Fingerpainting!

This is Han's second attempt at fingerpainting and playing with the Crayola Fingerpaint that Aunt Viv bought for her. The first attempt some weeks back didn't go well as she didn't like the feel of the fingerpaint on her hands and she refused to play with them anymore.

This book, First Art: Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos , provides a lot of fantastic information about doing art with toddlers. It's a really useful book!

From the book, I learned it's good to provide a pail of water or wet cloth beside the toddler when you do fingerpainting. This is more for toddlers who don't like paint on their fingers. It worked perfectly well for Han this time as I will wipe her hands whenever she felt uncomfortable with the paint on her hands. After wiping, she will then happily proceed with more painting. The book also gives loads of interesting ideas for doing art with toddlers. A great resource!

Besides the fingers themselves, we worked with some small pretty flower sponges that I bought from Daiso. A packet of 8 sponges for only $2! They fitted perfectly well into her small hands. We also had star-shaped cookie cutters from Daiso, a box of different sized ones. I allowed her to play with primary colours, then went on to mix colours for her. (I also found out that the plastic containers, used to contain fruits that I bought from NTUC, served as a perfect container for the Crayola Fingerpaint jars. Another way to recycle materials!)

We had loads of fun! The end result which I proudly added onto our Art Wall! Looking forward to more fingerpainting to come!

It's YOUR glory, not mine.

Something personal. I was brought to this verse while spending time with the Lord.

Philippians 2:3-4
³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ⁴Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 

I was very reminded that in my role as a mum and in what I do as a parent, my utmost goal is not to produce a child that I can be proud of. Of course, I will always be proud of Han as her mum. But it's not about parenting being a means to bring glory to myself. It's so easy to go that way, using the results of our work as a reflection of how good we are! I feel that God wants me to remember that every good thing comes from Him and as I strive to be an excellent mum for Him, it is to bring His name honor and glory.

I was humbly taught by God that in what I do as a parent, it is to bring honor and glory to GOD, not myself. This is aligned to the verses following verse 4 of the same passage.Writing about Jesus:


 ^"6Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
 ⁷but made himself nothing,
      taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
      being made in human likeness.
 ⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:6-8)

The Lord reminded me also that in the course of parenting,  it's very important to seek counsel and to look up to other godly examples and to learn from that. I thank Him that I have many godly mothers that I can look up to in my circle of good friends and in God's community. It is also important to give and share whatever God has given to me (such is the aim of this blog too:))

It was such a refreshing time with Him! Thank you God!

Arrived: The Days of "What's that?"

SCENE 1 : One fine morning at a food court during breakfast with mummy time.

(I was happily enjoying my breakfast of soup noodles)

Han: What's that?

Me: What? (spoken more in disbelief that she has asked this so soon. I thought this phrase of "What's that?" asking will only come later? She just turned two!)

Han: (pointing to something) WHAT'S THAT?

(I turned to look at what she was pointing. It was a small red mechanism that was mounted on the ceiling, used to support decorative structures or banners that needed to be suspended from the ceiling. HOW AM I GOING TO EXPLAIN THIS TO A TWO YEAR OLD??)

Me: (sounding like a subject expert) Well, it's a machine used to hang decorations from the ceiling.

Han: (sounding like SHE'S the subject expert, even nodding knowingly) Looks like an airplane!

Me: (knowing better NEVER to dilute a toddler's imagination, unless it's really wrong) YAH! It looks like an airplane!

(I then went back to enjoy my hot soupy noodles, glad that such an interesting conversation took place.)

SCENE 2 : Repeat of Scene 1
SCENE 3: Repeat of Scene 2
SCENE 4: Repeat of Scene 3

You get the drift. It went on for 8 times. In one day. At the same sitting in that food court.

Welcome to the days of "What's that?", until the days of "WHY is that?" come! :):):)

Mummy, it's REST TIME!

 Sounds Familiar?

Taken from babyblues.com

Yesterday I implemented a "Rest Time" into Han's routine. It's after her learning time in the afternoon. I didn't really deliberately plan to implement this. It was more of a tired mummy me by late afternoon and I much needed to stop talking (to a toddler that LOVES talking) and just sit down on the couch. So I declared (with all enthusiasm), "It's REST TIME!"

Rules for Rest Time:

1. Han to sit with mummy on couch. No getting down the couch.

2. Han can only read her books in the books basket placed on the couch. If she's tired, she may lie down to rest or just sit and be still.

3. It's not chat time with mummy. It's rest time.

I played some music softly, then plonked Han and myself on the couch. I then found myself a book to read.

I am very proud of Han! We had Rest Time for 30 mins. She only attempted to get off the couch for two times. Not bad considering it's a first time. She entertained herself with her books and snuggled to me trying to read MY book when she got bored. Not bad.. To me, Rest Time is different from Self Play Time, which Han has every morning. During Rest Time, I hope she will learn to just sit still and rest. I really have to thank Gkidz for teaching Han about the concept of resting in God. Yay! I so thank God!


Today, right after our Learning Time, Han announced (much to my surprise!), "It's Rest Time!" 

Knowing me and my tendency to always plow on without stopping at times, this is indeed a gem in our day!

My girl's pal is a purple dinosaur.

Introducing the good pal of my girl.

Barney

And his good pals, which have become my girl's pals too.

(L to R) Baby Bop, Barney, BJ

Han's first soft toy pal was Hello Kitty when her two grandmas bought the same Hello Kitty lanterns for her last year during Mooncake Festival. Upon seeing how much she liked the cat, there came along some items all embossing the image of this timeless cat from Japan. But her friendship with the feline didn't last too long. That was when the "rival-in-friendship (not love)" appeared. THE purple dinosaur.

I was just thinking why Han loves Barney so much. She has her Barney soft toy that she sleeps with, brings along with and plays with. She counts Barney's friends - BJ and Baby Bop as her good pals as well. Recently she has even incorporated their names into her sentences. Some examples as follow:

1) " That one's Barney's one, cannot take." (pointing to something she is not supposed to touch)

2) "Barney will scold." (referring to an action she is not supposed to do.)

3) "Sing happy birthday to Barney/ BJ/ Baby Bop." (playing with them.)

4) "Barney and Baby Bop must share." ("feeding" them using a toy bottle)

I am careful not too allow her to be obsessed with these characters. So I try to refrain myself from going beyond just letting her have the soft toys. No utensils, clothes etc with Barney. But she just needs the sight of them to go into a cheerful frenzy, "Baaaaarrrnneeeyy!! BBBBBJ! Baaaaaabbbbbyyy Bop!" It's cute. Very cute :)

Back to my analysis on why the purple dinosaur is so popular:

1. The colours. Purple, green, yellow, green. BRIGHT. Need I say more?

2. The music. Catchy, easy to listen, actions (very important to toddlers). Even I can sing many Barney songs now. They're quite nice. Some of them.

3. The ease of pronouncing their names. Barney, BJ, Baby Bop. Easy peasy for toddlers. Nice strategy.

Till her next group of pals join her club, it looks like the days of this purple dinosaur are still many to come!:)

For the Love of Reading

I am a self-confessed book junkie! My favorite pastime of all is to cuddle up on the sofa or bed with a good read and it's my fantasy that I can do that for a whole day. (but with a kid, that fantasy will have to hold for now!) So I do my best to impart this love of reading to Han.

I once asked a friend of mine (who teaches languages) which is the best way to teach a child to read. She just replied, "Instill a love for the language." I think it is so true! It's never about reading methodologies or secrets, but it's about surrounding the child with the language and instilling in her a love for it. I feel this liberates me, as a first time parent, from having to find out what are the various methods to help Han love reading! I just have to share my love for reading with her!

So I do unashamedly declare that there's one thing I would gladly spend money on for her. You've guessed it, BOOKS. Han has a proud collection of many books and our family bookshelf is near bursting since her own books joined ours. I am still considering whether to install a bookshelf for her in her room. Hmm.. will have to consider some factors like budget and space.

Books need not be expensive at all. Of course, there's the good old library which I visit once a week and which I try to bring Han there at least once in a fortnight. She understands the concept that a library is for borrowing books and she does enjoy going thankfully!:) But being a book junkie mum, I can't resist buying books for her too. I try to go for books warehouse sales each time they come along, mostly in the holidays. I remember the best one I went for was the TIMES warehouse sale where every single book was going for $2! Thick or thin. I lugged home 40 books in all. I would have bought more if not for the fact that I did not drive there that time.

Just this week, I thank God that I bought some really good Chinese readers! Spotted some at the Suntec Carrefour sale, some going for $1.50 and $2. A few days later, I spotted another batch at Giant sale going for $2. I also manage to buy some English books at $1 each! It's been a week of good books buy!

Besides letting Han read a lot and reading to her, we speak a lot to her and we realised this has greatly helped her to articulate and express herself well. There's really no secret behind it! Just lots of reading and talking (which I love to do haha.)We also allow her 5 mins of personal reading time everyday. This is when she sits in her highchair (while I am doing some minor chore) and read 1-2 books. I hope to increase the length of her reading time come next year. I feel this is very good in instilling a sense of self-discipline to focus and read.

Encourage you to read to your child everyday if you can! Even 5 mins a time will go a long way:)

Best Parenting Books I Read when Han was 0-2 Years Old

Saturate vs Sprinkle

I asked myself this question today: Is Han's life saturated or sprinkled with Jesus? And I think the answer will very much guide me into how I tutor her to grow in the ways of God! I realised that if I am not careful, I can easily limit for Han how much God can be in her everyday life. Do we only remember God when we pray together in the mornings, when giving thanks for the food and during evening Bible reading and prayers? It's really that easy to illustrate to her God and His aspects are only "sprinkles" in the day!

The word "saturation" implies a degree of fullness and being no longer able to receive anymore. Well, that leaves a lot of room for us to work towards saturating our days with Jesus!

I remind myself to talk about God a lot with Han, to share with her His goodness etc (yes, toddlers can be very good listeners too! Serious.) When I go to Him in prayer and if Han is around, I try to pray aloud and hopefully she gets to understand our God is our best friend that we can go to anytime, anywhere. A few times when we were strolling, I was just confiding in the Lord, I saw Han clasping her little hands. She must be thinking we are going to pray together!

Some other things I thought it's good to include in her day will be reading Christian stories to her, on top of her usual dosage of books. Include art and crafts with Biblical themes. We recently did a rainbow craft and thankfully that provided the opportunity to teach her about the promises of God. Surround the household with songs of praise and worship.I can do better on the actual guitar playing and worship, not just playing CDs haha. We're also starting a memory verse a week soon! Will try to upload the picture of the memory verse board when I'm done making it!

As one author puts it very well, "we cannot give to our children what we do not have." I am reminded it boils down to us having a fresh and vibrant relationship with God! :)

May the Lord grant us creativity and fresh ideas to saturate our children's days with Him! Do share if you have anymore ideas!

Happy parenting!

A Song Every Mum Must Listen To

Choice of Investment

Recently we sold our car which has served us well for the past 2.5 years. A trusty manual car that never broke down nor gave us major problems (except for the 2 times when the battery died! Once in the midst of a heavy downpour and another time at a cold carpark at Genting Highlands)!

Some people have repeatedly asked why we sold the car. Some asked why  I couldn't just go back to work or to take up more tuition assignments etc, both choices which will very well provide us enough (and even excess) money for a car.

All these made me revisit why E and I decided that I should be a SAHM. It's a good time to remind ourselves of our convictions. This is not a post to defend our decision to sell a car, which in our present society, it seems to be a need for sure. This I do beg to differ for my case. I still hold on to the stand that a car is a want, and not a need. Which means our family can survive and thrive well without a car. Now I understand more why the Lord bless us with a flat that is only 5 mins walk to the train station and only 10 mins by bus to town! Thank You God! He must have known such a day will come when we need to let go of the car.

I am also reminded that in life, we make decisions based on values and principles we believe in and we choose to live out these decisions joyfully!

Back to our convictions on why I should be a SAHM. It boils down to two points.

1. Time with our child is the best investment we can give to her.
2. We want to be very actively involved in nurturing her and witnessing her growth and development.

Before I share more about our two convictions, I would like to qualify that my personal views do not mean that non-SAHMs are in anyway less than a parent than SAHMs. It really boils down to what are your life choices and what you believe in.

E and I really want to invest the gift of time to Han. We take such great joy and delight in spending time with her and vice versa. We firmly believe that time spent with her will set a foundation of a strong relationship we hope to share with her as parents-child.

I have a special passion to nurture her in the ways of the Lord and to be a great steward of this young life that God has blessed us with. After my past attempts to work part time, I came to realise that I really admire FTWMs who can juggle work and family. To me, I can only do one thing well and I chose parenting.

So it's a life of BMW (bus, MRT, walk) for us (at least for now till the Lord bless us with the means to get another car)!  It's our choice of investment that has consequences, which by the way, we are more than happy to bear for our child!

Jump for Jesus!

Han REALLY loves to dance and sing. I mean REALLY! She has recently started to hum (correctly) to the tunes of her favorite songs and even sing along (to some degree of accuracy). I'm very proud of her as a mum and I celebrate this gifting that God has given to her!

Han does not really like puzzles. Now we all know that puzzles are supposed to aid in the logical and analytical side of her development. For a while, I must confess that I was slightly affected by her lack of interest in puzzles and was getting concerned about this part of her development. I began to even fear for her placing in the country's education system that emphasizes quite a bit on math and science. Of course, I am not accepting that she is not going to survive the system when she goes to school, but I must confess that I was quite concerned about this issue.

Recently I am reading "Parenting from Surviving to Thriving" by Charles Swindoll. In one of the earlier chapters, he encouraged parents to recognize the giftings that God has blessed your child with and to celebrate and nurture that gifting. I was very much reminded again that Han love for music and dancing, and being able to read and speak well are indeed  gifts that God has endowed upon her. I ought to celebrate and nurture them! (and not be too overly focused on what's lacking whatsoever)

At the service last week, we praised the Lord with a song that involved us jumping for Jesus. Han simply went crazy with joy and she was just jumping around during the praise time! She was even more ecstatic when she saw fellow worshipers of the Lord jumping for Jesus!

So jump for Jesus Han! We celebrate you and all that God has given to you and more to come!

You are Two!

Dearest Han,

you are two! How time flies! I love you darling and you are indeed the apple of daddy and mummy's eyes. You bring such joy and love to our hearts everyday!
I thank the Lord that His work in you is evident. We trust in Him that every prayer for you is being brought to completion more and more. You have such a lovable personality and a teachable heart. May you always be teachable as such and submissive to God and to us.
You LOVE talking! I think "love" is such an understatement! God has indeed endowed you with the gift of the gab and with words and we pray you will use it to glorify and honor Him.
Mummy has never regretted leaving my job to stay home full time with you. Every day with you is a treasure to all of us and we thank God He has made all this possible for us. We walk by faith and not by sight!
Your current favourite characters are Barney and Tigger. You love to role play in cooking and caring for Barney. You love reading and being read to! You love a good laugh and a warm cuddle from us. You love bites from our food even though you are already so full after your own dinner!
Looking forward to many more years of celebrating life together. We love you!

Love,
Mummy