Defiant Phase

These past few days have been challenging. The hitting phase has begun. Well, worse. She has learned how to scratch, use her legs to kick me, or other people, uses her fists to punch. It is a development, exploring how far her fists can go, how strong her kicks are, and how painful can her scratch get. It depends on the victim-me! haha.. I was super calm when she first did those to me. Just, "Simone, that's painful. It's not nice." She would apologize, but would do it again, over and over. There was a time she did it non-stop, no matter what I do. So I asked, "You want mommy to do it to you?". She still continued. I just gave her a small dose, just to let her feel how unpleasant it is. She stopped and cried.I explained to her, "It is painful right? That's how mommy feels when you do that. So are you going to stop already?" She nodded and apologized. Other positive guidance words like, "Hands are for helping, feet are for walking, jumping, etcetera." I tried testing her on how she would react if I say it's painful, or completely ignore her, then she would stop. Well, if I say painful, more or less she will continue, and if i ignore her, she would do more and more!

Ha! It doesn't stop there. Again and again. It's starting to wear me out. Next, I taught her to stomp her feet instead of physically attacking people when she is mad. She felt better with stomping,but would forget and starts hitting again. I guess she couldn't control her emotions, obviously. Distracting her will do, for a while only. The statement, "Simone, I understand that you are frustrated and upset, but you don't need to hit" is a broken record already. Believe me when I say that I don't hit back when she does it to me. I'm more of a I-understand-you-are-upset-mom and let her frustrations out first, but sometimes, I feel like throwing her on the bed LOL that is a joke in my head alright?

So, I wonder where she learned it from? Never mind, I will always go back to my book, The No Drama Discipline. Thank God I have that book to guide me. Parenting is a life long learning! I'm thankful I'm studying Early Childhood now, it really helps me sooo much. And this, blogging. Helps me pour out my struggling emotions! Simone, kalma lang! And me- "konting-konti na lang!"

xx,
chicmomandbaby

Reading and Writing Milestones

I can't believe it's almost half of the year! April, is my busiest, stressful month so far. After all the waiting... tadah! I'm officially a student again woot! I'm just so happy to learn that I am on the right path- in taking care of Simone. My professor told us, "Please, tell your children's parents that PLAY is more important than studying." They want the children to learn how to write, but how can they learn if they don't practice their fine motor skills, which is again through play. Best way to practice the pincer grasp? PLAY- DOH! Which Simone is highly addicted to. I can't help but feel proud to hear those things. You can also use tongs, clothespin, do sorting. And you all know how I prioritize outdoor play (minimum 1 hour at the playground everyday, with her bicycle or scooter and ball in tow, plus water play at home)

This month is a pretty huge milestone for Simone (3yrs 4mos)- she can write her name (without tracing)! It's still messy, but readable! I have not taken a photo yet, but I will update and upload a photo soon. She will write it herself, and show me, and ask me to write my own name too. She can also write letters, some numbers, shapes, the sun, rainbow, happy face. She can also read as well! Easy sight words like boy, tree, sun, box, fox, cake, yogurt, and a lot more. We read books every night, including sight words from Letterland, and handmade number flashcards. She knows the mandarin numbers from 1-30, but still improving. I need to tell you guys that these are NOT forced teaching... She herself will get the books or flashcards and will tell me that she wants to read. There are days that she will say, "mom, I don't want to do already", or "mom, I want to read some more." Most of the days, I ask her if she wants to read, and it's always a yes. The key to getting her to read and write is being FUN, not boring!

All-time favorite books:

Thanks Angela for this book!!

Those yoga books are a must!

The book Where the Wild Things Are, I did not expect that she will love that book!

The Disney Princess book is great for early readers.

I read her these books when she was younger and now I can't believe she is able to read them herself!

I also let her try a few classes at Kumon. And then on her third trial class, she told me she didn't want to go. "Mom, you teach (taught) me already, it's the same when I go to Kumon" wahaha! (In case some of you don't know, Kumon has homeworks everyday, tsk) I guess Kumon's repetitive method bores her. But she has Kumon workbooks as well so I think she does not need the classes:) Don't worry, they are super easy-peasy and not stressful for toddlers! just connecting dots, maze, drawing lines , etc.

Just now before sleeping, she told me, "mommy, next time daddy give you money, then we share okay?"

That was just the cutest thing! I mean, how can she think of that haha!

Now I'm signing off just as I have finished downloading Shrek 3 for Simone and the baby daddy for his off day bonding haha! These two love Shrek nowadays.

Tatah!

Chicmom&baby