She's 21

My look-alikes. We know who's the boss here!

Naomi's 21 months old today, and quite the handful.

So much has changed since my last update on her. Still a baby at 17 months, she's really a little girl now at 21 months, albeit a tiny one. She understands just about everything we say and there's no getting anything by her these days. Just 4 months ago, we were counting each word she knew. In the 4 months since, her vocabulary and knowledge have grown exponentially. From a handful of words, she's progressed to making increasingly longer sentences, and is very adept at making her needs known.

A recent gem: "Mama, hungry! Want marshmallow!"

She's also a little parrot these days, who loves repeating after Noey. Every time Noey tries to tell me something, she will try to tell me the same thing too, repeating the tail-end of Noey's sentence, but at a louder volume. 

Something else she's picked up from her brother: Making monkey faces!

She continues to be a feisty little thing. Our pint-sized little commander, good at issuing orders and insisting that they be followed. And she's never wrong, in her opinion.

Me: (pointing at a picture) Hey Meips, what's this?
Nomi: … Cat!
Me: Well, it's a Tiger really...
Nomi: No, CAT! Meow!
Me: It is from the cat family, but it's called a Tiger.
Nomi: NO! CAT!!

Did I also mention that she's really stubborn?

She's a little fashionista in her own way. Even before she turned 18 months, she started wanting a say in the clothes she wore, and starting picking out her shoes. She likes red, pink and purple. Sometimes all together in the same outfit. She only wants to wear clothes that she likes and oh my, the tantrums when I try to get her into an outfit which I think is more appropriate. I'm starting to understand why I see kids on the streets wearing clothes of questionable taste. I shouldn't have blamed their parents. 

In her favourite purple shorts which she INSISTED on wearing. You have to see it with her favourite red & yellow sneakers for the complete look.

Yet, she is also my little samseng. This is how she sits in the car.

What's a tray table for if not to rest your feet?

Yes, that is a tray table on which she is resting her legs and yes, she came up with this herself. When I snap the tray table in front of her back in place, she'll pull it right back down again and make herself comfortable. 

If there's something to climb, you can be sure you'll find her climbing it. Thankfully I had a boy first so her level of activity doesn't come as a shock to me! Many other parents have commented on her gross motor skills, which are, I agree, pretty advanced. At about 18 months she could jump, lifting both feet off the ground. She hangs off any bar she sees and is fearless in the playground. Just the other day, I watched as she climbed up a ladder (not stairs, mind you) in the playground and slid down the rather high spiral slide all by herself. She then went over to a rather complicated overlapping step structure and climbed that up to the top of the slides with ease. I later found her trying to scale the rock wall in the playground. Would you believe she had managed to step on the lowest foothold with both feet and with her hands on two different handholds, was trying to find a way up?

My little monkey, just hanging around...

She will be the athletic one of the family. 

All that activity is a good thing in any case, because this girl loves her food. She's constantly looking for snacks, much to my chagrin.

"Mama, cheese please?" she loves to say, looking at me winsomely with a cheeky grin.

Some days, between her milk and her meals and her incessant requests for snacks, it feels like she's eating all the time! It got quite ridiculous at one point when my attempts to distract her with a book backfired because the pictures reminded her of stuff she wanted to eat.

Me: Look Mei-mei! This is O! O is for...
Nomi: Orange! Want some, Mama! Kitchen? 

Eergh.

But while I worry about her trek towards obesity, I must say it truly is a joy to feed a child who loves her food and who is willing to try everything you offer her. One who goes running for the dining table with a loud "YAY!" when meals are served because she is hungry. Thanks to her love for food, Nomi can actually feed herself rather well, with minimum mess. She can feed herself a whole bowl of porridge when she feels like it. And even when we're feeding her, she has to have a separate bowl in front of her from which she feeds herself.

"Mei-mei Feed!"

She's certainly got that independent streak. She'd hold on to my hand when she's unsure, but as soon as she gains some confidence, she'll be shaking her hand free. "Mei-mei do, self!" she'd insist when I try to help her take off her slippers. I'm glad she wants to do things on her own, though I might sigh over the extra mess or time needed to complete a task, and the fact that my baby is growing up so quickly. 

Stubborn, fierce and loud as she is, she is also the sweetest, cutest thing. Everyone loves her.

Cheeky smiles!

She is a living doll, with big eyes and extremely kissable cheeks. But beyond that, it's also her loveable personality. She's quick to pipe up with her "Ten Chu Mama!" (Thank you Mama!) when she gets something and is very obliging with her greetings and goodbyes. She likes learning people's names and using them, which always endears her to them. She gets super excited when Papa comes home and would dash into his arms in a way that never fails to make her Daddy's heart melt. She sings, makes the funniest most random comments when you don't expect it, and has the cheekiest, naughtiest grin.

 "Noo night, Mama. Weff you!" (Good night, Mama. Love you!) she said just a couple of nights ago when getting ready for bed, completely unprompted.

My little Meips, how does anyone resist you? I certainly can't.