"I want means I want!"

Sarah : I want!

Mummy : No!

Sarah : I say I want!

Mummy : No!

Sarah : I say I want means I want means I want!!!

Yes, sometimes I have to go through this kind of conversation with my little girl. And sometimes I (and daddy too!) can be shouting at her at the top of my lungs! Can you imagine my day with this girl? That's only few hours at night. How about Yeh-Yeh & Nai-Nai with her during the longer hours of the day? Hmmm... Nai-Nai says she behaves worst when mummy is around. (Sigh...) She'll be following me to school one day to join the playgroup. I sure hope and pray that things will get better!

On being obsessed with PINK!

Not too sure whether to be worried of this... but my girl is really really obsessed with the colour PINK!

There were times when she just refused to wear any other colour pajamas except her pink colour one and I will just get so mad at her that I put her pink pj aside and lied to her that her pink pj is in the washing machine (just to get her to wear other pjs!)

She loves the colour pink and I dont think there is anything wrong with it. In fact, I am so happy to know that my lil girl is a decision maker and I am truly proud of her. She knows what she wants and she knows what she likes and there seem not a shadow of doubt from her about it too.

It's just that... sometimes, it just feels a lil "too much". Sometimes I feel so "stress" about it. Why? Because her other clothes were abandoned and seemed so "wasteful". Well, that's just about clothes.... but you aint seen it all yet! She's just obsessed over PINK that everything she owns has to be pink. Well, I cant deny that sometimes I too gave in to her "wants". sigh...

I got her a dress this evening... and because it is not pink (according to daddy), she rejected it. My heart a bit broken la, but... what to do?! I thought it was a sweet and pretty-looking dress and probably perfect to be worn for her coming birthday. Well, it has some pink elements on it, but it's not like a really pink dress. Hmmm... I guess I have to learn my lesson. Looks like I cant make her like what I like. As a child, she has every right to decide what she likes and what she doesn't. I can, to some extent, make some decisions for her and guide her to make the right decisions too, but in understanding her (as an individual), I know she has some very important rights that I must respect! So, OK... looks like more pinky stuffs are coming her way... (of course I will also teach her the beauty of all the colours so she will accept them too! :))

"OK, Thanks!"

Mummy was tidying up the room a little when suddenly, lil Sarah came in, gave me an angry look and said sternly....

Sarah : Mummy, cheh-cheh spoil my pin! (As always, the little ones at home will have their usual rounds of accusations and "fights"... just part & parcel of being kids!)

Mummy : Hmmm....

Sarah : Mummy, fix for me OK? OK? Fix for me OK?

Looking at how determined she was, I just went along with the flow of things and said....

Mummy : Mmm! OK!

Sarah : OK! Thanks! (Yup! That's what she said... I normally taught her to say "thank u", not "thanks"... but, she learns it well just by listening to our daily conversations!)

She walked out, still looking a lil angry but glad that mummy was there to mend things for her....

I just smiled to myself. It was really such a funny sight. She just looked so cute and "kepo"! Wished I could record all these actions on video. Hehe!

"Because of Christmas Day....."

Well, not a post about last year's Christmas or anything near that.... hehehe!

This is what happens when I ask Sarah (any) questions at all:

Mummy : Why you do that?

Sarah : Because of Christmas Day.... (singing to the tune of "Mary's Boy Child")

Mummy : Why are you so naughty?

Sarah : Because of Christmas Day....

Mummy : Asking questions that starts with "Why..."

Sarah : Because of Christmas Day....

Not too sure where she learn to answer like that, but it was really funny to get response like that from a 3-year old (soon to be :))!

And then I asked her...

Mummy : Where do you learn this?

Sarah : There.... the church one... outside the church one...

Mummy : O? You mean the song we sang in church?

Sarah : Yes! Outside the church one.... with cheh-cheh Andrea, cheh-cheh Ashley, Aunty Marilyn one.... wear the bear-bear one....

Okaaaay.... she has a really great memory! We had Christmas caroling last year and what she can remember, she explains it with her own words to me. At this stage, she understands that when you ask her a "why" question, the answer will bear a "because" at the beginning of the statement.

This lil princess is really growing up! I enjoy every bit of our conversations together. I was just thinking, we will both share a lot together later on when she grows up. I pray that our relationship will not stop at any stage but to grow as not just "mummy-daughter" but as "best-of-friends"! :)

My princess has grown tall! :)

"I win! I win! I can put oredi!

I win! I win! I getting taller and taller oredi!

I win! I win!"

She was jumping up and down while chanting these words. I then realised she did just that the moment she could reach her hand to a pen which was on a 5-tier Toyogo drawers.

She was really beaming with joy and I was very glad to catch her doing so. She is really a tall tall girl now, and she is expressing pure joy knowing that she achieved something today! :)

What happens when you jump up and down with a scissors in your hand?

Sarah was doing some paper-cutting... sort of art & craft... or more like just occupying her so I can do my own stuffs..... :p

..... but she started jumping on the bed with the scissors and lo and behold, mummy here was so angry that I started scolding her to stop and telling her how dangerous it is to jump with the scissors. She had this "educational talk" from me before so she understood every word I said... just that need some reminders....

..... our conversation went on like this after telling her how dangerous it was....

Mummy : If you get yourself hurt, mummy will be so sad you know?

Sarah : Then Sarah oso so sad....

Mummy : Yes, that's why when you have a scissors in your hand, don't walk around and jump around. OK? You will hurt yourself.

Sarah : Then me oso die already.... Then me oso got a lot of blood.... wek! (tongue sticking out...)

Mummy : (giggling softly...) Don't do it again, OK?

Sarah : OK...

In her lil pinky dress... & shoes!

We were at a friend's wedding and I dressed her in her favourite colour - PINK!

My dear Little Ms Pink in "action"!

Upon seeing this picture, she asked me, "Why so many pink colour, pink colour one?"

LOL! Looks like she just realized how pink she was! And yes, check out every of her pix with her trade-mark pose! :)

Little Ms Pink

I guess I have to change her nickname to Little Ms Pink from now on.... (just joking! :))

Well, the title speaks it all! She is just so "girl" now. Hahaha... When she was a little baby or at least when she was younger, ie below 1.5 years old, she seemed to like "boy's toys" such as cars, balls, etc... well, that was what I thought. Now, she has totally transformed into a "girl"! LOL! Not that she doesn't like cars or balls anymore but it's more like the choice of colours and toys are very much of a girl's. She now likes dolls, pretty nice hairclips (specifically pink coloured ones!) and she loves wearing skirt! It was unlike a few months ago, she was more of a "pants" person but now she likes wearing skirts... and it's not just any skirt. She likes skirts that could twirl easily and prettily!

Recently, we had some conversations regarding some things I should buy. The conversation went like this:

Situation 1

Sarah : Mummy, the ruler broken already...

Mummy : Broken? How did it break?

Sarah : (explaining with words + actions)...

I could't quite make up the words in perfect sentences but I understood what she meant :)

Mummy : Okayyy.... So how? Should mummy buy a new ruler?

Sarah : Mmmm! I want pink colour one!

Mummy : Ok... Mummy will buy you pink colour ruler! :)

Situation 2:

Mummy : I need to buy you a new toothbrush. See....

Sarah : Mmmm! Mummy buy for Sarah new toothbrush! I want pink colour one!

Mummy : Pink colour?

Sarah : Mmmm! Like kor-kor and cheh-cheh one!

Mummy : OK... Mummy will buy you pink colour toothbrush! :)

Situation 3:

Mummy : Girl, next time you have to sleep in your own room OK?

Sarah : Mmmm!

Mummy : You will sleep in your room. Mummy & Daddy will sleep in another room.

Sarah : Sarah's room pink colour!

Mummy : Yes, that's right! How about Mummy's room?

Sarah : Sarah's room pink colour. Mummy's room blue colour!

Yep! There you go.... that's little Ms Pink. She has turned into a lil pink princess
now. LOL! I guess she will have lots of pinky stuffs next time! :)

More new words for little Sarah

"You bathe first, so you can oi-oi with me...."

"I found my blanket already!"

"Tomorrow I wear skirt ar?"

"Tomorrow I can....(blablabla)!"

"Later you read to me, OK?!"

"Mummy, it's time to sleep already.... I off light ar?"

She's now using lots of "tomorrow", "later", "first" words... and she really seemed to use the words quite correctly too! I'm so proud of my little girl's ability to remember and use quite a large number of words and also form correct sentences at this stage.

Way to go, gal!

Ms Chatterbox

She sometimes bosses around with meaningful sentences... be it a request, a reply to a question or just a statement she makes very frequently.

Sentences she makes (which I can recall right now) include:

1. You cannot sit here! Dirty!

2. You cannot eat so many! Take one only!
- Oh yes, she loves making the "you can... you cannot..." sentences which makes her qualify to be a bossy lil gal :)

3. I want one only. Not too much!

4. Mummy, you take one. Sarah take sooooooooooooo many!

5. Mummy, see.... Can balance! (She said this while playing with her blocks)

6. Mummy, play with me!

7. Mummy, throw the ball to me!

8. Mummy, you see.... So messy already!

9. Don't open first ar?! Wait for me...

10. I don't want small-small one. I want big one!


She talks a lot and I really find it cute of her to say things that now really make sense! Her vocabulary of words increases with time. And now, she uses prepositions like the words "to", "with" and "for" accurately.

Sometimes I cant believe how time flies and that my once little baby has grown to be a talkative little toddler! And I know soon, I will have strings of "Y" questions to answer!

Sarah loves playing puzzle... (at Month 29)

Sarah enjoys playing puzzles. Recently I bought her a 48-pieces puzzle and she managed to finish it within an hour! Yep, without distractions that is!


As always, I gave her an assignment before my bath. So, I brought out a new puzzle for her (to occupy her) and took out half of it for her to fix... Lo and behold after my bath, I realised that she toppled everything over and so, she had to fix all 48-pieces!


I guessed I under-estimated her ability... She managed to fix the whole puzzle. I did help her here and there but she finished 80% on her own. I'm really proud of her!

The process....

Pix 1: Sarah's look of achievement! Can you see that in her face? :)

After that, we wanted to take the picture of all her collections.

She has some smaller puzzles which she started playing when she was about 22 months old and I did noticed that she loves playing and fixing puzzles even when she was so little! Therefore I took the liberty to buy her puzzles every now and then, from easy to difficult and she seemed to enjoy every process of it.

She's definitely "picture-smart"! :)

p/s - however, after all that's been said... we kept away her latest puzzle piece. You know why? She started getting lazy and doesnt want to fix the puzzle after messing them! Sigh... she's probably bored of it already, after playing with it 3x...

Sarah's not feeling well...

Took leave today as MIL is "on-leave" as well... so, it's my turn to be the full time mummy at home today. Sarah is having her afternoon nap now... without having her lunch... she's been having poor appetite recently as she is suffering from bad stomach ache.

It started last Friday night when she started complaining of stomach pain. It was unusual of her to say that unless it is really painful. All 3 of us did not have a good night's rest that night. She kept complaining of stomach pain and later at 3am, she vomitted on the bed. After that, she slept through the night in the sarong. And both hubby and I had to sleep in the hall too as our bed was filled with vomit stench.

She was OK in general... meaning she still behave her normal naughty and mischievous self. Thank God she doesn't refuse milk, except that she refuses eating solids (rice or noodle) during meal times and she is currently still suffering from diarrhoe.

"Lord, I pray for little princess. Take away her stomach pain and diarrhoe and grant her good appetite for food as well as a healthy body. I pray for speedy recovery, in Jesus' name I pray - Amen!"

Nursery Rhymes for Sarah (at Month 29)

Before I took my bath, I made sure I gave Sarah some assignments to occupy her time. So, last night, I decided to ask her to read her Nursery Rhymes book, which she abandoned for some time due to her "new books".

Mummy: Girl, study this book, OK? Later Mummy ask you to sing to Mummy, OK?

Sarah: OK!

Mummy went into the bathroom, while Sarah sat down and "read"....

From where I was, I was giggling as I heard Sarah recited the "Baa, baa, black sheep" rhyme! And I peeped through the bathroom door and sang it with her. She stopped reciting and replied.....

Sarah: No! My song!

Mummy: OK, OK... you sing your song.... (Mummy continued her shower)

Sarah: Baa, baa, black sheep, "hair you meh mii moo"....
Yes, sir! Yes, sir! Three bags full!
Er ONE for my master, Er ONE for the dame,
Er ONE for the little boy who lives down the lane....

Conversation about the consequences of being naughty!

Sarah made mummy angry last night and we ended up having this conversation in our bedroom:

Mummy: Sarah, do u know mummy is angry?

(Sarah nods head)

Mummy: Do you know why mummy is angry?

Sarah: Sarah naughty.

Mummy: When Sarah's naughty, what will mummy do?

Sarah: Mummy da-da (English: beat)

Mummy: Da-da use what?

Sarah: Cane....

Mummy: Who else will da-da Sarah when Sarah's naughty?

Sarah: Daddy da-da, Yeh-Yeh da-da, Nai-Nai da-da...

Mummy: Who else?

Sarah: Pek-Pek, Pek Niang, kor-kor, cheh-cheh..... giraffe....

LOL!

Hubby and I looked at each other and laughed out loud! It was really soooooooooo funny when suddenly giraffe's name was mentioned too in the "supposedly serious" conversation.

She's a really mischievous darling. Even though she makes me angry everyday (almost), she makes me smile at the same time! :)

Sarah: OIC.....

Her latest phrase now... "Oh.... I see....."

This girl is really growing up to be one "Kay-Poh" girl :p (in a positive way of course... i hope... & pray! hehehe...)

Before this phrase, there was another of her favourite, which is... "My God!"
I really wondered where she learnt that from... we tried to stop her from saying that too much, else it's really becoming us-parents' problem! [3rd commandment: Thou shalt not use God's name in vain.]

I can't deny that I did say it once... and I guess she took it from there... oh boy...anyway, it's becoming less now... since the "OIC" came into the picture. :p

Sarah loves to read...

Sarah likes reading a lot! I thank God for that because I dont remember doing that a lot in front of her. I know kids learn from observing but I hardly had time to do any reading.... LOL! Actually that's just a lame excuse... I don't really read and that's something I have to inculcate myself. However, I do remember when I was a kid, I used to like reading (err... or perhaps looking at pictures!). When my dad got me books, I was super duper happy and would read the same books over and over again. Some of my favourite story books were "Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs" and "Snow White & Rose Red". My dad bought lots of Peter & Jane Ladybird books too and my sis, bro and self actually had tonnes of books to read... (hmm... I wonder why I did not continue that reading habit... :-/) I also loved the picture dictionary that I had and would read it a million times!

Recently, I went to a book store and was browsing through some books. As I was looking through some children books, I was reminded of the times when I was a little kid. So, I send myself back to memory lane and thought what book would my little Sarah enjoy if I were her.

So, I got her this.....

And this is how it looks like in the inside... there are about 40+ pages and I find it very educational, ie to expose Sarah to many different things that she can find in various places.

She thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. There were nights when she asked me to read her the book. So I would turn to some pages and tell her a made-up story based on the pictures on the book. Of course, it was also an interaction time I had with my little girl during reading time. It was really fun.

I also got her another book which is a 16-in-1 fairy tale book. Simple and short stories which she also enjoyed reading it on her own and sometimes with mummy or daddy reading to her the stories inside it. Hope these 2 books would last her awhile... hehehe...

Here's a pix of Sarah reading her story book.... Looked like she was really into it, ya? :)

Below pix show the naughty look of Sarah posing with her books.

I happened to ask her last night... "Girl, why you keep reading the same book? How about the others?" I pointed to her other books in the bookshelf. Without looking at me and while reading her now-favourite-book, she replied, "Read already lor... Read finish already lor." LOL! I was amazed with her reply. To her, she has completed reading all her other books, and now, her next aim is to complete reading the latest addition of her own little library.

Keep it up, Sarah!

During my first semester of my ECE course, one of the subject was "Basic in Language Arts". It was a reminder or maybe best said as an eye-opener to me about the importance of literacy in children's development. My lecturer emphasized on the importance of inculcating the reading habit even when our children are young babies. One of the best way is having bedtime story routine with the child.

I must admit that I have not started doing so until recently. As parents (busy and tired parents), we sometimes forget to do this very important thing before we go to bed. So, if you have not already done it, start now! :)

Read previous post on Sarah's first reading activity.

"I love U"

It's a joy to hear my dear Sarah tells me, "I love you" without me prompting her to say it... :)

Sometimes, I would just call her name for fun and hug her like never before... really sayang her lots! And looks like I reap what I sow... cuz she would also just call "Mummy" for fun and say "I love you" :)

[+video] Draw-A-Person... (at Month 26+)

"... eye.... eye.... nose.... mouth.... hand.... hand.... leg.... leg..." As she draws, she says these words as well. I couldn't help noticing her actions and found her literally drawing pictures of a human being. Not one, but many of them! She would say she draws "people". But sometimes, if you ask her what she is drawing, she would say "dinosaur" or "autobots"! :)

I took this video about 2 weeks ago. Enjoy.....!

And these are the products of her drawings!

Nice piece of art, eh? :)

That's one BIG head with "eyes and mouth". 2 lines sticking out horizontally which represents the "hands" and 2 vertical lines which represents the "legs".

For some drawing, she added the "hair" as well!

This is really so so cool! I really find this interesting! :)

Sarah's bath time = play time

Sarah loves bath time because that's play time for her as well. We call that "water play". Dont underestimate bath times with your little ones because it is during these times that they learn so many things about themselves, ie parts of their body, listening to instructions like "look up!", "wash your neck", "left leg up", "right leg up", "armpit!", "tongue", etc... :p They learn lots about maths & science! If they have cups, they can learn to measure and develop other fine motor skills like scooping water from one cup to another using a spoon... well, Sarah loves that activity a LOT!

Recently, I bought for her the IKEA's stacking cups. I've been wanting to get that or something similar for a long time but at one point of time, I couldn't find them at all. I particularly like the IKEA cups because besides being reasonable in price (only RM6.90/set), they are colourful and each cup has different patterns and number of holes in them. That made water play interesting!

I normally vary the toys so that she will learn different things from time to time. In my in laws place, there are some cups, ducks and frog in there. She likes to squeeze the frog in the water and that made some "glup, glup" sound, and she would smile and tell me, "got sound..." after that, she would take the water-filled frog and squeeze it hard so the water would be released through its mouth. She enjoys doing that and could do that many many times until mummy needs to "force" her out of the bathroom.

Anyhow, I would try my best to make it an enjoyable moment for her whenever I had the chance to bathe her. At times during the weekend, if she behaves well during the day, I will allow her to use the bath tub and extend her bath time so she can play a little bit more... just to reward her! Now that she learns about punishment and reward, this seems to work pretty well for us! :)

[+video] Doe, a deer, a female deer....

Check out our lil singer!
Sorry... this was taken at night in the car... don't mind the video, just enjoy the music! :)
This song is one of our favourites!
And pls forgive me... my pitch lari sikit! Cannot reach the note la.... :p

And recently.... thanks to ah ee, now, Sarah has another favourite - "The Barney song: I love you, you love me"