Very encouraged :)

Since Candra was young, we tried to incorporate into her routine playtime on her own within certain boundaries. When she was still small and comfortable in the playpen, we called that "Playpen time". Basically, that's a 30mins play slot with her toys in the playpen.

At about15 months, we decided to let her upgrade to "Roomtime" for a few reasons. She was getting more mobile and walking around a lot more. She was growing bigger and taller thus making the playpen slightly more uncomfortable for her. She also needed more toys to keep her occupied within the 30mins and so we needed to give her more space. So her bedroom also became her playroom.

For a start, we used the playpen to block the room to create the boundaries. With that playpen there, she's not able to move out of the room at all. Today, I just felt prompted to move on further, to remove the playpen as a barrier and see if she could be trained to stay in the room, with doors opened. I was actually expecting quite a bit of wrestling with her... cos she's required to exercised more self-control with the removal of the barrier. She could just step out anytime if she wanted to actually.

She tried initially to test whether she could just let her little feet step out of the room...I had to repeat the same instruction about three to four times to keep her staying within the boundaries of the room. There was some struggle there on her part. After about 5 mins into her play time, she stood right at the door, looked at me sitting in the living room and cried. But of course, I had to insist that Roomtime was not over and that she had to stay in there until I said she could come out. She walked back in. To my surprise, for the rest of the time, she just stayed inside with the doors wide opened.

I thought that was quite amazing.. cos that was really beyond my expectations. Of course, I know there will be some challenging days definitely, but I am very encouraged to see my little girl growing in this manner. :)

I decided to reward her after the half an hour with a banana and her favourite Vitamin C tablet! hehe! :p

Coming up next would be potty training at some point... and then moving her from crib to bed.. :)

Toddler challenges

My girl is no longer a baby...but a toddler.

Lately, her temperament hasn't been the easiest to handle. It doesn't help that I am not feeling fantastic physically as well. God's really stretching my patience and teaching me to rely on Him a lot more.

We are wondering whether it could be because she is teething, or it's just because she's growing up. Actually, I am thinking... maybe it's because she's growing to realise her independence as a person.

She wants to feed herself, drink from her cup/bottle by herself, sometimes she wants to sit on our chairs instead of her own highchair, she expresses more displeasure when we insist on keeping her routine, she also reacts a lot more to our "Nos" nowadays, sometimes she reacts by letting out a scream of frustration or she just throws the object in her hands. She's also gotten more picky when it comes to food. Yet, there are times when she is a lot more clingy and expresses greater dependency.. especially towards me. Maybe she herself is going through a confusing phase (that's what I read from a website). The confusion between her need to be independent and at the same time dependent.

Because she is now learning to assert herself more, I feel challenged to learn how to handle the balance between discipline, obedience and autonomy. It's not easy. For example, when she chooses to be picky with her food, how do I on the one hand respect her autonomy and at the same time ensure she's getting sufficient nutrition? When she's testing her limits when it comes to her routine, how do I on the one hand understand her need to be guided to choose correctly as an individual and at the same time, teach her the need to adhere to boundaries set for her.

It's really not easy.. I am thankful a sister, in her SMS to me reminded me not to be discouraged because she's just going through a new phase in growth. That set me thinking whether I am handling the situation well or making things worse as a result of my own frustrations and expectations.

I hope to find out more about how to handle toddlers in this phase well... parenting is definitely not an easy task. We can of course choose an easier way out which is to just give in to her all the time and avoid tantrums, but that's probably not a wise thing to do because we, as parents still have the responsibility to guide, instruct and train.

"O Lord, please grant me the wisdom to know how to parent her as she grows through this phase and above all, fill me with love, patience and kindness no matter how difficult the situation may be, in Jesus' name I pray, Amen~!"

Candra at 17 months :)

This little girl has been feeding herself for slightly over a week :)

She does a pretty good job... doesn't really make a mess. Somehow, she knows that she needs to stay close to the plate/bowl.. and she has good control over the spoon! Honestly, I did not expect her to be able to feed herself that quickly...:) Now mealtimes are much more convenient for all of us.

She's more than glad to feed herself......why? Because she finds us too slow most of the time when we are feeding her. Now that she can feed herself, she can control how much food goes into her mouth and how quickly... being such a foodie, that's the best! :p hehe

Thankfully, uncle KS bought her Sesame Street bibs :) She doesn't usually like to wear bibs, but because of the Sesame Street babies series, from Monday to Sunday... She willingly puts them on now :) And she loves to do her version of the "elmo song" when she puts the bib on.

Candra has also just learnt to swim :) Surviving with just hand floats on her arms now... she can move around the pool unsupported by anyone! That's amazing to me.......She's not 1.5years old yet. I think we made a good decision to start her immediately on the hand floats (with some support from us of course). Actually, it all happened last saturday when my dad insisted that we stopped supporting her during her swim. Well, we tried, we let go..and there she was...enjoying herself in the pool. Now she prefers to be swimming on her own.

Auntie K once commented that this girl's like a little fish............I think so too. She has absolutely no fear of water. :)

Somewhat heavy hearted..

A few pieces of news over the weekend and this morning left me feeling a little heavy hearted today.

Of course, our dear mother of Singapore passed away. It's sweet reading the stories about their long-lasting marriage... It's beautiful seeing how they walked each other through so many years of their lives...and of course..."till death do us part" now takes on a deeper meaning for me. My heart goes out to her family members..especially our dear Mr Lee.

Next, the news about the young Singaporean undergraduate at Cambridge, who died from an accident in London. Young girl, with a very bright future... just gone like that. I feel so sorry for a parents and her family members. I can imagine how devastated they must be feeling now. Being a parent now and putting myself in their shoes, I can just imagine how horrible this tragedy must be for them.

At sunday service, Rev Chua shared about a widow and two young boys who just lost their father. They are only 14 and 12 respectively. Still young... it's been traumatic for the whole family I believe. And now they are left to fend for themselves, face the financial pressures alone etc. It's saddening.. thankfully, brothers and sisters in church are giving to them in various ways... hoping this would ease their troubles slightly.

And this morning, another piece of sad news, a fellow lawyer (whom many people saw looking completely fine and well last friday) suddenly died of a heart attack over the weekend, at the age of 41, leaving a widow and three young children. It just happened so suddenly... no one expected that at all.. and now the children and his wife are left grieving over this sudden loss. I heard that his girl has been crying non-stop.

It's a season of grieving it seems.....and these pieces of sad news just caused me and many others to suddenly realise the fragility of life. None of us can predict our future. On one day, we may be enjoying all that we have in life, the next moment, we may just leave this world and our loved ones.

Every single day is to be cherished... and I have been reminded that ultimately, our hope rests in God and in eternity with Him. We should never take it for granted that our family members and friends will always be around us or that we will be around them. Never. And we should cherish every opportunity to share the truth and love of God...

Are we taking our lives for granted? Are we taking each day and moment for granted? Are we living the lives we should live? Are we so caught up in our own daily enjoyments/pains that we fail to realise that many around us have real needs and ultimately, a real need to connect with their Creator God?

How are we living really?

Live without regrets......