Tag Archives: toddlerhood

friends & signing

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wand practice - expelliarmus!

wand practice – expelliarmus!

At almost 2.5yo, Ollie has a playmate whom he regularly sees and loves playing with whenever D and I hang out. When he was younger, he had this older friend “worship” thing. He would offer his toys to E, share his snacks..etc.

And then Ollie grew up a little, and has recently started with the “this is mine, that yours” statements. Or he wouldn’t share his toys. D and I have agreed that if the toy belonged to either of our kids, we are okay with them not sharing if they didn’t want to do so. However, we would come up with an alternative method to encourage sharing.

Recently, I came to realize how protective I was of Ollie when it came to him playing with E. I had the adult mentality of “hey, if I share with you, I would expect you to share it with me” and I was expecting that to happen between the two kids too. Whilst I was okay with Ollie not sharing his toys, I was not okay with E not sharing his toys, or not okay with E not returning Ollie’s toys when Ollie requested for it back. I was not okay if I felt that Ollie’s feelings were getting hurt, like someone didn’t want to share a toy..etc. I shared my feelings about it with Donald and he told me to let the kids sort it out, and if they needed help with the situation, they will ask for it. And D said the same thing about E as well.

Haha, in fact Donald reckons it would be good if E came over to play with Ollie more often! I just have to remind myself that they are kids, and that Ollie didn’t seem fazed about it if E didn’t want to share his toy. I mean, like WLE, if my kids are fazed about it, then why am I getting my panties up in a bunch about it? Okay, need to play down the protective mummy bit and let the boys sort it out themselves. And constantly remind myself that they are kids!!

Was watching E & Ollie “fight” it out with their pretend wands that actually unsharpened pencils. Both of them were having so much fun, and were in giggling fits as they “fought” it out with Ollie being in the stroller and E going around the stroller. I was getting amused by the both of them. If aaall playdates ended like this..how nice. =P

Proud mama alert!! I am soooooo super impressed by Ollie. Like seriously. He just blows my mind sometimes.

Okay, about a couple of months ago, I started teaching Ollie how to sign alphabets. It was a skill I picked up when I was a kid and it has stuck ever since. Donald can sign a little more than I do. Mine’s limited to just alphabets haha. So Ollie was really interested in it, and he very quickly picked up being able to sign the first, maybe, 10 letters very roughly. It gradually went on to being able to sign all 26 letters and his signing got more refined. He would sing the alphabet song and sign at the same time. Which was pretty cool.

What got cooler was me teaching him to spell the word “airport” using sign language. AND he could quickly recognise the letter I was signing. It was as though he was reading the letters off a page or a wall, whatever. I was super impressed. He’s got everything down pat. So bring on the signing, the uppercase and lowercase letters. He knows them all. Haha.

Today’s Ollie-ism on pooping:

It was a hard one tonight, and Ollie, regardless of any bribe, refused to get on the toilet to do the deed. And that is despite *looks around* Donald doing a demonstration and trying to entice Ollie to get on the toilet by letting him hear the dump. *roll eyes*

Have I officially grossed you guys out yet?

So. He finally did the deed, albeit on the floor. *sigh* And in typical Ollie-fashion, he peered at his poop and asked…

what is this? why so longer longer longer?” Translated: What is this? Why is it so long?

Now that, I am grossed out. Pfffpt. Boys.

mummy milestones

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the first year of my life as a mother, milestones for Ollie was a major thing. I would religiously read books to find out what were the milestones that Ollie was supposed to be hitting, and then compare him against the guide. It kinda gave me a feeling of normalcy, like “phew, Ollie is meeting those milestones”. Or when he was ahead of said milestones, you know…being a mom, I couldn’t help feeling REALLY chuffed about it. Haha.

by the third year, I figured it shouldn’t just be about the milestones that the kids are hitting. There should be milestones for moms as well. And I bet there are some out there. You know, milestones like…

1) eating food that your kid just spat out, especially if it has only gone through like 2 chews in his mouth; or

2) being able to finish breakfast in one go; or

3) being able to go to the bathroom with NO interruptions; or

4) go through a day peacefully with no tantrums or crying; or

5) catching puke successfully with NO spillage on the floor. 

Ahhh..such is my life as a mother. With each mini successes, I unlock a new level of new high or sometimes, new low. Hahaha. But days like today, I look back at them and laugh, and perhaps beam with a wee bit of pride. Sometimes they are mini battles, but at the end of each battle, the kids and I walk out of it unscathed and we love each other a little more.

These days, the milestone I’ve hit is not pressuring my kid to be toilet trained. We have always just asked, and never pressured. It has lead to the day where he announced he had to do a poo and successfully did it on the toilet.

SCORE. Donald said to mark that date, 24 June 2014. Hahah. It meant so much to Daddy cos Daddy was the one next to him, encouraging him. Ollie did it again tonight, and Daddy was proud too.

Ollie has also started announcing more frequently that he needed to go on the toilet. But it has also started a whole new plethora of statements and conversations between Ollie and I. Statements like:

1) *stares at penis* “Why is there a hole?”

2) *farts* “What’s that sound, phhsh?”

3) “Ollie must point down.”

4) *farts again* “What’s that sound, pffbt?”

5) “A, B, C, D, E, F, G….” *sings at the top of his voice*

6) *looks into the bowl between his legs* “There is no egg inside!”

7) “All done. Ollie MUST wipe and flush”.

8) “No more poop. Can flush. Is not egg, is pang sai.”

One must be creative about how to respond, and oh..mummy can get pretty creative. Good grief. I was SO totally not prepared for that.

And then…there was that incident in the public toilet. *groan* Where he happily announced loudly who in his family had a penis and a vagina. Right. Thanks. I’m sure that everyone on the first floor of the library would like to know that.

But hey, now I’m prepared for that. Just waiting for round #2 when QT starts making statements like this too.

 

 

independence

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brothers in crime

brothers in crime

independence, giving someone control over their actions. and with more control, comes greater responsibilities.

when it was just Ollie and me, it was kinda easy to allow Ollie to relish in more freedom, to explore and let him figure out how to work out his little life. Hey, I mean, all I needed was just one baby carrier, a bag of essentials and Ollie. We would take morning walks, hand in hand, or even let him walk ahead of me. He loved peeking into the windows of the neighbourhood child care centre, looking at what the kids inside were doing.

Ollie go school?” he would ask. Soon, darling, when you grow a little older, you’ll get to go to school.

These days, it is harder. Just before QT came along, I made sure Ollie understood the rules of going out with mummy; shoes on, out of the door, into the stroller. I allowed Ollie to walk alongside with me pushing the stroller once. Whoo…big mistake. Think 6mth pregnant woman running after a runaway toddler with the lightweight stroller trailing behind.

DOH.

But I would feel bad, especially when we went out to town for longer periods. Ollie would basically be in the stroller for up to 5 hours, out only when it was lunch. I could not foresee running after a toddler with a baby on me in a carrier. It was very much a controlled event. And those were the early days of us venturing out.

These days, I’ve been getting the hang of going out with the boys. I’ve also been telling Ollie what we were going to do before we left the house, and also telling him that if he deviates, we would take the next bus home, or just put him back in the stroller (if we were using it). It has worked so far. It seems to give him an idea of what is happening and what to expect. And for the past couple of days, I’ve decided to not take the stroller with me, just so Ollie could have more room to move around, see and do more things. And I am pleasantly surprised.

We had more to talk about. Ollie would tell me what he saw and asked what this sound was, or what someone was doing. It was easier to educate him about crossing at an uncontrolled junction. I allowed him more freedom to do the things he asked to do (e.g., press the button to trigger the pedestrian crossing or the lift). He helped me picked groceries from the shelves when I asked him to. The moment we stepped out into the lift, he automatically reached out for my hand and held it. And didn’t let go unless he saw something he really wanted to do.

We’ve been making regular trips to the library as well. I decided to let him out of the stroller and let him explore. The past couple of times have been pretty consistent. He would run to one of the toddler tables, stack a chair, pick a totally random book and sit down to look through it. A boy after my heart. I’m really glad he loves reading and looking at books.

You know how I mentioned that I envied looking at other moms who have kids who seemed to follow them without getting up to much mischief? I figured if I never let Ollie try things out on his own, or allowed myself to let go just a little, I wouldn’t know what Ollie would be capable of. And things have been pretty good so far. Well, apart from one meltdown yesterday where I had to grab Ollie off the floor under his armpits and just board the bus. Even then, it had been pretty funny cos of the things he was saying. Even the passengers close to us were smiling at what he was saying in between his sobs and sniffles.

If every meltdown was like this, I reckon I can handle it. =P (okay, I’m REALLY not asking for more meltdowns thankewberrymuch).

I guess it is a lot about stepping out of the comfort zone and pushing boundaries for myself, in order for Ollie to be able to explore more. Argh..so difficult to let go. One step at a time I guess!