Abby's Development at 31 Months

Abby just turned 31 months yesterday. Gosh, she's past the big THREE O. My turn next. :P Anyway, she's been developing so fast she now a young lady!

Schooling
Abby's been going to her new school for nine weeks already. Previously, while she was attending that expensive childcare (not that expensive but still not worth the money - $400 plus after subsidy for half day care per month), she cried everytime she was dropped in school and when we picked her up. She also fell ill really often and most of the time, I didn't see the kids occupied. In fact, the classroom was almost always bare (except for meet the parent session) and the kids would literally be all over the place - under the chairs, tables, lying on the floor, etc. They had only two or three sets of toys - $5 for a small bin of connecting toys, and the kids were bored. Even when we first visited the place - the principal showed us around the large and spacious area - the pre-nursery kids were only confined to a small room most of the time. So no point showing us the whole place right?

Nevertheless, that place had merits. The teachers put in a lot of effort to train the kids to perform at the annual graduation concert. We bought the DVD and watched Abby's performance. It was amazing. If and when I have the free time, I might upload it. Oh well.

Now, with the new school, Abby stopped crying after the second day. She looks forward to going to school everyday and when she is picked up, she's all fine and cheery! More importantly, she's stopped falling ill so frequently. As a result, Shalom as well. Previously, she'd be falling ill almost every other week, but now, thank God, she's much stronger. Maybe she got her full immunisation then! :)

Reading
She's now able to read a couple of words, mostly due to flashcards. I haven't been diligent, so she hasn't been picking up new words. Her list:
* Jesus
* Daddy
* Mummy
* Shalom
* Abigail
* Lina
* no (She goes, "N, O, no!" and shakes her head. So cute!)
* kiss
* milk
* Hi-5
* bathe
* toes

She's really like how Glenn Doman describes - flashing must be done fast. Do it slowly and try explaining the spelling and she'll definitely be bored. So flash the 5 cards, 1 sec each, each time reading the word, and after all 5 are flashed, praise the kid for just learning - i.e. looking. Don't make the kid spell or even recite. They'll pick it up naturally. And it works. 5 sets of 5 cards, 3 times a day, change one card per day after the 5th day.

I'm still at my first lot since last year. And I haven't changed any cards yet. I'm that undisciplined and busy. Yet she's picking them up.

Potty Training
Potty training wise, she's been fully trained slightly after she turned two. She transited smoothly for night-time training as well. However, there were times when she came home with soiled undies when she was still at the old school (she left in Dec 06)- from what the teachers in the previous school said, she didn't tell anyone she wanted to go. However, now there doesn't seem to be any problem. Now our goal is trying to put all her acquired skills together - pull potty out (she also goes on adult bowl but needs assistance), pull clothes down, sit on potty, wipe herself, and pull clothes up.

She's real cute - took her to the bathroom once and she extended the session coz she had a tummy ache. So she said, "Abigail got stomachache. Very painful." Scrunched face. Then smiled. When I asked her whether she was done, she had that thoughtful look and said, "Haven't yet. Abigail got stomachache. Wait." :)

She's really affectionate but doesn't allow Shalom to play anything. However, it seems that now he's able to resist her. Oh well. Doesn't help very much with slight favoritism from the grandparents. Hopefully during the short hols I'll be able to spend more time with the kids. :)