Secretive Harvynna

I am trying to dig from Harvynna what she learns at Gymboree. Since she attends a 2 hour drop off, I dont really get to see what she does. Whenever I ask her what she did, the conversation will end up this way:

Me: what did you do at Gymboree today?

Harvynna: Nothing

Me: Nothing? you were there for 2 hours doing nothing. Maybe we should stop going to gymboree

Harvynna: No, I dont want to stay home with daddy and do nothing

Mummy: so, what do you do at gymboree then?

Harvynna: Just singing and painting

Me: what song did you sing?

Harvynna: Hokey pokey (seems to be the same every week)

Me: what else?

Harvynna: Nothing

Me: Oh, next time, I will stay there and see ok

Harvynna: No, you sit outside - its a big childrens class. Mummies cannot come

The teacher told me that Harvyyna is quite opinionated. The other day, she complained that the room was warm and the teacher told her to tie up her hair. Harvynna told her that she did not have a rubber band in her bag and she added,' I am very sexy today you know (while pulling her blouse), so I will not tie my hair!!! And the other time, she told the teacher that ' I am not coming back here anymore!!)

I am still curious as after the first 10 minutes, the children are taken to another room. I understand there is story telling etc and they are also introduced to alphabets and phonics through songs. I actually got to hear one of the songs the other day, as I was talking to the trainers in front. It was something like this:

King get the kettle. ke ke ke

King get the kettle, ke ke ke

king get the kettle, ke ke ke

This is the sound of K

I guess they must be learning something.

Now I am exploring the option of sending her to Kindergarten next year (despite my earlier views). I think children these days are smarter and more advanced earlier, that by 4 years, they actually know quite a bit and are curious to learn more.

She told me the other day:

Harvynna: I like Amama (babysitter) but I dont like her house, it is boring.

Me:so u want to go to school?

Harvynna: yes, I want to study

Me: But you go to gymboree now

Harvynna: But I never study there!!!!

Need to scout around in Bangsar for a good, reasonable kindy that is not too academic driven.

Rowena's updates

Taken in Genting in June

Rowena turned 16 months last Saturday. Besides her short hair, she is growing fast and her baby days are going away.

She is now more assertive and is showing a stronger personality. She likes to bite, hit us with her toys and scream if she does not get her way. If she is annoyed with Harvynna, she will pull her hair and shout at her. Sometimes, even Harvynna is afriad of her. If we go out to eat, she shouts 'day -dee' non stop and 'requests' for things to be given to her. She has to hold the spoon and cup herself and of course, mess up the place. She knows how to get attention.

Every saturday, I have about an hour to kill while waiting for Rowena's gymboree class and basically , its running after her all over Bangsar Village, up and down the escalator, that I am so tired by the time we start her class.

Some of the NEW words, she says is:

day-dee

A-ma

Si si - for susu (milk)

ball

ba - for bus

ka - for cup

give

carry (she puts up her hands and say carry, and we if dont carry her, its CAAARRRRYYYYY)

Baby

She can be quite jealous, if I show attention to Harvynna, she will scream and kick Harvynna or pull her hair. If I hug Harvynna, Rowena will immediately come and place her head on my lap too.

Before we go out, she will go to the shoe rack and take out her shoes and mine too

She is still the baby in the house but I cant believe how much she has grown.

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Before and After

BEFORE
AFTER

Finally managed to post Rowena's new hair do. It's been 2 weeks now and either it has grown or I am getting used to it. Anyway, the babysitter said that Rowena's hair was too long and decided to give it a snip!!!!! But, why did she have to cut the whole hair. She sounded like she was doing us a favour.Sigh!

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I am really really pissed off!

Picking up the girls after work is really a joy for me, I really look forward to seeing their happy faces, running to the gate when I arrive. But yesterday, when I arrived, I was so shocked and upset. I saw Rowena coming from behind but she looked different and I actually had to look again to make sure it was her and not some new boy. Yes, the babysitter had Rowena's hair cut and I am so so so so angry that I could kill someone.

She actually had her hair cut without consulting me and it was hideously cut by an amateur lousy person. I never cut the girls hair. Harvynna has never had her hair cut since birth (except for the fringe) and now it has grown to such lovely locks as it is her original hair. My husband's culture does not allow shaving of babies head and and I fully agree with that as Asian babies are normally born with a lot of hair and I feel its such a waste to shave it off.

Even when Rowena had her cradle cap problem, I refused to shave her head, what more now when she is 15 months old and finally looking like a sweet little girl. Finally, no one asks us if she is a boy or a girl. Finally, her skin has cleared up and no more spots on her face, finally her hair has grown and starting to curl and THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS.

How can anyone do that to my baby. I am very particular that both my girls have long hair. Right up till primary school, I always had short hair and I hated it and used to envy girls with long hair. I promised myself that if I have a daughter, I will let them grow it, even if it means extra work in maintaining it.

Now, Rowena looks exactly like a boy and I JUST HATE IT. I am so angry. Every time I look at Rowena, I get more angry. I know its only hair and it will grow but its my baby, I am the mother and only I have the right to cut, trim, colour or do whatever the hell I want to and no one else.

This morning when I dropped off the girls, I told the maid that my hubby is very very angry and I was trying to find all the Malay words to describe the ugly hair cut and words like hodoh, buruk and even bodoh!!! came out. The babysitter is going to get a good telling off this evening when I pick them up - How dare she cut my baby's hair. Its like she was trying to make Rowena look ugly. If she had even cut a cm off Harvynna's hair, that would have been a total war.

Reading and such

I found this picture of Harvynna messing with the cards when she was 9 months
She was one chubby baby!

As I am into the 'Teach Harvynna to read' mood, I have been reading up on some activities related to it. I purchase the Glenn doman Reading Flash cards when Harvynna was born. I used it with her, but stopped when I was pregnant with Rowena (too lazy). I was also not very consistent. I cant say that it helped her to read, but it did make her more alert and responsive. I really admire those mothers that have used the cards consistently.

She does not really like those cards now (neither do I as it is to bulky). Only If I attempt to show Rowena the cards, then she will pretend to be interested so that she wont be left out!!

Anyway, I found various other ways to use the cards, which is more fun. MPH also carries a good selection of flashcards and are quite cute and attractive. Actually, there’s a lot that can be done with flash cards besides just flashing them to learn through repetition.

Some of the activities that can be done with flash cards:

Memory games

Place flash cards in a circle on the floor
Let Harvynna view it for a minute or 2 (to memorise it)
Get her to recall as many pictures she has seen

I have done various other memory games with Harvynna by using simple things around the house, or toys that she has. Her toy box is full of odds and ends like colourful blocks and her cooking sets and she loves it especially when she gets it right.

Race to the flashcards

Stick flashcards at various places in the house
Get Harvynna to go to the word e.g. find the word ‘red’
To make it more fun, give fun instructions like ‘hop to the ‘car’

Bring me

Arrange 4-5 cards on the floor (can be more for an older child) Call out to bring certain cards e.g. bring mummy the ‘tiger’

I hope Rowena gets some 'secondary' benefit from this, if she is not too busy chewing the cards!

Gymboree for the girls

I finally found something for both my girls to do – Gymboree! After months of searching, hunting, asking, I decided to enroll them to Gymboree at Bangsar Village. I could not find anything suitable on weekday evenings, most activities were either during the day or over the weekend.

There are many options for Harvynna, after all she is 3 years old and there are so many things she can go for e.g. drama classes, music, tae-kwan-do etc. But what I liked about the Gymboree was that they have sibling programmes, so while Harvynna attends the 2 hour drop off sessions, Rowena gets to do the Level 3 programme with me. So I get to kill 2 birds with one stone.

The family package is quite expensive – there’s a big hole in my pocket now and I would say that their rates are higher than other programmes out there, but I like the convenience of it. Plus, when I took the girls for their trial sessions on Saturday, they absolutely enjoyed it. Rowena was walking around clapping her hands and participated really well. I was quite surprised as she is normally the quiet one who observes things from far.

Harvynna was also very excited as I told her waaayyy in advanced that she will be going to a big girl class, so mummy will not be there. And to my delight, she was very happy to be dropped off and did not cry at all when I left her. This looks like a good prep for her to attend kindergarten later. Well-done Harvynna. Harvynna attended the Level 7 (for 3-5 years) and the art class after that.

Since, I do not send Harvynna to a pre-school, I think this is a good alternative. Some sort of stimulation is important for a child. I think 4 years of attending pre-school Monday to Friday is a bit too much. By the time, she attends actual school, she will be fed up of the routine. (That’s my personal opinion, anyway) She’s also lucky as there are other kids at the babysitter’s so she gets to play and socialize there. I am very afraid of those pre-schools that are very academic oriented and even have tests for the kids.

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