Noah hasn’t been sleeping well over the past few nights, as he’s been down with a haze-related runny nose and cough. He sleeps really late, past midnight, and wakes up frequently at night to ask to sleep on our bed with us, and to be nursed. It’s been really exhausting, and I no longer bother trying to convince him to stay in his cot until the sun rises, because it’s easier to just pick him up and nurse him back to sleep. He also wakes up later than usual, due to his extra late nights, so it was a struggle waking him up early for our weekly playdate.
It was raining heavily that morning, and Noah suddenly clasped his hands together, and told me, “Mummy, pray. Rain stop.” We prayed, but I guess God knew that our country needed the rain to clear the haze away, so the rain continued pouring down, until we arrived at Mummy L’s home for the playdate. Thank God for Mummy C, who came to pick us up, or it would have been a huge challenge getting there on time.
Mummy L set up a farm scene on her coffee table for the children to play with, and Noah was instantly attracted to the animals. He was very busy trying to “feed” the ducks and horses, while some of the other children preferred to listen to Mummy C reading the farm-related books that Mummy L had laid out.
The farm set-up
Playing
After a short play session, Mummy C led our group in the singing of the Welcome song, before introducing some animals. She made some flash cards with the pictures and names of the animals, and got the children to mimic the sounds that the animals made, before picking out the corresponding animal toy from the box. We then sang ‘Old MacDonald had a Farm’, with all six of the animals that she introduced. I really needed a drink after all that singing!
All about animals
I had initially brought a different book for story time, but decided to use the Usborne Touchy-Feely Farm Book
which Mummy L borrowed from the library instead, so that we can continue on our farm theme. I got the children to tell me what sound each animal made, and they seemed to really enjoy coming up to touch the different textures in the book.
Story time
For craft, Mummy J provided some animal-themed lanterns, which were really cute. Unfortunately, Noah started acting up from this segment on, and I ended up doing most of the craft by myself.
Our lion lantern, ready to be constructed
I made him help a little
Showing it off proudly, as though he made it himself *roll eyes*
Cute animal lanterns, all in a row
Group shot
The children had their snack after that, and I was most impressed when little Faith led us all in prayer! How wonderful to hear the little ones praying. Anyway, I’m not sure how much Noah ate, because I was too busy eating the watermelon mousse cake that Mummy L made!
Snacking
Pretty watermelon mousse cakes
Mummy J used the flash cards prepared by Mummy C to introduce the animals in Chinese, and the children diligently repeated the animals’ Chinese names after her. Noah, however, wasn’t keen on paying attention, and even told me, “Don’t want listen.” Sigh. He was more cooperative when we sang ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’ in Chinese, probably because he was familiar with it after we sang it during last week’s playdate, and also because of the actions involved.
For Practical Life Skills, Mummy L set up five different stations for the five children, but I struggled to get Noah to complete each station. He was definitely at his most uncooperative, and I had to bring him to the kitchen to talk to him. He clearly knew that he wasn’t behaving himself, because the minute we stepped into the kitchen, he hugged me tightly and said, “Sorry mummy. Love mummy.” I gave him a stern talking-to, and he promised to behave himself, before hugging me again. To my frustration, when I brought him out to a new station, he worked on it for less than half a minute, before throwing the animals around. I quickly picked him up from the floor, and he immediately apologised again, which showed that he was fully aware that he wasn’t doing the right thing. I really hope that this won’t happen, because I was so exhausted from dealing with his behaviour.
Threading
Struggling with the puzzles
Working his pincer grip
Stacking (and knocking down) the blocks
Sorting (for about half a minute) with his friend
We ran out of time, and skipped the Big Muscle Movement activity this week. Mummy C led us in singing one action song, ‘Jesus Loves Me’, and the Goodbye song, before we headed home. Noah and I were so tired from the playdate that he took a 3-hour nap after that, while I napped with him for a while too.
I really hope that the next playdate will go better for us!
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