IT Boy

Remember how off and on, Mommy would switch on the laptop to let Juan Or watch the interactive slideshow as an alternative since Juan Or's attention span on books is very short? Of late, Mommy noticed Juan Or is getting addicted to watching Mommy's laptop. Everytime when Mommy comes back from work, Juan Or would walk towards Mommy's laptop, fumbled at the laptop, looked at Mommy, then make fretful sound as if to ask Mommy to switch on the laptop. Juan Or also made such requests during the night, wee hours in the morning (if he woke up and refused to go back to sleep!) or anytime in the day if the laptop bag catches his sight. Watch this video:

Sometimes, Mommy pretended to not to entertain his request, then Juan Or would fret even louder. Then finally when Mommy gave in to his request, he would immediately smile and even give a cackle!

So what is it about Mommy's laptop that attracts Juan Or so much? Actually, besides those interactive Power Point slideshows for babies (you can download them from Brillbaby), Mommy also downloaded TV commercials, Sesame Street singing programmes and nursery rhymes from YouTube. However, those videos opened most frequently so far are TV commercials and Sesame Street. Mommy knows Juan Or loves watching TV commercials because everytime there is a commercial going on the television, Juan Or would stop playing and watch without blinking his eyes. So same goes for commercials shown in the laptop, Juan Or would watch with great concentration. That's how Mommy got Juan Or to at least keep still for some time rather than moving around by climbing and playing at dangerous spots (Haha! Mommy's trick at keeping him at bay minus the frets!).

Juan Or's attention span at the laptop is usually for about 30 to 45 minutes compared to reading books at less than 5 minutes only! Mommy can tell when his attention span is over - he would start poking at the laptop's keyboard, play with the screen or even use his foot to step at the corner of the laptop (to which Mommy will quickly remove his foot away!).

Here are some snapshots of Juan Or enjoying himself at the computer:

(Juan Or is waiting patiently for Mommy's laptop to set up.)

(Watching the laptop like a big boy!)

(What are you watching, Juan Or? You look so engrossed!)

(Juan Or is enjoying every second of watching a funny baby commercial.)

Watching Interactive Slideshows: An Alternative to Reading

Typically, Juan Or's reading activities only revolve around Mommy reading words and pointing at syllables and pictures to him while Juan Or does the page-turning, or if Mommy is tired, Mommy merely handed books for Juan Or to 'play' by turning the pages and lifting the flaps all by himself. However, to date, Juan Or is still not able to pronounce the words or the alphabets that Mommy reads to him. This makes Mommy wonder whether Juan Or really knows what Mommy has been reading to him all this while.

(Juan Or is looking at colourful pictures.)

(Juan Or enjoys turning the page of the book. It doesn't matter whether the book is upside down or not, as long as the pages can be turned, can already!)

(Does Juan Or really know what he sees in the book? Mommy wonders.)

Today, Mommy switched on the laptop to let Juan Or watch interactive slideshows that Mommy downloaded previously from Brillbaby.com (thanks to Jessy for telling Mommy about this wonderful website!). Mommy did this merely for variety in Mommy's effort to teach Juan Or to read. In the slideshows, the words are in very large font size (suitable for baby's view), and each word comes with voice that pronounces the word, then followed by a picture that illustrates the word. Sometimes, the picture is followed by the natural sound of the picture, for example, the picture of a bird will have the chirping sound. And hearing this makes Juan Or laughs (much to Mommy's amusement)! Watch this video:

But of course the next danger lies in Juan Or 'attacking' the laptop keyboard!