Xuan and Papa So chase each other round the baby cot for at least 5 full minutes :) When you are that tiny I guess the house is like a big maze and obstace course with all the furniture lying around.
I am constantly amazed at how little actions can amuse her for so long. To hear her laugh again and again, I am also amazed at how patient I have grown to be, playing peekaboo for, like, 20 times at a go without feeling stupid :)
Xuan shows interest in feeding herself! :) So one fine day, after psyching myself up, I gave her the spoon. The first feeding session wasn't so bad, she just kept dipping the spoon into her bowl and feeding it to me. I have to pretend to eat off the spoon though she didn't scoop anything up. Watching her feed herself makes me very nervous. Most books just say "if you cannot bear to watch the mess, just turn around". Yah I have to do that cos otherwise I just freak out.
Instead of us playing peek-a-boo with her all the time, she has learnt how to play it with us! :):)
Xuan has suddenly taken a liking to wearing shoes and socks. Maybe she knows it means we are going out, or maybe she just like wearing something over her feet. The cute thing is how she lifts her foot up as high as possible so that we can put on the shoe/sock for her :) Think all the “这只手……那只手”“这只脚……那只脚”that I say when we put on clothing for her helps to learn.
I was happy to see her climbing down the sofa cos I know she'll be careful and more importantly, safe, and I don't have to scream everytime she tries to get down from somewhere high. Actually she has already fallen from our bed twice when she was younger. Ever since then she'd stop at the edge and cry for us if she wants to get down. Good that she learns from "setbacks"!
My little girl likes walking :) and wierdly, with her hands behind her back. Makes her look as though she's inspecting something! :):) This video is taken outside her infant care.
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!
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! :):)
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.
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! :):)
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.
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)
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 :):)
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 :):):)
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!
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 :):):) )
