My girls - 14 months and 38 months

Yay! Rowena is 14 months. She is really developing a personality which is very different from her sister.

Physical Development

Weight – about 12 kg (she looks thinner, though)
(not sure about her height!!)

Hair : has grown quite a bit

Her legs are kind of bow legged. Is quite obvious – some people commented that it was because she started walking early. Some people commented that it is just a phase and will be ok. I recall Harvynna having the same problem at the age and its ok now.

Teeth – still has only 4 teeth (with the gap in between)

Eating Habits – eats anything and everything under the sun. Has tasted curry and does not seem to mind it. She must eat everything that we eat. If she had enough, she will stick her tongue out, with the food on it and let it fall out!

Language

Rowena does not babble much, only when she is trying to say something. The things that she can say is:

Mama – for me, of course – but lately she has been calling daddy that too

Dada – occasionally now for daddy

Kar – for car

There – for there

Baba – for baby & Barney

Wowo – dog and all other animals!!

Cup – for cup


Yeah, she is not as vocal as Harvynna was at that age – so it’s really irritating when people say, ‘Rowena is so quiet. Harvynna could say much more when she was that age’.

Ya, so??

Things she does:

· Every morning, when I tell the girls ’ Lets go’ (going to the babysitter), she will shout ‘Car’.

· When its time to go out, she will go to the shoe cabinet, and start fussing to put on her shoes. Normally I will just carry her, but now she insists her shoes are on and will walk out

· Once we leave the house, she will lift up one hand and say ‘eh eh’ indicating for me to hold her hand

· Uses the remote and points at the tv. Then she hits the remote a few times (we have a lousy remote) and points it at the tv again

· She still loves to dance – everytime there is music, she will bounce up and down and clap her hands and sing ‘ah ah ah’

· She can march to music as she learnt ‘the ants go marching’ the other day

· When I tell her come, go bathe, she will start lifting up her clothes and walk to the bathroom

· If you tell her to kiss, she will come to you, place her face on your cheek and say ‘emm ahh’

· She takes my hairbrush and brushes her hair

· She hides and then appears saying ‘there’

· She likes wearing my shoes and parade around the house with it

· She can point to’bellybutton’, ‘nose’ and ‘eyes’

· She protest if you take something away from her

· She is a busy body, she stops whatever she is doing to see what is happening – noise, if somebody goes out etc

· She drink from a straw well

Some of her naughty traits (grrr)

· Does not sit on any high chair. When we go out to eat, she will start to stand on the chair and sit on the side bar or just stand - she ends up on my lap

· When she does not want to sleep, she will disturb Harvynna by pinching her, or pulling her hair, then laughing , then they both end up playing and laughing and not sleeping.
· She empties the dustbins, the laundry basket

· If she does not want to be carried, she will Wriggle, arch her back and do all kinds of things

· She picks up the house phone, starts dialing and places the phone to her ear but does not say a word. After she is done, she will throw the phone on the floor


Harvynna, on the other hand is getting naughtier and a real smart alec. She answers back at every opportunity. Examples:

Me: Harvynna, pick up your toys or the black dog will come and bite you
Harvynna: Where? I don’t see him. Don’t bluff. Liar liar, pants on fire

Me: If you are naughty, I wont buy you a present. I will buy for Rowena
Harvynna: then, I will pull it from her

Harvynna: Send Rowena to the playground and let the black dog eat her

Harvynna: I am not going to buy YOU anything. You are the naughtiest girl in the world (referring to me)

Harvynna: Can you please take Rowena away, she is disturbing my work

Harvynna: Remember, we went to xxxxx. Rowena was not there, she was not born yet

She is also quite observant:

She will ask me:

What are you smiling about or What are you thinking about?

She is also the fashion diva in the house

Don’t tie up your hair - its not nice
Why are you wearing that – its not matching
Why you not wearing your jacket to the office
I don’t want to wear that - its not even matching

You look fat in that dress!!! - (you can get the truth from a 3 year old)
Look at me ! I look so fashion


Gosh! I wonder if Rowena will be like that in a years time. Then I will really have my hands full.

Chewbacca

We have been using ‘scare’ tactics to get Harvynna to behave e.g.

You cannot stay in the playground till late or the black dog will come out to eat little girls or
Don’t’ come out of your room as the black dog / dragon is waiting outside
And the latest addition is Chewbacca

- Chewbacca is waiting for you with a knife etc – yeah, we are crazy but sometimes scare tactics are the only thing that will get Harvynna to behave.

But now, it looks like poor Rowena is the one who is scared of Chewbacca. I just have to call out ‘Chew --- ba----cca ‘ and Rowena will quickly run to me and bury her face in my lap.

Poor gal! Wrong target!!

Thanks for all your kind wishes - Rowena is doing well now and her cheeks are filling up again!

My Rowie is sick

My poor Rowena is sick.

We went to Genting over the weekend as I had something on there. I was working most of the time – so the girls had to make do with daddy. I have been sick since last Wednesday and was really bad on Saturday. So eventually, Rowena got it. This is the first time, she really felt sick as she was so sad, just lied down and cried the whole time. It’s so hard seeing her this way, as she is normally such a happy child.

ON Sunday, we went up to the top, and she got worse. Her temperature shot up. She got tired being carried for long and wanted to sit down. But once we place in in the stroller, she is happier, then falls asleep.

At night, her temperature was high and she was shivering. Luckily, the Avent milk storage ice packs came in handy and I placed that on her forehead. She was in and out of sleep and just wanted her mummy! I was also so exhausted as my event in Genting involved abseiling. So I was sick, exhausted and lack of sleep!

The next morning the paed confirmed that Rowena had a bad throat infection and it was very red and was started on a dose of antibiotics (Augmentin). I stayed in with her while Harvynna was sent to the babysitters. After half a day with mummy, Rowena was a lot better and was almost like her usual self,. Now she is kind of skeptical with anything I feed her due to the chocolate trick. I offered her a biscuit and she shook her head profusely, saying ‘Gaje gaje gaje gaje’ and walked off.

She has lost so much of weight and her face looked so small. Her eyes were also swollen due to the excessive amount of crying.
Feel so sorry looking at her. She is much better today. The antibiotics have kicked in and she is more up and about. She gave me the usual greeting of excitement when I picked her up last night.

During the whole time she was sick, Rowena kept calling out for ‘Mama, mama’ - emm ma’ and comes to cuddle up with me.

Harvynna, on the other hand was really sweet. When we went to pick her up on Monday, she was so excited to see Rowena in the car. She said’Ooh Rowena you are here also. Are you feeling better? You poor baby!’ and gave her few big hugs!

Mummy tricked Rowena

Pic of girls at the playground

Rowena has a runny nose and cough. Thanks to me. My office is going through a renovation and it is so dusty. Anyway, I was trying to give her some cough mixture. She took less than quarter of a teaspoon and she pushed the spoon away and walked off. I tried to give the balance to her but she kept pushing me away.

Finally, I tried, “Rowena – you want chocolate. There chocolate’ and she immediately opened her mouth and took in the balance of the medicine. Then she looked a little puzzle - probably wondering why this chocolate taste so weird

HaHa! 1-0 for mummy!

Taming toddlers

I found this interesting article on Familydoctor.org about getting children to behave better. Now that Harvynna is 3 years old, she can be really, really naughty - the kind of naughtiness that has increased my grey hair to an uncountable amount. What makes it harder is she knows how to answer back. Nowadays, she really gets it from me, then I feel so bad for scolding her.

This morning, she opened the car seat belt that holds Rowena's car seat, and the car seat toppled to the side (with Rowena inside). I had to pull up to the side of the road and fix the seat. While doing it, I was screaming at Harvynna and Rowena just looked at me with the puzzled look.

Every weekend, Harvynna will distract Rowena when Rowena is trying to get her afternoon nap. Rowena, too will take this opportunity to play and run all over the place with her sister. The only thing that scares Harvynna now is the BIG BLACK DOG, the dragon and the naughty man. But now, she will call for the dragon or black dog to come and take Rowena.

Reading all these articles from the west, they are really against spanking children and try to adopt talking to them or other methods. I am trying to use the 'reward method'. We'll see how it goes.

Here's the excerpt from the article:


What can I do to change my child's behavior?

Children tend to continue a behavior when it is rewarded and stop a behavior when it is ignored. Consistency in your reaction to a behavior is important because rewarding and punishing the same behavior at different times confuses your child. When your child's behavior is a problem, you have 3 choices:

Decide that the behavior is not a problem because it's appropriate to the child's age and stage of development.

Attempt to stop the behavior, either by ignoring it or by punishing it.

Introduce a new behavior that you prefer and reinforce it by rewarding your child.


How do I stop misbehavior?
The best way to stop unwanted behavior is to ignore it. This way works best over a period of time. When you want the behavior to stop immediately, you can use the time-out method.


How do I use the time-out method?

Decide ahead of time the behaviors that will result in a time-out--usually tantrums, or aggressive or dangerous behavior. Choose a time-out place that is uninteresting for the child and not frightening, such as a chair, corner or playpen. When you're away from home, consider using a car or a nearby seating area as a time-out place.When the unacceptable behavior occurs, tell the child the behavior is unacceptable and give a warning that you will put him or her in time-out if the behavior doesn't stop. Remain calm and don't look angry. If your child goes on misbehaving, calmly take him or her to the time-out area.If possible, keep track of how long your child's been in time-out. Set a timer so your child will know when time-out is over. Time-out should be brief--generally 1 minute for each year of age--and should begin immediately after reaching the time-out place or after the child calms down. You should stay within sight or earshot of the child, but don't talk to him or her. If the child leaves the time-out area, gently return him or her to the area and consider resetting the timer. When the time-out is over, let the child leave the time-out place. Don't discuss the bad behavior, but look for ways to reward and reinforce good behavior later on.


How do I encourage a new, desired behavior?

One way to encourage good behavior is to use a reward system. This works best in children over 2 years of age. It can take up to 2 months to work. Being patient and keeping a diary of behavior can be helpful to parents. Choose 1 to 2 behaviors you would like to change (such as bedtime habits, tooth brushing or picking up toys). Choose a reward your child would enjoy. Examples of good rewards are an extra bedtime story, delaying bedtime by half an hour, a preferred snack or, for older children, earning points toward a special toy, a privilege or a small amount of money.Explain the desired behavior and the reward to the child. For example, "If you get into your pajamas and brush your teeth before this TV show is over, you can stay up a half hour later." Request the behavior only one time. If the child does what you ask, give the reward. You can help the child if necessary but don't get too involved. Because any attention from parents, even negative attention, is so rewarding to children, they may prefer to have parental attention instead of a reward at first. Transition statements, such as, "In 5 minutes, play time will be over," are helpful when you are teaching your child new behaviors.This system helps you avoid power struggles with your child. However, your child is not punished if he or she chooses not to behave as you ask; he or she simply does not get the reward.


What are some good ways to reward my child?

Beat the Clock (good method for a dawdling child)Ask the child to do a task. Set a timer. If the task is done before the timer rings, your child gets a reward. To decide the amount of time to give the child, figure out your child's "best time" to do that task and add 5 minutes.

The Good Behavior Game (good for teaching a new behavior)Write a short list of good behaviors on a chart and mark the chart with a star each time you see the good behavior. After your child has earned a small number of stars (depending on the child's age), give him or her a reward.

Good Marks/Bad Marks (best method for difficult, highly active children)In a short time (about an hour) put a mark on a chart or on your child's hand each time you see him or her performing a good behavior. For example, if you see your child playing quietly, solving a problem without fighting, picking up toys or reading a book, you would mark the chart. After a certain number of marks, give your child a reward. You can also make negative marks each time a bad behavior occurs. If you do this, only give your child a reward if there are more positive marks than negative marks.

Developing Quiet Time (often useful when you're making supper)Ask your child to play quietly alone or with a sibling for a short time (maybe 30 minutes). Check on your child frequently (every 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the child's age) and give a reward or a token for each few minutes they were quiet or playing well. Gradually increase the intervals (go from checking your child's behavior every 2 to 5 minutes to checking every 30 minutes), but continue to give rewards for each time period your child was quiet or played well.


Why shouldn't I use physical punishment?

Parents may choose to use physical punishment (such as spanking) to stop undesirable behavior. The biggest drawback to this method is that although the punishment stops the bad behavior for a while, it doesn't teach your child to change his or her behavior. Disciplining your child is really just teaching him or her to choose good behaviors. If your child doesn't know a good behavior, he or she is likely to return to the bad behavior. Physical punishment becomes less effective with time and can cause the child to behave aggressively. It can also be carried too far -- into child abuse. Other methods of punishment are preferred and should be used whenever possible.

Tag: The Meaning of Harvynna & Rowena's Name

Got tagged from Malaika's mummy. Good one so next time the girls will know how they got their names.

Harvynna - actually the name itself does not mean anything!! But since my hubby and I were dating many moons ago, we decided that if we ever have a child (daughter), we would call her Harvynna.

We combined both our names and hence,

Harvey + Rina = Harvynna

Of course, we changed the spelling by adding 2 'n's to glamourise it a bit. I think Harvynna is a very unusual name since it originated this way. I am sure people will mispronounce her name when she goes to school!

It was kind of weird to hear our family members and friends calling Harvynna by her name when she was born as it was always a fictatious name we referred to during those dating days.

For Rowena, we hadnt really thought of any names as we were not sure if it was going to be a boy or a girl. I was looking through several websites and found some rather exotic girls names (looking at Hindu, Indian and Sanskrit) names but found most of the boys names rather boring or someone we know has that name.

My MIL also came out with a list. There were some shortlisted ones like Isha, Raveena, Priyanka and some boys names too.

In the end, after Rowena was born and while I was having post C-section pains, hubby and I were thinking of a name. Since Harvynna had a 'H' name, we decided that Rowena will have a 'R' name. Then only fair what!!

We were trying to recall the names my MIL suggested, and hubby suggested Rowena (it was not in the list - he mistook Raveena for it) and I immediately said, 'OK'! (Sounds more universal!)

My SIL, Vindi sent us an email with the meaning of Rowena's name, and here it goes

The girl's name Rowena \ro-wena, rowe-na\ is pronounced roh-EEN-ah, roh-ENN-ah.
It is of Old German origin, and its meaning is "fame and happiness".
Also possibly (Welsh) "slender and fair".
Rowena was the name of one of the two heroines in Sir Walter Scott's novel "Ivanhoe" (19th century).



Instructions :**Start Copy**Proposition: What is the meaning of your kid’s name?Requirements: write about what or how or why you giving the name to your kids.

Quantity: FIVE PEOPLE.
Tag Mode:1st - You leave their blog and post link and add to the list below.
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Rina - The Meaning of Harvynna & Rowena's Name

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