today i am being observed by the principal. i hate being given notice of being observed - would much rather they just swanned in informally! I get all in a twist about it and it doesn't always reflect the quality of my normal teaching. today i got to tell choose your own fairy stories with the students, and it was great fun. if a fairy godmother could grant me a wish, however, I would like to magically improve their ability to retell stories!
got to go, am on the job.
Tuesday 23 March 2010
Friday 19 March 2010
bilingualism
they found my passport!! Rather dirty and water damaged. A street cleaner handed it in.
I have an enormous infected mosquito bite on my forehead. it has made my eye look all puffy. am taking antibiotics.
Today I have been reading an interesting article on bi-and tri-lingualism and have been making a particular effort to talk to Bernard a lot so he doesn't lose out on his English. "Yes, I know you want to pull the bath over but it's nappy time now. Wow, didn't that make a big noise." I met the Chinese mother tongue teacher outside the mini mart and she told me her son refuses to speak Chinese. The older one did but she speaks to the younger one in English now. So he won't be a true bilingual unless she can somehow turn it round.
Today I videoed Lisa's Pre-K class doing their Superhero dance, "I need a hero" from the movie Shrek 2. All the boys got to wear Superman costumes and the girls were dressed as fairies or princesses.
Today Bernard got his Hep B shot, and we went to shoe street to buy him his first pair of sandals. they are too big for him to walk in but he can stand very effectively in them! he looked so proud that i bought them even though they may not be used until his feet grow a little more. they were astonishingly expensive for such a small amount of fake leather and plastic.
He is apparently 9.75 kg, which might explain my backache: an increase of over a kilo since 7 months.
I have an enormous infected mosquito bite on my forehead. it has made my eye look all puffy. am taking antibiotics.
Today I have been reading an interesting article on bi-and tri-lingualism and have been making a particular effort to talk to Bernard a lot so he doesn't lose out on his English. "Yes, I know you want to pull the bath over but it's nappy time now. Wow, didn't that make a big noise." I met the Chinese mother tongue teacher outside the mini mart and she told me her son refuses to speak Chinese. The older one did but she speaks to the younger one in English now. So he won't be a true bilingual unless she can somehow turn it round.
Today I videoed Lisa's Pre-K class doing their Superhero dance, "I need a hero" from the movie Shrek 2. All the boys got to wear Superman costumes and the girls were dressed as fairies or princesses.
Today Bernard got his Hep B shot, and we went to shoe street to buy him his first pair of sandals. they are too big for him to walk in but he can stand very effectively in them! he looked so proud that i bought them even though they may not be used until his feet grow a little more. they were astonishingly expensive for such a small amount of fake leather and plastic.
He is apparently 9.75 kg, which might explain my backache: an increase of over a kilo since 7 months.
Tuesday 16 March 2010
bashing
Wow, it's student conference day which means i have NOTHING to do but still have to be at school! Internet here we come. But now I have time I can't think what to write - when I don't have time I constantly compose blog posts.
Like this morning, changing Bernard's nappy while he was literally hanging off my hair... "dear blog, just another day in the wretched life of" etc etc.
Or like the night before last, watching him play with the kitchen utensils. He discovered, to his utter joy, that the big colander ladle is good for: a) chewing; b)bashing on the floor; c)combining with other objects such as his frog bath toy to make an enhanced bashing experience. Since his cold has got better he's been making up for lost time in terms of learning. This kind of play is exactly what he needs to be doing.
Yesterday Bernard stood on his little pegs for about three seconds. Completely stable, wide stance. He has excellent balance.
Yesterday I invited little Aubrey to play along with Aubrey's nanny. It was an amusing lesson in Confucianism as I listened to poor Mrs. Nhung being put down in almost every detail as the older, more experienced nanny took control of the show. Mrs Anh was delighted to tell us how Bernard does not sleep enough, and how we don't feed him the right things, and Mrs. Nhung just nodded and said, "vang, vang", just like I do when Mrs Nhung gives me advice I don't agree with! Aubrey and Bernard got on very well, interacting a little bit by playing simultaneously with the same toy. Aubrey got hold of a cardboard box we have bent in half to make a freestanding flap, and started chewing it very enthusiastically and with a lot of pleasure. Yummy yummy cardboard!
Like this morning, changing Bernard's nappy while he was literally hanging off my hair... "dear blog, just another day in the wretched life of" etc etc.
Or like the night before last, watching him play with the kitchen utensils. He discovered, to his utter joy, that the big colander ladle is good for: a) chewing; b)bashing on the floor; c)combining with other objects such as his frog bath toy to make an enhanced bashing experience. Since his cold has got better he's been making up for lost time in terms of learning. This kind of play is exactly what he needs to be doing.
Yesterday Bernard stood on his little pegs for about three seconds. Completely stable, wide stance. He has excellent balance.
Yesterday I invited little Aubrey to play along with Aubrey's nanny. It was an amusing lesson in Confucianism as I listened to poor Mrs. Nhung being put down in almost every detail as the older, more experienced nanny took control of the show. Mrs Anh was delighted to tell us how Bernard does not sleep enough, and how we don't feed him the right things, and Mrs. Nhung just nodded and said, "vang, vang", just like I do when Mrs Nhung gives me advice I don't agree with! Aubrey and Bernard got on very well, interacting a little bit by playing simultaneously with the same toy. Aubrey got hold of a cardboard box we have bent in half to make a freestanding flap, and started chewing it very enthusiastically and with a lot of pleasure. Yummy yummy cardboard!
Friday 12 March 2010
bathtime
I just had such a funny bathtime with the baby: he tries to have a bath without actually getting wet: i.e. standing up, and bending down to play with his bath toys. It's no trouble getting him in - actually it's hard to get his clothes off in time for him to dive in! Then he barely gets his ankles wet as he plays standing up, and tries to bash his bath toys on the floor outside the bathtub, or tries to climb into the shower unit, or explore the icky drain... getting him out of the bath is quite tricky but if I let him hold his bath toy for a bit it's okay; getting him dressed again is yet another challenge. These days I lie him across my knees and pin his hips while I do the poppers up. His thighs are so fat that this takes some doing. Then we dance to the bedroom while he either screams or gurgles, read a story (sometimes) and then he feeds himself thirstily to sleep.
Saturday 6 March 2010
Flaps
Bernard is mad about Flaps. All his lift-the-flap books are now his favorite toys. Windows, doors, laptops, the flap on his wet wipes packet _ I never knew we had So many flaps. we're in the living room right now. b is playing with a book. His games have become quite repetitive. was doing some filming, hoping to get a good clip for the blog, and found I had filmed 3 more or less identical clips: playing with drawer, box, bowl, checking Mum still approved, drawer, box, bowl etc. He can lift and close a flap for a long time without getting bored. And My school computer fascinates him: its top lifts and twists! woo hoo. The repetition thing has stated to get exciting. It's almost like his attention span is now longer than mine.
more feeding adventures
b on my lap v grizzly.he has a rUnny nose and can't latch on so keeps forgetting that re's feeding. Then he climbs off my lap,has a quick play, and within a few minutes he's bumped his head or something and he's back asking to be fed. This makes him super grizzly. Today we're back to his old habit of refusing solids, too, which means another long night. But recently he's been a Lot better at feeding. This evening [could not persuade any rice porridge down him, but he seemed interested in my spaghetti so l chopped some up and he wolfed it down. if only he could tell me what he felt like eating it would be a lot easier!
had an amusing culinary disaster the night before last: 'tried xo make baby food from sweet potato and a green vegetable which looked a bit like spinach. The sweet potato was beautiful, steamed yellow and sitting in the blender. I then steamed the green vegetable and placed it in the blender with the sweet potato. It made a funny noise in the blender when I'd distributed the mixture between the four awaiting tupperware pots, I realized that it was all stringy! Un daunted, I tried pushing the mixture through a sieve, but it was so thick it all got stuck in the sieve, and the resulting product was one small pot full, plus an enormous amount of mess and green slime everywhere. Bemad didn't like it much anyway, so I chucked it all away after he'd had maybe 2 spoonfuls on 2 separate outings from the fridge. Today I Tried for a re-match win carrot and zucchini, but this new blend is (for whatever reason) also not as popular as spaghetti. Makes you want to reach for the Heinz!!
had an amusing culinary disaster the night before last: 'tried xo make baby food from sweet potato and a green vegetable which looked a bit like spinach. The sweet potato was beautiful, steamed yellow and sitting in the blender. I then steamed the green vegetable and placed it in the blender with the sweet potato. It made a funny noise in the blender when I'd distributed the mixture between the four awaiting tupperware pots, I realized that it was all stringy! Un daunted, I tried pushing the mixture through a sieve, but it was so thick it all got stuck in the sieve, and the resulting product was one small pot full, plus an enormous amount of mess and green slime everywhere. Bemad didn't like it much anyway, so I chucked it all away after he'd had maybe 2 spoonfuls on 2 separate outings from the fridge. Today I Tried for a re-match win carrot and zucchini, but this new blend is (for whatever reason) also not as popular as spaghetti. Makes you want to reach for the Heinz!!
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