Category Archives: HUNTER

HUNTER: MONTH 14-15 PROGRESS

25 April 2012 11 comments

Happy 15 months, Hunter!

LOL

Well HELLO major growth-spurt month! Hunter had really obvious physical and mental developments over the past month, which also brought about a week’s worth of crap sleep (egads). He studies what people do with great interest and just loves to figure things out himself.

A cute trick he does is when we’re out shopping and he’s tired of walking around, he’ll go to his stroller and stand in front of it, say “Up!” to me, and when I put him in, pulls the stroller bar across him so I can snap it down.

He also loves reading, so will proactively go look for his books, choose one, and bring it over and try to climb onto our laps, asking us to read it to him. Love how he can easily understand instructions now, and has his own lil personality. And, boy, with that comes quite the temper too..! He can really tell you off resoundingly when he feels you’ve done him wrong ;)

He’s also learning to swim by himself, holding onto a floaty tube/bar and kicking himself forward. It’s tough, cos they have to learn to grip as well as keep themselves afloat! He’s learning this way, the super-hard way, because he refuses to have those inflatable water-wings on his arms :X

Learning to swim by himself

MONTH 14-15 PROGRESS:

Eating – Hunter is still going well with his eating, and will eat most things we give him. He still has the same (healthy) diet and so far hasn’t yet figured out what desserts/sweets/deep-fried foods are, much to our relief. We will be in Australia for the next 2.5 weeks, which is causing us a major headache, since I won’t have much opportunity to cook, and he doesn’t eat ‘outside’ food (too laden with oil, salt, sugar, etc). I honestly have no idea how we’ll figure out his meals…
He has 2 formula milk feeds (1 morning, 1 night) and 1 fresh milk feed (afternoon) daily. Sometimes I’m too busy talking or shopping in the afternoon and forget to give him his milk by 3PM, so he’ll twist around in his stroller, look at me, and go “Nan, nan, nan!” whilst doing his baby-sign for milk. Guess a kid’s gotta do what a kid’s gotta do to get fed ;)

Sleeping – Perfectly 7:30PM – 7:30AM sleep-through-the-night-without-waking for the first 3 weeks of this month… then in the past week he decided to kill us by fussing madly and insisting someone stands there until he falls asleep, and waking up randomly at night fussing again. ARGH!! I was about to have a mental breakdown, but then he slept fine the past 2 nights again. But, we leave for Australia today (!) and having Hunter sleeping in the same room will destroy my sleep for sure (I’m a super-light sleeper now and can’t sleep properly with him in the room) :( Really worried about this as because I’m pregnant, I really do need my rest..

Motor control - He walks, he runs, he picks up small objects off the ground when standing, he can kick a ball far, he can pull a wheeled-toy behind him as he walks, he draws with crayons (nonsensical scratches, of course!), he can screw stuff together and unscrew, he can put lids on and take lids off containers, he can fit differently-shaped blocks into their correct holes, he can unlock my iPhone, he can climb on/off toy cars and push off with both legs then lift both legs to let the car roll forward, blah blah blah..
He’s also really into pretend play – cooking alongside me in the kitchen, putting Lego man on his horse and galloping it, feeding us and his toys food/water (making appropriate lip-smacking sounds to get his point across), etc.

He also enjoys putting on his shoes, and will go search for and bring me his shoes when I ask him to, and lift up each leg so I can put them on his feet.

Hunter's weakness - vehicles

No worries mate, let me screw that in for you

Talking/listening - His list of words (taken from last month, new words in italics at the bottom):

Hunter – but sounds more like ‘haaaahn-tahhh!!’, whilst patting himself on the chest
Ma ma – when looking for me
Da da – when looking for Chris
Kong Kong – what he calls my dad
Playground – possibly his favourite word
Park – same as above
Star – accompanied with hand actions. Will say it whilst singing songs, or point to a picture of one and say it
Up – to ask to be picked up, when lifting this up, going up the escalator, etc
All – whilst singing songs, possibly his favourite word to sing out
Nan – for milk
Woau / oohooh / roar / brrmmm – sounds for dog, monkey, lion, motorbike
Por Por – what he calls my mum
No – one of his favourite words, sadly!
Row – part of the song and when he wants us to rock him
Hiiii – greeting people or when playing with a phone

So only 4 new words (above) learned in the past month, ‘cos I don’t take into account random babbles or sounds, and a new word to me only counts if he says it with clear understanding and consistently over a period of weeks.

Follows more complex instructions like “Look for the ball, and throw it to Dad”, but now has a cheeky side and sometimes after getting the ball, will look at the person he’s meant to throw it to and go “no no no!” and grin and run away with the ball, thinking himself rather clever. LOL!

He understands too many words to document (babies always understand waaay more words than they can speak) but he can now accurately identify and point to his (or someone else’s) body parts:

head
ears
eyes
nose
mouth
teeth
tongue
chest
shoulders
belly
hands
legs
toes

I do think Hunter’s ability to point to all the above body parts is pretty good for his age, but I’m not sure why. I think he’s just really fascinated with the human body?! That, and vehicles; he can tell the difference and identify aeroplane, helicopter, boat, train, bus, car, motorbike, etc. Such a BOY ;)

He loves singing along to his nursery rhymes. He can’t get the words out properly, but can hit a few notes accurately and blabber in time to the actual words. In particular, the “abcde….” song, where he’ll rattle away in his own babbles in time with the alphabet :P And like all other kids, he loves listening to music, and will ‘conduct’ with his hands and bop his bum and dance whenever he hears music ;)

Great pals: having a babycino with my Dad

And so at 15 months old, Hunter goes on his first trip to Australia, today!! He’ll have attention galore and Chris is also really looking forward to spending quality 24/7 time with his son :) And I’m excited to see what kind of baby clothes, toys and supplies Australia has to offer!

PREVIOUS PROGRESS:

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WHITE LODGE

20 April 2012 5 comments

So Hunter will be entering White Lodge kindergarten when he’s around 18 months.. which is when I give birth. He’ll start off with just 2-days a week, for a half-day session each time. I specifically wanted that because on the one hand, I want him to be able to still get the stimulation and social interaction after I give birth (when I’ll have no time for my daily playdates for awhile), yet I didn’t want a full-time kindergarten that I felt would be too much for him when his world already changes quite a bit with a newborn baby brother.

Why White Lodge? My girl friends and I viewed a lot of schools. And I mean, a LOT. We basically spent all our play dates school-viewing, over the period of 2 months! White Lodge is a little on the pricey side, but I feel it’s worth it because we liked the teachers, the school had nice facilities, and I like their curriculum.

His class has just 5 children, and 2 teachers. And that is an AWESOME ratio! It was one of our priorities when looking for schools, so we’re very happy with White Lodge :)

Our other option was Odyssey, which, frankly, had the most impressive campus. It looked like a sprawling resort! Hunter loved the place and fit right in, and all the kids looked so happy. Unfortunately, they have a waiting list (women actually enroll when they’re pregnant; can you believe that?! Geez), so Hunter won’t be admitted until he’s 3 years old. So until then, he’ll stay at White Lodge..

Painting oyster shells

Being a bit of loner and playing in the car, whilst all the other kids do sandbox play

Getting cuddles from the principal

This is another White Lodge branch that we visited, in Dempsey. Nice central location, but we weren’t a fan because the classrooms were quite enclosed (not much natural light) and the place just seemed rather run-down.

First time in his life he's painted, and he rather enjoyed it! In his usual very serious, concentrating-deeply, manner :P

Very pleased with his shopping cart

Music and singing time

SNACK TIME, yay!

The other contender was Mindchamps in Phoenix Park, which we liked as my girl friend knew the principal. The campus is impressive – spacious with a great outdoor play area. Didn’t go for this in the end though, because the location wasn’t ideal and they only offer 5-days.

Cute in her uniform

Rather tentative and clinging onto me

Showing the kids the aeroplane applique on his belly. LOL!

They have a lovely indoor play gym that our kids loved

Enjoying play time with his 2 lil girl friends

Lovely outdoor playground

WHEE!!

Hunter darling, please give it a few more years before you place your hands on girls' thighs!!

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ROYCE KIDS GYM

16 April 2012 11 comments

I’m a member of Royce Kids Gym and I reckon it’s one of the better (or even the best) play gyms in Singapore. I think it’s really beneficial for kids to have a safe environment where they can crawl/walk/scramble around in, and a place where there are loads of toys to stimulate and amuse them. An additional perk is you can also witness what kind of toy(s) your kid really likes, and buy that specific one for them at home (or, just go to the gym to play with each time!). That’s important to me, because Hunter has SO many toys (or place looks like a toy shop…….) yet is only particularly keen on a select few.

Royce Kids Gym has a very high ratio of expat kids, ranging from babies to older children. Hunter is one of the little ones, but he really enjoys himself there. He’s been there around 5 times now, and so is quite used to the place and will toddle around looking for the specific toy/equipment that he’s keen on. I do think that being there has helped with his walking skills when he started walking unsupported in the past 2 months, because he keenly watches the older kids there to see how they move, and how they play.

The gym also has really lovely staff, and they make the effort to tidy up the toys ALL the time. They literally are constantly walking around arranging stuff! Everything there is tidy and most importantly, clean. It makes for a great place for kids to have fun, and also to tire themselves out so they take a great nap afterwards and we mummies can then relax ;)

Any play gyms that you take your kids to, that you reckon are awesome as well?

LOVING the wooden train set, which is the first thing Hunter zooms to when he enters

The swing sets? Not quite a fan..

Lotsa balls!

His #1 favourite item in the gym - this specific red car. He seriously loves it with all his heart!

A BMW ride-em car that he loves vrrrooommming on as well

Loves to climb up those stairs, but still too fearful to go down the slide by himself

One of his other faves - all the cooking stove tops the gym has!

We also stayed at the Marina Mandarin Hotel the other week, because of Chris’ work and conferences. Hunter seriously enjoyed the big, soft bed and the fluffy pillows. Love seeing his satisfied grin when he *plonks* himself down on the bed!

Oh happiness! Oh joy!

Freshly showered and ready for bed

A precious moment: father and son bonding time at night

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THE ANIMAL RESORT’S PETTING FARM

10 April 2012 17 comments

Hunter has never been to a zoo, as I’m more interested in bringing him to a petting farm, since I feel it’s better for very young kids as they can see the animals up close and touch them. Mum found a place called The Animal Resort and so we trooped there with Hunter, his cousin Elliot, and respective grandparents. It’s in a forested area of Singapore which is a pretty rare sight, since Singapore is virtually completely developed. Silly us forgot our mosquito repellent but we were lucky that they had fumigated the area in the morning, so no one was bitten except unlucky me. Mosquitoes LOVE me very much, so I ended up with 5-6 bites all over my legs – grrrr! The Animal Resort is actually more of a dog kennel (their actual business) than a fully featured petting farm. To be frank, it’s pretty run down. But, it’s FREE to enter. So you can’t exactly expect whizz bang, right? :) You can pay $2 to buy 3 packets of animal feed, which is optional, but I’d highly recommend it because the kids had heaps of fun feeding the animals.

At The Animal Resort

"Oooo look Dad, a horse!"

I thought the cutest animals were the rabbits and guinea pigs. One of the rabbits had also recently given birth and the lil baby bunnies were sooo tiny!! Hunter was fascinated with the animals here, but unfortunately they are all in cages so only the adults can reach in from the top to pat the animals… and the kids couldn’t :( A bit odd, as to me, a petting farm is when kids are INSIDE the area with the animals to touch and cuddle?

Checking out the rabbits and guinea pigs

Hunter had a blast feeding them!

Guess the guinea pigs liked him too ;)

There were loads of ducks and geesewandering around the place, and they were super tame, coming RIGHT up to you especially if you were holding food ;)

Ducks, chilling out

They were so tame!

I LOVED the cassowary's turquoise head/neck!

The goat and horse were in a really large enclosure and also very tame.. probably because they’re always fed by visitors ;) It’s a shame they don’t allow people in to actually pet the animals though. It’d have been awesome if they have ponies, etc for the kids to ride on!

A cassowary, a goat, and a horse. Guess different animals can live together in peace ;)

Mr Horse, trying to eat me

Duck, duck, GOOSE!!!

One beautiful peacock that amazed the 2 boys

All of us hiding behind Hunter, the bravest one at the front. HAHA!!

A Kit Kat ice cream to cool down

I’d say The Animal Resort is a nice place to bring young kids to, to do something a bit different than the standard Singaporean bring-kids-to-the-mall activity. It’s way more informal than the zoo, a lot more hands-on and close-up, and a good way to kill time. It’s worth a pop into, considering it’s free. But don’t expect too much or a spick-and-span/professional petting farm :)

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HELLO ELLY!

30 March 2012 5 comments

A month ago, Dad and I took the boys to see Hello Elly!, a production at the Esplanade. It’s meant to be for 2-4 year olds so Elliot was perfectly aged for it, but Hunter was a bit young. That said, he loved it! His eyes went HUGE and round as he took in all the music and characters.. so I was glad I brought him.

The audience gathers in the center and are seated on the floor. I like the casual, inclusive concept, but I think the Esplanade should have thought about audience numbers carefully. It was WAY too cramped! To me, it seemed that they had a certain number of sessions and just kept selling tickets to make maximum profit, not quite thinking about comfort, safety or seating logistics of the customers. Tsk tsk.

Smooshed in, but at least we get a seat at the edge!

Bumming around waiting for the show to start

My lil man

"You taking pics of me again, Mum?"

The show itself was really good. All the kids there had such a great time! There was cute Elly the elephant, Tree the tree, etc etc. It was learning the ABCs through word play and songs.. and the kids had a ball singing along and guessing the letters. The performers also spoke really well, which was excellent.