Walking!

My baby has officially started walking today! :D:D All of a sudden, she took an interest in walking around the room and would not stop :):) She's walking slowly and carefully so when she falls, she always lands on her Huggies-protected-butt and she pushes herself up, saying "Up!" at the same time :):) So motivating!

Sharing2

My little girl seem to show signs of playing with another toddler rather than just playing beside him :):)

She has been progressing rather fast lately and it's amazing to see how much she understands. She was standing up on her feeding chair that day when I said sternly, 坐下. She squarted down with her head bowed slightly lower but observing me all the time, and then I said, 脚放好来. She sat down immediately and out came her tiny legs hanging down the chair :):) Maybe it's my body language, tone and words all added up together, but she definitely understands my Mandarin (Mother Tongue, literally!) now. When I ask her 要不要__ sometimes she shakes her head! :):)

Night routine

Every night xuan rolls about our bed with the bottle in her hand/mouth, and she will roll til I switch off all the lights, lie down beside her and watch her roll...then I'll be asleep and I dunno what happens.

Kissy

Papa So has taught xuan how to kiss! :D:D So sweet~ some times she kisses by pressing her cheek against my cheek and make the "mm-muck!" sound. Thats so American, haha. There was one weekend morning when she is wide awake in between us and I'm awake but still lying down, and papa So is still sleeping, I requested for a "kiss mama". She bent over and gave me a "mm-muck!" then she turned to papa and kissed him "mm-muck!" So sweet! :):)

Sipping

Xiangxiang managed to do this much earlier (think abt 8months?) but xuanxuan mastered it now, since last month, which is 13mths :):) and we find it so much neater than the bottle, less air to suck in, and drinking water is a good habit too! Sometimes she spits out some water :( and sometimes she imitates me doing "ahhhhhh" after gulping down a refreshing mouthful of water.

Cute Melody2

Vocabulary

Kids tend to say "baba" first before "mama", I realize, cos so far all the kids I heard of did that. My kid can say "byyee", "bus" or "bai-s", "no more" or "nm ma" while flipping her hands, "八" and "一" (cos we live on the 8th floor and I say out the floors every time we go on the elevator). Now when we say "下雨了" she will put her hands on her head, and papa So just taught her how to kiss our cheeks too (though most of the time she'll end up banging our heads like how she bury her head in her puppets). In the video I think she was actually looking in the direction where her papa left when we said "papa". We're trying to teach her "婆婆" before "外婆" cos "wai" is a little beyond her at the moment.

The Mikasa volleyball in her hands is a mini one, by the way, it's a tiny real volleyball and it's so cute that I couldn't resist buying it (not that I want her to play volleyball when she grows up lah, but the other option is a mini soccer ball and it's too hard plus it doesn't bounce)

Sharing

My sweet little ger sees her mama eating an apple, and wants to do the same, so she took my apple and started "munching", but she is sweet enough to share it with her papa :):) and the cute thing is how she relaxed with the apple in her hand like someone who truely knows how to enjoy herself :):)

Possessive little ger

Our baby has become soooooo sticky that once we put her down, she'll screeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaam so loudly and cry so sadly that you can't help but pick her up again. When she sees me carry my sis' boy up, she protests loudly, likewise when my mother does the same. I think it's cute that she likes soft toys, though they don't seem to serve as "security blankets", rather, "I like bear-bear so it's mine". Xiang xiang came to snatch her soft soccer ball last sunday and she screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaamed and held tightly to her toy. I think she's starting to be ego-centric which means she is growing up to be an independent little girl :):):)

Climbing down the stairs

Learning how to get down from somewhere higher up is more important than getting up, I think. Climbing is an instinct so I don't even have to teach xuanxuan, but somehow when it comes to climbing down she prefers to walk.

I think looking at babies learning how to walk is such an inspiration :):):)

A small step for Melody, a big step for Papa and Mama So!

After seeing all kinds of movies, videos, etc, I never thought it'll be coincidental enough for me to be able to catch Xuan's first step on film. It was such a perfect moment- both papa and mama were there to witness and encourage our little baby. The step she took may be only half a step (she walked a few more steps after this clip, but then stopped trying again the day after) but it was so huge I actually felt a tear in my eye. I didn't even feel that emotional when I gave birth to her!

依赖

This is Xuan at 1+months

This is her now, 1yr and 1month+

I will truly miss these days when she grow out of lying on me. (And of course, when she becomes too big and heavy to do that :):):) )

Manga

I think she looks just like this girl in the manga I was hoping to get them side by side but my model refuse to cooperate. Anyway until I find the exact look here's a sub.

Trip to Ikea

Ikea is truly a family-friendly place. Not only is the whole display area a huge playground to both the adults and the kids, this spin-the-rollers game at the waiting area near the food stall is also rather entertaining to my little ger and many other older kids.

Hand puppets

Papa So bought his little little ger 2 hand puppets. She's always liked the dolls she already has but these 2 moving ones seem even more interesting!

Crawling on daddy and mama's bed

One of xuan's favourite activity is when we put her in between our pillows on our bed, and she's free to roam about our bed, rolling on the comforter, hugging the super big bolster and pillow, or just plain lazy lying on the mattress. The mattress is a huge investment. Even hotel beds don't seem as comfortable now!

Taking things in and out

There are kids who love to pack things instead of throwing things out, so whenever I have a chance, I make her put things back in and make a bigger deal when she does it than when she takes things out-- her sock box, my sweet container, her toy bag, and my favourite "training toy", the magnetic alphabet and numbers box.