Schedule

I think that 'schedule' is a powerful tool that can be used to help our kids.  Initially, we used picture schedule but we find that tough to use because it is difficult to carry around and sometimes, we don't have a picture for a certain activity.  But I know that some parents really source for pictures, taking photos everywhere and do up a comprehensive schedule for their children.  Kudos to these parents!

Now that Rayyan can read (thank you so much, God!), we use a written schedule for him.  We write whatever activities that we want to do with him and the schedule is updated about 3/4 times per day.

The advantages of using this schedule are...

1) He is aware of what's going to happen so it lessens his anxiety.  I mean, even for us, we want to know what we are going to do and where we are going.  Just imagine being clueless and not knowing where you are heading and ending up at a place you dislike, without any prior warning.  We will not be happy too!

2) Like I said, by doing this schedule, he is more prepared to go to school or his afternoon classes.  And since he hates his afternoon classes, we usually write some places that he likes after his classes, like Toys R Us or playground so this actually motivates him to go because he has something to look forward to.  So schedules can be used to motivate.

3) We can rope him in the decision-making and give him choices.  Whenever we write his schedule, Rayyan will come to us and see what we write so when there's a chance, we will give him options.  For example, we will ask him if he wants to go to a shopping centre or a park. 

I remember the other day, we were about to leave my sister's house and I was about to write the next activity when he came over.  I told him, "Let's go home!"  He wasn't happy and refused to let me write 'HOME' on the schedule!  So we negotiated a bit there :)

4) Through the schedule, he learns about days.  We write the day at the corner and at the beginning of each day, we ask him what day is it so now he knows all the days.

5) And through this schedule also, he learns about the places around him, like IKEA, VivoCity, Toys R Us or other places.  This makes him more aware of his surroundings.

So yes, schedule has really helped Rayyan to be more prepared and to understand the world around him better.  It is so much better than just telling him because these kids, they need to SEE.  As I always reiterate to Hubby, "VISUALS! VISUALS! VISUALS!"

Robot

Last Friday, we brought Rayyan to Toys R Us after his afternoon class and bought for him a Hero Factory robot.  I have been wanting to buy this robot for Rayyan since we went to KL and now that there's an irresistible offer ($10.90 from $19.90), I grabbed one for him!  It is pretty easy to fix this one and even though Rayyan doesn't know how to fix the robot yet, I thought that it will be great for him to observe his Daddy and help Daddy fix the robot. 

Anyway, we went for dinner after we left Toys R Us and at the dinner table, Rayyan quickly passed the box to Daddy...

Rayyan : Help me open.

After Daddy removed the pieces from the box...

Rayyan : Help me fix.

I was glad that he was pretty enthusiastic and requested pretty nicely.  After the robot was fixed, I noticed that he was able to move the arms and legs and I taught him how to get the robot to fly and to pretend to shoot.  He seems to be enjoying himself :)  

Checking out the instruction manual :)

 Fixing the robot with Daddy

Ta-da!!!!  Happy with his new robot ;))

Now that I am reflecting on this, I think that I should have more pretend play with him, like get him to talk like a robot and get the robot to fight with another robot.  And oh yes, talking about fighting, I suddenly remember a conversation that I had with Hubby about some mothers who refuse to allow their children to play with any toy guns or toy swords (even small ones) for fear that the children will become violent.

I understand the mother's point of view, that the children might not understand that it's only pretend play and copy this pretend play in real life.  Well, actually, I am unsure about this myself.  I just feel that playing with robots and toy guns and toy swords is great pretend play.  After all, boys have been playing with all these toys since a long, long time ago and they still play with these toys now.  Even if I don't allow Rayyan to play, he will see it on television or see other boys play with all these boy stuffs.

So I am following my instinct here.  I hope all these pretend play will allow him to be more imaginative and I will try my best to curb any signs of violence that arise from these pretend play and make him understand.  But, will he understand?  I hope so....

Self-Help Skill : Dressing

Teaching Rayyan to dress up on his own is pretty tricky and not really easy.  What we do is that we get him to use a stool to help him to wear his briefs and pants.  That, he can pretty much do on his own, although I must add that he needs a lot of encouragement and motivation because he gets frustrated easily.  Also, he tends to lose focus easily, looking everywhere but not at the piece of material in his hand!  

Putting on his t-shirts is harder though.  He still need help with that.  Hopefully he will master that skill soon :)

Imitate

When I told my friends of Rayyan's boot story, everybody commented on how cute he is. They also told me not to worry about him not initiating a conversation.  The thing is, I am still worried because he wasn't initiating a conversation but actually, he was merely imitating.  You see, his world now is full of imitations, for example, he will imitate an episode he saw on TV or books he read if he sees something familiar.  He will also link the things he sees or hears to nursery rhymes or songs.

For example, when he exclaimed, "My Boots!  I want my Boots!" at H&M, he was actually imitating a scene in Dora the Explorer where Boots lost his boots!  The boots were floating down the river and Boots was going after them.  So Rayyan was imitating that scene.

Also recently, Hubby wanted to go to the market to get some food stuffs. 

Me : Say bye to Daddy.  Daddy is going to the market.

Rayyan : To market, to market to buy a fat pig!!

After laughing so hard, I said, "Daddy is not buying a pig.  We can't eat pig." Hehe

Another incident was during his OT session..

Therapist : 1, 2...

Rayyan : Buckle my shoe! 3, 4.. shut the door!

And another one..

Me: Ooohhhh... you like this FEATHER on Mummy's blouse?

Rayyan : Yankee Doodle came to town, riding on a pony.  He stuck a FEATHER in his cap and called it macaroni!!

So YES, his world is full of nursery rhymes and tv shows and books he read.  And YES, I am worried that he can't answer my questions but see connections in that manner.  And YES, I'll definitely try to do something about it.

But most importantly, YES, at the same time, I am going to enjoy this moment because he really is cute and funny!!!!!  No point pulling all my hair out over this, right??

  

BOOTS!!

Yesterday, we brought Rayyan for a walk around Orchard and I must say that he was very well-behaved :)

When I asked him to salam (show respect by kissing the hands) of my friends, he did without complaining, he even hugged my friend's son when I asked him to ;))  He listened to my instructions, did not run around and even helped me to throw a used plastic cup in the bin.  I was so proud of him!

But the most amusing part was when we brought him to H&M.  We went to the kid's section and the first thing he saw were BOOTS!  And he became super, super excited!  I knew that it was because he loves Boots in Dora the Explorer!

He was holding and hugging the boots and shouting, "My Boots!  My Boots!  I want Boots!"  It was so funny and really, really cute!  My friends were all laughing!  Hubby then let him try the boots and he was really excited, walked around and kept touching the boots, still exclaiming, "I want Boots!  My Boots!  My Boots!" Hahahahaha!

BOOTS!!!

KL

Two weeks ago, we decided to drive up to KL to celebrate our anniversary.  Me and Hubby, we have been together 18 loooong years!  

Anyway, even though it was our anniversary, the trip was more for Rayyan than for us.. hehe.. Oh well, it doesn't matter, if he is happy, we are happy!!  It was an unforgettable trip for us because it was our maiden drive up all on our own, usually we are accompanied by friends or family members.

So, armed with GPS, snacks, books, CDs and toys for Rayyan, we made our way...

One thing I am thankful of is the fact that Rayyan can survive long journeys in the car, provided of coz that he has his books and that we play his favourite CDs... so thank God for portable CD/DVD player!

Another thing, this is our first long journey without him wearing his diapers so that was another concern but luckily, it all went well... Phew!!  On the way to KL, he didn't request to go to the toilet at all and on the way back, he relieved himself during our stop :))

  

We stayed at Maya Hotel and Rayyan simply loved the hotel room!!  Why? Because the room is huge and he has loads of space to run!!  I was so afraid that the guest below would complain!!

He is always the first to try the bed! :D

See what I mean about running around the room????

Anyway, we love the room too coz we had a gorgeous view of the Twin Towers :)

Walking around KL at night... I would definitely blow this picture up if he had looked at the camera.  Very difficult to make him look at the camera.  Any tips??

Don't you just love buffet breakfast in Malaysia?  We do!  But dear Rayyan wanted to only eat Koko Krunch!!  So much food and he still asked for Koko Krunch!

Another reason why he loved the room was because of this intriguing art piece.  

Kept playing with the strings... 

We managed to visit the Aquaria while we were there.  The place is something like Underwater World but better because it's bigger and there are many more exhibits.  Plus, the place is pretty new :)

There were piranhas!!  Rayyan wasn't too interested though coz he doesn't know much about them.

But he loves the otter!!  One of his fav animals :)

This place is like an air-conditioned mini zoo!!

Very much similar to Underwater World indeed..

Rayyan loves to see stingrays and sharks but after a few minutes here, he seemed to be tired and sleepy!!  Hubby said that maybe the water has a calming effect on him.  I think that maybe Hubby is right...  Now I'm thinking of putting up an aquarium in the room.  Maybe that will help him sleep :)

My little explorer..... One of my fav pics :))

Donuts!!  Rayyan loves donuts!!  2 for each of us and he finished his share first!!  Which of the donuts are his????  The plain and chocolate!  Nothing fanciful like the nuts or the tiny pieces of Oreo for him!  I think he finds them too messy! lol

We bought a couple of toys for him while we were there.  Rayyan is not the sort who asks for toys.   When we go to Toys R Us, he would get excited and look at many different toys but whenever we ask him if he wants any toy, he would always say NO!  Aren't we the luckiest parents??!!

But seriously, we don't see that as something positive.  Rayyan has limited play skills, he wouldn't play with any toy for long.  He just loves to look at toys and touch them a bit and off he goes!

So we are always trying to build on his play skills.  Whenever we see him showing an extra interest in a certain toy, we buy the toy for him.  Then we will encourage him to play with us.  Never mind if most times, we end up playing the toy ourselves!  Patience!  Never give up! :)

Anyway, we noticed that Rayyan has begun to show interest in Legos so we decided to buy the small, cute figurines for him.  We talk to him about the figurines that we bought for him.

And we noticed too that he loves to see the spinning Ninja Gos on TV so we bought for him two different Ninja Gos.  Here, he couldn't wait for Daddy to open the package! hehe

Fixing the Ninja Gos! So full of concentration! :))))

All set!!!  Time to have a spinning good time!!

Overall, the 3 of us had a blast!!!  In fact, we had so much fun that we are planning another trip to KL in Dec ;) Maybe this time round, we should get a much smaller room because our dear boy loved the room so much that he didn't want to leave.  Cried all the way down when we wanted to check out of the hotel!!

The Animal Expert :)

Today we brought Rayyan to his most favourite place in the world for the umpteenth time... the Zoo! hehe..  Our dear boy was all excited when we told him that we would be bringing him to the zoo.  Unluckily, the zoo ground was wet due to the rain and Rayyan refused to walk!  He would tiptoe when we forced him to walk and requested that we carry him.  Luckily we brought his stroller along!

Nevertheless, this little avid animal lover knows his animals!  He was able to name most of the animals and when we were at the Fragile Forest and we saw a little animal hiding behind the bushes.. he said, "MOUSEDEER!" and it was indeed a mousedeer :)

Then while we were walking, we saw this animal..

Hubby and I weren''t really sure what the animal was.  I thought it was a llama but we were not so sure so we decided to ask our little animal expert... 

He took one look at it and said, "LLAMA!"

And he was right!  Rayyan has so many animal books at home and knows many different types of animals.  Maybe he can work in the zoo or safari one day :))

Here are two videos of him naming the animals in his book....

Bamboooo!

Rayyan talks a lot now... unfortunately, due to his weak pronunciation, it is always very difficult to understand what he says. Also, most times, he talks to himself and not to us.. he just likes to blabber on and on. I really wish that he will communicate with us rather than blabber to himself but I keep telling myself that this is so much better than him not speaking or him just saying.. ke ke ke or ge ge ge (something that he used to do) or just shouting away. At least now he is saying proper words! So now, when he starts blabbering, we try to understand what he says and try to get into a conversation with him. We definitely need lots of patience!

Anyway, Rayyan woke up at about 4+ in the morning last few days... When this happens, we usually let him be on his own because we are usually too tired and also, we don't want to 'entertain' or play with him because we don't want him to think that this can be done on a daily basis! So, there he was tossing and turning on his bed and as usual, he was blabbering... I listened hard and realised that all the blabbering was actually him recalling or reciting his alphabets, numbers, story books that he read or shows that he watched! Bits and pieces here and there all mashed up together! There must be 1001 things in his mind!

Nevertheless, I am glad that he can generalise what he sees or read.  Just the other day, we were walking around Airport Terminal 2 and he saw this in front of a restaurant...

And he suddenly said... BAMBOOOO!!  Hubby and I didn't even realise there were bamboos there!  Hahaha..  I then asked him, "Rayyan, what animal eats bamboos?"

His reply, "PANDA-DA!!"

This must come from the books that he read and I am really happy that he was able to apply what he read or learnt :)



Well done, darling!!

DADDY!

Rayyan can say daddy with da 'D' sound!!!! hahaha!!!

This is the exact text message I received from Hubby this morning.  What can I say... thank you, God!!!!!  I can imagine Hubby's happiness when he first heard Rayyan calling him so beautifully.  Before this, he would call his Daddy.. 'Ae-i'... without the 'd' as he can't make that sound yet.

And when I called just now and heard him say DADDY, I was so happy and proud! May you continue to show improvement darling, no matter how small.  Mummy and Daddy are so, so proud of you and we love you so much!!!! And to my boys, may the beautiful bond between both of you last forever. 

Btw, this is how they are every morning... Even though Rayyan has his own bed, he will make his way next to his Daddy every morning :)))

Reading

Rayyan's reading skill has improved. Before, we would read most of the words in a sentence for him and made him read certain words. Now, we would encourage him to read the whole sentence on his own. My sister just gave me a whole collection of books by Scroll Inc. It comes in a box which also acts as a display shelf. Cool! Thank you, sis!

What I like about the books is that there are different types of levels and since Rayyan is at the very first stage, which is the 'Emergent' stage, the books are simple and the words are repeated so that it is easier for him to identify the words.

Here is Rayyan reading the book 'My Puppy'. Pronunciation still not very clear but great attempt! Way to go my boy!

PS: My voice in the video is very loud because the phone is near me, not because I was shouting! Sorry about that folks!