Tired, early mornings...

Lately, I have not been sleeping well, waking up early in the morning, feeling tired, but not able to fall back asleep. It was rather challenging taking care with ABC during the day when I was tired. I am guilty of losing my temper a few times with Aloysius. When I am tired, he will be crying more. I felt like I really need a break from all the kids, go somewhere quiet and relax, all for myself, alone. Or perhaps I should go for a swim early in the morning everyday for some exercise. Sometimes, I felt like knocking my head on the walls! I will just let Aloysius cries when I cannot take it anymore. I locked myself in the bedroom and let him be in the living room to cry a few times already. I think I needed my sanity more. When I raise my voice, he will do what I tell him to. He still loves to “ransack” the wardrobe which I dreaded, cos I gotta tidy up the things. I have valuables inside the wardrobe, so the maid is not suppose to open the wardrobe. I also dread to see him chewing on candles, pens, pencils, cotton wool, etc.

Ok, I better stop all the complaining… Aloysius is still as wonderful as before. He’s my happy star! He’s still a happy and exploring boy. I should be thankful that he’s still willing to explore.

Regarding his toilet training, he told me that he wanted to “urine” twice when he wants to pass motion. I took him to the toilet and he really poo in the potty :) I am very happy that the toilet training process is getting somewhere. Nowadays, I stopped giving him stickers when he urines in the potty. I tell him that he gotta tell me that he wants to urine and urine in the potty, then I will give him the stickers. Sometimes, he will automatically tell me “poo poo first” or “urine first”. Hahaha… I still gotta bring him to the potty to urine every 10-15 minutes. And he will usually urine in the potty when I bring him there :) Yeah!

Aloysius is speaking more and more now. He’s learning new words everyday. A few days ago, he keep using the word funny. Uncle Bok told me a story about his dad and told me that it’s “funny” and laughed. From there, he picked up “funny”. He will go “funny, hahahaha….”. For the past two days, he has been using the word “cute”. He will say “mama’s cute”, “Zhengyu’s cute”, “Bernice’s cute”, “Charlene’s cute”, “papa’s cute”. Hahaha… He is really so cute, isn’t it?

I have dedicated the top of the TV console to let him put his train and big toys. He knows how to put them back neatly. In fact, Aloysius gave me the idea of dedicating the top of the TV console for his big toys. He started to line up his trains and toys nicely there after playing with them. I read from Prof. Shihcida and Montessori book that we gotta nurture tidiness from young. I bought a Montessori book on how to play from Borders a few weeks ago :). It’s quite an interesting read. Tidiness and discipline will start from the toys storage. It’s also nurturing love for his things. I will need to get more storage space from Ikea to keep his toys properly, instead of dumping all into a big box. Mommy here gotta work harder.

Ok, enough of Aloysius rite? Kekeke…

Bernice and Charlene are developing very fast. I have stopped showing them the solid shapes flashcards for the past 2 weeks. My cards get crushed or misplaced quite frequently. Aloysius just loves flashcards – watching and also playing with them. Another reason could be I am bored of the shapes too :p. I tried to give Bernice and Charlene opportunity on their tummy as much as possible when they are awake. And also opportunity to look at the checker boards. They are doing very well so far. Bernice and Charlene can already flip from tummy to back on their own for probably two weeks already. They are coming to three months now. They also can crawl already. I tried to do the balance activities recommended by Glen Doman as much as I can. I gotta do more on the grasp reflex. I can remember Aloysius has very strong grasp at their age. Bernice and Charlene love it when someone is talking to them. They are starting to coo. Their language development is quite fast.

Yesterday, I spent some time to arrange the dots cards for Bernice and Charlene. I took out the black dots. I tested them on Bernice and she stared at the cards. Her eyes will move left and right when I moved the cards left and right. She can see the black dots cards already :) It’s time to start the dots flashcards.

I am still fully breastfeeding them. I want to breastfeed them till they are one year old. Last nite, Bernice slept through the night. She started sleeping at about 9pm and only woke up for milk at 5.30am. Mommy here got so engorged! Charlene slept at about 11pm and woke up for milk at 5.30am too. Days of being able to sleep through the night is getting nearer now :) Hooray!

Bernice and Charlene have very different temper. Bernice is more expressive. She dislikes people to touch her or disturb her when she’s sleeping. When she’s tired, she dislikes people to change her position or move her when she’s trying to fall asleep. Charlene is anyway also can. When hungry, Bernice will cry very loudly after a short warning. Charlene is more patient. I am starting to be able to listen to their cries and tell who is crying.

I revised the little brain booklet by Jocelyn Khoo. It’s recommended to start toilet training at 3 months. I am starting to do that :). I read from the potty book that I have that toilet training gotta start from infant stage. And they will be toilet trained by 1 year old birthday. Fingers crossed…