Tuesday, January 10, 2012
For the past month, husband has been working off and on on this
Its a fountain/ waterfall. It is a rather rustic design, and makes excellent exploration, notice the floating wood and hama bead fishes that the girls popped in the minute the setting was installed.
There is only one problem, it has a 5 cm splash zone. The solution, put a long vase in front of it with lots of plants. I am sure that as time goes by, we will have a lot of updates on this indoor fountain and water garden.
An interview with William and Sara
WE had been to the Omni theatre on New year's eve, and had watched Born to be Wild. It was a very inspiring omni movie of two women who worked hard to rescue baby elephants and orangutans, raisee them and return them to the wild. One of the woment is Dr Birute Gildakis who works with the Orangutans in Borneo. Her adventure haas so captures the children's imaginations.
Not a day goes by when they dont do something orangutan related. One evening, Sophia asked me to show her some orangutan pictures and then she gave this long speech
"Daddy! We will go in the Klotok and see the oyangutants and it will be so fun. We can sleep in the Klotoks and Anjali... do you want to sleep upstairs or downstairs in the klotok? ... Daddy... Anjali and you will sleep upstairs and mummy and I will sleep downstairs in the Klotok and we will see the oyangutans in Camp Leakey. That is where the oyangutans sleep when their mummys are died" **
** Copied to the best of my abilities. i tried to make her do it again for a video but it didnt work.
I got a travel book about Borneo and read up on how to go to Camp Leaky. I must admit that the idea has me hooked as well.
And here is a video of a favorite game that the girls like to play. In this William is a Keeper who takes care of Sara, the Orangutan. Something happened to the camera on the first bit of the video where William introduces himself and Sara.
Not a day goes by when they dont do something orangutan related. One evening, Sophia asked me to show her some orangutan pictures and then she gave this long speech
"Daddy! We will go in the Klotok and see the oyangutants and it will be so fun. We can sleep in the Klotoks and Anjali... do you want to sleep upstairs or downstairs in the klotok? ... Daddy... Anjali and you will sleep upstairs and mummy and I will sleep downstairs in the Klotok and we will see the oyangutans in Camp Leakey. That is where the oyangutans sleep when their mummys are died" **
** Copied to the best of my abilities. i tried to make her do it again for a video but it didnt work.
I got a travel book about Borneo and read up on how to go to Camp Leaky. I must admit that the idea has me hooked as well.
And here is a video of a favorite game that the girls like to play. In this William is a Keeper who takes care of Sara, the Orangutan. Something happened to the camera on the first bit of the video where William introduces himself and Sara.
The first ritual of the morning and I hate it
Two days ago, when I brushed Sophia's teeth (after a quarter of an hour of wheedling and needling), I noticed something brown stuck in her molars. Ofcourse, I tried to make her open her mouth properly, but she went something like
"Are you the dentist?"
"Yes"
"Then I wont open my mouth"
Honestly!!
Husband managed to take care of it and the brown stuff by sticking a toothpick in her molar and pulling out something rather yucky and which would put you right off your food. We showed it to Sophia and you would think that it would change her mind about the toothbrushing business
Wrong!
"Some on Sophia", I say at 7 in the morning. "Time to brush your teeth and get ready for school"
"I am steching!", she says
"Fine, are you stretching your mouth?"
"No. I am steching my hands and legs"
"Right. Can you stretch your mouth?"
"No."
"I'll teach you. Say Aaaaaa"
"Aaaaa"
"EEEEE"
"EEEEE"
We go on like this for about a minute and then I say, "right, now lets put the brush in your mouth."
"No! I am still steching"
"Sophia, your bus will bee here in twenty minutes. Why dont you come back from school and stech?"
I dress Anjali and send her to the living room. Husband conveniently chooses this time to take a shower.
"Fine", I say "I am about done with making you brush your teeth. I am going to count to five and then either you brush your teeth on the bed or I will brush your teeth in the bathroom"
"One... Two..."
"I want to bush my teeth by miself!!!!"
"Ok" I put the toothbrush next to her. "three... four..."
She makes no move towards the brush
"five"
I grab hold of her, pin her down and she yells as if someone is trying to strangle her. And I run the brush threw her teeth. Sometimes she bites the toothbrush for all its worth in her anger.
When Anjali went through a similar (but shorter) phase a couple of years ago, I used to use my fingers to scrub her teeth (its a lot easier to manipulate fingers than to manipulate the toothbrush when you are force brushing). But with Sophia I have a stronger love for my finger and more respect for her teeth. Both Anjali and I have had very bad experiences of bite marks in some very sensitive areas in our body
"The most difficult part of the day is done!", I announce to husband while rinsing the toothbrush, who finds it a good time to get our of the shower.
*DISCLAIMER* I must state at this juncture that husband usually has more success than I do in brushing Sophia's teeth. So on the days when he is actually not in the shower during the toothbrushing episode, he tends to spend a lot of time with her and somehow convinces her to actually brush her own teeth. Ofcourse, husband is rather more lenient on the quality of brushing than I am, and he counts it positive if the brush touches the tooth.
"Are you the dentist?"
"Yes"
"Then I wont open my mouth"
Honestly!!
Husband managed to take care of it and the brown stuff by sticking a toothpick in her molar and pulling out something rather yucky and which would put you right off your food. We showed it to Sophia and you would think that it would change her mind about the toothbrushing business
Wrong!
"Some on Sophia", I say at 7 in the morning. "Time to brush your teeth and get ready for school"
"I am steching!", she says
"Fine, are you stretching your mouth?"
"No. I am steching my hands and legs"
"Right. Can you stretch your mouth?"
"No."
"I'll teach you. Say Aaaaaa"
"Aaaaa"
"EEEEE"
"EEEEE"
We go on like this for about a minute and then I say, "right, now lets put the brush in your mouth."
"No! I am still steching"
"Sophia, your bus will bee here in twenty minutes. Why dont you come back from school and stech?"
I dress Anjali and send her to the living room. Husband conveniently chooses this time to take a shower.
"Fine", I say "I am about done with making you brush your teeth. I am going to count to five and then either you brush your teeth on the bed or I will brush your teeth in the bathroom"
"One... Two..."
"I want to bush my teeth by miself!!!!"
"Ok" I put the toothbrush next to her. "three... four..."
She makes no move towards the brush
"five"
I grab hold of her, pin her down and she yells as if someone is trying to strangle her. And I run the brush threw her teeth. Sometimes she bites the toothbrush for all its worth in her anger.
When Anjali went through a similar (but shorter) phase a couple of years ago, I used to use my fingers to scrub her teeth (its a lot easier to manipulate fingers than to manipulate the toothbrush when you are force brushing). But with Sophia I have a stronger love for my finger and more respect for her teeth. Both Anjali and I have had very bad experiences of bite marks in some very sensitive areas in our body
"The most difficult part of the day is done!", I announce to husband while rinsing the toothbrush, who finds it a good time to get our of the shower.
*DISCLAIMER* I must state at this juncture that husband usually has more success than I do in brushing Sophia's teeth. So on the days when he is actually not in the shower during the toothbrushing episode, he tends to spend a lot of time with her and somehow convinces her to actually brush her own teeth. Ofcourse, husband is rather more lenient on the quality of brushing than I am, and he counts it positive if the brush touches the tooth.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Happy advance birthday to Ananya
Swati wanted to make Ananya a video, but it didnt work out, anyway, here is the segment that the girls made. recorded during a taxi ride
A simple day out
What made for a simple and happy day out?
When we went out yesterday, we gave the girls choices. Sure, they were tired, sometimes grouchy, but they had choices, and that made all the difference. Here are some snapshots.
Sophia having a long awaited real ride in the car. I think the girls understand our less is more approach to toys. And I think that they dont really need too many as they often bore of toys and games which are store bought. On the other hand, I fill the house with rocks, stones, seashells, seeds, beads etc and since I also spend a significant portion of my times at home getting my hands dirty in terms of using recycled stuff, Anjali, atleast has more or less stopped asking us for toys.
But sometimes they are very impressed with something and you can see the longing in their eyes, and we let them have it. In this case it was a ride on this musical car.
A couple of weeks ago it was a car ride at Vivo city
"What was the best part of your day? " I asked Anjali when we were getting back. "Was it going to Art friend, the elephant parade or the Jacob Ballas garden?"
She thought a moment.
"It was holding Sophia's hand"
The elephant parade was good artistic fun. I learnt a lot and got motivated to do the paper mache sculpture of the elephant that I saw at ultimate paper mache and paint it like one of these. What a hige, emssy and fun project that would be?
They had miniature hand painted elephants on sale all they way from 5 cm elephants to ones under a meter long, and the 5cm elephants were about $50 and the 75cm one was selling at close to $4000. BHut they are beautiful. I am getting more and more tempted to sculpt that elephant.
Of course, no trip to Jacob Ballad is complete without the time at the water playground.
But for Anjali, tree climbing took the cake. We are rather dissappointed that there are no climbable trees in downstairs our block. There was a single tree that Anjali and Sophia could climb if husband gave them a boost, but it was not as vast as the trees in this garden. Should I write to Nparks?
Tree climbing is such a wholesome and imaginative activity that I am surprised that of the many trees that grow around our block, none of them have low, reachable branches. I suppose that it is so for safety, but is not a playground structure just as dangerous without supervision?
Pasta mania for dinner kind of capped it all up. It was a rather impromptu decision, and a well enjoyed one
We thought that the long and eventful day would make the girls sleep as soon as we returned, but no, they had to play princes and dragons with daddy.
Here is the prince fighting with the dragon (note the filthwizardry inspired newspaper sword)
And the princess egging him on. We threw costumes in for good measure
When we went out yesterday, we gave the girls choices. Sure, they were tired, sometimes grouchy, but they had choices, and that made all the difference. Here are some snapshots.
Sophia having a long awaited real ride in the car. I think the girls understand our less is more approach to toys. And I think that they dont really need too many as they often bore of toys and games which are store bought. On the other hand, I fill the house with rocks, stones, seashells, seeds, beads etc and since I also spend a significant portion of my times at home getting my hands dirty in terms of using recycled stuff, Anjali, atleast has more or less stopped asking us for toys.
But sometimes they are very impressed with something and you can see the longing in their eyes, and we let them have it. In this case it was a ride on this musical car.
A couple of weeks ago it was a car ride at Vivo city
"What was the best part of your day? " I asked Anjali when we were getting back. "Was it going to Art friend, the elephant parade or the Jacob Ballas garden?"
She thought a moment.
"It was holding Sophia's hand"
The elephant parade was good artistic fun. I learnt a lot and got motivated to do the paper mache sculpture of the elephant that I saw at ultimate paper mache and paint it like one of these. What a hige, emssy and fun project that would be?
They had miniature hand painted elephants on sale all they way from 5 cm elephants to ones under a meter long, and the 5cm elephants were about $50 and the 75cm one was selling at close to $4000. BHut they are beautiful. I am getting more and more tempted to sculpt that elephant.
Of course, no trip to Jacob Ballad is complete without the time at the water playground.
But for Anjali, tree climbing took the cake. We are rather dissappointed that there are no climbable trees in downstairs our block. There was a single tree that Anjali and Sophia could climb if husband gave them a boost, but it was not as vast as the trees in this garden. Should I write to Nparks?
Tree climbing is such a wholesome and imaginative activity that I am surprised that of the many trees that grow around our block, none of them have low, reachable branches. I suppose that it is so for safety, but is not a playground structure just as dangerous without supervision?
Pasta mania for dinner kind of capped it all up. It was a rather impromptu decision, and a well enjoyed one
We thought that the long and eventful day would make the girls sleep as soon as we returned, but no, they had to play princes and dragons with daddy.
Here is the prince fighting with the dragon (note the filthwizardry inspired newspaper sword)
And the princess egging him on. We threw costumes in for good measure
Friday, January 6, 2012
Watching Sophia play
We were at the center for New year's meditation. Last year, when the girls had been in for New year meditation, they were loud and fussy and husband had to take them out so that I could sit for a bit. This year, we tried to better the situation
I had taken for Anjali some workbooks for her to do while we sat, and Sophia had taken the pink worm. The pink worm is a cute, though not very robust toy that we saw in a mall demo and which I bought in a very uncharacteristic and christmassy mood. Anjali spent a couple of days with it and then dropped it. Sophia took it up after.
I gave her some crayons to work with, which Sophia did for a bit. Then she decided that a better thing to do was to play with her worm, which she did, using the worm the crayon box. It was nice to observe the worm is crawling through the box games that were contrived quite independently.
I had taken for Anjali some workbooks for her to do while we sat, and Sophia had taken the pink worm. The pink worm is a cute, though not very robust toy that we saw in a mall demo and which I bought in a very uncharacteristic and christmassy mood. Anjali spent a couple of days with it and then dropped it. Sophia took it up after.
I gave her some crayons to work with, which Sophia did for a bit. Then she decided that a better thing to do was to play with her worm, which she did, using the worm the crayon box. It was nice to observe the worm is crawling through the box games that were contrived quite independently.
Questions
Sophia: When Dinosaurs were living, we were not living. Why?
Anjali: Mummy, can you tell me how adults make babies?
It is a little hard to juggle questions about the truths of life when they come in diverse forms simultaneously and when you are waiting in the busstop for the school bus
I have a one question at a time and a take turns policy and when I had answered Sophia's question she immediately had another one
Sophia: How did Dinosaurs die?
Anjali: They died because a volcano erupted and a tsunami came
Sophia: How does a volcano form?
I interrupted to answer Anjali's question and thank the heavens that the bus came before we could get into the details.
And simultaneously answered Sophia's question about volcanoes coming because of the fire under the earth.
I am sure there are more questions waiting for me.
We are halfway through Roald Dahl's witches and I am on the lookout for more chapter books, preferably those that I have read and enjoyed. Anjali found it very interesting that I have read witches atleast five times, and Harry Potter atleast ten times. After we had turned out the light, she said
"mummy, can you tell me the rest of the witches story from your head?"
"I cant do it as well as the book does", I told her. "Why not? You said you read the book five times?"
Its hard to think of witty responses at ten thirty on a weeknight.
I went to the school this morning to pay Anjali's school fees. The bus had dropped them before I reached, but I couldnt find Anjali on the K1 line. But then a voice called me
"Mummy! We are over here!"
And there the four of them were, Anjali, Sophia, Mikaela and her sister
"We are in N1", said Anjali and Mikaela elaborated "We are sitting here till the school starts, then we will go to our class"
Anjali: Mummy, can you tell me how adults make babies?
It is a little hard to juggle questions about the truths of life when they come in diverse forms simultaneously and when you are waiting in the busstop for the school bus
I have a one question at a time and a take turns policy and when I had answered Sophia's question she immediately had another one
Sophia: How did Dinosaurs die?
Anjali: They died because a volcano erupted and a tsunami came
Sophia: How does a volcano form?
I interrupted to answer Anjali's question and thank the heavens that the bus came before we could get into the details.
And simultaneously answered Sophia's question about volcanoes coming because of the fire under the earth.
I am sure there are more questions waiting for me.
We are halfway through Roald Dahl's witches and I am on the lookout for more chapter books, preferably those that I have read and enjoyed. Anjali found it very interesting that I have read witches atleast five times, and Harry Potter atleast ten times. After we had turned out the light, she said
"mummy, can you tell me the rest of the witches story from your head?"
"I cant do it as well as the book does", I told her. "Why not? You said you read the book five times?"
Its hard to think of witty responses at ten thirty on a weeknight.
I went to the school this morning to pay Anjali's school fees. The bus had dropped them before I reached, but I couldnt find Anjali on the K1 line. But then a voice called me
"Mummy! We are over here!"
And there the four of them were, Anjali, Sophia, Mikaela and her sister
"We are in N1", said Anjali and Mikaela elaborated "We are sitting here till the school starts, then we will go to our class"
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Making icecream
We made icecream the traditional way - with a tupperware filled with milk, sugar and vanilla inside a big tin filled with ice and salt. We began by sitting in the lift lobby and rolling it around, but got a bit tired of it and it also got rather cold on the surface of the tin. It got even cooler when ice crystals started forming on the top surface of the tin.
Then we took the whole thing downstairs and rolled it down the slide a couple of times. I think that the whole contraption required more ice though, for after ten minutes, almost all the ice had melted and we were left with very think milk shake. The girls drank it all up, so no loss. Guess we will make it again sometime with more ice
Then we took the whole thing downstairs and rolled it down the slide a couple of times. I think that the whole contraption required more ice though, for after ten minutes, almost all the ice had melted and we were left with very think milk shake. The girls drank it all up, so no loss. Guess we will make it again sometime with more ice
Astute observations
Sophia makes some very astute observations.
Sophia: Why are you coming in the school bus mom?
Me: Because today is Anjali's first day to school and I want to know her teachehr
Sophia: But Anjali knows her teacher mom!
Me: Yes, but I want to meet her teacher
Sophia: Other children's parents are not coming in the bus mom!
Sophia is the first one to notice if I give her more attention than other parents give their kids. Anjali notices and welcomes the attention, but Sophia doesnt. Like the time in the Gita Jayanti when Swati and I went on stage for the finali, and the girl threw a tantrum asking me to go away right on stage. I dont know how many of you caught it on the video.
Sophia: Why are you coming in the school bus mom?
Me: Because today is Anjali's first day to school and I want to know her teachehr
Sophia: But Anjali knows her teacher mom!
Me: Yes, but I want to meet her teacher
Sophia: Other children's parents are not coming in the bus mom!
Sophia is the first one to notice if I give her more attention than other parents give their kids. Anjali notices and welcomes the attention, but Sophia doesnt. Like the time in the Gita Jayanti when Swati and I went on stage for the finali, and the girl threw a tantrum asking me to go away right on stage. I dont know how many of you caught it on the video.
School day
Getting two girls up for school takes more than twice as much grit in some senses than getting one girl up for school. I gave myself fifteen minutes more, starting the morning routine at 6.45am, and taking a super short shower. But we still missed the bus on Tuesday morning and had to call the driver to take us to school.
Its even worse when breakfast preferences change in the last minute to something that requires mummy to cook - the preference this morning changed from noodles in the WC bowl to grilled cheese toast with mummy bread, which only I can make. (Dont get me started on Anjali and mummy bread, that will take all day)
And so when Anjali and Sophia went back to lie on bed this morning and didnt get up to brush her teeth and the clock showed 7.05, I lost my head a little and gave the kids one of my ultimatums
"Who ever is not up by the count of five will go to school just like this, without any uniform"
Sophia got up immediately, and Anjali dfidnt. I finished counting to five and the kid began to cry.
And then she went to the living room, and cooperated with everything, brushing her teeth, allowing me to brush her hair, and put on her uniform. And while I was busy with Sophia she says
"You are a witch"
"Right", I said. Then I softened a little "I am not really a witch", I said. "I am just extremely strict sometimes"
Some grilled cheese toast and half a Knuffle bunny story later, Anjali was feeling quite happy with the world and marched on to the busstop.
"So I am a witch?", I asked her
"Do you have claws?" she asked, looking. "Can you make a bubble with your saliva? I want to see if it is blue?"
I obiliged.
"It is white, so you are not a witch", she concluded
We are reading Roald Dahl's Witches. Sophia is extremely into the story, especially in the parts where the witches want to flush the children down the loos.
And both of them can identify witches very well and have taken the very serious resolution of not wanting to take sweets from strangers - even the Santy Claus in the mall makes no exceptions.
Now thats a very good thing, but where is trust in the picture? And Ekataa?
Its even worse when breakfast preferences change in the last minute to something that requires mummy to cook - the preference this morning changed from noodles in the WC bowl to grilled cheese toast with mummy bread, which only I can make. (Dont get me started on Anjali and mummy bread, that will take all day)
And so when Anjali and Sophia went back to lie on bed this morning and didnt get up to brush her teeth and the clock showed 7.05, I lost my head a little and gave the kids one of my ultimatums
"Who ever is not up by the count of five will go to school just like this, without any uniform"
Sophia got up immediately, and Anjali dfidnt. I finished counting to five and the kid began to cry.
And then she went to the living room, and cooperated with everything, brushing her teeth, allowing me to brush her hair, and put on her uniform. And while I was busy with Sophia she says
"You are a witch"
"Right", I said. Then I softened a little "I am not really a witch", I said. "I am just extremely strict sometimes"
Some grilled cheese toast and half a Knuffle bunny story later, Anjali was feeling quite happy with the world and marched on to the busstop.
"So I am a witch?", I asked her
"Do you have claws?" she asked, looking. "Can you make a bubble with your saliva? I want to see if it is blue?"
I obiliged.
"It is white, so you are not a witch", she concluded
We are reading Roald Dahl's Witches. Sophia is extremely into the story, especially in the parts where the witches want to flush the children down the loos.
And both of them can identify witches very well and have taken the very serious resolution of not wanting to take sweets from strangers - even the Santy Claus in the mall makes no exceptions.
Now thats a very good thing, but where is trust in the picture? And Ekataa?
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
A highlight during the holidays
Shortly after Christmas, I took the girls to two rural areas. We may think that there are no rural areas in Singapore, but there are, and they are rural areas that are different from Kranji, which has been somewhat touristified. The first place we went to was the Animal resort in seletar. The zoo it is not, but a run down little farmhouse with ducks, crowned cranes guinea pigs, and horses. The animals were not quite as free range as I had hoped, the guineas, for instance, were in cages, but the girls had a good time looking around.
The ducks: you can feed them, and the family animal lover was very excited to see them. They eat right off your hands
The crown cranes and the geese
The rabbits and guinea pigs
The girls were a little disappointed that the rabbits and guineas were caged and they couldnt touch them except through the bars. Perhaps an open air hutch for rabbits like they have in Langkawi zoo would be really nice. Then the children coould climb in with the animals.
One minute we were in the middle of HDB blocks and the next we were in roads that were narrow and without pavements. So when it rained, we had a good time with the streams and puddles.
We then went to Khatib to Oh farms. We had some difficulty finding the farm, and after getting caught in the rain twice and taking shelter under some blocks and going the wrong way twice, wee managed to find the narrow leading to nowhere road which had no pavement that led to a number of farms. There, we found the Oh hydroponic farm and butterfly garden, which was rather a feast to our eyes. We also bought six caterpillars home, 4 for us and two for Ramya. We thought it would be an interesting Science project to watch them turn into butterflies. Three of the caterpillars died in a couple of days, but two days after we had bought them, the fourth caterpillar, which was hanging started wiggling like mad and became a coccoon. If you have never seen a caterpillar turn into a cocoon before, I strongly recommend it, its one of the most fascinating pieces of metamorphosis around.
We are hoping that Mr butterfly will not come out when the kids are in school, and are expecting him out earliest on Friday
The ducks: you can feed them, and the family animal lover was very excited to see them. They eat right off your hands
The crown cranes and the geese
The rabbits and guinea pigs
The girls were a little disappointed that the rabbits and guineas were caged and they couldnt touch them except through the bars. Perhaps an open air hutch for rabbits like they have in Langkawi zoo would be really nice. Then the children coould climb in with the animals.
One minute we were in the middle of HDB blocks and the next we were in roads that were narrow and without pavements. So when it rained, we had a good time with the streams and puddles.
We then went to Khatib to Oh farms. We had some difficulty finding the farm, and after getting caught in the rain twice and taking shelter under some blocks and going the wrong way twice, wee managed to find the narrow leading to nowhere road which had no pavement that led to a number of farms. There, we found the Oh hydroponic farm and butterfly garden, which was rather a feast to our eyes. We also bought six caterpillars home, 4 for us and two for Ramya. We thought it would be an interesting Science project to watch them turn into butterflies. Three of the caterpillars died in a couple of days, but two days after we had bought them, the fourth caterpillar, which was hanging started wiggling like mad and became a coccoon. If you have never seen a caterpillar turn into a cocoon before, I strongly recommend it, its one of the most fascinating pieces of metamorphosis around.
We are hoping that Mr butterfly will not come out when the kids are in school, and are expecting him out earliest on Friday
A playtime craft
Sophia wanted a princess castle for Christmas.
Introducing the princesses
Rapunzel on her tower
See her long hair
Ariel
Snowwhite, Jasmine and Beauty
Cinderella and the obligatory witch
Sophia wanted a witch when we made Rapunzel
All the dolls were made from wooden pegs, with yarn hair and the clothes from fabric scraps torn from the children's old clothes. Rapunzel is the fanciest, since I tore up some tulle from an old dress. Cincerlla could definitely be spruced up, but it will do for the moment. The castle was made from an old milk carton with kitchen roll towers.
Sophia, ofcourse, believes it is from Santy.
Introducing the princesses
Rapunzel on her tower
See her long hair
Ariel
Snowwhite, Jasmine and Beauty
Cinderella and the obligatory witch
Sophia wanted a witch when we made Rapunzel
All the dolls were made from wooden pegs, with yarn hair and the clothes from fabric scraps torn from the children's old clothes. Rapunzel is the fanciest, since I tore up some tulle from an old dress. Cincerlla could definitely be spruced up, but it will do for the moment. The castle was made from an old milk carton with kitchen roll towers.
Sophia, ofcourse, believes it is from Santy.
Sophia's first day at school
"This is the baby of mine", I sang, when Sophia asked me to carry her.
"Dont say she is not going to school!", said Sophia.
So the girl who has been pestering me about going to school since we registered her in April, and threw major tantrums is finally off to school. Anjali and I accompanied her this morning.
She has a new teacher, Ms Andrea, who is teaching for the first year. She was, apparently a student at Canossian convent herself. Talk about full circles.
Mikaela's sister and Gwen's brother were also joining N1, so I guess there is plenty of company
Sophia was sitting quietly until she got her hands on some blocks
"Dont say she is not going to school!", said Sophia.
So the girl who has been pestering me about going to school since we registered her in April, and threw major tantrums is finally off to school. Anjali and I accompanied her this morning.
She has a new teacher, Ms Andrea, who is teaching for the first year. She was, apparently a student at Canossian convent herself. Talk about full circles.
Mikaela's sister and Gwen's brother were also joining N1, so I guess there is plenty of company
Sophia was sitting quietly until she got her hands on some blocks
Mostly about Anjali
I have not actively updated this blog for close to a month. There are several reasons for this, including an overload at work just prior to a scheduled two weeks leave. And one of my resolutions for this year is to go home as early as possible and to spend as much quality time as possible with the girls.
There are many things to record here, and it was a shock to me to see how much the girls were growing. Over the past couple of weeks at home, i have come to learn much about Anjali, which showed her morphing from a baby to a child.
There comes a time in the life of a parent when she realizes that her baby is not a baby anymore. Over the past two weeks I have come to realize that with Anjali. Here are some of the events that triggered this.
1. Transition to chapter books: I have been trying, time and again, to introduce Anjali to chapter books and she has never shown much interest, although she liked to hear and watch harry potter. But Harry Potter is so commercialized and the movies are se dumb, that I didnt want to encourage her love for the movies, although I used to tell her snippets from the book as conversation fillers. Then I started to tell the girls about the faraway tree and Anjali was very interested. She even began to make up lands and wanted to know more and when I read to her the faraway tree, she got through the whole book in about five sittings and now she asks for chapter books every evening and mostly at every meal. Sophia tries her best to sit and listen, but she still wants pictures in her books and finds the lack thereof quite disconceting
2. A sort of quietness. Anjali has always been quieter than Sophia but lately I find her getting more quieter. I know that her introvertedness comes from husband, and I am not quite sure if introvertedness is cause for concern. She is sociable enough, but still likes to keep her thoughts to herself. This seems to be a phase of her life when her character has gotten more defined. A high preference for sports, a much lower preference for crafts (imagine my disappointment as I like crafts so much), a very large love for animals (should we get a dog), including orangutans.
3. A sense of modesty, arising from wanting a towel at the pool, wanting to close the bathroom door when there are friends around
4. A sense of privacy, with her closing the toyroom door when she wants to play by herself.
5. Improved observation and arguments. She tends to argue more about things, especially stuff that I mentioned to her and says things like a Promise is a Promise. When she doesnt like a game, she moves back to observe (this sometimes causes me concern), and when she likes a game, she takes the lead.
There are many things to record here, and it was a shock to me to see how much the girls were growing. Over the past couple of weeks at home, i have come to learn much about Anjali, which showed her morphing from a baby to a child.
There comes a time in the life of a parent when she realizes that her baby is not a baby anymore. Over the past two weeks I have come to realize that with Anjali. Here are some of the events that triggered this.
1. Transition to chapter books: I have been trying, time and again, to introduce Anjali to chapter books and she has never shown much interest, although she liked to hear and watch harry potter. But Harry Potter is so commercialized and the movies are se dumb, that I didnt want to encourage her love for the movies, although I used to tell her snippets from the book as conversation fillers. Then I started to tell the girls about the faraway tree and Anjali was very interested. She even began to make up lands and wanted to know more and when I read to her the faraway tree, she got through the whole book in about five sittings and now she asks for chapter books every evening and mostly at every meal. Sophia tries her best to sit and listen, but she still wants pictures in her books and finds the lack thereof quite disconceting
2. A sort of quietness. Anjali has always been quieter than Sophia but lately I find her getting more quieter. I know that her introvertedness comes from husband, and I am not quite sure if introvertedness is cause for concern. She is sociable enough, but still likes to keep her thoughts to herself. This seems to be a phase of her life when her character has gotten more defined. A high preference for sports, a much lower preference for crafts (imagine my disappointment as I like crafts so much), a very large love for animals (should we get a dog), including orangutans.
3. A sense of modesty, arising from wanting a towel at the pool, wanting to close the bathroom door when there are friends around
4. A sense of privacy, with her closing the toyroom door when she wants to play by herself.
5. Improved observation and arguments. She tends to argue more about things, especially stuff that I mentioned to her and says things like a Promise is a Promise. When she doesnt like a game, she moves back to observe (this sometimes causes me concern), and when she likes a game, she takes the lead.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Neuroscience 101 and Princesses
Me: Anjali, why did you hit patti when you were fighting with her?
Anjali: Mummy, My amygdala told my prefrontal cortex to hit patti
===============
Two daya ago, I caught Sophia putting beads under the mattress. Apparently she was testing to see if she could sleep despite the beads and was wondering if she didnt, would a prince come to marry her?
Upon being told that she was too young to get married she now want to know if she could get married when she goes to school.
Anjali: Mummy, My amygdala told my prefrontal cortex to hit patti
===============
Two daya ago, I caught Sophia putting beads under the mattress. Apparently she was testing to see if she could sleep despite the beads and was wondering if she didnt, would a prince come to marry her?
Upon being told that she was too young to get married she now want to know if she could get married when she goes to school.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Anjali's letter to Santa
Anjali wrote to Santa this morning
I had returned late from work yesterday and the girls had decorated half the Christmas tree and had left the upper half for when I got back. Anjali woke up, turned on the lights of the tree and seemed to realise that CHristmas was just around the corner.
Here is what she wrote. i got most of the spelling correct, I think
"From Anjali
Dear Santr
I want a paint chart
"
She put it in an envelope and we posted it
It has to be a magical paint chart. Will the crayola color with water ones be fine?
I had returned late from work yesterday and the girls had decorated half the Christmas tree and had left the upper half for when I got back. Anjali woke up, turned on the lights of the tree and seemed to realise that CHristmas was just around the corner.
Here is what she wrote. i got most of the spelling correct, I think
"From Anjali
Dear Santr
I want a paint chart
"
She put it in an envelope and we posted it
It has to be a magical paint chart. Will the crayola color with water ones be fine?
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