排排队，查查看: 明记鸡饭

Another Chicken Rice stall that I like. :)


I remember eating it frequently in my teen years and when DC and I were dating... There weren't so many people then and we could get it without waiting very long for it (it was served, not self-service then)! Now, people just come streaming one after another from all over!



The chicken meat sold at this stall is cold but very springy. My sis esp likes the soup there. She can drink a big bowl each time. Hmm, the bowl seems to have downsized but I think it's refillable.


Related Posts:
排排队，查查看: 强记海南鸡饭

Screwed Up

We signed Baby up for a trial session with a learning centre but alas! I remembered the time wrong! The class was supposed to be on 2pm but when we got there at 430pm, the class has ended!

What a damper! I was very eager to attend this with Baby and now we had to wait for another week! :(

Fortunately, DC didn't complain much on the wasted trip. We just had to find something else to do with Baby...My fault! :P


Related Posts:
On a Bored Saturday Nite
Baby's Jam Art
Mr Handyman

Sis Birthday Treats

Sis' birthday is around the corner and she gave us a treat at the Sakura Restaurant at Yio Chu Kang Stadium. There were some unhappiness about the waitress attitude but we took some nice photos of Baby that day! :)

Here's one:



Related Posts:
Birthday Poxed

A is for Alligator

I started my first alphabet activities with Baby last Sat, as scheduled. :)

Here's what we did (and I think the rest of the lessons will follow the same approach, with some fine-tuning along the way).

We started off with the letters...
Then, we flashed the words...
Followed by some pictures...
And, we did craftwork...
We did actions...
We did coloring...
We sang songs...
We played music...
We read books... all on Alligators!

It was a fulfilling week!

--- Details ---
Language & Learning
Alphabets
Aa
(I used all sorts of letters "A" or "a", make an introduction, and repeated flashing the letters to him for his recognition)

Flash cards
alligator
Alligator
ALLIGATOR
鳄鱼
(I did DIY flash cards but alligator cards or other alphabet cards should be easily obtainable. In fact, I used both: DIY ones to show the words and ready-made ones to show the picture. And, of course, not forgetting the chinese words! I also printed out the word in chinese for this is after all a bilingual lesson! :P )


Pictures
I happened to have a picture card with alligator in it and showed it to him. On a separate day, I showed photos of alligator taken from the recent zoo trip. Meant to print them out but too bad, DC had not installed the printer software to his new OS yet. :P Also, I incorporated some maths by showing multiple number of alligators and telling him how many there were.


Bible Verses
In Job 41 God describes a creature called the leviathan, a mighty, untameable, fearless animal with tightly fitting scales and a mouth full of terrible teeth. The leviathan lived in the water, which it was able to churn with its great strength. Some people think that this description fits the crocodile, some think that this is dragon and the rest, a whale or vessel...

Job 3:7

May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it.

Job 3:8

May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.

Job 3:9

May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn,

Job 41:1

Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down his tongue with a cord?

Job 41:10

No one is fierce enough to rouse him. Who then is able to stand against me?

Job 41:25

When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing

Psalms 74:14

You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.

Psalms 104:26

There the ships go, and leviathan, whom you formed to play there.

Isaiah 27:1

In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea.

Music & Action
Row, Row, Row Your Boat - The Alligator Version
We sang Row, Row, Row your boat. The one with the crocodile and it goes like this:

Row, row, row your boat, (action: holding hands, rocking back and forth)
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

Row, row, row your boat, (action: holding hands, rocking back and forth)
Gently down the stream.
If you see a crocodile (I replaced it with "An Alligator" to fit the theme),
Don't forget to SCREAM! (Shoutz: Arghh!)

Row, row, row your boat, (action: holding hands, rocking back and forth)
Gently to the shore..
If you see a crocodile (I replaced it with "An Alligator" to fit the theme),
Don't forget to ROAR! (Shoutz: Roarrrr!)

We learnt this song from his playgroup class, you'll get the idea from this video:


If you have a xylophone or piano and know the keys, you can play the tune and sing along. That's exactly what we did - I played the music, sang the song and Baby danced to the beat and added his beats on the xylophone! :)



Action
In addition to the above, I also teach Baby a set of alligator actions:

Alligator, (open thumb and pointer to make alligator mouth)
ALLigator, (Next repeat the song but a little bit louder each time.)
ALLIGator, (two hands placed together at wrists to open for alligator mouth)
ALLIGATor, (arm at elbows placed together to make mouth)
ALLIGATOR, (Then really loud with the same words use your whole arms to make alligator mouth.)
Alligator. (Last use on thumb and pointer tips of finger only and sing the song without letting any sound come out.)

Snappy, The Crocodile Song
I stumbled upon this very cute crocodile song while searching for songs related to Alligators. It's in some foreign language, so I just tell him that cute little green creature is an alligator. We all love this song so much that DC and I decided to use this as our ringtone!


The lyrics in English:

I am Snappy the Little Crocodile,
I come from Egypt. I live out on the Nile.
At first I was inside an egg,
and then - Schni schnap! - I finally got away.
(Chorus)
I am Snappy the Little Crocodile,
I have sharp teeth. I have a pretty smile!
I'll snap at you - you'd better watch your tail,
I'll snap at me, because I snap so well!
(Chorus)
I am Snappy the Little Crocodile,
When I play I'm snapping all the while,
At the crypt I make the mummies run,
But when I snap I'm only having fun!
(Chorus)
I am Snappy the Little Crocodile,
When I play I try not to go wild,
When my Daddy puts me to bed,
I go to sleep and bite him on the leg.
(Chorus)

Arts & Craft
Coloring
I printed out a picture of an alligator and gave 3 green and 1 brown crayons to Baby to color. Then I drew an alligator with free hand and color it as I explained the alligator parts and colors to him.


Alphabet Craft
Then, we made an alligator out of the alphabet A. This craft is commonly found on the Internet. Here's what you need:


As usual, he helped out.


The finished product.


Did this on purpose. Does it look like he's on the run hot on his heels from the alligator? :P

Play Time
I was hoping to find this actually in a store that I know that sells a lot of wooden toys but this was not sold there. Looked around some places but did not find anything I like, so no alligator toys for Baby. :P



Book & Story Time
Alligator Alphabet written by Stella Blackstone and illustrated by Stephanie Bauer

This book is very colorful and attracts Baby's attention. It's a good book to introduce alphabets (small case), animals and names of baby animals.

There's an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer

This book is about an imaginary alligator that lives under a boy's bed. Love this creative story and the illustrations! I think Baby quite enjoy the book as you can see in the photo below:


Snip Snap! What's That? by Mara Bergman and Nick Maland

This book is about a scary alligator who was scared off by his victims in the end. Quite a nice one but not quite for Baby as there were too many pages and the illustrations are difficult to explain.


Next: A is for Apple


Related Posts:
Introducing ABC

Soaring Skywards

I went up on the Flyer again, it's my 5th time there! :)

It's our last day at the makeshift office and we wasted no time at celebrating this by popping over to the next door flyer for a free flight.

It's a new experience every time there. Unlike my last time there, there is an new and interesting discovery gallery this time. It covers quite a large area, with history and facts about the flyer and Singapore's past. I'm impressed by the high-tech beams and interactive image projections.




As usual, it's photo time in 165 meters off ground! :)

Group Photo


Sayonara to the Pit


Sticks and Steels against the Skyline - The standard photo in flyer for me


MBS - I wonder when will I go there?


A big compass in the capsule!


The work in progress area


Oh, what are they taking pictures of? Did you know that if you look at Conrad from afar, you'll see the number 13 on its exterior?




Related Posts:
Family Day at the Flyer
See Me Fly
A Good 10 Years

What would you do when you get bored with your toys?

Here's what my son did to his favorite barn toy now:



He faced the animals all inwards! Just look at the backsides! LOL!

He is also starting to do throw the pieces to the dustbin, jumbling up the colors on his color puzzle and piecing his puzzle on another board/toy all on purpose! I hear the alarm ringing.... time to get new toys!


Related Posts:
Hide and Seek
Heigh Ho
Children's day 2010

Bonus LVOE

It's the time of the year for a little indulgence. I haven't decided what to get for myself but CP knows what she wants from me.

In fact, she had longed for this since last year.



While there, we saw a new arrival - the Message Key Charm. It went nicely with the Idylle Speedy too.




I happened to see this on display. Somehow, it beckoned to me and looked especially nice today. Well, mental will gave way to impulsive shopping once more.




Related Posts:
My Sweet Heart
Blessed Gifts
Special Date, Special Gifts
Accessorise up with LVOE

A $299 mistake

I left the battery in my Nokia E51 non-camera phone. 6 mths later, the phone cannot be charged. A new battery makes no difference ...

To prepare for the upcoming in-camp training ... again ... I had to buy the HTC Touch 2 non-camera phone. Sure, it's touchscreen but don't expect it to be iPhone smooth. It's slow, runs Windows Mobile 6.5, lousy touch sensitivity but there aren't any other non-camera 3G, browser-capable phone out there anymore.



So for leaving the battery in the phone unused, the cost is $299.

On a side note, I noticed there are many non-PDA phones out there now, which cost around $200 or less. I got this Nokia X2 for Dad today as well, since his trusty SE K750i is failing ... ah, the first 2MP camera phone with auto-focus ... the photos still beats the iPhone 3s flat. Not too bad a phone at $229 without mobile contract.




Related Posts:
iPod Touch for NS
My First Nokia

Welcome Princess

We have a new addition to our family - Princess Enda!


She was born yesterday 29 Mar 2011, a month earlier than expected as the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck 2 rounds. This gave much fright to us and we were relieved to see the arrival of the little princess.

Great! Now, Baby has company! :)

Look how happy the grandparents are!


DC reliving the moment! :P


Yeah! :)


Good Job, Enda's Daddy and Mummy!



Related Posts:
Baby Aaron - God's Gift to us
The Birth Story of A

Introducing ABC

ABC is not something new to Baby. We introduced him to the alphabets in many ways (see below) starting from birth and some of the practices have become part of his everyday routine...

1. ABC Songs (from birth)
2. Picture Books (from 6 months)
3. Flashcards (from 6 months)
4. Letters on Play Mat (from birth)
5. Toys: Cubes, Blocks, musical toys (from 9 months)
6. Action songs from iPhone Apps (from 12 months)
7. Phonics song (from 14 months)
8. ABCD Shape Sorter (from 16 months)
9. Alphabet Magnets (from 18 months)
10. Online songs and games (from 18 months)
11. Bath Foam Alphabet letters (from 18 months)
12. Magnetic Chalk/White Board (from 19 months)
13. Wooden Alphabet Puzzles (from 20 months)
14. Alphabet Posters (from 20 months)
15. Doodle Board/Mat (from 20 months)
And, of course, he also learnt his ABC from his lessons. :)

Now, I feel that it's time to do something more intense with the alphabets, i.e. instead of going through the above and waiting for him to realize/explore what they are, I'm going to teach/show him what they are!

That said, I'm actually in the midst of planning and implementing a learning programme for him on top of his enrichment programmes. If you think it sounds stressful to him, please don't cos the aim is not to load him with huge piles of information that he can't handle but rather, to have him learn through playing and bonding.

It's going to be a big challenge as I've only the weekends to spare since I'm a working mum. At this point, I've got some materials ready, let's see how it goes...


Next: Aa is for Alligator


Related Posts:
GD books from library
Music in a box
Baby enjoys music