how to encourage a reader?

i love to read books and i wish my boy will share my love with books too. but so far i can only get him to read when its about to sleep. what i like most is that he is the one who brings a book to me when its almost bedtime. i dont really know how i could encourage him to read and read.what i do is just i keep books within in his reach. and when he seems to like to read i make myself available so i could read with him too. im very much happy that there's a lot of tot books in our public library here. which enable me to do book rotations without spending. i didnt really buy much books for him coz i feel like he would just outgrown it too. but i always make sure that i borrow materials from the library for him. i actually try to join a virtual book club for kids but i just cant come up with good activities. maybe i could try to put that on my new year's resolution for the new year to come soon. we'll see how i can encourage him to read. how about you? how do you encourage your kids to read?

oooppps.l! (why he needs to sleep on a floor bed)

at way past his bed time, this little boy was still hyperactive. i was trying to make him sleep on his side of the bed. but he still wanna play on mommy and daddy's bed. so up he go by himself. i just let him play on the bed while i stay on his bed. after few minutes i was surprise that i cannot hear any noise. then blag! he fell right on mommy. oh well, thats why he still had to sleep on a floor bed. hehe!

i fell in love with sarah boynton

we actually decided not to buy too much of toddler books for our boy. anyway, we have an easy access to a library with wide collection of books. i just hope that Ty gets excited as much as i do during our library trips.

the first time that we check out books from the library, i actually hoarded on Sarah Boynton's books. i love her illustrations and humour. one book that really stand out for me is the "happy hippo, angry duck ( a book of moods)". perhaps because i usually experience a lot of mood swings. and in the last part it says:

ps:
aside from the books, i love her iPad apps too. i love how interactive it is and my little one enjoys it much too.

tomie de paola

i want my boy to develop a love for books. i was happy when i tumble upon a virtual book club for kids in facebook. i really want to participate and im glad that we have an easy access to a library with wide collection. but due to lack of time and resources, i wasnt able to come up yet with an activity related with the book we chose.

but yesterday, i didnt bring out his other books. we just kept on reading de paola's books. and he kept on asking me to read it again and again. but i think he most enjoyed the "get dressed santa" book. as i read, he would sign back the things that santa is putting on. we dont have any santa hat in the house but i used his beanie instead. even if he have mittens, he rather put on his socks on his hands and have a good laugh. this i think is the activity we end up doing after reading this book.

and when he got tired with all the dressing up, he decided to read "my first angels" until he was able to sleep.

hopefully, next month il be able to come up with a better activity. teehee!

dear ty,

today is your 17th month. i almost miss it again. we don't really celebrate your monthly birthdays but im trying my best to write you a letter to remind me of your month-by-month changes.

17 months, few more months before you turn 2 but you're starting to show some "terrible two's" symptoms. although you havent learn to say "no" yet, you're quite firm in your demands. you either cry out loud until you get what you want or you push mommy toward the thing that you want. you would even grab mommy's hand to get what you want! and because i dont wanna see you cry i would usually give in to your demands. im just glad that your daddy is there to balance things out. if it wasnt for daddy, you still might be climbing the dining table but because daddy is just as firm in saying "no"when you do so, you finally stop.

but what you like doing best now is turning your toys upside down! you seem to be enjoying your toys that way. well, we usually let you do that because we know you just wanna explore.

you dont say clear words yet, but i observe how much you're trying. and im still surprise how you would sign for specific object which you dont use to know what their signs were. you also now know how to say some animal sounds such as cat, dog, sheep. you can also point some of your body parts too. honestly, just your nose. you still mix up your eyes and your ears. we'll continually work on that though. you also sing twinkle, twinkle little star especially the line "up above" although yours was ba-bove. and you stop what you doing when you hear maroon five's pay phone and sing along too. i would say that it was yours and daddy's song. you say baba when you wanna go down and even if you wanna go up. i would always correct you though to say up when you want to go up. sometimes you would say up but you still mix up the two.

there are lot of changes from the baby we brought home from the boy we now have. but i would still say that everyday you're on the age that i want you to be. i love seeing how you grow up and i just love you more and more each day.

love,
mommy

randomness

if i wanna keep this blog i must really post more often. its just that sometimes i feel like whatever im gonna write wont make sense to anyone. but this is me and my blog. it may not make sense to you but it makes sense to me. i just wanna live life's moments. years from now, i wanna look back on what i did or what i think. so im gonna write no matter how random it may seem.

yesterday was the day in a year where we could play dress up. but we werent decided that we'll gonna dress up so we didnt. no time for last minute shopping but there would always be a time for family bonding. so here goes our picture for the season:

dear tyrese

dear little one,

you finally reach ur 15th month and your starting to show how much of a boy you are. you're getting much adventurer and a little rough on your plays that i cant help but worry when your playing with your girlfriends. i dont think you realize how gentle girls are. you want them to do as what you do.

nowadays, you seem to love being on higher ground. i dont know if its just a stage or you got it from mommy's love of higher grounds too. just be careful with the edges little one i dont want you to hurt yourself.

at 15 months you can now sign a lot of things. our time warching baby signing time finally showed some result. i cant actually wait to teach you the alphabet but i know i shouldnt hurry you. i bought you some books and flashcard in preparation for winter since i dont think we can go out as much as we do during summer. we'l try to make staying in as fun as playing out.

we'll continue to see what milestones you would take on your next month. you never fail to amuse mommy. i love you little one!

dear blog

i have neglected you once again. a lot of things happen. a lot of drafts written. i wish i could catch up with all these. i dont want to miss my little boy's supposed to be growing up diary. let's see if i could ever catch up still.

marriage

once again, i got something from facebook. i just have to keep this picture somewhere to remind me of some important thing in marriage. i must admit that sometimes i feel it is unfair how i should be doing most of the household chores. i was just used on having my mom or big sister doing most of the stuff for me then but now i have taken the role of a wife/mom. i pray that ill be able to perform my duties well.

thankful thursday

i was trying to think of the things that i am grateful for the past week when i came across this status update on fb. it says "if you have nothing to be thankful for, check your pulse".

true, isnt it? everyday we just have something to be thankful for. what yours?

today, im thankful for..

7. ..friends who watched over our little one while daddy and mommy works.

dear tyrese..

Dear Tyrese,

I wish I have written you letters since you were born, but I just dont have much time then. I was busy adjusting with all the responsibilities as your mom. I wish I'm doing well and hope you forgive me on whatever aspect I had fallen short of. I hope you understand everything is a "first" for me too. Now that I'm quite adjusted with those responsibilities, I can now write you letters of some sort. I'm doing this so you have something to read when you grow up and you'll know how much we're enjoying your growing up years.

Today, you turn 14 months old. You have learn a lot of new things. You had master the art of walking and even now trying your best to run. and just quite a few days ago, you discover how fun to walk backwards too. 

We bought some new furniture at home. You act like you own everything. But what you love most is the vanity mirror. You love playing with your new playmate at the mirror. You would even kiss him! and yes, you now kiss us a lot more often! you would even kiss daddy love as he arrived from work. i think he likes it better than you poking his face. sometimes you would even kiss me to wake me up from my slumber. you just know mommy's weakness!

You also finally learn how to shoot ball in your basketball ring and you would even shoot whatever thing you have in your hand including mommy's phone! You learn how to climb your slide too. i just wish you wont get any stitches with all your little adventures.

i justhave a little wish for now my baby boy. i hope you wont grow up too fast. we still have a lot of playing to do.

mommy and daddy loves you so much batsitsongching! on 

thankful thursday

im thankful for..

5. ..friends (elvie, alvin, piong) who drag us to queen city ex.

6. ..queen city ex. it gives me something to look forward to every year. im just glad we dont have you all year round.

toddler tuesday: baby signing time

as a first time mom, i get overwhelmed with all the things you can teach your child in an early age. things such as sign language, reading, sleep training, toilet training vs toilet learning, montessori from the start and so much more! i should have introduce this earlier to T! but i wasnt able to do so because we were pre-occupied in migrating to a new country and settling in.

i feel like i am so behind on introducing T to all this stuff. in some point im

being hard on myself and hope i wasnt being hard on him. but now that we're more settled in our new country and tiny apartment i feel like we're more ready to learn. i promise to take it slow, one baby step at a time.

one thing that we're trying to be consistent with is the sign language. I was inspired by a friend's daughter, about the same age with ty, who can communicate her needs through signing. The mom said that they introduced their baby during her early months and she started signing back

after about a month or so. now, i can also hear some phonics as she sign!

she recommends that we watch baby signing time. every morning as ty have his breakfast he would usually wacth it. i almost give up that he would sign, because he would only sign for "daddy". but one time as i was singing a song from the dvd, he sign along! now he could sign eat, baby, no more.

i still keep on trying to exposed him to signing even if he doesnt sign back. i believe that repetition is a key to learning. besides, im loving the songs from the dvd. surely, i'll try to teach signing to my next baby in an earlier age.

Monday Miles

I was hoping to run my first marathon when I found out that I was pregnant. I completely stop all my walking/running routines when I learned that I was expecting. While pregnant, Im already thinking when I can go back to running again. I thought I would be able to run again as soon as I give birth. Although, my body seems to be ready, the opportunity to run again doesnt come quickly. It never stop raining after we got home from the hospital. E have a treadmill but because i never run on a treadmill I got scared that I trip myself on it. So I had keep putting off running on my list. Besides i was busy in my mommy activity.

after 6 months of birth, we migrated to Canada. it was winter when we got here. so i have another reason not to run again. however, i feel envious whenever i see someone running outside even if the road was covered with snow. so i had to promise myself that i will really run again after winter. i even do a count down. it was like more than a 100 days before spring i think!

it was still pretty cold during spring. plus i got busy with work and moving from apartment to apartment.but when we finally settled in our apartment, i also got the chance to run again. i was extremely happy! to keep me motivated i join a challenge on instagram. first it was #40milesinjune which i wasnt able to achieve because i started around mid-june. then it became #45milesinjuly. im currently on 40 miles now and i still have until tomorrow to reach the 45 miles mark. i dont know if i would ever achieve it but it keeps me moving so ill keep on challenging myself.

"my first run after pregnancy"

theme of the day

i like the idea of having a theme for each day. that will keep my blog updated but im afraid i still wont be able to keep up with such an idea. nevertheless, il try to make it happen. so, these are my ideas for my "theme of the day"

monday miles
toddler tuesday
wordless wednesday
thankful thursday
family friday (?)

im actually running out of themes now. so il just keep saturday and sunday free from any theme. we'l see how far i
can keep up with my "theme of the day"..

and since today is thursday, shall i post something for thankful thursday.

Im thankful..

1. ..for vaccum cleaner. it makes cleaning a little easier for me

2. ..that our apartment is close to my workplace. it gives me chance to have lunch with my boys.

3. ..for the RAIN. it gives me reason to stay in and lie a little longer in bed.

4. ..that my husband finally give in getting me a jogging stroller.

Impromptu Family Day

E and I are very much different. I am a spender and he is more "pennywise". I dont really complain because he had help me a lot in avoiding some worthless purchase.

I almost lose hope that he would get me a jogging stroller because even the cheapest one are still quite pricey. moreover, we already have a stroller to use and the little boy is also growing up fastly. he also reasoned that winter is just around the corner and i wont be able to jog anymore.

I was about to completely turn my back on a jogging stroller but today as we were to do our grocery I tried to convince him again in getting that stroller. I was so surprise that he finally give in! Now I am a happy jogging momma!

and because i was so excited on trying our new purchase we end up in the park instead of proceeding with our grocery shopping. nevermind that we dont have anything on the refrigerator neither in the pantry, for as long as i got what i want. nyaha!

Moving to Manual

I love looking at great pictures. I wish I could produce one. Impulsively one time I bought a dslr camera, a Nikon D40. I cant remember if it was in 2008 or 2009 that I bought it. Maybe around late 2008 to early 2009. Almost 3 years after I still dont know how to use it on manual mode. I really feel ashamed whenever I take out my D40 and use it on auto mode. and even if it was on auto mode i still dont produce quality pictures. its always a hit and miss thing for me. 

As a mom, I wish I could take good pictures of my little one. So this time around i'll try my best to learn how to utilized my little big camera and then maybe i can convince E to upgrade our cam or perhaps get a new lens. Well im not suppose to dwell on those things yet. I must focus on improving my pictures first. And to help me do that I think I've found my perfect guide through this blog.

Hopefully next time I'l be proud enough to post my pictures..

and so i write..as a mom

"And So I Write.."  that was the "name" of the blog I used to keep but for some reason that I cannot remember I lost interest on updating it. But now when I see moms who religiously blog about their children, i feel envious. I don't want to miss the chance of documenting my little boy's milestone. I realized he would never be on that specific stage ever again. So I think the best thing to keep and be able to share that memory is to do a diary of some sort. I wish i would be able to blog as good as the blogger momma I look up to. Nevertheless, I keep this blog for myself and my little Ty and of course our Daddy Love too. "And So [now] I Write As A Mom.."