth Beechick's The 3'Rs, and beginner readers from Bob Books to complement Ruth's method.

Experiential learning/field trips: Learning how yarn comes from cacoon! KB gets to watch how cacoon is first boiled and the thread spun to create raw yarn that was rough to the touch.

The world through Theo's eyes

2011-01-12T06:22:00.000-08:00

It is amazing how Theo makes connection to what he experiences and see in the day and then expresses it in his own way.

Today he was playing 'boat' in a small cardboard, then he tore it up to make a 'giant plane' and whizzed it in the sky. I asked if he would like to paint little windows on the plane, but he didn't. He tore the wings and folded up to make little houses. Then he tells me he wants to paint the house.

(The transformation of his cardboard took place too fast, so quick I didnt had chance to grab my camera, but I witness every single delightful moment before my eyes and this was too precious to miss for any mummy. This was what was left after the boys went to bed.)

This is Theo's version of "Fire". Wonderful use of colour tones as a fire would have. Great observation.

This is the first story he had painted! A milestone indeed. Aged 3yrs, 8mths.
He tells me this, "The black circles are flying fox, the red colour line is a safety belt for firemen to slide all the way down. The red and orange is a fire, the green circle is sparklers, then there are some grass beside it. And an orange one is a helicopter hovering over the fire to put out the fire."
Impressive description of a story.

(Theo does not attend art classes nor is under any instruction to draw. These are all spontaneous drawings purely initiated by him.)

Random year-end activities - Yr2010

2011-01-12T05:03:00.000-08:00

Dec 2010 flew by too fast for us to document our activities. Our major activity is our Advent Calendar. Theo learnt that each day has a number date assigned to it and was patient enough to wait each day to reveal the picture in the window.

Pre-writing He also started doing mazes on Kumon aged 3,4,5. This was an extension of pre-writing practises after he had mastered a very steady grip few months ago. Now he is having fun.

Science
We did some colour mixture experiments which made Theo very excited about colours he could use.

Theo visited the dentist for the first time! He was so not posing for pictures. Look at what he is holding! Mummy got him a little turtle to hold on to, in case he was afraid. Theo was SO brave. Kudos to So gentle and so friendly Dr Tay. I think she spent a good 10mins chatting with him and that really put him at ease. After the session, Theo told me, "Mummy, the dentist gave my teeth names lah... ahahah... I don't like it... he also said some are "Michael, David... aiya, so funny. He also counted my teeth mummy."

some unforgettable sleep poses

Morning prayer (boys just hav'ta have some actions!)
And he now likes to end his night by having everyone say "Good night and sweet dreams!"

Theme "Solar System"

2010-11-12T08:01:00.000-08:00

Both boys had taken ill for about 2 weeks, with Elias being admitted for 3 days. But we still thank God that we manage do some activities at home inspite of that.

Social

A leisurely boat ride at Clarke Quay with a friend.

Celebrating daddy's birthday at Sentosa with cousin. Then blow candles at home. :)

Math
Sorting and counting
This is an excellent activity to do with two young tots. Little brother (23 months old) was learning to match coloured pipe clean with the same coloured cup, while KB was sorting colour and counting sticks per cup. The cups are randomly placed in the same room. Each child is required to look for the coloured cups to match the pipe cleaners they are holding. After playing for awhile, I observed that they tend to remember where specific coloured cup is placed.

3D imaging
using Magna tiles, KB was able to construct various dimensional objects. A wonderful independent play toy that helps him see things in 3D. KB enjoys this tremendously.

Sort according to colour and size
We do this using recycled egg carton. Mummy trimmed the sides of the carton packaging as it was very sharp. Considering the beads which was so small and varied, KB did this ever so patiently, sorting all the beads steadily.

Sort according to 'patterned' or 'solid'
These were actually mummy's fancy paper from Japan, but was used for another sorting activity that KB enjoyed.

Pretend Play
KB set up his "Pasah malam" stall with mummy encouraging him to 'categorise' his food items and cutleries. pre-math activities learnt through play.

Large motor + lifeskills (take turns)

Year-end is always so filled with cloudy skies and so much rain. We did not like to stay indoors much in the morning but had no choice, so this trampoline were handy in helping both boys burn some energy. Plus we were able to hone in some character while learning to take turn to play this exceedingly attractive 'toy'. We used the timer and each boy was allowed 1 min on the trampoline.

Theme "Solar System"
Delight-learning

Science
Solar system. This is the theme we took for the month. KB has taken an interest in the galaxy feature on mummy's galaxy S and we decided to extend his interest for fun.

We did a giant 48-piece solar system floor puzzle and talked about the earth we live in with this soft-as-pillow globe. A real treasure with young kids as we could literally hug the earth and KB could look up the countries easily with an adult. We also read books that talked about the sun, moon, planets. It was fun.

Art & Craft

We did a giant solar system complete with the 9 planets, including dwarf planet Pluto. Then we used coffee filter paper to create 'planets' with its various colour and distance to the moon. Idea taken from here. It was simply awesome watching the water spread on the coffee filter paper. Then KB used white paint, an old toothbrush and a recycled ice-cream stick to create tiny stars in the galaxy (see picture). KB did the stars, planets and mummy helped to cut the paper (Not that easy for a 3-yr-old as coffee filter paper is rather hard). Then we had the 'planets' pasted in the solar system with the nearest planet to the sun to the furthest. We talked about 'nearest' and 'furthest' and mummy could not resist throwing in some 'sight words' for fun.

Art & Craft
Printing with balloons
We used the three primary colours to create opportunities for colour mixing

Painting on transparent plastic sheets
Seeing colours on both side of the plastic sheet creates a new perspective of looking at art.

Cooking
Apple pancake. KB helped to shake the pancake mixture and spread whipped cream on pancake. What a delightful breakfast.

Outdoor
Flying kite amidst November rain. One of our playground moments.

A trip to a local nursery

Our trusty companion - Old MacDonald

2010-11-02T00:42:00.000-07:00

Good Ol' MacDonald had been with us for the longest time.

KB started the tune of ee-i-ee-i-o when he was merely 10 or 12- months-old. He wasn't even walking yet.

Today, the list grew to include...

mummy started to play a tune to the beat on the keyboard which inspired KB to get everyone to stand up and follow him,
the list of stuff Ol' MacDonald. Everything in one seating.

Pig - Oink
Cow - moo
Elephants - Whoo
Duck - Wag wag
Hula - hoop - shake shake
bicycle - tinkle tinkle
cars - beep beep
truck - honk honk
bus - "de de" (sound of tapping bus card on validator!)
Aeroplane - zoom zoom
Pilot - steer steer
people - yakety yakety
chair - sit sit
Clock - tick tock
Lights - Blink blink
Giraffe - ooh Ooh (reaching his long neck)
Zebra - gallop, gallop
Horses - trotter trotter
Bed (Mummy's suggestion, because its nap time!) - sleep, sleep

I really like the way the song was sang continuously to the beat of the keyboard rhythm. KB had to think up what's next real fast and mummy was egging him on... to make it more dramatic! I had to! This is child hood, drum it up. Make it super fun. hahahah...
What a fun way to enhance quick thinking and vocabulary skills!

After the song, KB said, "Wow, I really like singing song eh" :) I loved to see KB's eyes so big with excitement. He is so contented.

Our letter "A" journey

2010-10-18T08:33:00.001-07:00

Letter sounds, Art & Craft We worked on "A" which makes the sound "Air". Mummy drew the apple and Theo tore it right down to 'break' the apple into 2 halves. Then he used a pencil to draw seeds left of the apple core. We got this cute idea from homeschool creations. Later KB would recognise the letter A from water play, from road signs and drawing on sand.

Nature / Outdoor have you ever seen a snail poo-poo? Well, here it is. A nice, slimy, swirly snail poo for us all to see. We all exclaimed what big poo a small snail has! KB has developed a love for garden snails and he would ask for it after a rain. it was nice because it rained alot in Sept and Oct and we always had the chance to bring a snail or two home for the day before releasing them back to their habitat. Meanwhile, KB worked at creating a cosy home for them.

Rain is a good thing, our Filipina helper says kids in her home town look forward to rain to play in the rain. And we thought, why not? Urban kids can do it too. So we too don our raincoat and went splashing. Here's KB enjoying the little bit of the rain.

Then there is KB on go-kart and fearless KB on flying fox.

Where do bananas grow? We discovered a really big banana tree, complete with bunches of banana hanging downwards. Instinctively the kids chose to sit underneath it. Were they waiting for the bananas to fall?

We spotted some swans swimming in the lake and we thought it might be fun to play "spot the difference game" - Swan vs duck.

Appreciating nature and spotting a bird nest!

Visiting Universal studio and experimenting with various form of pretend play, rides and cartoon fantasy.

Water play - still a perennial favourite

Imaginative play
Its take-out-recycle-boxes day and build anything you want. KB built a Airport Control Tower, a ramp for the cyclist and a hump for him to jump over. Loved this game.

Pretend Play
In one of our free play moments, he build something he had read in a book, The Little blue boat, kathy Henderson. He said it an oil rig. Check out the book version and his lego version. He build it all from memory or at least how he thought it was to be.

Festival and celebrations
Since it mid autumm festival, this year we did something different. We made 'mooncake' using agar agar and looked at the full moon in the sky. KB made his own lantern. I supplied the materials and he assembled them together as he liked. And they neednt look like the ones sold in the market or shops, each lantern is uniquely made by a child. We also went to the Singapore River on the same night with our friends to carry lantern.

Cooking / Baking
We started a co-op with fellow homeschoolers and had a baking / cooking session once a week.
We did kneading, decorating, stirring, pouring, and eating of course.
Things started off there and we now do some cooking at home together. KB started to fry scrambled eggs at home. About time too!

Math
We are into patterning this season. here's one of our observation in one of our nature walks. We were in the midst of playing birthday celebrations and had invited all his furry friends to attend. And mummy took the opportunity to decorate patterns on birthday cake, with KB 'copying' after.
And other pattern games using sticker tags.

FLying Fox (whooooooooooopeeeeeeeeeeee)

2010-10-06T07:35:00.000-07:00

Overheard: How many people left? (early addition and subtraction)

2010-10-06T07:20:00.000-07:00

Theo: you guys go to the library lah, I will sleep by myself

Mum: then who will take care of you?

Theo: zsa zsa lah

Mum : if both of us go, how many people will be left in the house?

Theo (without battling an eyelid) : Three

Mum (surprised): Huh? How many?

Theo: Three

Mum (not convinced) :who are they?

Theo: Me, Zsa Zsa and Elias.

Dad: if ah ma comes over, then how many people in the house?

Theo: Four lah

Jab

2010-09-16T07:14:00.001-07:00

Theo: After di di finish his jab, then whose turn?
Mummy: After di di, it will be your turn.

Theo: I don't want injection, because the needle is very sharp. I am a human being so I don't like people use sharp things to poke me.
Mummy: Oh every human being has to go for injection. When you were a baby you had lots of injection, you were not scared, you didn't cry.

Theo: I want to be animal, mummy.
Mummy: Why?

Theo: Because animal no need to have injection.
Mummy: Oh even dogs need to go for vaccination...

Theo: I'll be a horse ...
Mummy: Why do you want to be a horse?

Theo: because I like people to ride on my back lah
Mummy: Ok, We can play that later, you pretend to be horse, I'll pretend to be a little boy..

Theo: Horse no need injection ...

(hahah... he remembers!)

Shame

2010-09-15T01:22:00.000-07:00

Theo (pointing to mummy and daddy's wedding picture): Mummy, why did you wear like that?
Mum: You mean the wedding dress?
Theo: No, why like that? (pointing to my off-shoulder dress), its shame lah
Mum: (laughing!) Oh, that, yes. Mummy only wear like that during wedding.

Our letter "S" journey

2010-09-03T01:18:00.000-07:00

Theme: Time
we are now alternating between thematic learning, units and delight-learning approach. We do alot of delight learning and as such we don't have plans that stretches to a quarter. We don't even have plans for the next 2 weeks. ;p

KB had such interest in numeric symbols. He started to ask about the number plate of cars when we pass by the carpark. Thanks the elevator we had to take everyday, he is now familiar with every number from 1 - 12. We reckon he was ready to tell the time. And he was able to tell the hour time, and soon he was telling us all the bus numbers from our bus-stops and where they are going, now he is trying to memorise my phone number in case he gets lost. :)

- We did a theme on 'Time', since we talk about it alot daily. KB has been talking about night time and day time and I thought I extended it to how things grow with time.
We grew beans! Beans take time to grow. Just like people. We looked at the family album and discuss times when he was was a baby and then he is now a big boy. We also spotted an old tree trunk in one of our nature walks and explained the number of rings represent how old the tree was.

Arts & Crafts
KB was excited as he did his share to accumulate egg shells, washed and dried them for art. And the day finally arrived. Mummy drew a s-nake and KB crushed the eggs and stuck them on the body to look like snake's skin, then he decided to paint it. He had much better control of the paint brush then when he first started and had been able colour inside the lines, although it never came up as a topic and I was really ok with him colouring outside the line as an art form.

Reinforcing 'S' through simple peel and stick activity. Noticed how KB stacked up the stickers so nicely. I like the simple dimensional art.

Nature prints (using pong pongs that we picked up from one of our nature adventure)

Science
We've been in a habit of collecting nature finds and decided it was time to store them up, for a limited time (of course). We had our empty snail shell, a pong pong, some tree roots (from an uprooted tree due to strong weather condition), a whole bunch of tree leaves (from a fallen tree) - but was too big to put it in our nature jar, so we've set it our garden for now.

Mushrooms spotting
We can't believe we saw so many different types of mushroom in one park!

In one of our play together session with younger sibling, the kids were suppose to get the plastic toys out of the frozen chunk of ice. They were given a few 'tools' and KB discovered what can melt ice faster. It was an hour of pure cool fun for both boys.

... First, KB did not want to touch it. So he sprayed it.

...then his feet went on top of the ice inside basin. Then he held the ice chunk.

... then he went inside the basin and sat on the ice chunk! KB suddenly had an idea to go into our bathroom and get the cup out and pour lots of water on it (His own resourcefulness). I couldnt resist the little one who also followed suit, look at what he got instead? Mummy laughed so hard at that. Yes, its his potty! Cuties indeed.

And so KB discovered that water is the best and quickest way to melt the ice and get the toys out!

Pretend Play
KB goes Fishing!

Pre-Math readiness
Playing with shapes and fraction

Pre-reading readiness
Lauri puzzle. KB was able to do it much quicker than the first time he did it. KB traced the letter "S" to get a feel how it looks like.

Mandarin We've come to the end of our Mandarin Speech and Drama at Julia Gabriel. KB had gained so much interest and confidence using mandarin as an alternative language. He even ventured to speak with our mandarin-speaking neighbours whom he has never uttered a word before. (See Review of Julia Gabriel N1 speech and drama). Now it is time for us to keep up with our conversational mandarin every Tues and Thurs and any other time of the week.

Social
KB was getting better at playing with others, while he still does alot of parallel play, he was interacting more. Home learning allows us to be available for neighbours to drop by anytime or to render babysitting to them whenever needed. KB enjoyed those surprise visits from our 7-year-old, 6-year-old , and 3-year-old neighbours, and mummy enjoyed 'having' extra kids from time to time, like a large family (minus the pregnancy bulge and by-passing parenting). Smiles.

Some more play time ...
KB cycles everyday now, it is a blessing that we can go anywhere with mummy pushing the stroller and KB riding next to me. Theo has gone to the Library, park, playground, grandma's house all on his bike. We had an outing with a friend and KB rode about 2-hours with short breaks in between. We thought he was ready for a two-wheeler, but he seemed to love his red hot balance bike so much we decided to let him have it for another 6 months before passing it on to his younger brother. since watching YOG Time Trial, KB had several of those almost everyday. I'm truly amazed at a kid's enthusiasm...

3-yr-old instructing mum how to 'train a kid"?

2010-09-02T07:46:00.001-07:00

Theo has such a sense of responsibility and gifts of helps beyond his age, I could hardly believe what KB was saying today. (Not that I endorse the principle, but I was pleasantly surprised at his thinking process). He had shown such growth at taking care of his little brother.

Scenario 1: (Mummy took baby Elias into the bedroom into his crib during dinner time, KB noticed and asked)

Theo: Mummy, why is di di in the room?
Mummy: Theo, di di is being disciplined because he did not want to get into his high chair.
Theo: Mummy, don't punish him, just talk to him. Say "Elias get into your high chair" and he will sit down. You see. Punish is not good mummy.
Mummy: Theo, we're not discussing this for the moment ok, because mummy is taking care of him.
Theo: Its not good for Elias to be punished mummy...

He even got all the details communicated... whew!

Scenario 2 (Elias was afraid)
Theo: Elias , no need to be afraid, (and started singing) "I'm not afraid of anything, anything, anything, I'm not afriad of anything, cuz Jesus lives in my heart"

Self-control

2010-08-05T07:10:00.000-07:00

We turned on the air-con tonight as it was a rather warm evening. As we reached for the remote-control, KB said "This also needs self-control".

Fruit of the spirit

2010-08-05T07:05:00.000-07:00

I overheard KB telling me the other day when we had fruits for snack.

(we were eating fresh cocktail of papaya, apple and apricot)

KB: Hmmm... I like this fruit of the spirit.

"Overheard"

2010-08-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

"Overheard" is a section where the cutest thing is heard on planet earth. This is a keepsake for my children so that they know how much I treasure them, and every word they say not only bring joy to our homes, but a priceless treasure for keeps...

Our letter "M m"

2010-07-07T01:55:00.001-07:00

Bible theme: Everything has its time (Ecc 3:1-8)
We're using a thematic approach together with a letter unit this round. We are dedicating a whole series using Ecc 3 in our next round of updates. We also just started our mandarin speech and drama with Julia Gabriel for a term and mummy is now more intentional about speaking mandarin at home. Yipee!

Pre-writing readiness
KB was getting better with this. He does not touch the side lines now. He is also learning to be more precise as he circles those letters which are not the same.

Fine-motor skills & Math readiness skills
KB is also getting better at cutting and can follow simply lines for a cut-out of shapes.
Mummy got him to cut out all the circles and mummy did all the stars. Then we did AB pattern and made a decorative item for our house. We read Beep beep vroom vroom and played 'follow the pattern' game by using our toy tokens to match colour patterns of the cars.

Outdoor/Nature play : 'Sand-sation", climbing trees and playing with snails

Elias is joining us in lots of nature play. Being a kinesthetic and rather fearless boy, he had lots of fun exploring. Sometimes mummy can take a book and sit and read while the kids play by themseleves. Peacefully. Nature captivates kids like no other can. And I marvel at what a wondeful God we have through his creations. KB is using a big shovel and Elias using a small one.

Letter craft, "M"
Since KB started recognising letters in our daily life on his own, I have changed our word pictures activity. I have now included a word together with the picture to reinforce sight words. There is no pressure to recognise them, but the goal is to bring about an awareness that letters form words that is significant to him.

Language Arts

We ventured a FIAR story on The runaway Bunny and we did a simple lapbook for ease of playing games on story sequencing, shadow matching and learning about shapes. We also played shadow matching (not a simple one at that, so it was nice that it was slightly more challenging).

It was interesting that KB recognised the illustration from The Runaway Bunny being similiar to a book he read. He exclaimed "This is like the Goodnight Moon book!" So we took out the other book and played "spot the difference" game by comparing the room in one book to the other. Helps in training the eye to spot colours and details.

Art: Making Impressions: Artistic Pursuits
KB collected various objects around the house and started making impressions. We looked at a picture and talked about the texture and then KB explored and played with various impressions. This is about learning that is motivated by curiosity. Artistic pursuits, "Rushed Children will not have time to gain this knowledge. Give children time to explore and to gather knowledge about the world they inhabit."

Service
Habit of saying "Good morning" and watering the plants. KB has been independent in changing out of his pyjamas and into his day clothes, that he now needed permission as the weather may not permit him to change out of bed clothes so soon. It was a habit training on self-control.

Free play
Train rides, playing with water, cycling, observing dew drops on leaves (picture taken by KB), random painting (of a boat according to KB),

3-yr-old on balance bike

2010-06-16T02:59:00.000-07:00

This is KB's 3-year-old birthday present. He has wanted a bike forever and it was just so difficult to get such a bike in Singapore at affordable price. This was hand-carry all the way by daddy from U.S. :) KB's forth day at it and he was a whiz already.

Our letter "F f "

2010-05-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

Bible theme: Sharing
Story: Parable of 5 loaves and 2 fish
We watched an animated cartoon online and mummy prepared the five loaves and two fish.

This was an excellent picture that showed a "Before" and "After" the miracle of Jesus. It presents great opportunities for talking about what happened after the boy share his food.

The picture remained on our show-shelf as a visual reminder for talking point. We counted the loaves of bread and fish and stick them into the basket for fun.

Talking points include:
1) God created a miracle by adding more when there is only a few.
2) God can use what you give to bless others.

This lesson coincide with our habit training for this season. It also coincide our everyday training for sharing between the KB and his younger brother.

Art and craft
We pulled out a rainy weather project. reinforcing shapes recognition and having fun creating something out of heart-shapes. These different size of heart-shapes pieced together to form a fish. He decorated the fish with glitter glue afterwards.

Alphabet craft
Making "Fox"

Alphabet picture
Sticking photos of things that starts with "F".

KB started spotting the letter "F, f" from everyday things such as this.

"F" is for feelings.
We took out the felt to play again and this time we were able to talk about feelings. The first time KB played this was about two-years-old.

Fine motor skills - Montessori (Basting)

Basting is a skill that requires one to release before squeezing the dropper. I filled cup with yellow paint and the other with blue paint. By letting him transfer one cup of paint to the other allows him to see how colour mixture can achieve another colour. Absolutely fascinating! He did it with right and then left hands and completed the entire cup with little prompting. A game that trains precision, patience and fine motor skills.

Large motor/Outdoor play

We spent so much time biking every morning we did not even do anything indoor except reading storybooks. This is him on his forth day, speeding on his new balance bike. More on learning to ride a bike at ibike. A balance bike is suppose to be small enough for the child to manoeuvre, complete with appropriate height for the seat and handle. KB was able to take his bike all the way from home and back all on his own, giving him a great sense of responsibility and independence.

Math
we play AB pattern using fresh flowers amongst other counting exercises in both language.

Imaginative play Pretending to be a frog

Science
we were so blessed to be able to play sand for 2 whole hours one morning because of a single incident. We were shoving our shovels in the sand when we saw a bird fly past us with a twig in its beak! So we got excited and watched the whole scene over and over. It was unbelievable in concrete jungle we live in. But it happened before our very eyes at a park near our place. unfortunately, I didnt have the camera with me at that time.

Service
KB had successfully mastered the habit of keeping after himself every morning. He drinks his milk, puts the bottle back in tray, take his diapers out and throw away, then change into shorts and then put his pajamas into the laundry pail and back to make his bed. (He has been on only 1 diaper per day for since January and is not wetting the bed. Hooray for another milestone!) He has also developed a habit of helping Di Di up the bed (by pushing his bum, a very cute sight!). He also cleans his bike tyres when we're back from cycling. This is Theo washing rice. He now helps to wash rice once a day for dinner and sets the table.

Socialisation
He also is in habit of paying the cashier whenever we are out and now learning to pay the taxi driver and saying thank you. KB's gym class has come to an end and it was sad for him as it was also for me. He had the opportunity to do so much in class and to be more agile. He also had the chance to learn to be courageous and tell everyone his name at every session. I was so proud of him when he was the only one who spoke in full sentence when asked what was his name. "My name is Theophilus". Another breakthrough to praise God for. It was also in this class I was able to seize teachable moments to teach him how to share. I thank God that this was a parent-child accompanied class. He would be taking a break from Gym for awhile as we focus on other areas.

Field Trip
Visit to the Fire Station. Theo & Elias was Firemen for a day. Mummy made a simple fireman costume using red colour tape from DIY shop. Daddy helped to print a badge and have it laminated to stick on the front of his t-shirt. ;p

Chinese
He finally got the hang of spoken chinese language. All because KB spent 3 whole days in Ah Ma's house. His spoken mandarin improved in the way he can answer simple questions all in mandarin! Yipee... we also read at least 1 chinese books per day. (Starting slow).

We will be focusing on conversational mandarin and storybooks for the next few months until he grows to love the language. This is the time I think he is ready to transit for full mandarin conversation for at least once a week. Until he is ready, mummy will increase it to twice a week. We are using the language immersion method.

Delight-learning
This season, we learn about surface and its 100% child-led. KB was interested in various surface of things and we were able to introducehim the following materials based on his leading. He would ask "mummy, what is this made of?" and I will tell him and introduce simple properties of the surface such as "it is made of glass, so it is easily broken.". At one point he touched a very hot kettle and cried. I had to comfort him and tell him, the kettle is made of metal, we just boiled the water in there so its very hot. Discovering what things are made of is so much fun.

Free play
Lego is such a timeless treasure. He has learnt to build some things based on imaginations. This is a horse.

Navy Open House - family on Larcfive! (Lighter, Amphibious Resupply, Cargo, 5 ton).

This vehicle is commonly known at "duck tour". It is known to be able to float in water like a boat and have wheels like a truck. So it is both a land and sea vehicle.

A bee in the flower!
On one of our walks, this time near the Botanical Gardens, just outside NIE, we caught many bees pollinating flowers in the trees. It was so amazing sight to see many bees fly in and out of the flowers. It was low enough for us to see, yet not so near to intrude on the busy bees.

Service : Fixing goody bags for friends
KB having fun putting items in goody bags for his 3rd birthday.

Bali holiday

KB have been asking about sun-rise and sun-set and we finally got to see it. KB rode on camel, turtle, touched a tiger, rode in a glass-bottom boat, swam, played with his cousin, saw how batik was being made and learnt how rice came about! He also had the chance to get a glimpse of the cockpit in the plane - super! (check out the picture of KB washing his hands. can you see a lion behind him?

Theo's 3rd birthday

2010-04-19T08:13:00.001-07:00

This free slideshow made with Smilebox

The Little Gym

2010-04-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

We enrolled Theo in The Little Gym about 4weeks ago. He has been seen jumping around, walking on beams in playgrounds and public places and developing bits of his large motor skills, so we figured, its time for a safe place where can really take risks, tumble, have fun and learn. So we scouted the The Little Gym @ Forum The Shopping Mall. Teacher Renee, is a really sweet teacher who is polite and nurturing. Teachers there are also very well-trained and has excellent communications skills.

Theo took to her quickly. I learnt alot myself too, he was learn pre-cartwheel skills and pre-hand stand skills, forward roll, forward flip, balancing and more cool stuff I could never have imagined. He was able to manoeuvre the monkey bar better, and tumbling has never been more fun. (Mummy: I wish I was a kid!) Here're some stuff he did in the class and his practise at home.

Easter Celebration 2010

2010-04-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

Easter was special because this is the reason why men has HOPE. The objective of the lesson/activity was the message of the cross. We wanted to make the lesson so simple but impressionable and applicable. This is what we did.

We read from Theo's childrens Bible which details day 1 - day 7 of creation. Then I repeated the story in minicards http://www.bibl estoryprintables.com

Bible Story printables happened to have creation story told so simply, kids can play story sequence from it. Great for logical thinking skills. We did this during our morning devotion.
We explained that Jesus died on the cross to take away our naughtiness but he is alive again so we can be good boys and girls.
During breakfast, we had hot cross bun. We pointed out to the 'cross' symbol on the bun, but I think he was more interested in the bun! ha... he gobbled it up.

After that we proceeded to the kitchen and play pretend. We pretended to be naughty by snatching toys. And then Daddy and mummy took turns to come up with illustration of pushing, interrupting during conversations, not sharing toys, hitting others and not saying excuse me etc.
The person who is naughty gets a black paint on his/her legs and hands. Soon, Theo wants to join in and then he pretends he is naughty.

When we have enough black marks, mummy say "Oh oh... look we are ALL naughty! What should we do? We need to ask God to help us be good boys and girls !So we prayed, and Theo prayed after us "Dear Jesus, Sorry that we are naughty. Thank you for dying on the cross to take away our naughtiness. Please help us to be good boys and girls. In Jesus name, Amen!"

Then we went to the bathroom to wash ourselves in the 'blood of Jesus" and we say that only Jesus blood can clean us all. I said, we pretend this is the blood of Jesus, see this is red colour. Only the blood of Jesus can wash all our naughty marks away. And we sang, "only the blood of Jesus. What can wash my naughtiness away, nothing but the blood of Jesus."

After lunch, we do some light craft. KB cuts the cellophane paper in odd shapes and sizes. I took out a double-sided tape and he sticks them on each other randomly. When the piece of mosiac is big enough to contain the cut-out of the cross, I stick the cross on the back and front of the cellophane paper, while he plays "see-through" with cellophane papers. I trimmed off the excess of the cross and viola! We have a stained-glass cross to catch the sunlight! We hung it at the window but later decides that it is safer outside the room, away from rain.

The Easter story sequencing cards can be replayed again anytime. Today Theo asked me to read the story again for him and when I asked him, where is Jesus? He said Jesus is alive. That is good enough for now.

Visit to Fire Station

2010-04-02T00:48:00.000-07:00

Mummy organised a visit to Fire Station with homeschool friends on 27 march. Here're the two little firemen. Mummy made our little firemen costume by just sticking red tapes to our old t-shirts!

Theo had a blast! Elias was doing the "oooh...oooh" sound of a fire engine siren all day long. Super cute!

Our letter 'C'

2010-03-25T08:12:00.001-07:00

It was Chinese New Year, so we jumped straight into festive celebration. We read a few stories related to Chinese New Year and made a dragon puppet out of paper bag! Theo stick the dragon tongue, coloured the dragon and stuck on its googly eyes. Easy to make, nice!

Then Theo helped to sort sweets and counted them.

We also 'toured' Chinatown on a WEEKDAY, can U believed it was still crowded. Well, I guess weekends were worse! We got this traditional costume. we learnt so much at Chinatown, Theo was so excited looking at all the "Cun Lian", "Pao Zhu" and all the traditional chinese new year decorations.

And when Chingay came to the heartlands, we caught it. God was good to us. We were dining in nearby restaurant at the time Chingay was due to start. But it rained and the whole event was postponed till we finished our dinner. haha, what a day to thank God for. :)

We Started our traditional letter craft, and attempted to make a "polka-dot" caterpillar. This was really good for fine motor skills that Theo was good at. He stuck on the googly eyes, (kids just lurve googly eyes!) and ta-da, easy peasy!
He counted some 1-cents coins.

Then we did writing on shaving cream. I know, such a mess! But he liked it. I love it when children don't mind getting their hands dirty, its a way to learn and serve. Of course, which child can contain their curiosity and excitement with SHAVING CREAMS on their hands? I applaud Theo for his patience. He had to write "C" on the wall, a few times. Then it was freedom; cream here, cream there, cream everywhere!

Then we did some experiment making clouds with cotton wool. We read that rain happens because the cloud were so full of water that it fell from the sky, creating a drizzle, a shower and a downpour.

We also did some cotton wool painting. I think he was probably so enthralled by the sight of water fountain that we had pictures of water foundation in all forms; magic ink, paint, chalk, cotton wool painting. I like it!

We had a breakthough this month. Theo and I finally progressed on our bilingual program! Mummy spoke mandarin on some days and Theo had learnt to sit and listen in to Chinese stories, and recite a mandarin prayer all by himself. We also added 1 mandarin song into the creation theme. In addition, we read "Mao Mao Cong" (A hungry Caterpillar by Leo Lionni) and made a Mao Mao cong craft. Sorry, didnt have pictures to show, cuz we got too busy doing stuff!

Our Bible theme this time was : Creation
We read our Bible for days of creation and mummy narrate from picture cards from file folder fun while Theo will take the 'created items" and place it on the sheets. Mummy took some time to conceptualise this so that it could be hands-on, interesting and memorable for the child. (See more on Creation craft). we also did God made me and God loves me activity. We sang songs from "God made the moon and God made the stars..." etc. This game can be played a few times and we could also do simple story sequencing.

Free Play

Theo's got a scooter! yippee... Theo had it everywhere he went... zoom zoom zoom, and our little baby had to be a part too.

We caught some ants carrying food from one point to another at the stairway near our flat on one of our morning walks. (Sorry, no pictures to show cuz mummy didnt bring the camera on that day). But it was a really nice opportunity to observe and appreciate nature and animals. And mummy had to suppress her "eeeeeeeeeeeeeee... let's get out of here" impluse. So we could have a REAL lesson on ants and their dilligence.

Lots of playground & running around time for boys who need to be in the action!

Time of learning-to-share-and-not-fight-over-toys moment! This has got to be a one special moment I love. Theo was so spontaneous in sharing his yakult drink, he had to hold didi head to let him drink. Very very cute!

Theo is fully into pretend play. He even has an imaginary friend named, "Go Go". He has gone on the plane, and on "mission trip" to help others build houses and cook for the poor. of course, our little one had to be part of the team. He is learning very fast as well.

He is also curious about sun-rise and sun-set, why it is dark and why there is light. A coincidence that we are doing creation to explain why there was day and night.

Airshow 2010

2010-02-09T23:51:00.000-08:00

Our letter "T"

2010-02-05T00:20:00.000-08:00

We chose "The Ten Lepers" for our Bible lesson with the associated character trait of "thankfulness". We read the story from the kid's Bible and role play with all his stuff toys as the 'lepers', and he was the 'doctor'. Then we played the 'thank you' game.

It was rather fun and effective in getting Krunchy Boy (to verbalise "thank you" as it utilise repetition to help a child get used to saying it.

We found that KB can be rather reserved in situations that calls for initiating a conversation or greetings with strangers or people he is not familiar with. So this can be a rather big thing for him to overcome. With lots of other intentional training at home throughout the weeks, we discovered that he said "thank you" to a cellgroup friend of ours when they send us home, he also said "thank you" to a little girl who offered him sweet. On both accounts, it was a first. Subsequently, he also managed to say "Bye" or "Hi" softly.

We used a song "Thank you Lord (you choose)" from children's praise & worship by Kingsway, Children's ministry. The song really helps in letting him sing what he is thankful for! And soon he was picking out his toys in the house and many people he thank God for in the song. When we went to the airshow, he started to sing "Thank you God for aeroplanes." We loved that song to bits.

Treasure hunting for triangles mummy hid around the house. We try to make something out of triangles. I did some and KB did some. He got interested in the latch of my big bag later and spent some time figuring out how to open and close. Nice discovery.

We did the usual familiarise with the letters with "T" crafts which he painted the "T" and tore assorted shades of green paper to make leaves for his tree.

I used to think rice-writing does not work, but he proved me wrong! He was having such fun writing with his fingers! He even initiated a small 't' and a big 'T' and did a song and dance.

I asked KB where does the Terrapin lives? He tells me "From the market". Ha haha.. such is a city boy's encounter with nature. I proceeded to create a lapbook from one of the books we were reading. Although I usually don't do lapbook much, I felt that this is one way he can play games and be reminded of some tiny bits of facts. (We try not to overdo information at this age). "One tiny turtle" is such a heart-warming yet informative living book. KB enjoyed the living book so much I had to read over and over and over and he would even sit outside the washroom with me on the toilet seat reading the book to him!!! He had also dramatized the story many times over pretending he was the little turtle. Motivated learners are most creative. He counted the hatchlings, played with life cycle, talked about predator and prey, and named the various body parts of the turtle.

Painting tires of his little truck and cleaning up after.

We made a tunnel using the letter foams. Ok, this was mummy's idea. The boys enjoys the tumbling around and racing each other they didnt care if the tunnel crashes within minutes. I love to watch them play together without a care. Having two boys so close together in age is a blessing as they can play together (and snatching! So lots of opportunities for teachable moments of love and sharing). KB recites the 2 guidelines when playing with Didi.

"Number 1, Must share, number 2, Cannot snatch, because I love my brother".

Making tea! We used caffeine-free Rooibos green tea from South Africa. KB watched as the colour of water turns from clear to golden yellow. Tea is ready and he had a cup to taste.

We did some measuring with a customised ruler made of turtles! We measured furnitures around the house and counted the number of turtles that made up the length of the objects. This is a one level up on counting objects in hand, but I ventured anyway. It was challenging at first, but we counted it slowly with him.

Free play

I provided the chalks. KB proceeded to draw on the pavement just outside our door. He had progressed from abstract drawing to symbolic drawing. You can see the "t" shaped symbol which is a representation of the shape of an aeroplane. I noticed alot of similiar shapes drawing on the floor and asked him what was he drawing. He tells me he is drawing an aeroplane. Look at the many aeroplanes! He cleans the floor by pouring water. Crayola chalks really cleans easily. No brush needed.

He also drew a water fountain using magic ink. He tells me there are big ones and small ones of many colours.

KB saw a wire hanging nearby my keyboard and asked me what was that. That question led to the finding of a mircophone which now sits permanently on my bedside shelf. KB will go once in awhile to sing very very loud! He loves to sing "How Great is our God" into the microphone. I had to remind him not to 'eat' it cuz he places his mouth so close to it.

We went to the park twice in a week to jog. It is so nice to finally be able to take baby Elias out wherever we go. KB is playing alot with his sibling. KB knocked out and took a 3-hour afternoon nap each time. Mummy was bushed as well! Then we went swimming the following week.

Mastery of chopsticks! Yipee! KB was really happy to be able to use chopsticks like us. My mum tells me I mastered the use of chopsticks when I was three-yrs-old, but KB beat me to it. He was two-years and nine months.

KB's love for transportation is admirable. Everything he does in his imaginary play has something to do with a plane or a train or a bus! This is his construction of staircase to the bus, going to work with a backpack like daddy! He woke up recently and tells me he wants to go to work so eagerly.He cries when he realised he wasnt really 'allowed' to go to daddy's office. Sigh... maybe one day we should really let him walk around daddy's office.:0)

Our letter "B"

2010-01-18T00:57:00.000-08:00

Theo enjoyed the leapfrog alphabet DVD that it became effortless in teaching the sounds of the 'letter'. The song was so catchy both of us sang it through the day.

First, we traced the letter "B" on paper and coloured a Bird. Then we did some pre-writing activity which he did so well, it surprised me. This was the first time that he tried it and I had always thought this to be a 3yr old activity. Then we went out and blow our bubbles. Though not the first time he is playing this, it is amazing how creative and observant kids are. We went to a playground to blow bubbles and he tried to put the bubble gun through the holes and watched bubbles float up all the way to the tree tops.

Today, poor Theo was running a fever. His fever went up and down for 5-days.

Though he was lethargic, his spirits were high. So I got out some fun but less physical activity. We printed bears! Kids loves painting and Theo is one of them. We did up to 3 drawing blocks sheets and then we ran out of it and print more bears on teh newspaper until we run out of paint. Look how he is getting better each time. Neat. We decided to cut one out and send it to Theo's cousin, Chika in Jakarta. Theo chose the bear and cut it out. I helped to trim the edge to fit it into the envelope. Then we went to buy stamps for the envelope.

The best time we had was to make a boat. We were reading his list of favourite transportation book and we stopped to look at the sailing boat. Theo loves all kinds of transports. He has a big book of trucks, trains and boats which he begged us to read every single night before bed!

Theo was running a low-grade fever but that did not stop his enthusiasm. I prepared the materials and Theo put on the scotch-tape and taped the boats. He was thrilled. We took the boats - 1 big and 1 small to the waters. I explained the sail boat needed wind to sail and we pretended to be the wind. Theo blew the sails and it went sailing. Then he wanted some people on the boat. Later some water got into the boat and it sank, so we talked about 'floating' and 'sinking'.

We did craft work and made a "Bee" out of the letter "B". He loved the goggly eyes and took the bee for a fly around the living room. (see a child's craft at Sharon's Lavender Courtyard)

we sang the song "5 little bears jumping on the bed" and read "We're going on a bear hunt", "jesse bear, what will you wear" amongst other books.

I got my helper to help cut a baby pillow and make it into beanbags to play! It was fun fun fun, throwing and catching the beanbag. Theo is learning to catch. He often laughed uncontrollably whenever he sees me throw something to daddy or my helper. He stretched out both hands and gets ready to catch, then he squeals with laughter when he catches the beanbag.

We did more printing, this time the lower case 'b' in 'blue' colour to go along with our "B" letter.

Theo matched bees to flower petals. At first I thought it may be slightly difficult as there are 2 groups of colours on each object. But it turned out too easy for him. Anyway, he had fun and returned to this game himself a few times. We ended up playing various versions of it.

Theo did some pre-writing exercise and were pretty good. This wasnt my focus but I wanted to see where he stands. It turned out quite well. I was tempted to put a star but I praised his effort all the same. Its an intentional effort on my part to always emphasize the effort regardless of the results.

We also did a Family Devotion together. We used Exodus to talk about God giving the 10 commandments to Moses. We told the story from a childrens Bible and watched a short cartoon on the same passage. Then we do role-play. I had a costume ready for the role of Moses & God. At first, Daddy was God and he gave the Bible to Theo, then they swopped. Later I was Moses and Theo was God. We prayed and thank God he gave us the Bible and ended with a sweet dessert. White fungus and lotus with red dates, wolfberry & huai san. 2 days later, I asked him casually, "who gave us the Bible?" He answered "God". Initially, he was hesitant to try on the 'costume' but asked to play this again 2 days later and asked for the costume.

This is our first family devotion together, rather simple but the message got through. Praise the Lord!

So "B" is for Bubbles, Bear, Boat, Bee, Bible. I printed all the pictures of him playing and got him to stick it in his 'My big book of letter sounds'.

Some random free play photos:

Nature's beauty. Theo spotted a unique leaf during one of our morning walks.

Theo helps mummy clear papaya seeds. Servanthood starts here.

Dreaming up of a big traffic jam? (is this jakarta?) - Better than playing on a pre-designed road-maps for kids, is one that a child can imagine and build all by himself. That's thumbs-up for creativity and imagination. Theo tells me "Mummy, this is the road, its long!

Looking at Vincent Van Gogh's painting of a bedroom and talking about it. Theo asked "how come there are two doors, one for going out, one for coming in issit?" hahah, perhaps, yes. He said I don't like to sleep in this bedroom because it is too bright."

Worshipping by the keyboard. As usual, Theo runs for his guitar. We sing "God is good, all the time" amongst others.

Play

2010-01-14T02:32:00.001-08:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Setting the table

2009-12-08T00:47:00.000-08:00

Theo learns to set the table to the number of people having a meal. I do it first and then he asked to do it himself every dinner. We start with
spoons. That night we had Aunty Sien Sien join us for dinner.

So Theo laid 4 spoons on the right side of the placemat. One for daddy, one for mummy, one for Aunty Sien Sien, one for Aunty May, our helper, and a baby spoon for Theo on his highchair. Altogether there were 5 spoons.

Learning Math was fun this way. Ever the helpful boy, his servanthood spirit was evident.

Last night however, he took 2 adult spoons, but daddy was in U.S so I had to ask him to put one back.

Budding scientists?

2009-12-07T23:23:00.000-08:00

Zach & Theo are childhood friends, I mean friends since they were both babies. :) I hope they become good friends for a long long time. Zach & Theo also had lots in common, both a cautionary kids, likes playing with older kids, likes to play with girls (so early???). Zach is a gentle boy, much like Theo. They both like to put things back in an orderly fashion and keep things very neat. Very well-behaved and lots of fun for Theo to hang out with. Don't they look like they're seriously having fun?

(sidenote: Unlike in the U.S where they have science exploration meant for kids, the Singapore Science centre is not really tots-friendly, we think its the sights & sounds they take in, with lots of explanations from parents. I try to expose him to more hands-on stuff and the gears (above) is one of the few 'scientific' stuff kids can touch.)

Here's Theo at 11months old and mummy at Pala Alto Junior Museum. Their tots-friendly structure means kids can really touch and manipulate all on their own! It is not a museum at all, it even has a small outdoor enclosure to see some small animals!

Bowling

2009-12-07T23:17:00.000-08:00

We've played bowling umpteen times at home (bowling ball and painted toilet rolls as 'pins'), but here comes an opportunity for the real bowling and Theo was thrilled.

He also enjoyed watching how the pins got knocked down. I was told boys like to know how things worked.

colouring with both hands

2009-12-07T23:09:00.000-08:00

Something we do to keep occupied, and training both right and left brains. Look at the riot of colours he created. Theo does it with dexterity with both hands. :) I usually hang up his works, but now Theo does it on his own.

Thanksgiving in Oct

2009-12-07T23:04:00.000-08:00

Although thanksgiving day is hardly celebrated in our country, we felt that it is a good tradition for our family to have. Making it an event is hardly an excuse for not giving thanks the rest of the year, but a way we can re-focus as a family and not take each other for granted (ironically, its the people we are closest to that we most likely do!)

This year is our first and I wanted to include everyone under the roof. So that's inclusive of our helper.

I read aloud to Theo and sang Psalm 118:1 from Steve Green album - Hide 'em in your heart. We play this almost everyday cuz Bible verses are best remembered this way with kids. We start with memory and then do object lessons for comprehension.

Then I printed out leaves with a verse on thanksgiving. Then we had everyone colour the leaf and we went around asking each one to:

1) name something they want to thank God for
2) to name a person in the family they thank

Theo moved us by saying "I thank God for wisdom" and I thank papa for strength and helper for strength. I thank God for Theo who is generally an obedient child and husband who take time to cook western food for the family (check over at: I also thank Him for being involved with the kids daily. David thank God for my support so he can finish and graduate in his Masters in ministerial studies.

Our helper thank God for healing her backache and allergy and thank God for understanding employers (hee hee). We thanked her for her hardwork and patience. (hint: its so good for employer-maid relationship and it cost us nothing!)

I then print out thanksgiving points and have them stuck to the leaf. Then we stick a cork coaster beneath and tada! we made a thanksgiving coaster out of it. It serves as a reminder who and what we are thankful for.

by the way, did I mention, I love art the way Kid's do it. Not something that was a teacher's work but made to look like a kid's. ;) Here's Theo's creation.

We played sequencing with symbols associate with thanksgiving.

Preparing for Christmas : Snowman

2009-11-24T08:59:00.000-08:00

We started our 3-series Christmas preparation. The first was an gentle introduction to snowman!!! It was more cultural than religious and I thought there was no harm to doing that.
For a change, Daddy got the materials. It was to be a Family Time.

Then we collected hard cardboard together that Saturday morning from a nearby grocery store, using a piece of the hard cardboard as backing

I looked at the stickers available and developed a picture to show where the stickers should go. I also pre-cut two snow-capped mountains, complete with snow on the top of the mountains. Then I used cellophane paper to wrap the cardboard and glued the snow-capped mountain together to create a scenic backdrop. Cellophane is good for use as stickers can be peeled off easily and does not stick stubbornly compared to paper. So it is child-friendly and they can put it anywhere and peel off easily.

The instruction was for Theo to look at the pre-drawn picture I did and identify where each of the objects should go.

We let Theo pick out what he like to stick and then assign the rest of the roles to ourselves. I think we played for about 30mins and Theo had fun peeling the stickers of Christmas trees and sticking the pressies and stars. Then he reminded me to put up the lights which he thought looked like Strawberries! He told me, "there are 2 , we forgot to put it on, there are 2" And pointed at the picture and laughed. Here's the completed picture which now hangs in our living room.

Part II

We did a snowman craft which was really just peeling the stickers and pasting them onto the snowman, pretty much the same skillset as the snow-capped picture but this is more funtional. It hangs nicely on the doorknob! Theo did everything by himself. I love his polka-dot scarf and how cool his snowman wears it. :)

Part III - Nativity scene (Jesus was born in the manger)

This is the real stuff Christmas is made of. We read the Bible on the birth of Jesus and proceeded to construct the birth place of Jesus. This was really easy to build, like a 3D puzzle, so it was fun! The only thing was that it needed the help of an adult because of the glue that was needed to hold the pieces in place. Theo had fun putting "Joseph", "Mary" and "Baby Jesus" in the manger.

Our letter "A"

2009-11-24T08:40:00.001-08:00

We started on letter recognition with upper and lower case A. Theo played sorting and did it with ease. He excitedly did it another round to show Daddy when he came home that day.

We also sang "Ants on the ankle" song by jolly phonics, which Theo being an auditory learner was quick to pick up the song in a day and sang with ease. Then we trace the upper and lower case A with our fingers and did AB pattern for Ambulance and Aeroplane.

During lunch we had Animal pasta and Theo tried to identify the animals by its outline, it was rather difficult but he managed to tell which one was a cow!

We took out all the different colored balloons and pumped air into it while Theo let the Air out of the balloon. We had a whale of time with the air hissing out and balloon flying all over the house. Each time the balloon 'flies', Theo would laugh uncontrollably. I think we probably played for a good 45mins. Then it became quite tiring for my arms as I was pumping non stop! We rounded off by sorting the balloons by their colours. We also talk about God being like AIR is everywhere.

No mean feat!

2009-11-24T08:30:00.001-08:00

pincer grip with toes!

All about Fish

2009-11-22T22:53:00.000-08:00

We went to watch "Swimmy" a delightful play for young children. we went home and pasted Swimmy in our craft book.

2 days later, Theo came to us and showed us this stack of cards which he selected from a pile of other cards and said "mummy, I saw this... inside Swimmy... See, see"
I took the cards and examined the ones he picked and was amazed he picked the exact creatures shadows he saw in the play. Good observation and memory.

Then we went fishing the following week with a new friend, Kyle who was about the same age as him. The fish swam so fast it was difficult to catch. But I bet it was just as fun watching how 'fast' the fish swam and feeding the large koi in the pond. Theo was excited that the fish mummy caught went home with us. He took it everywhere he played that day.

Show & Tell

2009-11-22T22:45:00.000-08:00

Overheard. Theo " We took a double-decker bus to ABC market to eat porridge, remember?" Subsequently Theo built a double decker bus using Lego and show and told us all about the trip and the bus of course! He built is quietly by himself and then showed us when its done, surprising us all.
Good job my boy.

Theo gets crafty

2009-11-19T08:39:00.001-08:00

Theo loves crafts and once he's into it, he can be in it for a long long time. Fine motor skills and deft little fingers were at work quicker than I could catch up.

Since he was in a season of 'writing' (actually more like emulating us as we dictates our helper what to buy), I decided to let him spell his name (the short form to start) and pre-cut the letters out for him. He chose the colours and punched holes in all of them (except letter 'H' and then have them stuck onto his door. A good sense of achievement and recognition of his own name. The rest of the week, he was seen spelling his name and telling everyone where his name was; on his bag, on the door, on the fridge etc.

Painting baby's feet

2009-10-23T09:33:00.000-07:00

I just can't resist this activity. It was daddy's birthday so we decided to let the kids have some fun in creating a birthday card for him. I think Elias must be wondering what on earth are all these people doing?! A sensorial experience for Elias. hahaha...

We had such fun. Look at what we created in the end. Theo had his footprints on the card and everywhere else on the brown sheet of paper!

Theo goes camping

2009-10-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

After doing 2 lapbooks, we started on thematic learning that takes us into one theme per week. I figured I will only go into unit study when Theo turns 3yo and most importantly, after I stop breastfeeding as I needed time to get ready for Theo's homeschool.

Learning through play is so much fun as it engages a child's five senses. They retain the most while at play. Creativity through play helps in problem-solving.
I love imaginary games. This week Theo & I went camping.

We took out baby's bedsheets and Theo helped to clipped the bedsheets cover over the chair. The next day, Theo 'designed' the 'tent' layout and clipped the clothes peg over the chair all by himself. We pulled out his BBQ set and decided together what to bring for camping. Theo wanted to bring his toys along! We also decided we needed to eat, and Theo took his cooking set with some food along. We took out marshmallows for BBQ, and tasted real "roasted" marshmellows... yummy! (This was the only time I allowed 'sweets')

Later when the stars are out and its time to sleep. There was only 1 blanket. I asked Theo "Oops, we only brought 1 blanket. Can mummy have it?" Theo said "Ok", I asked "Then what about Theo? Theo won't have a blanket now." And my ever sweet Theo said, "Its ok, I don't need."
I can't believe a little boy of 2 and a half can be so giving and loving. I gave him a hug and said "Thank you, what a loving boy you are."

We 'went out' to the woods to hunt, and made binoculars, which Daddy took his own set to let Theo look. We spotted a tiny bird at our plant. The bino was made of used toilet roll. I cut the paper and Theo glued it on. Then I attached it with some rubber bands strung up together.

Theo loved the binoculars to bits, he had it around his neck for days and days even when he goes to bed. I had to remind him its dangerous to sleep with something around his neck.

"I wanna be a traffic light!"

2009-09-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

I commented how bright this T-shirt was when daddy brought it home one day. I wasnt one who could wear neon coloured clothes so this one really stood out. And kids, they just listen in to everything we say. One day, he told me, "Mummy, I wanna wear this. I wanna be a traffic light!". We all laughed and laughed. What a joy bringer he is!

2009-08-25T01:12:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009-08-25T01:03:00.000-07:00

Kidz gets creative when left on their own!

Music Sense - Mummy says Theo's gifted

2009-06-13T07:15:00.001-07:00

One ordinary day, as usual, Theo visits Ah Mah on the weekend. Out of nowhere, he picked up a pair of disposable wooden chopsticks and instructed "jiu jiu" (uncle) to move his drum set near the sofa. So that marked the beginning of our little drummer and his musical piece. Since the tape has been rolling for sometime without rhyme or reason, we were plesantly surprised when we heard him play. Listen carefully and see if you can catch what Theo is trying to do. Well?

Don't you just love that sparkle in a kid's eye?

By the way, mummy says Theo can pitch pretty well too. Try asking him to sing and you hear the entire melody played out to the beat.

Theo's favourite cartoon

2009-06-08T18:21:00.002-07:00

Dr Seuss Green Eggs & Ham

Theo

2009-06-08T18:21:00.001-07:00

how did kids become so sophisticated?

2009-06-02T23:24:00.000-07:00

It amazes me from time to time, how kids actually think and know more than we think they do, sometimes. That's why I think parenting is like a dance, both of us are learning.

I like to keep watch of where Theo does and where he goes in our home, afterall he is only 2yrs old (+2mths) . Theo was nowhere in sight when i was having lunch and I called from the dining table " Theophilus!" and he replied "I'm sitting down!" Hmmm... how did he know? Clever boy. *Smile*

I came back one day said this upon noticing the clock in the kitchen " Eh, the clock is abit slow, i think it needs a battery soon". Suddenly Theo came running into the kitchen with a battery in his hand. I was surprised and believe it or not, DID NOT make the connection as to what I had just said. I asked Theo " Where did you get this from?" He took me to the bedroom and showed me " here" . Turns out he opened our bedroom clock and took out the battery for me!! So clever.

What Theo Loves doing

2009-05-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

Ah Ma got Theo lacing buttons when he was about 20months old. Theo surprised me by being able to lace them up!

Theo loves playing puzzles. He fixed a 1 piece, then 2-pcs and now he fixed a 4-pc (Bob the builder series) and surprised me by fixing a 6-pcs puzzle. He just turned 2yr old.

Theo loves crafts! (Must have gotten it from mummy!! hahah) He picked up a scissors when he just turned 2-yr old and started to cut paper. he likes to hold it up real high and cut round the edge of a pamphlet. He sat there for a good 30mins just cutting and cutting. Now, did anyone talk about kids having short attention span. I conclude that to be a myth. (Ruth Beechick has more on that from her book entitled "teaching preschoolers" http://www.bookfinder.com/author/ruth-beechick/ Dr. Ruth Beechick is a former teacher, professor, and curriculum developer. Now retired, she writes for homeschoolers whom she sees as the greatest hope for the future of our society.)

Theo has a keen eye for details. he can spot a small guitar in a picture. And he loves spot the item game we play now & then. He gets really excited when he finds the object mummy asked him to in the picture.

We played 'match the object with the shadow' last wk on our first homeschool lesson: If you give a mouse a cookie - lapbook. Mummy bought Theo a little folder from popular for keeping all his lapbooks and projects so he can 'show & tell' Pa Pa when he comes home & Ah Ma when she comes over. Theo did is so easily... hmmm... next time something more challenging.

Theo loves to help

2009-05-27T07:10:00.001-07:00

Theo has grown to be a such a responsible boy and great help at home! He initiates most activities without being asked!

I think it might have started this way. He started small and then his responsibilities grew...
At 1 yr old, Theo starts learning how to 'put back' his own toys after play in specific drawers. He also learns how to 'put back' his bath toys in the 'basket', his soiled clothes in the 'red pail', and always 'put back' whatever item he finished using.

1) he helps mummy switch on the electricity plug when its pumping time.
2) he helps to take the baby's milk bottle from the refrigerator and puts it in the warmer & switch it on!
3) He helps to put back his milk bottle into the tray.
4) He helps to get out mattress in the living room when mummy wants to put baby on the floor.
5) When he sees papa putting in the clothes and runs to help papa put his clothes on hanger & carries them to the wardrobe.
6) When its time for a meal, Theo asked for his plate/bowl and cutlery and set the table mat on his little table.
7) when he accidentally wets the floor with his water bottle, he runs to the kitchen and gets his own little multipurpose clothe and wipes the floor dry.
8) He knows that when we signal time for dinner, he will take the remote control and turn off the television.
9) He sometimes tell us its time to "make milk and sleep" and runs to get his bottle for us to make milk.
10) When its bath time, Theo takes off his own diapers and throws them into the bin.
11) When we make his bed, he will run to get his pillows and soft toys and put them aside, and later comes back to put them back!
12) Theo cooks. When we are making a steam egg dish, Theo will asked to stir it. (we think he really really wants to cook, but for obvious reason the only thing now that he can do is to stir, wish there're more opportunities for him to do more...)
13) Theo loves to take out the butter, peanut butter and jam and set the table mat. He will spread his bread.
14) ( We think Theo also really love housework! He is always following our helper around when she cleans the floor, wash the clothes) So Theo is given his multipurpose clothe for this reason. As you would've guess, yes, he cleans the floor, the door and whatever he can find too!

At sunday school, Theo was a great help to teachers as well.
Theo, Mummy is so proud of you. Theo usually beams in delight when we tell him "Theo, thank you, you're so helpful!"

Speak mandarin campaign - The local (Singaporean) version

2009-05-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

Food Talk

2009-05-03T21:52:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Theo| 2 yrs old

18 April 2009
@
Marina Barrage Singapore

Rendition of "This is the day" - 23 mths old

2009-03-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

Those of us who are parents know how hard it is for a kid to sing into the camera. They either get distracted by the camera itself or prefer to do what we are doing - taking the photo! Whatever it is, I finally caught Theo singing on camera one day.

We were sitting by his bed and singing some songs when I seized the moment and whipped out my camera. To my surprise, he obliged... check it out! he's almost at the end of the song before venturing into something else, anyhow, well d0ne my boy. :)

Here's the lyrics to the song 'This is the day":

This is the day, This is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it, and be glad in it for this is the day, that the Lord has made I will rejoice and be glad in it This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made.

Here are the top 10 favourite songs Theo sings at the moment.
1) Happy Birthday
2) Baa baa black sheep
3) The wheels on the bus
4) Jesus loves me
5) This is the day
6) J.O.Y that is down in my heart
7) I love you Jesus deep down in my heart
8) I'm a little teapot
9) Mary have a little lamb
10) G-O-D is L-O-V-E

c'mon everybody ... bring the house down ... scream shake shake shake shake shake

2008-12-21T23:07:00.000-08:00

turn up the volume of your speaker!

Theo's chat

2008-12-14T23:17:00.000-08:00

Mummy says I am chatty from wk 2, i can't believe it but these are the words spoken/signed since 9mths. She thought putting it down means i can read it when i grow up. What a lovely idea! hee hee...

Theo’s Expressions

At 9 mths – Theo says “mama” & “Amen”, signs “Apple”, “thank you”, “more”, “All done”, “bye bye”, “gong xi”, claps his hands

At 10 mths – Theo says “papa”, signs “read a book”, “up & down”, “big & small”

At 12 mths – Theo says “pls”, Say ‘lo” for hello

At 13 mths – Theo says “bamboo”, sings “oooooh”, signs, “good” with both hands, learn to kiss

At 14 mths – Theo says “bamboo, bubble, baby, Apple, Ah Ma, bye, hello, key signs “love”mimic walking like a duck, signs “helicopter”, Stamps his feet to dance.

At 15 mths - vocabulary explosion time. He started speaking 3-syllabus word, averaging 3 new words per day. He says “papaya”, “hot”, “cold”, respond by saying his name “Theo”, continues song by singing “e-ya, e-ya oh” points to door and says “go”, “key”, “hammer”, “orange”, “No”

At 16 months – Theo Says “Open”, “Put back”, “All done”, “Inside”, “Brush teeth”, “Painful”, “loud”, “Sit down”, “read”, “No”, “Yes”, ‘Please”– with ‘s’ at the end, “May I” “Okay”, “clean up”, “go down”, “take out”, “Scared”, “happy”, “stuck”, “inside” and basically copies whatever we say!

17 mths – Theo’s first sentence “let’s go take the balloons”

19mths – Theo completes Rhyme and calls for other actions “Aunty May sit down, Aunty Sien Sien sit down, "May I .." etc”

20mths - Theo says the whole prayer by himself! “Thank you Jesus for the milk/food, In Jesus name Amen”. He can also tell us what he does with whom, “Teacher give biscuits”, “Ah Ma go downstairs” And converse with simple words. “Papa wears glasses, mummy wear glasses, Theo want”. Points to the camera and ask us “Remember?”. He catches any words easily, ‘Christmas tree” & ‘Satellite dish” "hallelujia" etc. Respond "Yes Mummy, yes daddy", May I have the pen etc".

21mths onwards - Theo is officially conversing!! He wakes up and tells us there are "many birds", he tells our helper "May I have some vege", He picks up the phone and tells the person on the phone"papa takes a bus to work", he asks mummy "mummy please help me open this", he takes a bus and exclaims " There are some more cranes!", he sees baby crying and says "Coming!", During thunderstorm, he cries "Mummy protect Theo", when he falls down he says "its painful".

Planting a Kiss

2008-12-10T22:48:00.000-08:00

jazz it up man

2008-12-10T22:38:00.000-08:00

UP close & personal

2008-12-05T23:03:00.000-08:00

Almost touching penguins... wow...

2008-12-05T22:57:00.000-08:00

when i'm happy i do this ...

2008-08-19T04:12:00.000-07:00

Bubbles are so much fun! - 15mths

2008-08-13T22:48:00.000-07:00

I love to eat orange - 12 mths

2008-08-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

orange is soooooooooooooooo yummilicious!

"orange" - words spoken @ 15mths

2008-08-12T04:23:00.000-07:00

my pet crocodile!

2008-08-12T03:38:00.000-07:00

"ma ma" - words spoken @ 15mths

2008-08-12T03:24:00.000-07:00

Theo first call "ma ma" at 9mths old, tho not very frequent, that was his first words!!

At 15mths, he is saying more, but "ma ma" or "mummy" remains his favourite ;)

"Ah Mah" - words spoken @ 15mths

2008-08-12T03:12:00.000-07:00

I love the swing! (Toronto) - 11 mths

2008-07-30T02:58:00.000-07:00

I don't like the feel of grass!

2008-07-30T02:52:00.001-07:00

everything is BIG in U.S! - San Frans

2008-07-28T03:29:00.000-07:00

Trip to US with Theo - 11 mths

2008-07-28T03:21:00.000-07:00