Short cuts

Just the many little things i can't seem to categorize about Eliza

Talking
- Today, i heard her saying more 2 worded phrases. ie ah-gong's van, mummy sit, ah-ma's pants etc

Alphebets
- she reads the alphabets in all sorts of order, usually i hear 'e', 'i', 'm', 'o', 'b'...her favourite letter is 'O'. She spots it everwhere i go (hey it rhymes!)...especially the carpark roads where it writes "nO parking". I'm trying to get her to say the other letters too but she's less than interested in those. I didn't realize that she recognizes the alphebets till when we were at the carpark and she kept saying "B"...only to realize that it's the B1 painted all over the wall of the carpark. Hmm...carparks are good classrooms eh?

Walking up and down stairs
- Since few weeks ago (gosh i really can never remember when these things happen), she has always insisted on walking up and down the stairs...ie at our house cos we need to walk one storey up to the lift lobby or over overhead bridges. She'll fling herself down to the floor if i'm carrying her. I remember thinking to myself that i need to factor in 10mins to walk up and down the overhead bridge the next time i go out.
- Recently it has been escalators. And it's not that easy trying to restrain a determined toddler while going up/down an escalator amongst a sea of people. She doesn't even let us hold her hand. So we have to be adamant in holding her hand, insisting that she doesn't walk up or sit on the steps and doing the jump or carry her when we reach the end.

Counting
- We like to count the motorbikes at our house carpark. We always count when we walk up/down the stairs. And Elmo counts too (watch Elmo's world). We count butterflies / fishes / bugs in her story books. So after doing weeks of counting up/down stairs, coupled with her growing capacity to talk, she starts to utter after us but she mostly loves to say 4 & 5 (in english) and 7,8 & 9 (in chinese)

Favourite character
- She knows Barney, she knows Hi-5, she knows Seseme street, especially ELMO! Soo....now our whole household has become Elmo fans. She's relatively half-hearted watching the rest but with Elmo, she'll watch the whole dvd, with her utmost attention. Well...sometimes she goes off to play with her toys or read, but usually she'll be leaning all over the sofa or hanging between the coffee table and the sofa. Plus, she'll cry if i switch off the dvd halfway though the show. So we usually need to transit nicely by saying bye to Elmo or just go off elsewhere and quietly switch off the tv without her knowing.
- So yes we have become Elmo fans, considering Elmo teaches quite good things like counting and good daily habits like sleeping, getting dressed, brushing teeth, going to potty.
- How it all started was quite accidental. It was one of the few (really a few) toys that was at my mum's place, my mum pulled out the Elmo for Eliza to play and we brought it home. It has become her bedside companion and her fav character. She has Elmo spoon/fork/plate/bowl/colouring book/building blocks/shirt that's now too small.
Talk about how powerful favourite characters are!