Counting 1-10 and the alphabet

Quite typical of a teacher, I like to teach Sammie to count. Just one of the things we do to spend our time at home. We started off counting by teaching her to wait 5 counts for something rather than getting it immediately, and as a countdown so she would have to stop doing what she was doing. It worked pretty well. It lengthened to 10 counts and soon, she started counting on her own! Sometimes she would just go on a counting spree!


Later she mastered counting 1-10 in Mandarin. This took more time than learning it in English. I need to remember to speak more to her in Mandarin... For the alphabet, she misses out the letters 'e' and 'v', and sometimes needs prompting with the 'l,m,n,o' part. Quite funnily, when I tried to ask her to say 'e' after she said 'd', she would end up counting 1-10 in Mandarin! (one in Mandarin is yi, which has the same sound as 'e') Then when I said 'e, f', she would continue saying the alphabet. I found it pretty cute that she could make that connection for like sounds. :)


Counting and saying the alphabet (besides songs and nursery rhymes, which would be in a later posting after I put the clips together) are rather effective distractions when she frets, even in the car. I'm trying to teach her to recognise the numbers and letters but she doesn't seem as interested as just saying them.

It's hard to draw the line between getting Sammie to practice more and teaching Sammie not to put on a show. After a while of clapping every time she could count till 10, she started asking us to clap! I constantly need to remember that it is more important for Sammie to show love to others like being thankful and apologising, rather than just practising these words. Though I would love to record her saying please, thank you and sorry on video (which thankfully she learnt rather early and says them often), it wouldn't be from the heart because those occasions happen spontaneously. Whereas it is easier to videotape these which do not come from the heart. So please pray for us that we will remember to focus on shepherding Sammie's heart, and not follow the world's standards of developing intelligence with a competitive attitude.

Story time

One of our favourite books at story time before sleeping is 'Cuddles'. We didn't think of recording it at first because we thought it would get her too excited at bedtime but we just couldn't resist it as we just find her so adorable when she's reading it. About a month back, I thought I'd just stop at certain spots and she actually filled in the words! This time, she named them so quickly that we just had to tape it down! But I think the re-enactment threw her off-balance so here's what we got....



Anyhow this video serves as a good reminder to me too for it wasn't just Sammie who had some bloopers. Upon looking over the video, I realised that I wasn't as encouraging as I should be. So please pray I will be more encouraging, not discouraging and use mistakes as teachable moments! It takes practice to omit the quick 'No... this is...' so for example, now I try to just say 'This has stripes. It is a tiger. A lion has a mane.' More positive than negative. But of course, when Sammie disobeys or behaves in a wrong manner, then she hears 'No, that was wrong' very clearly, so she can learn the difference that character is more important than skills.

Using utensils

This was taken in May 08 but June was a busy busy period so didn't get round to editing the video (a lot of 'extra time' was removed cos it takes a lot of patience to view that whole waiting period)... so finally the video is edited!

Growing more proficient in using utensils, here's just a snippet of Sammie enjoying some watermelon.... and cereal! (glad she didn't spill the milk or the watermelon juice!)

It hasn't been easy for me to 'let go' and allow her to feed herself because of the hassle of having to clean up (her clothes, the chair, the floor...) if she makes a mess.... especially because she simply doesn't like bibs (and we've been trying for a long time to keep the bibs on her but she just keeps pulling them off). And it takes ages to get something on the fork/spoon so a lot of patience is required! (the video just shows successful parts)

But I had to remember not to do what is most convenient to me but rather to help her develop more skills and enjoy what God has provided :) And I'm also learning not to be too quick to say 'No' when she seems to be playing with her food cos she still puts it in her mouth soon after, or when she can't get the food on her fork/spoon cos she's just fine tuning her motor skills. Please pray for more patience and wisdom :) Thankfully she's been a rather neat eater... so it'll be great if it stays that way...

More words and songs

We've been kept busy teaching Sammie as she learns more and more. It thrills us when she repeats after us with such clarity! :) (we may be biased as her parents... Ha ha... hopefully u can catch what she's saying)

She loves 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' (which she calls 'Baa Baa Sheep'), 'Eensy Weensy Spider' (which she calls 'up down') and 'The Wheels of the Bus' (which she calls 'bus bus') but the last two have more difficult lyrics so she's only able to repeat after us for the 1st song and she does the actions for the other two. :)

It's a bit difficult to capture her 'first moments' so whenever we 'remember' to, we'd take the video and it takes some time to edit the video so it's not so long-winded. So here are some snippets of how Sammie has entertained us for the past few months...

More talking

Having to remind ourselves of our blog entry in Oct last year, we're thrilled to see Sammie speaking new words but must remember not to compare her to other babies and try to push her to learn more. So this is more to just update our friends and family and to keep some of these "beginning" moments...

We think her first word was really 'bear' (think she had been saying it since 10 months but don't think she attached the meaning yet then) and then it went on to other 'b' words like bird, bed etc.... Now she loves practising the words she knows (a tactic which we use to calm her down when she's cranky) and especially the word 'turtle'. So any word that she finds difficult to pronounce, she'll end up replacing it with 'turtle'.

Another funny moment happened today when she and the boys in the church cry room were looking through a book and Aunty Amy pointed at a picture and said 'dog'. Sammie, in reply, said 'bull dog' and it really was a picture of a bull dog! Even I was shocked. Not that Sammie actually knows what a bull dog is!

Here's a video of Sammie practising her speaking skills. :)

Little house cleaner

Sammie will be a great help around the house if she picks up this skill well. She loves to play with wet wipes, cleaning her mouth, head and the floor but this was the first time she ever started going all around the living room.

Stages of walking

From taking her first two steps in Nov 07, we're thankful we managed to videotape the in-between stages of her walking as she grew in confidence. We didn't manage to upload this earlier cos we were quite busy (Jan giving much more tuition since it was the holidays and students are P6 this year, and Carlsen having lots of camps) so finally got round to putting the various stages over a few months in one clip.

Sammie's a very cautious walker (though a 'garang' climber), hence even though she was cruising (=walking with support) since 10 months of age, she only started taking her first steps around 14 months (Nov'07) and finally mustered enough courage to walk a lot more only around 15 months (Dec'07). Exciting stage as she grows in independence. Amazing to see how God makes our body parts work together to develop skills! And many thanks for Aunty Maria's advice about Mothercare soft shoes making it easier for kiddies to feel the ground better!

The clip's around 2 mins so if you have the time and wish to see our little one toddling around, enjoy watching :)

Doing the squint

Occasionally, Sammie comes across very sweet (or sometimes sour) fruits that she ends up squinting as she eats them. She also squints for our pleasure when we ask her to because we find it quite funny and cute. Just thought we'd share this video with family and friends who may not be able to catch this funny side of her.

Affection towards toys

Sammie now shows affection even towards toys, and quite readily too! Here is she giving a quick peck to her little bear, upon Daddy's request :)

Riding her bike

After 1 month of playing with this cute Fisher Price bike for little people, generously given by Uncle Aylmer, Aunty Chong Suan & Nathanyel for Sammie's 1st birthday, her legs are long enough to reach the ground so she can ride on her own now :)

Dance to the music

We all like playing this hand-held game "Bopit Extreme 2". Jan's even hit the high score of 99 recently! :) Here's Sammie enjoying it too by bopping to the beats :)

1st birthday!

Before we know it, Sammie has turned one! We give thanks to God for creating our little girl and sustaining her this past year (as well as us!) and continue to pray that she will come to faith in Jesus Christ one day and belong to His Kingdom.

We had a simple celebration with a small group of immediate family members and friends. A great big thank you to all who graced us with your presence and presents, and also to those who couldn't make it, for your gifts. Many thanks to Aunty Corrine for booking the function room and getting everything ready, while Sammie was napping.

We also showed a short video of Sammie's past year - it doesn't feature every part of her growth (would really be too long-winded) and this blog already contains quite a bit but there are some new clips which we didn't put up on the blog previously. So just in case you want to catch up on what she has been like for the past year... enjoy! :)

More fun at 11 months

As Sammie gets older, it gets more fun to see how she develops and the things she can do... the video shows 6 "new skills":
(1) cruising,
(2) pointing,
(3) swaying [which is fun to watch too when she's kneeling but unfortunately we haven't been able to capture it],
(4) bubble-making,
(5) experimenting with finger-feeding [but only with bread because other foods would create a mess especially as she doesn't put things usually in her mouth but plays with/squishes them most of the time.]
(6) getting in and out of the bumbo seat [which she used to be "very stuck in"]

She's been waving when we tell her it's time to say goodbye but sometimes she does so only after the door has closed... hopefully it'll change soon...

PE lessons at home

Here's how Carlsen practices teaching PE... with his own little Sammie... Training her up to be as athletic as her parents :)



Seems like she's on her way to enjoying sports! Hope she continues to keep fit throughout her life, taking care of her body and health that God has given to her :) This was taken when Jan was knocked out with medicine and you can see Sammie fit as a fiddle after recovering from her first major illness.

Singing/Red Indian/Fire truck

Ever since her Por Por started patting her mouth like some Red Indian call or fire truck when she was 4 months or so, Sammie has loved it and will entertain others by making the noise. We think it's her first attempts at singing cos she does it especially just before she falls asleep.

Twinkle twinkle little star

Sammie has been pressing her fingers together so here is she doing the actions to 'Twinkle twinkle little star'! (sung by her daddy)

more active now - and it's not just crawling

Now that she's 8 months, Sam's gaining more control over many of her body parts, learning new tricks and bringing about much laughter as a result.

Clapping with her hands...



Making sounds with her lips...



Sucking her toes (taken a month back)...




And she's been crawling all over so instead of using the foam mats which couldn't really "contain" her, we decided to get the Fisher Price Aquariam playpen - very colourful, safe for her to "fall" in, and she can activate the music on her own!

head control and crawling (7 1/2 months)

It's amazing how quickly things change with babies! Haven't had time to catch up with Sam's progress on the blog as Jan has been busy juggling tuition and preparing meals for Sam, and Carlsen's been finishing up NIE.

Here's a skill Sam has been doing quite often of late which brings a lot of laughter...



Sam was crawling backwards for the past 2 months but now she's starting to move forwards!

sitting up and switching on/off mobile (7 months)

Changes at 6 mths...

1) Sam has started on solids!
Though she doesn't eat that much (usually less than 1 1/2 teaspoons of rice cereal mixed with breastmilk and sometimes pear puree), but she's certainly enjoying new tastes! She's had rice cereal, pear, carrots, apples and sweet potato, and always opens her mouth readily after the first taste. Unfortunately it seems like she may be allergic to apples... hope that she's not... cos apples are usually mild for babies. Glad we found a portable booster seat so she can eat easily when we go out and hope it lasts till she's much older!

2) We started using cloth diapers now that Sam only poops once a day (unlike after every meal previously). But think we'll stick to disposables cos it's so much more convenient and comfortable... but here's a lovely photo to commemorate the try..

3) Sam can roll and is learning to sleep on her own!
(rather than co-sleeping with us) Though it hurts us to hear her cry even for 5-10 min, we thought it's best for her to pick up this skill so that she can fall back to sleep on her own and it reduces the risk of her rolling off the bed. She seems to be in deeper sleep and can last from 7.30 pm to 7 am the next morning. So please pray for us as we continue to train her that she will continue to trust us and know that we love her and will not abandon her, even though it seems like we do when we leave her in the dark room all by herself.

4) Carl's doing his practicum so pray for good time management to juggle family and work, and wisdom in relating to and teaching the students. Jan's thinking of giving tuition but locations are either not too convenient or parents prefer teachers from top schools rather than her neighbourhood school teaching experience (yup, it's not just Jan's education background, sadly). Please pray we'll live life from a godly perspective, handling our finances, work and relations well.