Friday, 14 May 2010

Out and about... part one


My mind has been occupied with other things for the past week or so... I have finally taken and passed my driving test after avoiding lessons for the past 20 years or so! The impetus to learn was, of course, Orla - it's been so frustrating having to plan a military operation whenever we want to go out. Will it rain before we get to the bus stop? - Rain in Penang is the equivalent of having a full bath of water dropped on your head in one go, so this is an important one. Maybe we should call a taxi instead? - but how long before it arrives? Do I get everything packed and ready and then spend the next 15 minutes twiddling my thumbs and/or watching Orla unpack it all over the floor? Or pack after I've called, only to find that the taxi's waiting outside mid- nappy change? No baby seat either, so I have to wrestle an energetic toddler (who wants to pull all of the driver's proudly displayed Manchester United regalia off the parcel shelf) into my seatbelt and pacify her with a boob until we get to wherever we're going. Walking isn't really an option - after daybreak it's hot enough to fry eggs on the pavements, which are so uneven, narrow and broken that even my all-terrain, LandRover pushchair is beginning to feel the strain. So finally being able to drive the car will open up all kinds of options for us.

Of course, we have had a few terrific excursions. Orla's fascination with nature and all things animal means that we have already taken trips to the zoo, bird park and butterfly farm. Check online for off-peak or family deals, or frequent users deals before you go - when I expressed my horror at the cost of London Zoo if we chose to visit in the summer, a friend who lives in London revealed that she is a memeber of the Zoo's 'Friends...' scheme - she pays about GBP60 per year and can go as many times as she likes, whereas a one-off visitor would pay GBP20 per adult during peak season.


Luckily for us, Taiping Zoo, a pleasantly managed and maintained park about an hour away from us, costs around GBP2.50 per adult. Even Giles, who is not keen on the concept of zoos and often despairs of the conditions for animals, agreed that it was a pleasant surprise. Orla was entranced from the moment we arrived until she drooped wearily on Daddy's shoulders, almost four hours later. A zoo is a great environment for little ones - they can see animals clearly, and seeing them 'in the flesh' encourages learning; once the animals are within their range of experience, they are more 'real' to children, who can then put them into context through memories the next time they see them in a book. Orla was thrilled by creatures she'd seen in her books or on her World Animals DVD. Since the zoo visit, she has learned signs and/or sounds for many different animals - she even trumpets like an elephant! We talked to her about the animals we saw - observations about what they looked like or what they were doing, how they behave and so on... She may not understand all we tell her at this stage, but I'm a firm believer in talking to babies like people, rather than like babies! I honestly think that Orla's communication skills and understanding have benefitted from Mummy's explanations of anything and everything!


The bird park was another hit. Sadly, many of the birds were in small cages; we'll visit the open aviary in Kuala Lumpur when we visit the city, which is a much nicer environment, both for the birds and for visitors to enjoy them. The great thing about the bird park, though, was that there were some birds that could be fed or gently stroked - we were both enchanted by a little Scops Owl, who 'danced' when his back was gently stroked and we had a close up view of the birds who landed on Daddy's hands to scoff worms from a pot we bought on the way in!


Similarly, our visit to the butterfly farm was a great success. Orla loves butterflies - she refuses to use the sign for 'butterfly' and insists that they are 'flowers' instead! There was a live insect and reptile show, which meant that again, we had a ringside seat for viewing all of the creatures. Apart from one hairy moment when Orla tried to squeeze the leaf insect that had been sitting on her knee for a couple of minutes, she was calm, gentle and completely fascinated by the small beasties. I hope that early experiences of being close to and handling bugs and minibeasts mean that she won't grow up with irrational fears and phobias; it's good for me, too, as I have to curb any shudders around spiders, scorpions and cockroaches!


We're hoping to visit a city farm and petting zoo when we go back to the UK for a visit in the summer. I'm sure that Orla will adore it - and will continue to learn so much from the experience. Books and DVDs are great for introducing things that children have no daily access to, but periodic visits to the Real Thing are what consolidates learning and cements meaning into memory.

Wednesday, 5 May 2010

Orla's Water Music!

Water and music are two of Orla's favourite things, so this seemed like a perfect activity to try. Unfortunately, my timing was a bit off... She had a restless night last night, and even after a long nap this afternoon, she wasn't at her best. However, she was happy to let me show her what to do...


We have a shelf full of empty jam jars, saved for Giles's rather good onion marmalade and other preserves; so in between batches, we can make use of the jars. We started by hitting the empty jars with a chopstick to hear the sounds they made, before adding different levels of water and hitting them again, to hear how the sound had changed. When all of the jars had different levels of water in them, we tried running the chopstick back and forth along the row, and then tried hitting various jars in different orders to play 'tunes'. Orla had a try, but after five minutes or so, laid down her chopstick and picked up the jars to drink the water out of them instead. I think I'll try this again in a couple of weeks when she's not as tired!

Sunday, 2 May 2010

Who shall we be today?


For a few months now, Orla has chosen what she wants to wear. I open the wardrobe and let her pull out the dress or top she likes the look of that day, and add any extras that she needs to wear with it. She has quite a lot of little hairclips from a great little shop on eBay (look up 'otyats' - Sarah has a huge range and is very quick and reliable!) which I clipped to a long piece of ribbon, hanging next to the bathroom mirror. She likes to choose her accessories and watches me clip them into her hair in the mirror - are girls just born knowing how to do this?!

Recently, she's also started collecting items of clothing from around the house while she's playing, and trying to pull them over her head or to put them around her shoulders. Time to start a dressing up box, I think!

I bought a patterned cardboard box with a lid and have put in a couple of pairs of old sunglasses (sturdy ones!), a baseball cap, cotton and silk scarves, a sarong and a few strings of beads. At the moment, Orla doesn't have much concept of role play, so the box contents will grow with her. For now, she has a few items to experiment with; they are fairly easy to put on and there are a range of interesting fabrics for her to choose from. We can talk through the items together, building vocabulary and colour recognition, and can dress her up in front of the mirror, developing motor skills and coordination.


I'll continue to build her costume box with items from second hand shops, a few readymade costumes bought in sales, and my own castoffs. It's actually better to have random items that your child can use to create his or her own imaginary roles - shop bought costumes are obviously more directed and prescriptive. Let your child create pirates and princesses from lengths of fabric, old shirts and beads rather than a 'perfect', manufactured costume.

Baby Van Gogh


It's only quite recently that Orla has shown any interest in any artistic ventures. For a while, crayons kindly provided in family restaurants formed a key part of her lunch menu, and paint was just for squeezing in her hands. Now, however, she likes to sit on my lap with a piece of paper and a pencil or coloured pencils, has a go with fat crayons and a large piece of paper - or we clear the kitchen floor, strip her down to her nappy and get the paints out!

We use Crayola poster pots, though in the future we're going to have a go at making our own fruit and veg colours - watch this space! Cheap Chinese calligraphy brushes are ideal for little hands - the thick handles are easy to grasp and the hairs are soft and make good, sweeping strokes on paper and baby alike! Try a Chinese supermarket if you have one near you. Another useful tool is a washing up sponge, cut into four - can be used to apply paint to hands or feet, or for your little one to stamp blobs directly onto paper.


We've had a go at a few different painting projects. Our first success was Easter cards - rather Mummy-directed, as I had to paint her palms and fingers different colours to make the chickens' heads... Since then we have tried hands and feet - I had to help Orla to stand up steadily so that she didn't slip on her painty toes - and have used our fat brushes to paint her and me as well as the paper!


Finish off with a nice bubbly bath or shower! The finished projects can be stuck on your fridge, obviously, and are great for sending to Grandmas for Mothers' Day, too...

Saturday, 1 May 2010

Animal Magic!



Orla's current obsession is animals. She's mad about them - she has a Baby Einstein World Animals DVD which she wants to watch endlessly, and I've found a way of luring her away from the goggle box while still embracing her chief passion!

Following recent visits to the zoo, a bird park and a butterfly farm, all of which enthralled her, I decided to go through the photographs on my laptop to find animal pictures - I found dozens from lots of different holidays and day trips. I copied them all into one folder and put them on the 'slideshow' setting... The screen of my laptop is now a mass of little fingerprints after multiple excited viewings!

Phase Two was a trip to the developers. We printed off about 40 photos and have put them into a simple slip-in album which is Orla-sized for easy carriage! If she ever lets it go, I'll customise the album with labels for the animals' names and some animal stickers that I found for pennies in a stationer's. We have looked at the album together; I ask her questions about which animals they are, what sounds they make, etc, and we have watched the DVD with the album, too, looking for the photo of each creature as it appears on screen. We're even creating our own signs for some of the animals!

It took about an hour to find the photos I wanted while I was relaxing after dinner one evening. Obviously, the album content can be adapted to accommodate your little one's particular passion.

Because we live overseas and far from family, we've also put together a mini album of family pictures so that Orla can identify and talk about her grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins... She can also find the image of the person she wants to talk to on Skype!