R-E-A-D

Cerise has just recently learned phonetics. Thanks to the two Leap Frog DVDs I bought from the States. I knew that was good investment. A little more practice with mum and now she's reading words! She's loving it so much she won't stop reading. She has found a new appreciation of her books. It's like every book is brand new, she looks at them and reads them like she's never had them before. Of course this is another proud moment but on nights when I'm exhausted and need sleep so bad, I start to wish the "Professor" (Leap Frog) hadn't been so damn good.

This is a cycle that we go through each time Cerise learns a new skill. She can get really zealous and engrossed. Much like when she learned to draw, she used up the entire ring of A4 paper in two days. And only recently have I discovered, to my horror, huge colourful drawings under our dining table and tiny discreet one tone drawings behind the leather couch and on the sides of the TV (chrome)! Well, i guess they will be reminders of those beautiful moments.

She learned to use the computer, only using the mouse but for some strange reason (presumably, a bold attempt to trial typing), the keyboard got broken. We knew we simply had to show her ALL the ropes instead of leaving some to her imagination. So now she can turn the computer on and off, type and use the mouse without causing us to buy a new laptop.

Writing her own name became a serious addiction. And she just had a fix writing my name as often as she writes her own. So that all her paper work at kindy has both her name and mine. Our names meaning one and the same does come in handy now.

And ooooohhhh the puzzles. Putting puzzles together is probably my most favourite skill of hers. For the simple reason that it keeps her preoccupied for a long period of time I can actually start and finish a chore. But long period of time means a puzzle of at least 200 pieces. Anything less than that is easy peasy. So much so that when we travelled to America, I had with me several sets of small puzzles which were my salvation at Los Angeles airport during our 5 hour wait for our connecting flight to San Francisco. It also provided entertainment to other bored passengers enduring the same plight.

Playing Nintendo is probably one of those things I didn't expect her to muster at this stage. But believe it or not, she even had to teach me how to undo a command! With a competition like her, Mario Kart isn't as much fun as it used to be when I'd danced my way to the finish line. This has also unveiled a new challenge for me and Edwin ---- how do you teach a child that it is okay to lose in a game, but also instill in her the value of winning? How do you make sure she doesn't cry when she doesn't reach the finish line first? Telling her it's okay, it's part of the game, you can win next time... only causes her to cry more. I notice though that when I ignore her emotional outcry, she stops and gets on with life, most times she would ask for another game. That may stop the dramas and prevent noise pollution but is that really addressing the problem?

Though Cerise ditched her ballet classes (too humdrum for her liking supposedly), I'd like to think that swimming, on the other hand, is turning into a real passion. She has now moved on to a more advanced class. This is something I can't share with her in two ways though. One, I'm not a swimmer so I don't have a full appreciation of this skill to even relate to her or maybe even motivate her. Two, she gets really distracted when I'm around so I don't usually watch her at swim class anymore. She gets so excited by my presence she can't focus on the task at hand. So I'm semi-banned from her swim class. But Daddy always gives me a full progress report.

We've only ever expose Cerise to things she takes interest in. And for ages now, I know she has the making of a gymnast. She is excellent on bars, poles, ropes (okay this is not sounding very wholesome now), balance beams, nets, cart wheels, obstacle courses, bungy trampoline. She even dared to rock climb last month and got a certificate for it. She's not afraid of heights. She loves the thrill of it. But Daddy and Papa are against enrolling her for gymnastics. I'm working on it though.

Cerise, you really make daddy and mummy proud and we love you so much. Now, stop sucking your thumb!