Speech and Hearing Assessment for Erin

At 2 years 8 months old, Erin's speech development has been rather slow. She doesn’t really talk much but when she does, it comes out like this -

  Theh Theh go Tool, Eh Win go Ah Mah Ome.  (Jie Jie Go School, Erin go Ah Mah Home)

 Thee Yan  (This One)

 I want to Chleep (I want to Sleep)

 Back chide (Back side)

I was still at a “wait-and-see” approach. Afterall, I’ve heard so many stories of little kids who started speaking late but had no problems picking up later.  But as usual, hubby got all panicky and kept pestering for a professional assessment.

So, 2 weeks ago I brought Erin for a Hearing and Speech Assessment at Sunway Medical Center.

First part was the Hearing Assessment (since speech delay could be due to hearing issues)  -  In the room, there was a simple toy. The type where you put in a marble and it goes round and round down a chute. The therapist let Erin play for a while, and then told her she could only drop the marble once she hears a sound. Initial sounds were quite loud and then it got softer and softer.  Erin passed this Hearing Assessment with flying colours.   This assessment lasted only about 15 minutes, including checking of ear pressure with a special equipment.

Second part was the Speech Assessment which took about 1 hour. The therapist asked her questions and played simple games with her. (like asking her to feed the bear cos it’s hungry, asking her to pass the yellow duck, put little cubes into a cup etc). She also took out some charts and asked Erin to name the items in the chart.

Later, Elyssa asked “Why this doctor just play and play with Erin only?”  hehehe.

Speech Assessment

Luckily, Erin was very co-operative that day

 

 

At the end of the assessment, the therapist said Erin’s speech progress was slow for her age. L   By now, her conversation should be comprehensible to a normal 3^rd person. Not considered a severe case, but it is a sign to ring the alarm bells. She asked me to do some speech exercises with her like “KKkkhhhh, HHhhhhhh, Ghhhhhhhh” and to return for therapy sessions.  (since this session focused on assessment, not therapy). Next appointment set for 2 months’ time.  

Bill amount?  RM 100 for hearing assessment, RM 200 for speech assessment, RM 15 for registration, so RM 315 in total.

My thoughts – I am still hoping that she doesn’t need to go for therapy sessions. Just a few days ago, she said “one” correctly instead of “yan”. And she been speaking more and more too.  *fingers crossed*!

Homemade Play Dough

After reading many times about homemade play dough, I finally tried it out last weekend.

Recipe I used :

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoon cooking oil
1 cup water
Food coloring as needed

1. In a pot, mix the ingredients.
2. Cook on a medium heat, stirring constantly for 3 minutes or until mixture pulls away from sides of pan.
3. Remove from heat; let cool for 1 minute and then knead. It should have a soft, smooth texture.
4. Play dough can be stored in airtight containers and will keep for several weeks

Girls were super happy!

Elyssa wanted to show off her creations

This little one too!

So what if it's just bits and pieces of playdough??? hehehe. 

Super love her expression here  :-)

After the session, I just plopped the playdough into a covered plastic container and placed it in the fridge.

The very next day, they requested for another playdough session after I came back from work. No complaints from me! Told them they could only play after dinner, after bathing and after changing to PJs.   They got everything done super fast  :-)

Elyssa with her creations

 

 

Really happy with this homemade playdough. Easy to make, easy to handle, cheap, toxin-free and no "rubber" smell !   

 

Terrible Twos!!!!

Erin is definitely in the Terrible Two's phase!  When, oh when is it going to end?

She gets into a tantrum practically every single day. The lie-down-on-the-floor, kick and scream type of tantrum. *sigh*. 

Source of the tantrum varies, but basically it happens whenever she doesn't get what she wants or when she's asked to do something she doesn't want to do. 

For these few days, it's 1) don't want to bathe  2) don't want to get out after bathing  3) don't want to wear clothes after bathing.

We've tried various responses - distracting/smacking/scolding/ignoring/reasoning.  (ok I admit, sometimes, when I feel like I'm reaching boiling point, I hand her to the maid and I go upstairs to cool down)

But then, when she's all fine and dandy....she's so smiley and behaves like a sweet little princess.

 See that innocent smile!

 

 

 

Well, sweet little princess.......until the next tantrum starts.  Aaaarrgh!

Hong Kong Family Holiday - Day 3

Day 3

All excited to continue our holiday!

 

Bright and early at the hotel lobby

MIL with 3 of her grandkids

 

We took a Tram to "The Peak" 

 

Then proceeded to have an early Christmas breakfast at The Lookout Restaurant

 

So beautifully decorated

Our yummy western breakfast

 

After breakfast, kids walked around the outer area of the restaurant.

It was really c-o-l-d!  

 

 

Took some photos at the lookout area 

After coming back from the Peak, we went to Wanchai area. (err...I think.  need to confirm. hehe)

Ding Ding Train

 Famous Egg Tart shop

It was buttery and crumbly. Nice!

 

Lunch was at Ho Hung Kee

As with all popular restaurants, there was a long wait to get into the restaurant.  Luckily this one didn't involve standing in line. See the numbers on the screen? Queue numbers were given based on small/medium/large tables.

No photos of food at all because Erin REFUSED to step foot inside and insisted only Mummy can carry her. I quickly gulped down some porridge and beef noodles while hubby carried a screaming and struggling girl outside.  *sigh*

After lunch, we walked around a bit.  It was just super-super crowded.  Argh.

Cousins posing with animal characters

We then took the bus (or was it train?) to Stanley Bay. Aaaaahhhh...... much better. Less crowded there.

Stopped by one of the cafes for afternoon tea break

Smile!

 

The 4 cousins

 

SIL with the 3 girls

I think this is a super-cute photo!

 Me and my girls 

 

Elyssa with her funny pose

 

 

We took the ferry back to Hong Kong island.  Then waited awhile to see the nightly Symphony of Lights at Victoria Harbour.  Nothing great actually.

 

--End of Day 3 --

Hong Kong Family Holiday - Day 2

On the morning of Day 2, we met up with my SIL who took a later flight than ours. Yipeee.... our "tour guide" is here!  :-) 

 

First stop for the day - Dim Sum at the famous Tim Ho Wan 

 

 

Some of the food we ordered

BBQ bun, lor bak, steam dumpings, chee cheong fun, siew mai and pork ribs 

Elyssa at the breakfast table  

  

Verdict?  Food was nice but wasn't so keen on the environment. Had to queue 20 minutes to get in the restaurant and the tables were very close to one another. See the guy in the photo above? Nope, he's not one of us!  His table was like 2 inches away from ours.  Ah well, I suppose that's what to expect from Hong Kong.

 

Erin was.....you guessed it...cranky again. This one is definitely not a good traveler like her jie jie! We realized later that she act ups whenever it's too crowded and/or noisy.

 

Next agenda for the day was the Ngong Ping Cable Car ride and Tian Tan Giant Buddha:



 

 

Elyssa with her ice-cream before we got on the cable car  

 

 

 

Cable car ride

Luckily my SIL bought the tickets in advance. Queues were super long.

 

 

 

 

In the Cable Car.

Say Cheese!!  View was really nice. 

Hubby (who's afraid of heights) got a little scared tho. hehe.

 

Me with Elyssa, Erin and Charmaine in the cable car

 

 

 

@ Ngong Ping Village

 

 

Could resist taking photo with this cute koala character 

 

 

View of the Giant Buddha from afar

 

 

Enjoying our drinks

Weather was lovely

Our vegetarian lunch

After lunch, we walked up the stairs to the Giant Buddha.

 

Elyssa with cousin Chloe jiejie

After that, we took the bus to Tai-O fishing village:

where we saw Life Seafood -

Seafood being up to dry -

 and DRIED Seafood.  hehe

 

We had a pretty good time walking around this fishing village.  MIL, MIL's sis and I bought our dried scallops, dried mussels, dried cuttlefish, dried prawns etc etc.  Happy, happy :-)

 

Plenty of interesting things to see too.

 Huge Cuttlefish Snack 

Egg Balls roasted over charcoal fire

I think we had 3 rounds of this. Really good!  

 

The village had a nice "quaint" feel. (I was going to use the word "authentic" but I know it can't be since it's actually a touristy place!)  We sat down for coffee and snacks at a old style café on stilts overlooking the river.

Service was good - When it got cold, the owner came with blankets for my MIL and her sis.

After our late coffee break, we took the bus back to Kowloon area.  For our dinner, we had the famous Mak Man Kee wonton noodles -

Verdict ?  Hubby wanted his picked green chilli.  hehe.

Then we proceeded next door to the Australian Dairy Company for their steamed milk -

Verdict?  I LOVED it! 

Couldn't decide whether I preferred the cold or hot version.  Both were sooo good.

But it wasn't exactly a peaceful session. Little Miss Cranky wanted to push her stool to another position in the crowded shop. When I tried to stop her, she THREW the stool angrily on the floor.  Aaaarghhh!

Back to hotel and then Zzzzz........