Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Every morning, Monday to Friday, I hear myself asking Anya to get herself ready for school (read: change into her uniform, put on socks and shoes, etc), and check her own school bag to see if she’s put in all the usual stuff that should’ve been in her bag.

The thing is, when I do a final check before we go out the door, I’d often see that she’s missed out a thing or two.

And so, we’ve come up with this ‘school bag’ checklist!

I drew the tiny little things (that only both of us recognise, I guess! hehe) and we pasted it on the wall nearest to our main door.

She loves it!

[And I like it too because it does help in reducing my usual ‘verbal reminders’!]

It’s been a great checklist for her!

… asks for our house keys

… dances to the music from our doorbell

… climbs up and down the gate

… and err, sometimes (unintentionally) he goes ‘cliffhanger’ style! (and makes a soft landing onto the floor!)

Ah. When you’re with kids, coming back home is never a boring thing.

Because He Lives

God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal, and forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Saviour lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

– Bill & Gloria Gaither

It’s been two weeks since Anya started going to bed at night completely diaper-less! (read: the beginning of her ‘night potty training’)

But no, she’s yet to learn the art of ‘waking up before you pee in your pants’ (read: she still sleeps through even after she wets her bed)

Anyway, this is what we do each night:

>> Place a layer of bed cover (made of rubber) on her bed and put another layer of cloth (ie. the flannel cloth used for swaddling the kids when they’re babies). This way, we only need to change the flannel cloth when she wets the bed, NOT the bed sheet.

>> Bring her to the toilet within the first hour (still with her eyes closed most of the time)

>> Repeat the above within two and three hours after that.

She sometimes still has accidents, even after we periodically take her to the toilet (okay, sometimes we forget and take her to the toilet only after three or four hours). And frankly, we do wonder if we should just delay her night-time training, since her bladder doesn’t seem to be ready.

We’ll see how it goes.

For now, here’s some good stuff to read on potty training:

>> The ABCs of Toilet Training

>> Potty training : what works

>> How can I help my child stop wetting the bed at night?

It is because GOD sees the precious value of our lives
that HE’s willing to give us His Son, Jesus Christ,
who came, lived and died on the cross
to replace the punishment of sins that we should’ve received instead.

Let’s remember the precious blood that has redeemed us,
and how precious our life is in God’s eyes.

And learn to live our life every day righteously and according to His will.

May God give us strength.

We’re at a friend’s 3 year old girl’s birthday party when the daddies started playing the guitars and the kids started their … err … ‘unusual’ moves!

Click here to check out the clip!

Some quick updates on our little guy:

– Recognises the alphabets ‘O’, ‘E’, and ‘U’ and says them out loud especially when I write them out on the doodle board

– Still sometimes likes to lie on the floor ‘on impulse’! (like, in the middle of a crowded shopping centre!). Thank goodness he doesn’t have any skin allergies (so far!)

– Can say 2 or 3 words together sometimes. Like, ‘Uh-oh Mommy, bike!’ or ‘Truck, ga ada!’ (read: truck, not here!)

– His favourite Bible story role-play (he’d act it out with Anya): the David and Goliath scene

– Drinks about 600ml of milk each day (and STILL refuses to be weaned off breastfeeding! The duration and frequency of feeding is less than before though)

– Likes to frown when showing his unhappiness about something (and whenever he does it, I reckon he looks like a little old man! Hehe)

– Overall, I think he’s a rather ‘animated’ and ‘expressive’ little boy

When he dances, he REALLY moves and grooves. When he’s excited about something, his face and body language shows it all (on top of saying ‘UH! UH! UH! enthusiastically!).

And when he’s unhappy, well … he makes it very obvious too, like… by choosing to stand still and refusing to budge, lying face down on the floor or the common old trick of crying and kicking away (while being carried by Mom or Dad).

– And last but not least, he’s getting more and more assertive, as well as protective of his toys.

Regardless of my consistent reminders, he’s somehow not into sharing his toys with friends (though he’s not as possessive when it comes to sharing his stuff with Anya).

If he puts his toys on the floor in front of him, then a friend comes and ‘shows interest’ in them, he’d most likely frown, say ‘HEY!’, quickly grab his toys and hold them close. If his friend insists on taking the toys from his hands, you’d soon see a tug of war scene between these little persons with some angry sound effects too! Afterwards, he can even (though not all the time, phew!) look the other way and throw the toy to the floor!

*shakes head*

Yes yes. Things are definitely getting more challenging when it comes to me raising the kids nowadays!

… and HOW to get to it!