Activity Books Completed in October 2013

We focused a little more on those books that were about to be completed this month...

#1 - My Book of Simple Addition by Kumon

Ian had been working on this book for well over a year perhaps?  The book consisted of drilling exercises for adding 1, and later on, 2.  At the beginning, Ian dreaded doing this book, so I put it away and sent him to learn abacus.  After a break of a few months from this book, I took it out again and he seemed less resistant towards the exercises in it, as he was more confident to tackle the monotonous exercises.  Perhaps after the horror of his abacus homework, this seemed less frightening, and he was able to do a few pages a day to complete it.

#2 - My Book of Writing Words by Kumon
This books focused on consonants and vowels, but it only required the child to trace/copy the words with a few repetitions.  I wondered how much Ian had absorbed from tracing/copying the words, but he did the exercises gladly anyway.

#3 - Let's Sticker & Paste by Kumon
Now, a book for Belle.  It was one that she enjoyed pretty much.

#4 - Chinese Sticker Book
Another book for Belle.  She had to match the shape of the stickers to the shaded shapes in the pictures.  It did not pose much difficulty for her, but I did skip the logic/reasoning exercises at the bottom half of every page as those could not catch her attention at all.

A Sinful Supper

Bought 4 of these hairy crabs from NTUC Xtra this morning, and we waited until the youngest one was sleeping before we could have our late night supper.

A River Safari Trip

This was one of our visits to the River Safari, and this time, the goal was to catch the feeding time at 4.45pm.

Pictures galore...

 Huge turtles!

 "Cheese!"

 Giant crocodile

 A red panda!

 Jiajia, the elusive panda

 Manatees, somewhat mesmerizing to watch them swim slowly

A close-up!

Showing Her Loving Side

This was how she arranged the soft toys to lie down beside her, a pretend play in tucking herself to bed.

My Little Vain Pot

She suddenly wanted to put on the headbands that I had bought for her before she was born.  After I helped her put one of them on her head, she started to admire herself in the mirror, and making faces at her own image.

Spree, Spree, Spree!

Here is my latest spree from Amazon, and the best part of it - shipping was free!

Parcel #1

The first parcel that arrived on 1st October! The delivery by iparcel was surprisingly fast - within a week after it was dispatched from Amazon.  

Ian has been begging for a taller bottle to bring to school, and one without a straw. It turned out that one of his classmates had been going around making fun of other kids who were drinking with a straw bottle, calling them babies. Anyway, it is probably a good idea to upgrade his bottle since he can finish the water in the old bottle pretty fast. And so that he will not have to ask for refills frequently.  Again, I have chosen a stainless steel bottle for him as it is probably a better choice than plastics, and he was strong enough to carry it around.  I have also chosen a good old plain bottle that is not coated with colour, so that he will not get a chance to complain about scratches any more!

I also bought a new straw bottle for Belle, in an adorable Hello Kitty design. She is going through straw bottles at an alarming rate - about one bottle every 1-2 months. Either the straw is breaking from her constant biting, or else the cap is broken. Reviews on this Thermos Titan Straw bottle mentioned that the straw was pretty durable, so we shall see how it goes. The only dislike I have is that the straw has no extra protection from the environment - you just flip it up to drink and down to 'close'. But for the very nice price tag (USD $7), it is worth to give it a try.

I also threw in a box of Nuk teats with this order, and it was a pretty good deal as compared to purchasing them locally.

Parcel #2

After what seemed such a long wait, the UPS guy finally arrived with the rest of my loots today - shoes for the little ones and myself.

Ian has worn out his old pair of Mickey Crocs much earlier than I have expected (the soles were literally frictionless).  The new pair of Crocs that I have stocked up for him late last year is still a little huge on him, hence, I have gotten him another pair in a smaller size.  It was a McQueen design that he has been requesting for such a long, long time - and thankfully, I finally found one in his size (J1).  The older McQueen design from Crocs seems to only go up to 12-13M, and I cannot remember when was the time that Ian has surpassed this range.

I also grabbed a new pair of Stride Rite for Belle in the next size, as they fit her so well.  

After stacking the available discount codes, my own pair of Crocs turned out to be free, and with change.  Scored!