When the husband goes away

So, the husband is away for 2 weeks. (Well, less than that since he left 4days ago). It's been manageable thus far and I'm very happy that things are less hectic at work, which allows me to leave work punctually and head home early. So far, the routine has been the same the past 3 nights.

I'll arrive home before 8pm, have dinner, shower and have Kate in the room with me by 9pm. I'll change her into her pyjamas and we'll do some reading, some classroom-time, some exercises and some play.

Reading: her favourite reading material is a Nursery Rhymes book.

Spot the nursery rhymes book

I suspect it's the illustration, colours and yellow background that captures her attention. She doesn't really allow me to do much reading, per se. What actually happens is that I'll flip to a random page and start reading. She'd then poke her 2nd finger on the page (she usually points at the illustrations, interrupting me trying to point at the words in an attempt to make her understand those are words that I'm pointing at and reading aloud) and within seconds, try to flip the book shut. As the book is hardcover, she hasn't quite mastered how to flip the paper-pages. Rather, it's easier for her to hold the cover of the book and shut it.

Nursery rhyme

Classroom time: Since her 3rd or 4th month, we invested in a DVD that teaches reading. The video is a series of words and a demonstration of what the word is in hope that the child will pick up the meaning of the word as well as be able to identify it.

Example, the word wave flashes on the screen. The voiceover repeats it twice and the screen flashes to a child waving. The voiceover then says "Ashley is waving at you".

I spotted the same module's flash cards a month ago, and decided to purchase it. I never really used it until the last 2 nights. I'd flash the cards to Kate and hold a classroom session with her. I'm not sure how beneficial these classroom time is for Kate (both the DVD and live versions), but I quite enjoy doing something with and for her.

Exercise: On our holiday to Perth, I met up with some old friends and one of them has a son who's about 18months old. Jo shared with me that she'd allowed her son to roll around and hurt himself in the process of learning, and that expedited his psychomotor development. She'd let him experience and experiment on the carpet floor.

Now I'd never thought about how Kate was going to start crawling, but what Jo shared made alot of sense. Kate wasn't going to pick up crawling anytime soon if we only allowed her to sit and be carried! With this new nugget tucked in my brain, I'm more conscious to allow Kate to roll-around at home. We don't have carpets in Singapore, but we can lay mattresses, playmats or allow Kate more time on the bed.

It might be a coincidence, but look how well Kate's faring these 2 nights.

Here's not a fantastic picture but the only one I've got of Kate in what I believe is her very-early-stages of learning to crawl. Her face is splat on the bed and she hasn't learnt to use her hands so she's just figuring out that she can use her legs to push forward.. so the only bit that really moves is her butt upwards. It's so terribly cute!

Butts up!

Play: finally, what every kid enjoys most, play.

I must admit that Kate does not associate me with play. She'll respond to Grandma, the husband, gu-po and xiao-peh ... even gugu and yiyi.. because they make faces and play with her. Me on the other hand, usually provide for her so she seeks me for food and sleep.

It is such a thrill to play simple silly games like peek-a-boo to tease a gurgle or two from her.

And that is how I spend my time without the husband.