| No longer baby ... (Grace) |
October 10, 2008 |
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A couple of things have occurred in the last two weeks.
1. We have come to suspect that Miley is actually afraid of non-Asians (with the exception of her cousins' father). She panics around her Aunt's boyfriend - running to the kitchen corner, refusing to come out when he comes over, or cries her heart out when she goes to her gymnastics class.
What further fuels this speculation is this past Wednesday when I took her to open gym, there was a 3 yr. old boy who she started following around and ended up playing catch with and having a very relaxed, happy play time with. Dun, dun, dun, dun . . .he was a little Chinese boy who she could speak to, or at least understand.
In an effort to widen her exposure, I am encouraging her to wave and say hi to other kids her age on the street, at the park, in the store, on the way out of a restaurant. . .I'm not entirely sure what effect this will have, but I'm thinking it can't actually hurt, right?
2. Baby has reached another level of cognitive development. If you ask us for specifics, the only answer I can provide is that you just "know" things are clicking and making more sense with her.
While she's always loved to count and could do 1-10 fairly well, she's much more interested in getting through 20. She has been rotating between a basic letter LeapFrog video that teaches the letter sounds, and a phonics video that teaches kids to sound out simple words like CAT. In the past we've shown her the phonics one at Mainn's insistence :) -- he's big on teaching her to read early -- and because she had a good grasp on all her letter sounds anyway, so we wanted to mix it up a bit. In the past few days, though, she has started to occasionally request the phonics video - which I see as huge.
In the past, she would pronounce and say letter sounds if she pointed out a letter or asked her, and she had trouble with a couple of them. These days, though, she LOVES shouting any letter she sees, followed by it's appropriate movement or sound at the top of her lungs. You walk through a parking lot and she sees "H" and she yells, "H" and starts panting like a dog. When we enter and exit our condo, she announces, "B" . . buh, buh, buh, or "C", cuh, cuh, cuh, etc. At the grocery store, it's either Shaws/StarMarket, or Stop and Shop, so she likes to point out "S" and start hissing like a snake.
Much to our delight, she actually knows all of the sounds, and I am basing her new interest in pointing out what she sees as these letters and sounds actually making sense in her mind, whereas before it was just mimicking whatever she saw on TV.
3. My final developmental report is a sad one. She has been baby to us for so long. I still think of her as a baby - even though I realize she really isn't. She is such a capable little person. I can hand her a fruit cup, sit her in her little chair, and she will sit there and quietly feed herself for about 5-10 minutes in the morning. She can tell you in the evenings when she is tired and ready to start going to bed by asking for her bath. She refuses help when she goes down and slide, and has learned to lift her feet off the slide while hanging onto the bar overhead just before she goes down. This gives us a heart attack every time we watch it because if her grip slips, she will come crashing down the slide and probably bang her head up pretty well.
Anyway, while I like thinking of her as a baby, I know in my heart she really isn't. She even has actual opinions about clothing! She wants the dress with the pumpkins, and if she wants to wear stocking, she will choose one outfit over a pair of heart shorts because that's the choice mommy gave her. I think subconsciously I started calling her a big girl when talking to her.
Yesterday, just for kicks, I asked her if she was a baby, and she responded with "baby" while pointing to herself. I told her no, she isn't a baby anymore and instead is a "big girl". She seemed to like this new term a lot, because after that one incident, every time I asked her where is baby, she would point to herself and say "big girl". At other times when I asked "Ni she bu she baby" (are you a baby" she would shake her head and respond with her emphatic "No . . . .big girl".
Oh how quickly they grow up. I find myself thinking of her as a 3 or 4 year old, only to realize she hasn't quite turned 2 yet! It's so sad! :(
Check Out My Shades
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| Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby! and Ernie (Grace) |
September 29, 2008 |
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The last two weeks have been pretty rough. Baby has been especially whiny and tired all the time. We suspect it is because she was not napping well with the nanny, and often even refused to nap.
That baby book we read about sleep habits really has been a godsend! The author's theory, which makes no common sense, but works in practice - tired babies sleep shorter amounts of time. Their sleep is unconsolidated so they don't get enough "good" sleep, as a result this causes them to wake up multiple times, get more tired, wake up earlier, etc. It's all very contrary to what you would think is normal.
Well, we put this theory to the test. Baby was really driving me nuts with her constant crying and general unhappiness, that we decided to shift up her bed time. Her previous schedule ran something like:
7-7:30 bath
8-8:30 sleep at night
6-6:30 wake up
nap during the day for 1.5 - 2 hrs.
We've been very lucky that Miley actually likes to sleep!
Anyway, she decided to shift her sleep schedule to something like this:
6-6:30 bath
7-7:30 sleep
the first night we did this, baby woke up for about half an hour after only being asleep for about 1 hour. The following nights, though, her night time wakings completely disappeared (at least so far!) and she's been such a more happy and smiling child! I was afraid that the earlier bedtime would cause her to wake up at some ungodly hour, like 5AM, but the last few days she's been sleeping in until about 6:30 or 7. . . YAY!!!
Taking care of a happy child is so much easier than one who is tired out. She runs around, is able to entertain and play by herself more, is more willing to interact with her aunts and is generally more interested in the world around her.
I'm hoping that this new schedule isn't permanent and I'll be able to shift her to sleeping around 7-ish or so, because the early bedtime ritual starting around 6-ish means we have to eat dinner around 5. That isn't so bad except that since I don't get home from school until 4, it really limits the amount of time I get to spend with her on the weekdays. Then again, I would much rather have a good quality 2 hours, rather than an exhausting, whiny 3 hours.
OTHER NEWS:
If you are familiar with Sesame Street's DVD - Count with Me, teaching kids to count from 1-15, you will recognize a skit in the middle where Ernie helps the hotel keepers count an order of fish. Essentially a bunch of penguins call the front desk because they are hungry, and each of them order a fish. The not-so-smart husband inn keeper asks his wife to tell the chef that there was an order of "fish, fish, fish, fish, fish, fish". Naturally the wife bumbles the order, and Ernie has to step in to teach the couple to "count the fish".
Anyway, baby really loved watching this DVD over the summer, although she's much more interested in the leapfrog letter factory now. However, this skit (and dvd in general) has made a real impression on her because not only does she recognize all the numbers 0-10 and then some, the other day I caught her playing with the telephone.
Baby will pick up the phone, say "hello" babble, babble, babble, "bye!" and hang up. When she returns the phone to the receiver, she adds, "fish, fish, fish, fish". It took me awhile to realize that she was mimicking the skit from the DVD! What a funny girl! |
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| Miley Wanna Play (Mainn) |
September 22, 2008 |
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Miley has won her first fantasy football league match, beating Grace by four points. This feat is even more impressive when you realize that Grace was (and still is) in first place overall.
Grace is also leading our football pick'em league, showing her true dominance and understanding of the sport. One can only hope that Miley takes after her mother. |
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| R U? (Grace) |
September 21, 2008 |
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When baby gets worried these days, she likes to yell,
"Mommy, are you?"
"Daddy, are you?"
For some reason she misses the where, but you definitely know what she's asking for in her panicked tone.
This morning she and her California cousin and Aunt were skype-ing. Baby had little interest in watching the computer (probably because it wasn't a cartoon), and I didn't think she actually understood who Kira was. About 15 minutes in, baby ran across the computer screen and noticed her cousin was no where to be seen. She then yelped "Kira, are you?" and we had to explain Kira was otherwise occupied with her mommy. Still, it made me think twice about what baby actually notices and pays attention too . . .kind of scary. |
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| Becoming smarter . . . (Grace) |
September 16, 2008 |
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Baby LOVES anything icy. She always has. She loves ice cubes, ice cream, and popsicles. Sometimes she gets an idea in her head at the most random times and is very insistent until she attains her goal.
For example, last week with the nanny, when she woke up from a shorter nap, she asked for a popsicle. The nanny thinks she must've been dreaming about them, because the first thing the baby said when her eyes opened was "che bing-bang" (eat a popsicle). She was quite upset and refused to have her diaper changed until she received said item.
The other night baby had difficulty going to sleep. While she was cry, she was really thinking of all the different ways to stall going to bed. One of her requests was to "kan tv" (watch tv) which after awhile became "kan dora". The Dora request was repeated for at least half and hour, but we refused and she eventually cried herself to sleep. The next morning she cried out for mommy, or maybe it was daddy. Anyway, once I went into her room, without even saying "hi mommy" like she normally does, she blurted out, "kan Dora, kan Dora, kan frog, kan Dora".
So why is she becoming smarter? Well, when she was young and ate popsicles, they literally dribbled and fell apart everywhere. She would want to only eat from the front end, and she could reach the leftover bit because the popsicle stick got in the way after awhile. We had to teach her to eat from the side, once the ate off the top. This worked well, except that she would often only eat from one side and after a little bit the entire popsicle would fall apart on her and she would have a meltdown. Well, today I gave her a popsicle as an afternoon treat and I watched her eat this thing. When she finished eating the top off, she turned the stick over, held it with both her hands (also something new) and started to chew one side. When that side was getting pretty thin, she actually rotated the stick a little bit to eat from a fleshier section. I was amazed.
Here are some pictures from a friend's wedding we went to at the end of August. Can you tell that I am trying desperately to avoid preparing for classes tomorrow? . . .enjoy!
Wedding Montage 1
Wedding Montage 2
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| If you give baby a cookie, . . .and friends (Grace) |
September 15, 2008 |
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There is a famous children's story book called If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Well, it turns out that while making dinner one afternoon, I bribed baby with a video and a cookie to keep her distracted and out of the kitchen. Here's baby enjoying the cookie:
Yum Yum
Here's the aftermath of giving baby the cookie.
If You Give Baby a Cookie
In other news it turns out baby is starting to accept the nanny more. She no longer clings to me for dear life when I come back home. Occasionally she is even willing to play by herself for a little bit.
For those who are wondering, it turns out that my paycheck last week definitely lessened the pain of leaving baby every morning. In the end, I think that is is best and most healthy for everyone involved. I still miss her, though, but my interesting characters definitely keep me on my toes at school.
Finally, the nanny informed me today that baby seems to have a boyfriend. Her morning routine consists of nanny coming, me leaving, baby crying, and then baby and nanny going to the park for an hour or so. At 10AM, this neighborhood store opens its doors and kids and their caregivers descend upon the play space. To be honest, the place is a little too dirty for my personal taste, but it gets baby out and in the company of other kids . . .
Ok, so it seems that during her morning trips to the park, the nanny befriended a lonely mother taking care of her 18(?) month old son. The first few days the kids would just share their snacks, or watch each other eat different things. Once the store opened, both groups headed inside for a change of scene.
Since the two kids keep seeing each other almost on a daily basis, they have started to occasionally "pung-pung tou" (gently bonk heads), share toys, hold hands (didn't think she was actually old enough for this, and truthfully I'm a little confused by what the nanny says . . .) -- but either way, so far it seems the two get along pretty well. One of these days when school is not in session, I plan to go meet her new friend!
In the meantime, I wonder if he can keep up with her on the golf course?!!!
FORE!
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| Potty Time! (Grace) |
September 13, 2008 |
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Roughly six months ago, baby discovered youtube - it was a source of quick, topical Sesame Street / Elmo clips. While putting together a playlist for baby, we came across an Elmo Potty song, where baby Elmo learns to use the potty with his daddy. Quite a catchy tune.
After a few months, baby started wanting to sit on her own toilet, calling it Elmo Potty (because the one in the video clip looks exactly like the one her Grandmother bought for her). For about 2 months now, every time before she gets in her bath, she will sit on the potty, with a piece of toilet paper in her hand and just smile at you. After awhile, she will walk over to the big toilet, throw her toilet paper away, and then we are ready to get into the bath tub.
Well, tonight we went out to dinner with some friends and I ordered a soup dish. Baby managed to drink a bowl of miso soup, and the proceeded to down a beef brothy soup that was my dinner. Needless to say she drank quite a bit of liquids.
It was late when we finally got home, but she wanted to bathe, so as her bathtub was filling up, we went through the ritual of sitting her on her potty. Drum roll . . . .
I think because she drank so much liquid, she actually managed to pee! WOOHOO!!! Baby went pee in the toilet! I am hoping she will start peeing in the evenings before she gets in the tub, and slowly will become potty trained. We are in no rush, though. At a recent doctor's appointment, I asked him about when potty training should start and he replied he liked to wait until they were roughly 2.5 yrs old, so whatever baby accomplishes between then and now, I consider us lucky!
WOOHOO!! YAY baby!
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| Off-Topic (Mainn) |
September 12, 2008 |
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| This is almost certainly off-topic to most people who read this blog, but here's what I did this summer: link. |
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| Pushover. . . (Grace) |
September 8, 2008 |
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I am satisfied with our new nanny. I trust that she will care for my baby and she will educate her about how to be a good person and in other "academic-y" areas (I think I may need to provide some direction with this, but it's not a difficult task).
What I find most amusing these days, though is what a pushover my nanny is. She is not what I would term "strict" and seems pretty fearful of Miley ever breaking and just crying. Yes, the baby throws tantrums when I'm leaving, but once I'm gone, baby is fine.
Anyway, two funny stories. The first, in the morning when the nanny takes baby out for her walk or play time, somehow Miley has learned that the Bank of America at the corner has a supply of lollipops. Whenever her stroller goes by and she is with the nanny, baby will point and fuss, demanding to go into the bank. Sadly for the bank, neither Mainn nor I bank there.
Well, today the nanny snagged two lollipops. She gave the baby one and wanted to save the second for later. Unfortunately, the baby saw the original two lollipops and put up quite a fuss until she got the second one after finishing the first. Once she tasted both, she was an angel (according to the nanny).
As for the second story, the baby has trouble taking naps with the nanny. On the weekends she will sleep for roughly 1-1.5 hours. The nanny reports that she only takes a 45 minute nap at most. What does this mean? Well, even though baby gets sleepy around noon, and is willing to lie down in bed, she flips and flops around for 30 minutes and then excitedly jumps out of bed demanding to go downstairs or to go outside. The nanny is afraid of her crying, so she concedes to her wishes, and when they go out for a walk in her stroller, the baby falls asleep.
I told the nanny that baby is one of these people who will "work" a system to her advantage. There have been multiple times in short history when either Mainn or I have had to do battle with this little girl. Sometimes the battle of wills lasts only 30 minutes, other times it can last up to 2 hours. Once you start the battle, however, it is imperative that you come out on top, otherwise she will not respect you. If you do come out as the victor, she will be an angel. I am convinced this is one reason we have so little trouble putting her to sleep. Anyway, I told the nanny that she cannot let the baby out of her bed, and if needs be, she should leave the baby alone for 1 hour, let her cry and see if she falls asleep. If she doesn't go in and get her, continue on with her day, and follow the same procedure for the next few days. Eventually the tired baby will realize she has lost the battle and will fall asleep and take longer naps. . .at least this is my hope. Otherwise, baby goes to bed at 6:30-7 and while I enjoy my evenings free, it leaves me very little time to spend with her on a daily basis.
I really miss her :( . . .here's hoping that my paycheck on Thursday lessens the separation pains I've been feeling. |
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| Artist in Residence and Other Stories. . . (Grace) |
September 7, 2008 |
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This will be an interesting week. Though baby has become more accepting of her new nanny, the mornings are still especially difficult when I leave for work. She cries a lot, runs to sit in my lap the moment she hears the downstairs door open, grabs my legs, shakes her head, etc when the nanny shows up.
Mainn is also going to NY bright and early tomorrow so it will be a long week for everyone involved.
Tonight at dinner Mainn and I were being pretty silly. We were giving each other knuckle-punches (no good reason) and baby happened to see us doing one. When we were finished, she stuck out her knuckles (hand clenced, knuckles baring) and expected a knuckle-punch from each of her parents. Upon receiving one, she exclaimed, "YAY!".
Since we started going to her little gymnastics classes, one of the skills they briefly work on is to see who can say their name. So at every class in the beginning after the welcome song, all the kids go around and introduce themselves. Ok, of the 6 times I've been at one of these classes, the kids never say anything, and it's always the parent who ends up speaking. Still, this gave me a goal to work on with Miley. I am proud to say that now when she is asked "What's your name", she will use her index finger and point to herself. If she isn't feeling shy, she will even say "Miley". Yay!
As usual, this little girl, no longer a baby :(, LOVES to draw. She has one of those magnetic boards, and this morning, she was concentrating very hard on her piece. When she was finished and had everything just so, she looked up at me and pointed to her drawing and said "Apple". I asked if her drawing was a ping-guo and she nodded. I decided to capture this first masterpiece on film. Check it out.
Artistic Work
Aside from her obvious artistic skill, she has the artist temperament as she thoughtfully prepares to make her next masterful stroke.
Careful Consideration
Finally, some masterpieces are never truly finished, and a true artist must learn to accept these moments. . .
Setting it aside for now. . .
In her spare time, when mommy and daddy aren't watching, our little artist in residence has a passion for shoes.
And every once in awhile we just need to take a breather after playing in the rain.
Finally, Happy Birthday! :)
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