We paid the PD a visit this morning for her 9 month assessment (and mistakenly thought that there was a vaccine as well).
Her stats:
Weight: 8.06kg (25-50 percentile)
Height: 73cm (75-90 percentile)
Head Circumference: 44cm
It was a surprise that Isabelle's weight had dropped to the below-50-percentile range again, as we had felt that she gained weight after taking in more solid food. But, at least her height was in a good range, which served as a kind of consolation that not all the statistics were below average.
The doctor checked on her and concluded that everything was normal for her.
Some of the things that Isabelle can do:
- stands up by holding onto something
- stands without support for about 2-3 seconds
- takes a few steps forward while holding onto our hands
- creeps and crawls
- makes different sounds like "ma", "da", "di"
- picks up a small object using her pincer grasp
- passes an object from one hand to another hand
- feeds herself a small puff (previously she could only eat a big piece of biscuit)
- holds her own bottle for a while
She loves the song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" as Ian and I had been singing this to her quite often. She also loves the song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". In fact, I think that she loves to hear us sing to her!
Unlike Ian, Isabelle experiences a pretty severe stranger anxiety. The moment someone other than her Daddy or Mommy carries her, she will wail very loudly. So far, only one of our friends has managed to carry her around. When we are outside, she will also turn around to check who is carrying her once in a while. If it is someone who is not her Daddy or Mommy, she will start her crying antics again. Even when she is at home, she often needs our company, to be next to her. Sometimes in the middle of her sleep, she will wake up and check that we are still beside her, before going back to sleep again. Hubby and I thought that perhaps she feels insecure, and hence, always wants our assurance.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
New Food for Isabelle @ 8 Months
New food introduced this month for our little girl:
- Organic Brown Rice
- Fish (salmon, cod, threadfin)
- Broccoli
- Grapes
- Asparagus
- Zucchini
Isabelle has taken well to all these food introduced, thank goodness.
She is still a baby with a small appetite, and hence, she is still having one porridge for lunch, and either cereal or mixed fruit puree for dinner. Sometimes, she could not even finish the dinner portion.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Development Assessment @ 4 Years Old
A few weeks ago, we had gone through a session with the child psychologist and he had evaluated that Ian's behaviour was still within the normal range, that meant, there was nothing for us to be alarmed about even when he appeared to be super active or lacking emotional control at times.
One interesting thing that he mentioned, was that when a child had thrown his tantrum, and if we gave in to him after he cried for a while, the next time he threw another tantrum, it would be elevated to the level that we had given in the previous time, as the child had known that our limit could be stretched that far and it was more effective to start straightaway at that level. Hence, it was a test of tolerance or endurance between the parent and the child, and to see which side would relent first. One way would be to stop the tantrum immediately by distracting the child. If not, then let the child stop on his own after crying it out (and nobody would know how long that would take).
We actually felt that Ian was getting more manageable as he grew more matured, and hence, cancelled all the other appointments with the psychologist and the occupational therapist. This afternoon, we saw the doctor for a review.
She said that as she had expected, there was nothing wrong that the psychologist could find with Ian. It was perfectly normal for a boy of his age to be very active, as long as it did not hinder his studies in school. (As his teachers had mentioned, even though he was running around in the class, he could still answer the questions that they asked him later on.)
She did an assessment for him, and said that on the language aspects, his level was just at 4 years old (since he could not answer where he lived, and did not know some of the body parts that she had asked). However, on the academics aspects, he had already reached the level of a 5 year old. She had tested him on pattern recognition, some vocabularies, some physical activities such as standing on one leg and walking in a straight line with foot touching foot, counting blocks, and following more than one instruction.
She recommended us to let him be exposed to a variety of fun activities and also mentioned that learning abacus was good for him as well. It was hard for a child of this age to be restricted to very academically based work and would be boring for him as well.
We had requested for a one year open date for the next appointment. If there was any concern again, we could always get an appointment with her within the one year window.
One interesting thing that he mentioned, was that when a child had thrown his tantrum, and if we gave in to him after he cried for a while, the next time he threw another tantrum, it would be elevated to the level that we had given in the previous time, as the child had known that our limit could be stretched that far and it was more effective to start straightaway at that level. Hence, it was a test of tolerance or endurance between the parent and the child, and to see which side would relent first. One way would be to stop the tantrum immediately by distracting the child. If not, then let the child stop on his own after crying it out (and nobody would know how long that would take).
We actually felt that Ian was getting more manageable as he grew more matured, and hence, cancelled all the other appointments with the psychologist and the occupational therapist. This afternoon, we saw the doctor for a review.
She said that as she had expected, there was nothing wrong that the psychologist could find with Ian. It was perfectly normal for a boy of his age to be very active, as long as it did not hinder his studies in school. (As his teachers had mentioned, even though he was running around in the class, he could still answer the questions that they asked him later on.)
She did an assessment for him, and said that on the language aspects, his level was just at 4 years old (since he could not answer where he lived, and did not know some of the body parts that she had asked). However, on the academics aspects, he had already reached the level of a 5 year old. She had tested him on pattern recognition, some vocabularies, some physical activities such as standing on one leg and walking in a straight line with foot touching foot, counting blocks, and following more than one instruction.
She recommended us to let him be exposed to a variety of fun activities and also mentioned that learning abacus was good for him as well. It was hard for a child of this age to be restricted to very academically based work and would be boring for him as well.
We had requested for a one year open date for the next appointment. If there was any concern again, we could always get an appointment with her within the one year window.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Crafts: More Craft for March 2012
Recently, I had started to teach Ian how to tell the time. So, using a little spare time we had after dinner, we did a simple clock using a paper plate and some bits of paper. Ian got to practise his number writing skills by writing the hours of the clock on the bits of paper, and then he glued them onto the plate (with guidance). And then I helped by wrapping up the rest of the clock.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Isabelle Creeps
These few days, our little girl has decided to try creeping (crawling with belly off the ground). She would take a few steps on her knees, before falling back down onto her belly again. We could tell that the frequency of her creeping is increasing slowly and steadily, as she gains more and more confidence in doing so instead of crawling on her tummy. This is a great milestone that we have been awaiting. Gambatte!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Holiday Art Workshops
A much requested enrichment class from our little boy - art class. So I had registered 2 classes for him this March holiday at the Wowart Studio.
#1 - What An Antique (Antique Clay Tile)
#2 - Frame This! (Copper Tooling)
The classes were for 4-12 years old, as the timing and date matched our schedule, plus the younger class was a little too easy for him. He thoroughly enjoyed the 2 classes without feeling tired, even though they were back-to-back.
Upon reaching home, Ian eagerly placed his masterpieces onto the shelf together with the previous artwork that he had done in the December holiday workshop.
#1 - What An Antique (Antique Clay Tile)
#2 - Frame This! (Copper Tooling)
The classes were for 4-12 years old, as the timing and date matched our schedule, plus the younger class was a little too easy for him. He thoroughly enjoyed the 2 classes without feeling tired, even though they were back-to-back.
Upon reaching home, Ian eagerly placed his masterpieces onto the shelf together with the previous artwork that he had done in the December holiday workshop.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Activity Books: Completed by March 2012
We had finally completed another 3 workbooks...
#1 - Chinese Sticker Book (2-3 Years Old)
Ian had starting working on this book in 2010, as we kept it at my mom's place so that he could have something to work on while waiting for his Daddy to come home from work. It was only recently that I found this book again under a heap of "things", and brought it home to complete. Ian seemed to like this book a lot.
#2 - Kumon My First Book of Lowercase Letters
Although the book was stated for 4-6 years old, we had started to work on it since Ian was about 3.5 years old, right after he completed the book of uppercase letters. He could trace the letters quite well, but when there was no guide, sometimes he still could mix up letters like "b" and "d". Well, that meant more practice on letter writing!
#3 - Numbers & Counting
This book was purchased rather long ago and kept in the cupboard until I dug it out again recently. It was a little late as Ian had already known how to count more than 10. Anyway, I still let him work on selected exercises. It was a little easy for him by now, but he enjoyed it.
#1 - Chinese Sticker Book (2-3 Years Old)
Ian had starting working on this book in 2010, as we kept it at my mom's place so that he could have something to work on while waiting for his Daddy to come home from work. It was only recently that I found this book again under a heap of "things", and brought it home to complete. Ian seemed to like this book a lot.
#2 - Kumon My First Book of Lowercase Letters
Although the book was stated for 4-6 years old, we had started to work on it since Ian was about 3.5 years old, right after he completed the book of uppercase letters. He could trace the letters quite well, but when there was no guide, sometimes he still could mix up letters like "b" and "d". Well, that meant more practice on letter writing!
#3 - Numbers & Counting
This book was purchased rather long ago and kept in the cupboard until I dug it out again recently. It was a little late as Ian had already known how to count more than 10. Anyway, I still let him work on selected exercises. It was a little easy for him by now, but he enjoyed it.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Crafts: Projects for February-March 2012
We did 2 easy crafts during this short period!
#1 - Cat In The Hat
As it was Dr Seuss birthday, and Ian had been briefly obsessed with this book, we decided to do a quick and easy Cat In The Hat craft on one of the evenings after school. Ian got to cut out the stripes and pasted them onto the background.
#2 - Ian's Monsters
Ian had been reading a few books on monsters in the past, and most recently, Ed Emberley's Glad Monster, Sad Monster. Hence, I decided to let him do another quick and easy craft on one of the weekday evenings when we were running out of ideas.
I cut out random shapes, and let Ian create his own monster based on his creativity. Unfortunately, he was a little lost and in the end, I did a "monster" on the right, and he attempted to imitate me on the left. He tried to write his name on his monster but had gotten the letter "a" wrong. Well, more practice on letter writing for him!!!
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