drawing and kaela

i realized that i love drawing. a cat. a monkey. a bear. you name it. it is, i think, an awareness i would not discover until i setup the paper on the wall and introduced kaela to a world of making different strokes.

despite the many nights that i come home tired, drawing seems to relax me. it deviates my attention to something other than analysis, auditing, parenting and cleaning. it''s like entertaining the child in me and encouraging it to be creative. to be "me".

so, while kaela is having fun drawing lines, i'm also having the time of my night.
 

 nanay, take a picture of me with my hand raised up!

tracing the apple

scarecrow nanay

in most nights, kaela and i are enjoying drawing on the paper-lined wall.

this time, we agreed to draw her hands. then a shirt. then i said,  "ok, let's make it like olaf... with a hat". then the pigtails.

kaela grinned at the perfection of our work.

nanay and kaela's masterpiece

i told kitt before we slept that it scared me to look at the drawing at night. it's disturbing how the broad smile with lonely eyes would work together. it reminded me of a scarecrow.

the next day, francis asked me to come home early. he claimed kaela missed me.

apparently, she walked towards our sketch, pointed mightily and blurted out, "nay, nay". and kissed it.

that sealed it. i look like a scarecrow then.

homeschool classes

we started homeschooling kaela in late january after she turned one and a half years old. it is early given that she's barely two. i would say that the setup is both favorable for kaela and us. as she is learning new things, we are also learning how capable (and patient) we can be to teach.

amidst francis' hesitation to send her to day care, i put together little subjects to teach her. we structure it to have one hour session in the morning (with francis) and one hour in the evening (with me).

ANATOMY. i'm sure every parent had taught their child anatomy. kaela knows over ten parts of her body. i would ask her where the different parts are and she would eagerly point each one to me.

MATHS. kaela would line up all her shoes on the floor and we would count them together i.e. i would count them and she will point to each of the shoe.

DANCE & MUSIC. we play some music or video and she would either sing or dance to its tune. she once asked her tatay to dance with her i.e. hold his hands while they dance together. cute, isn't it?

READING. i borrow books from the library; i pick those that may keep her engaged. most of them are the things she have experience on e.g. brushing teeth, toilet training, about birds and dogs. in that way, she can relate more to what we are reading. she can't focus yet on one thing. i learned that giving her one book at a time is better than giving her a few options right away.

the best way to teach a child to be fond of reading is to see us also read

HOME ECONOMICS. if we make a mess in the room - playing or coloring, i ensure that kaela joins in the cleaning. be it throwing in the bin, rubbing off the colored marks on the table and keeping her toys in the storage box. on weekends, i let her participate in the kitchen when i bake. she helps me whisk, mix, and break the walnuts into pieces. at times, she forgets that we are preparing food, misses to spread the walnut on the mixture and puts them instead in her mouth. i can't blame her, i also like munching them.

CHARTS & COLORS. we posted charts on the wall and ask her to point to us where each item is. we  also have duplo-replicas for building blocks and studying colors.

FIELD TRIP. it's always like a field trip on weekends as we go to the mall and nearby park. we loiter at the square, bird watching. sometimes, i take her to the little rides.

nanay, i'm not really riding. i'm just sitting here. can u insert a coin please?

ARTS & CRAFTS. this is her favorite above everything else. she's very fond of her crayons. i lined the wall with butcher paper so she would have a bigger space to draw. nevertheless, the occasional marks on the table and chairs didn't escape her curiosity. i like this activity as well. it relaxes me to do something else and just color and draw. the other day, we made a collage of pictures from the catalog. but of course, she likes drawing best.

we are dead-tired in most evenings but to see her grow and learn new things, we just have to enjoy it with her and keep going.

activity-filled valentine weekend

we started our day early.

i had an appointment at 8am, so i cooked our breakfast early. kitt also had to play basketball. kaela was up early to join the morning rush.

after kitt dropped me off the imaging laboratory, our paths diverted. kaela and i went to the library to pick up the book i reserved for. kitt went to westmead to play.

it was fun-fun day from then on.

there is centenary square a few meters from the library where a fountain was installed quite recently as a proactive measure to give a facelift to the area. oftentimes, i would point to kaela the gushing water and promised her that as soon as she started walking i would take her to the fountain and she could play with the water. it was a lucky day yesterday as the temperature was hot. soaking became an immediate option. and of course, it's a beautiful day to fulfill that promise!

splish splash, as she taps her hands on the trickling water

she was scared as the water suddenly splashed out around her and she was the only one left at the center. she was terrified to go past the fountain. poor li'l one! the drama didn't last long as the water receded to a centimeter tall and the happy baby was back.

still within the same square are trees which are home to flocks of pigeons. someone was kind enough to give kaela grains of rice to feed them.

"buuh", as kaela points to the birds.

we went to church street next. a portion of the road was closed for a flea market. there was a man playing acoustic guitar for passers-by and for people generous enough with their time to stop by and have coffee.

we were joined by kitt for lunch at ribs and rumps for ribeye steak and fish and chips.

with fish and chips, eating outside with a kiddo became so much easier

we parted again and left kaela with kitt while i went to my doctor's appointment. thank God, everything was pretty much alright.

kitt prepared our dinner - roasted pork with eggplant sautéd in onions and fish sauce. ahh! this is a once-in-a-blue-moon kind of day. vegetables are still very much part of our weekly menu.

but my cholesterol is now at 5.6!

it was valentine's day, the next day. as usual, no one's greeting "happy valentine's". it's not a big cause for celebration in our household. but before mid-day i was teasingly annoying kitt that it's valentine's and he should greet me (di nakatiis!).

we all took a nap after lunch and i quickly sneaked out of bed to read some magazines i borrowed from the library. kitt was also up and asked for the web designer mags i brought for him. itching to go out, i took all my reading materials and went to a coffee shop. 

i remembered that kitt's leather belt got spoilt in a rush while in the philippines. it was nice to buy him a new one (did i mention that we don't celebrate v-day?). i also stopped at reject shop to buy a storage bin for kaela's toys.

i came home feeling refreshed and fully-charged after my moment in the mall. kaela was up when i arrived. i was in the mood to do arts and crafts with her despite telling myself that it's weekend and i should not attempt an hour to homeschool. buuuutttt it's valentine's! i brought out all the art materials i bought kaela in january. i could see she was very attentive on what we would do next. she followed all my instructions. we smattered colours here and there. we did hand painting. it must be her highlight of the day.

seems like i bought the time to silence her!

 

 and yes! we made tatay a painting for valentines.

proud of her art works!

we finished the day with a trip to the church. i thank God that today i heard at least half of the homily (well, at times... most of the time rather, we had to go out of the church as kaela couldn't be still in the pram). 

where did my weekend go? haha! to my family, of course!