20 months / 4 years

oops, it's been too long.
wanted to update on n's word bank which quite suddenly grew by leaps and bounds. not too sure if it can be fully attributed to start childcare in september, or that it was just time that he started making himself understood. he can now call everyone in the family, including grandparents on both sides. he also can count from 1 to 12 (or more, can't really be sure) and can recognise the numbers. he can also make out more alphabets than just "A" now ... B, C, D, E, X, O thanks to some signboards and playground equipment that he comes into contact with regularly. he knows poo poo goes into the potty but still refuses to use it. "uh oh wet wet" is probably his longest sentence to date. no more, mum mum, dirty, smelly, goodnight, nen-nen, star, circle, square, jump, hop, swish, up, pop, bang, bye bye, (ba)nana, (ele)phant, bubble, throw, hot, car, broom-broom, train, bombomchi are all words he can say in context. he literally went from zero to hero. haha.
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at the other end, my mini adult h has started piano lessons since september, which means having to practice with her every night before the bedtime routine can start. given that i normally reach home at 8 and n sleeps around 8.30-8.45 nowadays, it means that it is pretty difficult for me to put her to sleep by 10. the good thing is that she enjoys playing the piano and is happy to sit down to practice every night. sometimes she even tinkers on it herself in the morning when she gets up and also when she gets back from childcare.
she is still as enthusiastic about ballet as ever.
am now trying to interest her in learning to read. she can read a couple of words here and there, but not extensive nor fast enough yet. once she's able to, there'll be so many storybook worlds she can explore on her own!

15 months / 27 months

oh no where has time gone?

n is well into toddlerhood now. more talking walking and loud complaints are part of the package. he is really nice to have around, because HUGGLES! never got much of an opportunity to huggle with h since she was always on the move. but with n, i definitely get more huggle time because he is so accommodating. haha.
he is still a champion eater with champion appetite. but he only eats good and tasty food. no more porridge, no mushy stuff. he only eats adult food. and lots of bread. and yoghurt.
he suddenly started talking more recently - baaa, ba (eight in Chinese with the correct intonation which he also recognises), beba (peppa pig), A (which he also recognises), star (which he recognises), throw away (we suspect missing keys and our TV control panel have all been thrown away by zealous him), mama (only when whining), nen nen (milk), bye, cheh cheh.
he also loves clapping. clapping for himself when he has done something clever, clapping for fun ...
and he loves music and songs and will always dance along and turn around.

h is fast approaching her 4th birthday. she's a joy to everyone around her. still the Indian chief and loudest girl in class. she's mature and can be reasoned with, and can be very gracious when it comes to sharing her toys. so proud of her and very lucky to have her as a daughter.

11 months - sand

when h had her first encounter with sand at the sembawang park around the time she was 1, she refused to put her feet down and then later refused to walk when standing on sand. still remember how she stood there "complaining".

this time round with n was totally different. while he did notice the different texture and how his feet would sink into the sand, he more or less took to it like a fish to water. think he enjoyed the feeling of sand grains slipping through his fingers as he kept on doing it. no issues with crawling everywhere in the sand too. the only irritating thing with sand is that it gets stuck to sticky faces and hands ... and he hasn't learnt to keep his hands away from his eyes. was half scared he would rub a grain of sand into his eyes during the 3 times we were at some kind of sand playground over the weekend. 

9 months - words

or rather sounds that he likes to say, in descending order of frequency:

1. cheh cheh cheh (calling his sister). i don't recall h saying this until much later, so he must really love his sister. that or there wasn't a need for h to use this much since she doesn't have a big sister around the house 

2. where.

3. bear. starting to see a pattern here ....

4. pa pa pa.

5. ma / mum. only when asking for food or complaining. never on demand. sigh.

he also knows to look out for fans, trains, birds and the 3 bears ...