Time flies

[Pic: When Alana was 14 months old.]

It has been months since my last entry. I looked up my blog again trying to find out what I wrote about the snow storm in 2006. Funny! We just had another storm the day before yesterday (Monday). This time, we are safe and warm at home! Steve got home from work before 2pm. We watched the news and knew that many people were stuck in traffic, taking many hours to go home. Some gave up their cars on the icy roads. Well, snow wasn't the problem but the cold air turning snow quickly into ice! Driving on the ice is like having your car doing ice-skating, at least that's what I think. Monday around noon, I took Alana to the library. Afterwards, we went to Goodwill. When we walked out of the store, there was a blizzard! Yes, blizzard!! We went home at once. I wanted to stop by the grocery store to get some vegetables but it was hard to find a spot to park close to the store. I drove round and round but had no luck. So, we just had home. It kept snowing in the afternoon. On Tuesday when we went out to play in the snow, there were about 7 to 8 inches deep of snow. Alana had so much fun. It's her first time seeing and playing in the snow. Last year, we didn't have any snow and she didn't walk yet. She enjoyed it more this time. :) It's Thanksgiving tomorrow. I'm baking an apple pie today and currently baking cinnamon raisin bread. I'm very thankful for everything I have.

Public distant learning VS private homeschooling

Well, haivng a weekly playdate with other moms allows me to gather or exchange info. Today I was told that in our school district, home based learning provided by the public school system is available. students will be given money to spend on field trips, e.g. $500 for going to the science center. Sounds very appealing. BUT, there may be lots of control from the school system since it was STILL public school and is funded by the government. So, I don't know. I have to do more research first. I like the fact that they have regularly weekly meetings for the kids so that there will be social interaction and the education center offers homeschooling learning resources. I still have lots of time. In our state, I don't have to report to the dept of edu until she's 8 years old! Haha. she's not even 2 yet. It's always nice to have time to plan things ahead.

Lately I keep telling myself: Stop wasting time on FB...if I have an extra 30min, I should rather read to her instead. We enjoy snuggling together to watch edu. DVD or read a book/flashcards. She surprises me every day. My daughter, not people tweeting on FB, deserves my time as a matter of fact that I have very limited time during the day. Not mean to be offensive, seriously!

I'm still watching the Glenn Doman DVD (How to give your child encyclopedic knowledge) Awesome. I have more ideas how to make my own bits of intelligence cards. I've been collecting lots of images from magazines and books that I think she will be intersted in.

Argh....she bit the yellow crayon....she was fine yesterday when she used the TaDoodle to scribble on her tray. Today I just turned around for a very short time. Then I saw her teeth with yellow pieces..on the tongue too. Argh. Okay, she can only use crayons under 100% supervision.

Working on a new project: Homeschooling prep. work

It's been over a month (started 4/27/10) since I officially started teaching Alana on a regular basis. We are doing Little Reader, Little Math, Your baby can read every weekday. Besides, we also do Gross motor training, fine motor training, Art, Music (Piano), outdoor activities (library story time) and of course, reading to her before bed every night. Recently, adding Brainy baby series, Muzzy (French). Surely, I read to her during the day too whenever time is allowed. Alright. Lots of things going on. I found myself super busy. FaceBook is simply a waste of time in my eyes now. If I had time, I'd rather read more books to my girl or play with her. I just want to say that both Steve and I see the result: she is learning and getting what we've been teaching her. That is very rewarding. However, the result can only be achieved if the tasks are done consistently. So, I must be consistent and diligent.

At the same time, I'm reading books about homsechooling and the more I read, the more I want to homsechool. I want the best of my child. No one cares about her more than me, I'm her parent! In order to be able to homeschool in a few years, I'm doing prep work: keep doing everything I'm doing with her. I'll keep reading. Shopping for teaching materials to set up our homeschool classroom in a few years, adding learning elements at a simple level but in a fun way.

I believe: it's never to early to learn. Alana surprises us every day! She has very good memory. She signs. She understands both Chinese and English. She's happy to learn.

Therefore we've decided to go to the homeschooling convention next Saturday. Yeah, I know she's only 15 month old now. BUT, who knows, we might see educational things that'll be useful for us. Bottom line, it is a great chance to get to know what homeschooling is and how others parents do it!

Sometimes I feel shameful that I didn't start teaching her right after she was born. There are people out there start doing it with their babies since day 1 and the kid is able to read (recognize AND read it loud) 2000 words at 17 month. There is no short cuts in life. Those parents are amazingly hard-working. However, my hubby encouraged me and said that starting to teach Alana at 14 month is still not too late :)

It will be tons of work. But, I like it a lot already. I enjoy learning new things and getting to know more about my daughter. :)

How to teach your baby to read

Okay, I finally finished reading the book today. Next, I will need to make 200 single word cards. Once the prep work is done, it should be smooth... :-) Today she's walking faster with her walker, I'm sure she'll walk on her own very soon.

Her first coupe - cozy coupe

I'm very lucky to have found a little tikes cozy coupe on craigslist for Alana. I picked it up this morning.Wow, it's not very dirty or old. I am sure Alana will have fun sitting in it and scooting around the house when I get it cleaned. :) Her rody horse finally arrived today. Yeah!! She's soooo cute. After we opened the box, I put her to sit in the box and she enjoyed it! She refused to get out of the box. Haha. Rody is not inflated yet. She rocked her on the floor and said 'Baby'... Cute. When Steve's home, we'll inflate rody so that she can bounce on it! Hooray!

we went to the library for story time today. Alana was quiet. She was satisfied by crinkling the paper. She wasn't as active as other toddlers - crawling around and playing with one another. She liked pointing at the bubbles at the end of the story time. Then we went out some books to take home with us.

I do like bringing her to the story time - we sing songs together other than listening to the stories. How come we didn't have such things in Hong Kong when I was young? Well, anyway, my mom wasn't into it...But I know what I should do with my daughter and I will do my best!!

First time calling me mammy

YES, I heard Alana clearly said MAMMY yesterday during a diaper change. Today, she said BABY. Nothing is happier than hearing Alana talking. She's so cute! She's been more energetic since my parents stay with us. I am sure it is definitely good for her brain development as she constantly gets attentions from extra 2 adults in the house. She seems to understand Chinese well as my parents reported. It's wonderful to be a parent, Alana amazes me every day.

Monday playdate

We are going for a walk! Yay!! Get out of the house to kiss the sun :-D I should put on shoes for Alana so that she can practise walking. Hehehe. I love living at the current place, with many parks nearby and very nice neighbors.