Let's Go Fishing!

Our toddler loves to play the "fishing game" with her "fishing kit" that includes a fishing rod and four colorful fishes. :)

I decided to make it more interesting for her.

I went and filled her bathtub (not that full, conserve water :D ) and placed it on our balcony.

I was hoping that the outdoor breeze would give a feel that she's fishing outdoors hehehehe 

Here we went adding the fishes into the tub and she added the whale toy too.

She initially struggled to "catch" the fishes as the magnet which was positioned on the mouth kept going underwater.

So she decided to do what a toddler knows best, used her hand to direct the rod to the mouth and scooped up the fish. 

Hahahahaha I said "Hey, that's not fair!" 

I showed her how to do it using the fishing rod and how she needs to be patient.

Walla! She was able to do it correctly and here's her "catch of the day", in the blue pail. :D

"Well done! I'm soooo proud of you!" I exclaimed whilst happily snapping away and recording her attempts for Daddy to view when he comes home from work.

Once she was able to grasp the concept, I'd create ripples in the water so that the fishes would be "swimming" around.

She'd initially say "Stop Ummi!" but when I showed her that she could still catch the fish despite the "waves", she was OK thereafter.

We even had the whale go around trying to catch the fish as well so she'd need to be quick to catch the fish before the whale does! :D

Later that evening, when she was in one of her I-don't-wanna-go-shower moods, I just asked her "Do you want to go fishing?" 

She'll quickly say "Yes!" run to the room, grab her towel and appear in front of me with a fully anticipating facial expression, while asking "Where's the fishing rod, Ummi?"

I'll just smile and fill up her tub in the bathroom, adding in her bath foam.

She'll get excited as she'd submerge all the fishes under the water (obviously hidden by the foam) and start looking for her fishes. 

I'm impressed that she was still able to use the fishing rod to catch the fish despite the thick foam in the bathtub.

Owh, she's able to spend close to an hour just "fishing".

Excellent activity for hand-eye coordination PLUS a little imagination. ;)

The Not-So-Ideal Toddler's Schedule: March 19, 2014

Our toddler had a sleepless night so naturally, it affected my sleep.
She wanted to nurse a couple of times until I got a bit frustrated. :(

She decided to wake up at 5am (my goodness!), ran out of the room and followed Daddy around the house as he was getting ready for work. 
Of course, she also wanted to follow Daddy out the door.
Whilst Daddy was putting on his shoes, she went "Want to wear shoes!"
Daddy asked if she wanted to wear his shoes. 
She smiled gleefully and slipped both her small feet into his shoes whilst exclaiming "It's too big!" but didn't remove the shoes and headed out the door, following Daddy closely behind. 
She struggled to drag both the already big shoes around but seems to have the patience (and persistence) to walk in Daddy's shoes. :)
As Daddy persuaded her to stay home and that he'll see her later in the evening, there was a mini-protest from the little munchkin but she obliged "Ok!" and walked back confidently into the house with the shoes.

After waving goodbye to Daddy and blowing kisses his way, we went into the house and she asked for her formula. 
I prepared her formula, gave it to her as she watched the TV and I headed into the bathroom for a quick shower.
I came back out, made up the bed, performed my prayers and cleaned up the kitchen a bit.

It was already 7am+ when I was done with the kitchen so I asked her to take her shower, of course, she'd initially hesitate.
Once she's all showered, clothed, hair combed and nails trimmed, I prepared her butter & toast, cheese slice and grape juice.
I had my usual freshly brewed coffee with butter & toast.
Our activity for today took a different turn.

I let her decide what she wanted to do instead of dictating that she needed to ie color a book / play with her blocks for a certain duration. 
I read that toddlers her age should be given some freedom as to the activity they wish to do and not for too long.

I started with building blocks when she was engrossed with another activity (making a mess of the living room) and she eventually joined in. 
Before I proceeded with the activity, we worked on cleaning up the mess together.

Once done, we started piling the blocks as high as we can, identifying the different colors and grouping them together, identifying the alphabets printed on all sides of each block (read: attempt since she was more interested in piling them together) and stacking the blocks in her wagon where she'd control the wagon and try to bring the blocks around the house.

We cleared the blocks and proceeded to reading. 
She cleverly laid out a small mat, took the box containing books and laid the box next to the mat whilst I gave her a small cushion to rest on.
We read up to 5 books today, all picked out by her.
Three books were from the Dora & Diego series which hubby bought at a petrol station which was worth RM3 per book. 
It's interesting considering she was able to name all the characters in the cartoon series.

Attempted to color with her, unfortunately, she was only able to focus like 5 minutes and she moved on to the next activity. 

She took out flash cards for Alif, Ba, Ta and we attempted to sort the cards. 
So far so good until huruf 'ain'.
She got bored, or perhaps tired, so we cleared the books away, which she happily did on her own whilst singing some tune (only God knows to what tune she was singing to but it's extremely adorable!).

It was already 1pm+ by the time we finished our activities. 
I attempted to feed her lunch, but she refused food outright. 
I then asked if she wanted to take a nap, to which she immediately said "Yes!"
So we ended up napping from 1pm+ to 6pm today.
Ok, not me as I got up to perform my prayers and did some reading, then went back to bed.
She stirred for a moment and quickly grabbed me to bf.

Once she woke up, I gave her formula whilst I prepared a quick dinner.
We then showered and Daddy reached home just when she was about to wear her diapers.
Yes, she literally ran out of the room diaper-less just so she could greet Daddy and say "Hi, Daddy!"
She ran back into the room and got all excited to put on her PJs since Daddy's home. :)

We performed our prayers, I completed some laundry and we had dinner.
It was free-time hereafter as she's able to watch TV or play with her iPad whilst I caught up on some emails / work.

We retired close to 12 midnight since she kept wanting Daddy's attention.

Ok, so this isn't an ideal schedule for a toddler since she woke up too early, took a longer nap than her usual naptime and slept off quite late.

However, in terms of the activities, I've noticed that she dislikes coloring, the only activity which she could only focus on doing for 5-minutes.
We know that she loves painting so we'll do that tomorrow.

In terms of outlining the schedule, can't really restrict a certain activity for say an hour of playing with blocks and another hour for reading. 
Her attention span differs and so does her interest so it's more of me letting her decide what she wants to do. 
Within one morning, we could fit up to 3 activities back-to-back.
On other days, she'd probably only want to do 1 or 2 in the morning and continue on in the afternoon or evening.

Another crucial thing which I heavily put emphasis on would be cleaning up her toys / table, ensuring cleanliness ie washing her hands / bathing / brushing her teeth / not to wear the same clothes day in and out as clothes need to go into the washer too!!!

As she's 2 years and 7 months of age, that'll work, for now. :) 

2 Play Dates in a Day! :D

We woke up on Saturday to quite a heavy hazy morning.
Our toddler wanted pancakes so I prepared 7 big pieces for the 3 of us.
Whilst sipping my freshly brewed coffee that morning, I can't help but think of the passengers and crew of the missing plane, MH370.

How are they? Did they have a good rest? Are they eating well? How are they taken care of? 
I consistently pray to Lord the Almighty for Him to have mercy on everyone in the plane so that they are protected and returned safely to their family and friends.
May He also grant the family with immense strength and patience to endure this extremely difficult time.

I also thought about the haze currently enveloping the nation due to the dry spell and made supplication to the Almighty for Him to have mercy on us and shower us with rain.

The first day I had to go out in the haze was when mom had to pay the Doctor a visit for her medical check-up.
Dad gave me a mask to cover my face.
I immediately felt extremely uncomfortable when I had to inhale some of the air.
Even though we only went outside the building or car for a few brief moments, I suffered from an itchy nose and a massive headache!
When we went home late that evening, I just couldn't stand the headache and went straight to bed.
I woke up feeling a bit queasy but definitely much better!

As I was lost in my own thoughts, I noticed that the sky was suddenly clear and I could even see the formation of beautiful clouds! 

Wow! 

I texted my girlfriend who was coming over later in the afternoon with her hubby and daughter to bring their swimming gear! 
The day was just too beautiful to let it pass without enjoying it.

Since we were expecting visitors, hubby baked one whole moist chocolate cake whilst I cleaned the house a bit and prepared lunch so that we could stay in, take a nap before entertaining our visitors. 
Ensuring that your toddler has sufficient nap time is crucial for the success of a play date!

Around 2pm, our toddler successfully went to sleep for a couple of hours before my girlfriend arrived with her family in tow at approximately 5pm.
Whilst they were getting ready to head down to the pool, the sky suddenly turned dark and we could see rain shower!
What a joy!
Yes, her kid was bummed that she couldn't go for a swim so we had to think on our feet what could be done indoors instead.
We took out the paint, toy ride, playdough and other stuff just to keep them both occupied.
Luckily, hubby is the creative one so he kept the kids entertained whilst I chatted with my girlfriend.
They stayed until 9pm so we had dinner together and they left shortly after.

Around the same time, another friend came along bringing her 2 kids aged 2 years whereas the other child was 5 months old.
So they stayed until 10pm+ before they decided to go home as it was quite a distance for them to drive home.

I must admit that my little girl thoroughly enjoyed her time playing with other children BUT hubby and I had to play the mediator role most of the time as our toddler tends to be the more eeerrr aggressive character.

Not that she hits other kids but sometimes she wants to share her toys and other times, she'll just pluck the toy out of the child's hand and runs away with it!!!! 

Phew! What a day! 

All 3 of us retired that evening feeling extremely tired but we'd do it all over again, nevertheless :)