Monday, October 23, 2006

Less Than A Month and She'll be Two

23months! One more month before Zara celebrates her 2nd birthday. We are really happy with the way she's growing. Every night after she goes to bed, we like to stare at her, and talk about her achievement in the last 23months. It's just amazing, how much she's grown. ~ Weight : 10.1kg (2 weeks ago) ~ Height : 86cm (3 cms in a month? But we do realise some of her pants just suddenly shortened) Dexterity ~ Started feeding herself with a spoon ~ Able to press pieces of play dough in a mold to get the shape and print she wants. ~ Floating in a pool with her arm floats (actually she started this in Aug but she's getting really good now) ~ Hold a pencil, marker the proper way (nobody actually taught her this), and able to draw circles or lines or curvey lines (she said she's drawing snakes or worms) intentionally (though not perfect yet) ~ Able to do the thumbs up sign to indicate "Good" and thumbs down to indicate "Bad" ~ Walk up and down stairs without holding on to the railing (but we still insist she hold on to the railing for safety reasons) Emotions and character ~ Becoming very homely, prefers to stay at home most of the time. And wanting to go home after spending some time out. ~ Started to have strong dislikes about some people. These people make her cry or fuss when they go near her. Like the case with Daddy's friend and KC. ~ Sometimes she pretends to be a baby. When she doesn't get her way, instead of telling us what she really wants, she whines. When we change her, she likes to making the 'ooh-weh' 'ooh-weh' sound, and says, "Zara's a baby" ~ She's very into manners now, so she's using Excuse me, Thank You, Sorry, You're Welcome, Please when appropriate. Language ~ Since Phuket, she started pronouncing her name perfectly, stressing the Z and the R. She's no longer calling herself 'Wawa' ~ She's using words like 'accidentally', 'uncomfortable' now ~ She's picking different words to differentiate baby and adult animals; and some cases masculine and feminne of animals. She goes like this, "Daddy horse is called stallion; Mummy horse is called Mare; Baby horse is called Foal." "Daddy chicken is called Cockerel; Mummy chicken is called Hen; Baby chicken is called a Chick." ~ She likes to pretend to speak in different voices and tones to represent the baby, the daddy or the mummy talking (just like voices I used when I read her Goldilocks and The 3 Bears) when she's at play. ~ She's able to sing a few songs completely, e.g. Old Mc Donald, Do Re Me, London Bridge Is Falling Down, Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars etc.; and recite some nursery rhymes, e.g. Wee Willy Winky, Pussy Cat Pussy Cat, Hey Diddle Diddle etc. Learning ~ I'm trying to teach her phonics, and so far, able to teach her the B sound and the C sound. ~ I'm teaching her Mandarin, so far, she knows how to say 嘴巴 (mouth), 鼻子(nose), 眼睛(eyes), 耳朵(ear), 没有(don't have, no more), 要 (want), 不要 (don't want). We don't speak Mandarin at home, so I think it's quite an achievement. :P

28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wah, Zara suddenly shoot up 3cm. That's a lot! Like I said before, she really is a high achiever, learning so much at her age :) Next time, she can teach her Mei Mei liao :)

Anonymous said...

she must be very excited about her up-coming birthday! they sure do grow up fast, don't they?

seefei said...

got invite unkers and aunties or not? i love shopping and buying a toy for your lovely Zara will give me another reason to enjoy my trip to vivocity (yes, again!) this evening with my wife!

laundryamah said...

wow! Kylie is about 10kg but i dun think she's dat tall...Way to go Zara! Muaks from Aunty Laundryamah o-gain..opps..a-gain i mean..

Anonymous said...

Isn't 86cm rather tall for her age? She's growing fast, and her learning abilities are amazing! Your daughter is too clever!

L B said...

Soon, zara'll be 4 years old, then 8, then 16, and before you realize it, 32!!! How? You'll be granny too.. Heh heh.. very fast wan.. Quick, more ABC soup!

Anonymous said...

"Daddy horse is called stallion; Mummy horse is called Mare; Baby horse is called Foal.Daddy chicken is called Cockerel; Mummy chicken is called Hen; Baby chicken is called a Chick." ------> auntie yl didnt know all this until she was in primary 1 or 2 leh!!!!! Zara's mama!!!! wat are you nurturing there???? a linguistic genius?!?!?!?! :|

1+2mom said...

i dunno zara are same age with my twins daughter ler :P but my gals nearly 3 years old :)

jazzmint said...

she's really doing great...I'm so amazed!! Faythe is just 2 months short, but I can tell the difference :)

Anonymous said...

I guess language does come naturally for her..either that or you and your hubby talk and read to her A LOT! :) Great job, Zara! Another month to go then she will be the terrible 2..hehe.

ryeli said...

wow, she really has grown. so proud of her developments...keep up the good work! u really must share how you did it...zara's really mature for her age, not many kids her age speak that well.

Anonymous said...

You really taught her well to speak, sing and well mannered. For me, I am lacking in that, I am leaving it to the teacher. Must really learn from you.

jean said...

Wow... Zara is a fast learner. Good job, Agnes! Hope you are doing fine. Take good care, 10 more weeks to go.

MomsyWorld said...

it's amzing how they've grown isn't it?

Zara's a linguist! Hope you are doing fine, Agnes!

It's tough when the men can't help much, but it goes to show...men are all the same. :x

blurblur said...

I'm soooooo impressed by Zara's achievements!! She's a genius! :)

Yeah, you're almost there...take good care! :)

荦怡 said...

妹妹真聪明!
有好多地方要想妹妹学习哩。。。。

Anonymous said...

Wow.. Zara's a genius! Serious! She has amazing abilities! for a 2 year old..that's fantastic! Mummy is doing a fantastic job!

shoppingmum said...

Learning phonics already? In no time, she'll be able to read. :)

Anonymous said...

Zara is fast ... able to say 4-syllabus word at barely 2 ... that's amazing. Nurturing a child takes a lot of effort and you are doing great. Keep it up!

You're big now ... almost there ... bb gonna be born in December?

milkmaid said...

Wow - what an acheivement for Zara. You must share tips with us on this....

chanelwong said...

you taught Zara very well...I am a lazy mummy didn't teach Jeriel much...

Allyfeel said...

Wow! I am amazed with zara's achievement. She speaks so well.

You really know how to teach kids yea...good on you!

Shannon said...

Zara is SO SO smart... Every post you talk about her development, I am impressed... She's only approaching 2, but her sentences and her knowledge is so much more matured.... You must teach me how you teach Zara.... hehehe.... So I can learn and teach Rachel too.... :D

Anonymous said...

wow time flies! she's already already coming to 2? i remember she wasn't well during her last birthday...

lisaOne said...

even when you are tired....busy...carrying another baby in you...and yet you can always find time to nurture zara. that is really something to shout about...my total respect to you :)

Samm said...

My Gordon's still a baby as compared to ur Zara. He just seems to live in his own world. Still doesnt talk much, and plays by himself. Hope he improves when he goes to school next year. I wonder how the teacher's gonna communicate with a non-talking Gordon, haih.

Anonymous said...

That's why i always say Zara is a smart girl. How you teach her? Oh, i think you must teach me LOL! Haha..

Gene Lim said...

U guys are very lucky coz Zara is a very very smart gal! :)
Great job mom and dad! :)
I am sure the second one will be another smart gal ;)