Melody producing melody

Well actually it's just banging on the piano for now :) But she knows that it produces a sound whenever she does that. She's been "playing on the piano" since 5 months I think? I wanted to introduce her to the real deal since we have a piano at home, instead of the kiddy one. So far she has tried the guitar too, and I just demonstrated the erhu to her, briefly. Think I'll just stick to piano for now since she's at her "hit everything thats in my hands" age :):)

Knock knock

The first time xuanxuan opened the door and led herself out of the room, we were shocked to hear her crying get louder and louder (we're outside, in the living room). Think it started about 2 weeks ago? Now if we're both outside, and she's sleeping in the room by herself, and she starts to cry cos she woke up with no one around, we can almost 100% expect her to come out of the room to look for us :):)

We watched her the first few times she tried opening the door, so as to make sure that she keep her fingers well out of the way. Now she seem quite an expert at it already. We're just worried when she pushes the door open instead of pulling, and she falls forward cos she can't balance herself. Well, just have to watch her the first few times again I guess :):)

The NTUC shopping cart!

Remember how we all used to sit on the NTUC cart while our mommies shopped for groceries?

I've been dying to let Xuanxuan try it...and she loves it! :D:D

Dangerous? Well just have to watch her all the time...and also to catch everything that she grabs off the shelf :):)

Potty training

Trips to her grandma house is always fulfilling and enriching. It was my mom who first started feeding her semi-solids (egg yolk), cup drinking, and introduced her to the potty.

Potty trainings are never easy. My mom started when Xuanxuan was about 8months by taking her Huggies off and forced her to sit on the potty, and then, of course, the whistle. So happy to see the pee! :D:D And then, every 45min or so, my mom would take her shorts off and whistle her to pee. Every Saturday, at my mom's place, she would do that. I don't really bother at home. Too tired to deal with the pee that comes uninvited when Xuanxuan is not on her potty :P:P These few weeks, Xuanxuan has been peeing on her shorts every 20min or so. It gets kinda frustrating to not be able to 'catch her in the act' in time, but my mom is patient enough to clean up after her. For me I'm just hoping that somehow, miraculously, Xuanxuan learns to hold her pee until I put her on her potty :P:P

My sis is more successful in getting Xiangxiang to poo in the toilet bowl and pee in the basin. Somehow his timing is more predictable so by and by he knows that at around a certain time the adults will be bringing him to somewhere to pee/poo so he can hold it til then.

Today Xuanxuan made her first poo in the potty. You know how adults always bring newspaper to the toilet with them? Well a little toy helps to keep her seated there too :D:D

Education

Part of Xuanxuan's eduaction is to read the “治家格言”hanging on my mom's wall every weekend. There are 4 panels in total and my mom would read every word to her and Xuanxuan would either be listening and following (she has learnt to follow by pointing), or she would be slapping the glass panel :):) At the moment my mom is teaching her to recognise the character “人" from the panels by pointing out all the “人"s and highlighting it to her.

I myself tried reading it a few times when I was still staying in the house. Though I can't memorize the whole thing, my favourite quote from there is “善欲人见不是真善，恶恐人知便是大恶”

Toot toot!

My father in law brought back a little toy car. Actually "little" is an understatement cos it's big enough for Xuanxuan and Keagan to both sit in it! Keagan has been a wonderful cousin. He plays with Xuanxuan all the time and is happy to be her driver! Xuanxuan is so lucky to have such a doting brother :):)

Cute Melody

She was eating biscuits that day......

with her daddy......

Got distracted for a while......

But still a happy baby at the end of the day! :):)

Sticky baby

Maybe it's because I send her to infant care from 7.30am-6.30pm everyday. Maybe it's because I spent quite a lot of time with her last Dec holidays and now that school reopened, we don't get to see each other so much. She has been extra "sticky" towards me. I can't go to the toilet without her screaming for me, banging on my toilet door! I can't even go switch on the light in the same room- I MUST be right beside her all the time, if not carrying her, or sitting there with her crawling all over me.

To be honest, I enjoy this attention from her alot. I need her just as much as she needs me. My staff contact time ended quite late that day, and when I reached home Melody was out with daddy and grandpa for dinner. I had ran home from the taxi hoping to carry her in my arms and drive all my dark clouds away, yet she wasn't there! I burst out crying when they were finally home. My Melody, Mama loves you!

10 months!

Melody turns 10 months today! Poor Melody is grouchy though, cos of her runny nose. I wonder who spreaded the germs to who-- I had gastric flu last week and high fever and now I'm still having a runny nose, but she seem to be "dripping" even before I got sick.

It was rather devastating for me when she had to go to my in laws' that night I was sick. I cried as I left my in laws' place, yet it's only best for the both of us that way. She had been sick before and it was just as hard-if not harder- to see her all listless yet screaming, refusing to eat medicine, then vomiting everything out cos she cried too hard. So I should get better asap and we can be reunited again! :):)

ET phone home

All babies seem to do the same things- knock everything thats in their hands, clap, point! :):) Xiangxiang started doing this at least a month ago I think? My sis would go "One!" everytime he does it. I do what naturally comes to my mind......point back at her, ET style! :):) She'll start to grab my finger as my finger touches hers. And this is a photo thats really hard to come by!

Clap clap!

Melody has started clapping! :D:D Out of the blue, suddenly, she started clapping. Maybe they taught her that at infant care. Maybe she imitates other babies at infant care. All the same, it's a joy to watch her clap :):):) She will start clapping when her hands happen to find each other, even if she was whining just a second ago, and she will start to grin cos I think she's happy to be able to clap :):)

She has been slapping other stuff before this- mama and daddy at first, then the high chair table, the wall, and the 'mirror' in the lift. She loves it. Everytime we go into the lift, she'll be slapping the mirror and laughing to her mirror image.

It's hard to get a video though, cos by the time I get my camera, she'll be concentrating on the camera pouch and attempting to grab it instead of clapping :S

dada and mama

Funny how everything is 'dadadada' for her, but when she wants milk, it's 'mama' or 'nana'. I never say "Here's your neh-neh" or "Do you want your neh-neh" that kinda baby talk. I don't know if the caregivers at the infant care say that (I think they do), but somehow she only uses "mama" and "nana" for milk. Is it because of breast feeding? That made her associate me with milk? :):):)

When she's in distress i.e. I leave her alone for a while + she wants milk, she calls out even more loudly. Sometimes with a scream too.

Scratch scratch

Melody has taken a liking to scratching different surfaces, esp that of my CPU. One of her usual activity at home is to crawl to the CPU, and start scratching the surfaces. It makes a sound cos of the little holes on the matellic plate.

The first time she did it, we were quite worried that she switches off the computer, but it seems like she can't really press a button yet.