15 months . MyGym

What a tiring weekend. 😩

Spent the entire afternoon closing out stuff and sending final follow-up emails and handover documents.

It's nearly 6pm and I'm finally taking a moment to nuah and update my #Yesterdayre and #Dayre.

First Gym Class

So one of the key milestones as Clarissa approaches her 15 months is attending a class!

I don't think I'm a tiger mom (maybe not yet) but I want her to try out these classes because (1) I'm afraid she's bored at home and (2) I hope she learns to be more confident and have some fun while at it.

Since she's somewhat like a monkey, I thought gym classes would be nice.

I saw a promotion for 2 trial classes at MyGym, so there we went yesterday.

She started by busying herself with the toys in the waiting area.

One was clearly not enough. 😅

Bubble time before the lesson started.

So class started with self introduction (by the parents) while seated in a circle.

The teachers sang songs and gave instructions to clap, say hurray etc.

That was when it started feeling like I was the one going to the gym. 😅

And our little girl looked like she couldn't decide if she should laugh or cry.

Daddy took over and the activity was sit-ups!
Which she had no problem doing because she was doing it since she was a little baby.

And then the toddlers were supposed to crawl through the blue tunnel to get to their parents.

So Daddy waited..

And waited. 😅

He tried his best to encourage her but she refused to crawl through the tunnel. 😂

After that, they were supposed to swing holding the rings before letting the parents catch them.

From behind the camera I thought she did ok, but when I took over the same activity, she wailed like it was an ordeal.

Even the teacher must have been thinking, alamak why like that? 😂

All by myself~~
😅

There were mini breaks in between each activity, and the toddlers were free to roam anywhere, even in the middle of an activity.

So our girl went for some much needed me-time. 😂

Towards the end of the one-hour lesson, she became a koala bear and I looked like I could use a good wash, cut and blow.

I couldn't decide if she was traumatised or tired.

The last activity was singing and making sounds with toys, and parents were asked to sit further away from their kids.

I managed to move further and further away from her without her noticing my absence, and with Daddy watching from the sidelines and signaling for me to go further away, further away.

So I watched her from afar, standing tall amongst the kids around her age, trying to join in the rhythm of the songs and yet looking part confused and part reluctant.

I nearly teared, for many reasons, one of which was how quickly time has flown by, and how tall our girl is.

But I stopped, because the class had ended, as quickly as it started.

Verdict

I am not sure if Clarissa was being timid or being cautious; or if she was scared of or uncomfortable with the unfamiliar.

She seemed to be enjoying the toys lol; right after class she went back to happily playing with the toys at the waiting area.

The hubs said that he felt a bit competitive with fellow parents around, because he would start to compare Clarissa with other kids and wonder why she couldn't heed the instructions to try out new things.

I didn't actually find myself comparing her with the other kids (other than their height and size 😅), because it was her first time in such an environment and I reckoned she'd need lots of warming up.

I thought it was a good start to make her feel more at ease and comfortable to learn new things, even when surrounded by new people and different sorts of chaos.

There is one more trial session next week so let's see how it goes.
I hope she enjoys herself in these classes.

Facebook reminded me that a year ago, our little baby, at three months young, flipped over on her own.
Albeit angrily. 😅
She was angry because she was trying so hard to lift her head but couldn't.

Today, at 15 months young, playing on a slide for the first time.

I caught her smiling gleefully to herself as she landed and hopped off the slide.

Also for the first time today, I let her stand on her own, in between the three of us, as we took the lift down to go to the park.
I didn't let her do that before today because it was usually just one or two of us with her, and that wouldn't be enough to guard against her potentially running off when the lift door opens. 😅

She looked up at us, let out a sigh of delight and grinned mischievously.
As if she was saying, Haha! Finally I get to stand on my own in a lift!

Once we reached the ground floor she was racing to get out and almost running to the park. 😅

I have never seen anyone so delighted, simply from charging ahead in a park.

Sometimes she'd stop to examine the random sound she hears or animals she sees; sometimes she'd be like go go go let's go!

It's so fun (and funny) to watch her.

So, at 15 months..

She can:
🔅 Call Yaya, Mama and Baba. Though her default these days is "Yaya". Sometimes she also calls the hubs and I "Yaya". 😂
🔅 Say "Bah!' with a slam dunk action
🔅 Say "Ahhh-per" while pointing at a picture of or a real apple
🔅 Understands instructions like "Please come over to the sofa and sit down so I can wear your shoes for you"
🔅 Sit properly while I put on said shoes
🔅 Walk forward, backwards, sideways
🔅 Dance to music or songs by moving her knees up and down

🔅 Differentiate shapes like star, heart and circle
🔅 Point out the pictures of "ice cream", "apple", "zebra", "mouse", "cake" on her flash cards.
The hubs, in particular, was so amazed when she pointed out "zebra" that he announced, "Our daughter is a genius!" 😅
🔅 Point out to us if things aren't done properly.
This morning I put on her shoes as usual and asked her to turn around before getting off the sofa.
She was about to turn but she stopped and pointed to one of her shoes.

Turned out that I didn't wear it properly.
Last week at Botanic Gardens she informed me (via pointing) that one of her shoes had fallen off her foot.
Last night our helper bathed and changed her, and was about to carry her off the bed when she pointed at the Ruyi oil.
Our helper always applies it on Clarissa's tummy after a shower but last night she'd missed this step.
And Clarissa reminded her! 😁

🔅 Fix duplo ice cream on her own and feed us 😆

It feels good to be interacting with her and learning to communicate with and understand each other.

Less second guessing, but more negotiations.

This is going to be fun! 😁