Ballet

We see little girls in their cute pink ballet frocks and we thought "how cute they look!".  So Mummy decided to fulfill her little wish of seeing me dressed in this sweet attire and dancing gracefully.

To her delight, Mummy found a ballet school - "Ballet and Music Company" which is located just minutes away from home. What was even more ideal (to Mummy) was the timing of the lesson.  There were evening classes on Fridays and Mummy could take me to class after she returns from work. We attended the trial class and after the class, I said with such conviction that I wanted to join and so we enrolled for it and bought the costume (mind you.. they are really pricey!) - everyone was in pink, so I had pink undies, pink leotards, pink shoes, pink skirt, pink tights.

Boy was I nervous before the first lesson (on 21 September,Friday).  Mummy assured me that she would sit in the class to accompany me since it was my first time.  But I became really cranky, and changed my mind about going. I refused to put on my costume, complained I was tired, said I wanted to stay home etc.  Mummy was so mad with me and she had so much difficulty in coaxing me. Finally she managed to put a stop to my wailing and she promised to reward me if I were well-behaved. So the agreement - I had to stop crying, I had to enjoy the class and I wiould be treated with fries and ice-cream after the class.

During the lesson,  I was still feeling panicky. Took me a while to warm up and to be willing to join my little friends.  But it all turned out well, I was so proud of myself and kept telling Mummy "I didn't cry. Only a bit."  

Some pictures to share with you. Mummy will snap nicer ones at the next lesson...

I'm going to be a che-che!

Drawing my favourite - people. And this time, my family.

Look what I drawn. Mummy helped to label the names.

I am going to be a "che-che",  a real one to my own baby sister, my own mei-mei (tho' I am already a che-che to Joshie,my cousin).  How exciting! Mummy and Daddy have been preparing me for my new role. Well, I guess the real test comes when mei-mei arrives.

For now,  I will remember mei-mei in my bedtime prayers. I pray that God bless her to be well.  And some of the things which I cannot use anymore, like my shoes which I have outgrown, I will say,"Mummy,  keep this for mei-mei. She can wear."  and "Mummy, when mei-mei comes, mei-mei can sit in my stroller and I will push her." oooh, how sweet, Mummy thought!

My first four-wheeled bicycle?

Choice 1

Choice 2. 
Can you see the difference between the 2?

Nah.. this is kinda small and looks more for boys.

This toy car is really cool. All the kids esp the boys
were taking turns to step into the car. Guess the price - $800++!

Do I look cool? I bet I do!  One of weekends this month, Daddy was in Melbourne for a training and it was a girls' day out at Vivocity.  Guess what we were up to? Mummy and I had our retail therapy session, and treated ourselves to yummy gelato too.

At Toys "r" us,  I fell in love this this 4-wheeled bicycle. Almost wanted Mummy to buy it right away.  Of course, we didn't.  Mummy promised to show it to Daddy when he is back to 'approve' the bicycle.  I couldn't wait and asked to speak to Daddy on the phone about it.  He promised he will buy for it if I were a good girl. Ah! That's easy... I am always a good girl. 

Will let you know when the bicycle has become mine.  So looking forward...

Bintain getaway in July

Over a weekend in July, we took a short trip to Bintan Lagoon (my last trip to Bintan was about 1 year ago in Mar 2010).  Uncle Bernard booked a villa, and invited us over.  Grandma, Grandpa, Joshie, Ah-Yi and Uncle Bernard stayed there from Friday-Monday but Mummy, Daddy and I only went over for the weekend.  Well, we had a short but enjoyable time together with everyone.  For both days there, we spent time at the beautiful beach with soft sand, and also swam in the pool.

One of the things I love most was the buggy.  It was our mode of transport from the villa to the different parts of the resort.

2 bedroom villa where we stayed

8-seater buggy which came with the villa

Everyone loved travelling around in the buggy, even
though the journey from point to point is very short.

At the beach, fun with the sand.

Then at the swimming pool.

Day 2 - at the beach

Guess what Daddy was trying to build?

An airport with a runway.. Wow!



I loved seating on this swing

Steamboat and buffet dinner.  I was fast asleep...
on Mummy's lap, so you can't see me.

Understanding me - the 3 yr old toddler (Part 2)

Indeed, I am now more independent. I am able to do things on my own for e.g. washing my own hands at the basin, remove my own t-shirt, brush my own teeth (this needs supervision), wear my socks and shoes. I also know my "Likes" and "Dislikes". I will make known my preferences and what I want. For e.g. If given a choice of 2 toys, I will be able to make my selection. 


I am also well aware of my gender. I am able to assoicate the things which are for girls, for e.g. the colour pink is for girls. Toys like Barbie dolls are for girls, and I will refuse to let Joshie lay hands on them. Daddy bought me a blue harley davidson tee-shirt and he wanted me to try it. I told him "Daddy, I cannot wear blue."


I enjoy hands-on activities like using scissors to cut papers. I will cut them into tiny shreds of papers and all the adullts will be exasperated by the mess I make, and they will be so worried that I may hurt myself. I also love drawing on pieces of papers using coloured pens and I love paints too... But painting activities are limited to times when Mummy and Daddy allow me.

I enjoy playing in my make-believe world, with my imaginery friends like my barbie dolls. 

In terms of language and communication skills, I am progressing well generally. I am able to speak in proper and complete sentences. In fact, I am now in the "Why" stage, bugging the adults with lots of "Why" questions.

Understanding me - the 3 yr old toddler (Part 1)

To understand and to learn how to manage me better, Mummy read about how 3 year old toddler is like. 

This is what she found out from this site : http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/813862/your-3-year-old-development-behavior-and-parenting-tips-1 

Let's see how much of what it says speaks true of me.

THREE YEAR OLD DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES

3-YEAR-OLD SOCIAL SKILLS

• no longer a toddler 
• has become more independent 
• less selfish than two and exhibits less aggressive behavior 
• more aware of and sensitive to the feelings of others
• more responsive to other children and  able to develop friendships
• capable of taking turns and sharing toys
• will begin to identify with his own sex and traditionally related activities
• more interested in structured games
• spends much of his time in fantasy activity and will have imaginary friends. This is actually a very creative way for your child to sample different activities behaviors and emotions
• sense of time has become clearer and he’ll know his daily routine and will try to figure out the routines of others
• will have a capacity to understand his own place spatially amongst the family and is able to view you as a separate person
• wants to please you - - will be less dependent on you because his sense of identity is growing stronger
• will exhibit a feisty attitude on occasion and resist your requests

3-year-old MOTOR SKILLS

• losing his baby fat, developing more muscle control and gaining in height
• is quite agile and can catch a ball and ride a tricycle easily
• will be interested in tools such as scissors, paper, paint and crayons
• concentration is required when learning to master precision finger and hand movements

3-year-old LANGUAGE SKILLS

• will have mastered the basic rules of language and should have an active vocabulary of 300 plus words - - able to talk in sentences of five or six words and imitate most speech sounds but still has thoughts and emotions that can’t be conveyed through language
• can understand pronouns now
• may mispronounce and will become extremely frustrated when he is not understood   

       

Baking!

Another session to get our hands "dirty".  This time Mummy and I attended a baking class together at SOEZ (United Square).   Mummy said she loved baking too... So for our first time baking session, we learnt how to bake chocolate walnut cupcakes.  We girls had an enjoyed one and a half hour session, beating the egg, mixing the flour etc and finally seeing the finished product! The cakes smelt so finger-licking good.

I told Mommmy that I want to join another class soon. Mommy also enjoyed herself very much, and said we gotta practice what we've learnt. 

Ready to start!

A tiny apron for our little chef.

Here's the receipe

Our ingredients, all nicely prepared for us.

We started mixing the butter and egg... Lots of strength needed
Mummy and I took turns.

We added in the chocolate chips and walnut.

After everything was done, we poured our cake mixture
into little cups. They are now ready for the oven.

While waiting for our cakes to be ready, the Master Chef
gave all kids organic playdough to have some fun with.

After some 15-20 mins, our cakes were ready. Each of us
brought home about 9 cupcakes! I couldn't wait to give it a try.

Creativity tested @ the Icing Room

"Icing Room" - What's that?  It's a place where you can buy a ready-made cake and put on the decor on the cake, just the way you like it.  Mummy and Daddy took thought it would be fun for me to get my hands "dirty" and brought me to try it at the outlet at Somerset 313.  We bought the smalllest cake which cost $12, and it included a few coloured cream and icing sugar.

I enjoyed the entire experience.  I squeezed the cream out and created patterns on the cake.  My hands got dirty.  I licked the cream. I ate the icing sugar.  Mummy tried to lend her hand, but I wanted to it done my way.  Oh well.. she insisted on helping with some finishing touches. 

My cake was done in about 45 minutes... and I was truly proud of my masterpiece! We brought it home and I was so eager to show it to everyone at home.  We had a cake-blowing session, even though there was no special occasion.

Here's the cake. I was all ready to begin!

Artist at work.  Putting dots on the sides of the cake.

Finally, the completed cake.

Another close-up shot.  Not bad for a first-timer, huh?

Our celebration at home.

Ariel reads on her own

A new milestone reached! I've started learning to read on my own.  My teachers have been reading to me in school, and so have Mummy and Daddy.  They are teaching me to recognize words.  And some words which I have learnt to spell so far are "Dad", "Mum", "Cat", "Hat", "Rat", "Dog" and "Car". 

I was so proud of myself for being able to read an English and Chinese book on my own.