She Is Four

My dearest Mei,

You are officially four today. You’ve been counting down the days till this day so it was of no surprise to me hear from your Papa that you bounded out of bed this morning and shyly waited for him to wish you happy birthday before bursting with excitement. (I was out sending your Gor-gor to school.) That is so you, by the way, as was your later pronouncement:

“I am four years old!” you said proudly. “Soon I will be five?"

Tarry a while my dear. You still have quite a bit of growing up to do, even as I have to accept that you are my baby no longer. I guess in many ways, you stopped being a baby a long time ago. You, my dear, are my bright, funny, really cheeky, LOUD, and above all, fiercely independent sweetheart. You want to do everything yourself, which is sounds like a wonderful thing for a parent, but isn’t always the case. I put on your shoes for you and you’ll take them off to put them on again yourself. I put in a puzzle piece for you and you’ll take it out to re-fix it yourself. “I know how to do it,” you’ll tell me impatiently as I try to give you instructions on how to do things. And honestly, you do manage to do a lot of things yourself. (Well, maybe except for going to the toilet yourself instead of asking me many MANY times a day.) I’m pretty sure your sheer stubbornness plays a big part. You are one who needs to be schooled by experience and I can only pray that life would treat you kindly.

Over the past year we’ve seen the social side of you develop. You LOVE being with your friends, to the extent that Mummy here becomes persona non grata. I recently joined your class for a trip to the theatre, thinking we might be able to enjoy some bonding time. You were happy to see me, right up to the point when you realised you would be sitting with me in the bus instead of with your friends. You were not a happy camper. Yes, at three-years of age, you already think I cramp your style. It is for this reason that your father and I are thinking a bit more carefully about where you should be going in Primary school for it seems to us that who your friends are will come to have significant bearing on the type of person you turn out to be. I’m glad we still have a few years more to decide.

At the same time, I’m glad that we have a few more years to spend with you during these preschool years. We get a little time together everyday now after I pick you up from school, now that Gor-gor is in Primary 1, and I try to use that time to play and catch up with you, To listen to your stories, play your games (for they must always be your rules) and read you books that you love. You’ve also started showing more interest in words and can recognise quite a few sight words, so these days when we read together, you will suddenly start pointing out and reading words that you recognise. It feels like something has clicked in your head as you slowly pick up more words everyday. You even recently learnt to spell “Legoland”, thanks to our recent trip up. A very important word to learn to spell as your Papa would tell you! More than English though, it is Chinese that you’ve learnt to read really well. You are always pointing out words that you recognise — recently it was all the "福" and “年” on your ang pows — and you love to pull out your Berries book and flash cards to read on your own. I’ve even caught you trying to teach them to your soft toys. “When I grow up, I want to be a Chinese teacher,” you have declared on more than one occasion. Your Papa and I marvel at the fact that you’ve taken to the language so well despite having really minimal exposure to it at home. Long may it continue.

My precious little daughter, my birthday wish for you is that you will always know, like you know now, that your Papa and I love you very very much. That that knowledge would stand you in good stead as you journey through life. That you will walk close to the Lord and grow to be a woman after His own heart. And that you will stare down every challenge with those huge eyes of yours and meet every trial with grace and good humour, knowing that we will always have your back. I used to cringe at parents calling their daughters princess, but that was before you came along. Then I understood. Because you really are our princess, precious and rare. And strong and brave and clever and funny and everything that a princess should be. 

Happy birthday princess.

Loving you always,
Mummy

Three

My dearest Meips,

Today, you are three. You raise three fingers when asked how old you are, the third finger coming up more slowly than the other two, as you get used to the idea of being a year older. "This is three, right?" you asked proudly. I think you've been waiting a long time for the day.

I sometimes wonder: has it really been only three years since you've come into our lives? You've come to fill our lives and our home with the force of your personality (and your loud voice) and we can't imagine our lives without you. No one can resist picking you up and hugging and kissing you when you are within reach. You usually struggle away, but once in a while you'll throw your arms around me and give me a kiss with a sweet "I love you Mummy", and I can assure you that, for me, that is one of the best feelings in the world. 

You've grown up so much in the past year, as evidenced by the fact that you started school this year and shed nary a tear. Never have I seen a child make a calmer entrance into school. It wasn't that you weren't afraid. In the beginning, I could sense your uncertainty, but you put on a brave front and carried on. It must have been a bit overwhelming to start, with new teachers and unfamiliar faces around you. Your English teacher is also away on maternity leave this term so your school day has been conducted primarily in Chinese, a language you are unfamiliar with. But you've adapted so well.

These days you are always singing Chinese songs at home (小手拍拍 and 早安老师 being your current favourites, 恭喜恭喜 last month) and will insist on singing grace in Chinese at every meal. You don't get all the words right but you get more accurate as the days go by. You learnt all the names of your classmates within a month and get really excited when you see them anywhere, and will quickly turn to me to tell me, "That's my friend!" And you really love school and your teacher. There hasn't been a day when you've objected to going to school. In fact, you really want to go everyday. "What are we doing tomorrow?" you asked me one Saturday. "It's Sunday tomorrow, Mei-mei, so we're going to go to church," I said in reply. "And then after that we'll go to school?" you said hopefully.

Li Laoshi told me that you're very sensible (懂事) and she never has to worry about you in class as you know how to follow along and do what is necessary. I am so proud of you and how well you're doing in this regard. Sometimes I think it's funny how well you've taken to school considering how you refuse to believe anything I say when I try to teach you something at home that is contrary to what you think you know. Perhaps it's because I'm not your teacher, just Mummy. May you always keep up that enthusiasm for school and learning as you grow up.

On the home front, you've also grown by leaps and bounds. You're completely potty trained, even at night, so we are now completely off-diapers in this household. After you got proficient with using the potty, you basically just decided that you didn't want to use diapers any more, day or night. Your Daddy believed you could do it. "At most, she can't do it and we'll put her diaper back on," he said casually, while I not-so-silently freaked out about the fact that it was my bed you were going to be wetting (since you were sleeping with me at that time) and that I was the one who always had to wake up to mop up the bed and change the sheets should there be an incident. But you were determined. "I'm not going to pee," you said. And even though you had yet to turn in a dry diaper in the morning, against my better judgment, I let you try going diaperless. Of course, I barely slept a wink that night. I was so sure you were going to wet the bed. Except that you didn't. And you continued to stay dry night after night till I realised that you really were well and truly diaper-free.

That was four months ago. Till this day, you have only wet the bed maybe three or four times. Once when you couldn't get off the bed in time to get to the potty and twice because you were probably just too tired. Thank you for making it so easy.

In other ways too, you've continued to show your independent streak. You insist on picking your on clothes and there really isn't much we can do to stop you since you can change entirely on your own. Yes, you can pull t-shirts off you own head and put them on, you can do and undo buttons, pull up and down your pants and put on your own socks. The only thing you can't do is probably reach your dresses because they are hanging too high up. It's not surprising to see you coming out of the room wearing a different outfit because you decided that you wanted to change. You are also rather adept at feeding yourself. I still can't believe you can do all that because it took your brother much longer to master those skills.

I often feel like you learnt to do things on your own because you had to. Not a day goes by that I do not feel guilty for not giving you all the attention that you need. With Gor-gor's homework and Gor-gor's piano practice and having to send Gor-gor for classes, I find that you are always patiently waiting for me to have the time to bring you to the playground or for a swim. We'll do more together this year, I promise. I too know that your childhood doesn't wait around forever.

In the meantime, do stay the funny, adventurous, independent, lively little girl that you are. We love you, sweetheart. Happy 3rd Birthday.

Love always and beyond and to the moon and back,
Mummy.

Teaching Thy Children as Thou Sittest, Walkest, Liest Down, Risest Up

My dear Noey, my beautiful son,

You stand on the cusp of turning 4 years of age, your birthday being just over a month away. You have grown up a lot since we moved into the second half of the year. You've matured and grown, and you're a little boy now. No longer a baby or a toddler but a proper boy in your own right. I know you can't wait to finally be FOUR, just like the rest of your classmates. It probably can't come soon enough.

Your Mummy here though can't quite believe that you're almost four already. It would mean that I've been at this parenting gig for four years too, and I can't quite believe that either, because I'm still learning new things every day.

Like today.

Today we brought J, your classmate home with us today, because his parents weren't able to pick him up and asked me to help out. I don't mind picking him up and babysitting him, even giving him lunch before his parents pick him up. If I do hesitate, it's because of you. Because I know that you actually aren't that fond of him. Somehow when you play together, you always end up getting hurt. He is bigger and stronger, and you, well, tend to be at the receiving end whenever things go wrong.

It happened again on this occasion. I wasn't watching you boys at that point so I don't know exactly what happened, but from what I could gather, you boys were playing with your die-cast cars and you used yours to crash into the one in J's hand. (I really don't know why you must always play this way with crashing and banging!) I am guessing he retaliated by hitting you on the forehead with his car, because the next thing I knew, you were in tears. You were in tears and I could see that it hurt, and my heart ached for you. While I didn't think J should have hit you in the head, I did think that you were also at fault for starting the aggressive play in the first place, and I told you so.

You were mad, you were. And being mad, you said all kinds of angry things, describing unkind things you wanted to do to him. I told you that you shouldn't, that it wasn't the right way to react, that he was a guest, that he had apologised. You weren't happy. "But why?" you asked me. And your question reminded me of what was important. I was telling you how to react, and superficially why you should be doing so. But at that point, I pulled you on my lap, and told you - "Because God tells us to forgive." And I spent some time explaining to you how Jesus loved and Jesus forgave even despite the suffering he went through, till death on the cross. We also spent a short time praying that God would help you forgive.

And you understood. You nodded solemnly and hopped off my lap to go and play. There were no more tears, no more nasty words. You left J to his devices and you sat down nearby to play quietly on your own for a while. I was SO PROUD of you, and so incredibly grateful to God for helping you through the difficult moment.

I must also say that while I was proud of you, but I wasn't proud of myself. God gave me the inspiration at that point to get through to you, but I instantly felt guilty for not doing more on other previous occasions, or seizing more opportunities to teach you God's word and His ways. Forgive your Mama. I'm only human, and often I get sucked in by the day to day and neglect the more important type of teaching and training that I should be doing. But I'm not going to forget now - I promise you and Meips that. I guess that's why I'm writing this down here. To remind me of my purpose at this time when I am enjoying this tremendous opportunity to spend time growing up with you both.

I love you so much. Don't you ever forget that.

Love,
Your Mama

Naomi at 17 Months

My dear Meips, my spunky little girl,

You are 17 months old today. Though sometimes I feel like you are 17-months-going-on-17-years.

Today, as I write this, I am struck by just how different you and your brother are. He is straight as an arrow, and you, probably not so much. He accepts instructions, perhaps after testing me a couple of times. You refuse to accept instructions if it is not what you want to do and you'll keep testing me, not taking no for an answer. When he gets in trouble, your brother's first instinct is to get angry and cry. When you get in trouble, your first instinct is to try to smile your way out (then cry when that fails). Where your brother needs approval, you decide who gets your approval. Your brother is bright and probably has a high IQ, but your Dad and I have our money on you having a higher EQ. Of course I'm over-generalising, but you get the picture.

I already know that parenting you is going to be a challenge. Especially when you are mad with me and deliberately ignore me when I try to get your attention. Young lady, you're barely out of your infancy and you're already giving me the cold shoulder? This is going to be a problem. But at the same time, you are so loveable that I'm so glad it's me who gets to be your Mama, challenge or not.

It is impossible to document your development the same way I used to do when you were younger, but here is a snapshot what you are like at this age, before time slips us by:

 

♥ You have about 50-60 words, which I think is pretty decent for this age I guess. It hasn't been that easy teaching you because you don't really like repeating after us. In line with your character, you have only learnt the words that you want to learn. So there's bo (bowl) and pok (fork) and spoo (spoon) for food, and dor (door) and bag and shh (shoe) for going out. And Ba-ba (Bye-bye) and Hi to engage everyone you meet. And an extremely cute no. (Though not so cute to be at the receiving end of it.) You also know how to call all of us and wield that power to call us over and over. Your grandparents LOVE it and that has won you plenty of good favour. You can also say Mei-mei very clearly when we ask you your name. We'll get round to Naomi soon enough.

 

♥ While you don't like to repeat words, you love to repeat sounds. "Papa Crrrrr!" you would say, copying the sound of Papa's snoring. Or "Papa Ahch!" (the sound of Papa sneezing). We toot the horn in the car and we'd hear an echoing "Beep beep!" from the back seat. You'd say Brrrrrm and Grrrrr but refuse to say Bus or Lion. It's funny but entertaining.

 

♥ You love bags and shoes. Oh dearie me. "Bag!" you'd say to remind me every time we head for the door. And every time you spy my bag sitting in its corner during gym class, you'd always head straight for it and bring it to me. You do the same with your brother's school bag when you see it lying around, much to his exasperation. This obsession of yours with bags has led your grandmothers to each buy a little bag for you, which you love to tote around, proudly.

 

 In your world, a bag is absolutely necessary before we can go out. Pants are optional.

♥ And shoes, yes, you are really good with shoes. You have multiple pairs and yet I can always count on you to pick out the correct pair after class each time. But it's not just your own shoes that you recognize. You know which shoes belong to me, your Papa, your Gor-Gor and Aunty M, and not only that, but your Nai nai, Por-por, Kong-kong and Jiu-jiu as well. Basically anyone who visits us with any regularity. Just the other day Nai-nai came to visit us. I noticed your Nai-nai's slippers outside our home and realised that you must have too, because when you walked in and didn't see Nai-nai, you looked around quizzically and asked "Nai-nai?" I'm still amazed by how good you are at recognising footwear.

 

♥ You are a very agile little monkey. Seeing how strong you are, I decided to bring you for gym class. It was a good move as you really enjoy it. You didn't know what we wanted you to do on the monkey bars (I don't know what the proper name for this is!) but once you saw another little girl swinging from it, there's been no stopping you. The other kids step off, swing and drop down but you, you can really hang on for ages. You swing then reach backwards with your feet for the step and pull yourself back on it, then step off and swing again. Rinse and repeat. We might make a gymnast out of you yet.

 

Swing!

 

♥ I call you the class monitress because you just love telling people what to do. Once you've taken your seat for you meal, you will start ordering everyone to sit down too. "Tor-tor! (Gor-gor) Chair!" you'd say, gesturing to the chair to insist your brother sits down. I was told that once, when Kong-kong was saying grace, you looked around and saw that Jiu-jiu did not have his hands clasped. Immediately you sought to get his attention and deliberately brought your hands together to signal him to do so. I had a good laugh when I heard that. You really are a bossy little thing.

 

♥ You LOVE to go out. Can't blame you there. It is more interesting than staying at home, certainly. You know I'm going to head out when I pick up my bag, and you'll immediately head for the door too and ask to be let out. And my, do you howl when I leave you behind! It's the one thing that gets me the cold shoulder treatment the most often.

 

All dressed up with nowhere to go...

 

♥ You are now down to one nap a day. Your daily sleep schedule now has you waking up around 7.30am, napping for about 2 hours between 1.15pm till past 3pm, and being in bed by 9pm. This is the ideal schedule, which I hope you'll stick to for as long as possible! It gives you enough rest and gets you to bed at an appropriate time.

 

♥ Oh yes, you're officially out of your cot. We took you out early last month when we discovered that you could climb out of it. One fateful night, I heard you start to fuss in the middle of the night, and as per my usual practice, I left you for a bit to see if you'd settle, before I headed over to check. I then got the fright of my life when, on route to your room, I saw you walk out the door on your own. I still thought that maybe Aunty M got up and got you out of your cot, but nope, you definitely got out on your own. We lowered the cot to its lowest level the next day but two nights later, you showed up in my room in the middle of the night. After that, we took the mattress out, and you, Ms Naomi Houdini Ong, have been sleeping on the floor ever since. Till you walk over to our room and plonk yourself on the bed in the middle of the night, that is.

♥ You have 8 teeth. You've been drooling quite a bit for the past month or two, and we can feel the teeth under your gums, but they really are taking their time to come out. I'm in no hurry, especially when your lack of teeth has not stopped you from trying to eat all manner of food. You still take a bottle of milk to sleep too, so I feel it's better that your teeth stay in for now!

♥ You are a very good eater. I call you my little foodie. I love the fact that you will at least try everything before choosing to reject anything. You've definitely got adventurous tastebuds though. I made a spiced cauliflower soup, the other night, with cumin, coriander and turmeric. Your brother took one lick and refused to eat any of it. You made a funny face after tasting the first mouthful, but kept on eating! Well done sweetie. Maybe it was also the fact that you love soup, much to your soup loving Mama's delight. 

I'll have this please!

♥ The fact that you love food has also translated into you being able to feed yourself rather well. You deftly scoop up porridge and direct the spoon into your own mouth without much mess. Given your independent nature, I dare say you'll be fully self-feeding before your brother is. Hur hur.

Sometimes a girl's just got to feed herself to get to the food around here!

♥ You are friendly - very friendly. You would greet folks with a cheery "Hi!" and you love to say bye to anyone we meet. Like the waiters at restaurants when we are done with our meals, or sales assistants in shops when we step out. They are usually very happy to wave back. You also like other children and I'm glad I mostly don't have to worry about you hurting them. Except that because your brother has this unfortunate habit of greeting you by tickling your cheeks, you seem to think it is acceptable behaviour for greeting other children. I'm still in the process of trying to train you out of it.

♥ You still prefer Uncles to Aunties. Somehow they have more luck carrying you. Granduncle George succeeded where all the other grandaunts failed. And when Uncle Jon came to visit, you merrily plonked yourself in his lap with nary a care. 

Making yourself comfy on Uncle Jon's lap.

♥ You really love music, much more than I remember your brother doing. You'd jiggle merrily to tunes and you have this super cute way of swaying your head from side to side while pretending to sing. It's really the cutest thing ever. You also really enjoy action songs and will follow along after me. "More! More!", you'd say, complete with nodding, to indicate that you want me to sing.

Moving along to your own version of the itsy bitsy spider. 

♥ You are LOUD. Both of you kids are. I wonder where you get it from.

♥ You are starting to copy everything your Gor-gor does. You want to be where he is, have what he's holding. The good thing is that the two of you are also starting to play together more, and I'm always very happy when I hear squealing laughter as the two of you run around together.

And I'll take this, thank you!

♥ You are independent. I drop you off at your class for BSF every week now and you go with nary a tear. The lovely ladies at BSF are always telling me how good you are in class and how much they enjoy having you around. I can't tell you how proud I am of you when they tell me this.

Feisty though you are, you generally have a good temperament. You know how to wait your turn, you are gentle with little babies and you're so adorable. Your Papa and I both love the 1-2 year old stage and we're really enjoying you now. We love you so much, Meips. We just want to keep you little forever. Happy 17 months!

Love,

Your Mama

Happy ONE, Little Meips!

Dearest not-so-little Meips,

You're One, baby! How are you liking finally being able to add a year to your age?

Cheery on the morning of your birthday and wondering why you were having the phone pointed at your face this early in the morning.

We had grand plans to bring you out on your birthday, but alas, the weather dawned grey and rainy. All outdoor plans had to be scrapped. Especially since you and Gor-gor were barely recovered from bronchitis, we decided not to risk the rain. We were all quite disappointed, especially your Papa who had taken leave to spend the day with you.

It didn't affect you much though. I think the day went rather well for you. You went for Kindermusik in the morning with me, then came home to nap and have lunch. During lunch, you kept reaching for our food while ignoring your own. To your delight, we decided as a birthday treat to let you have some of our ham pasta. (Essentially penne that has been mixed with a sauce of simmered chicken stock, onions, capsicums, peas, mushrooms and shaved ham. Inspired by Godpa, it is one of Gor-gor's favourite meals.) You LOVED it.

Gasp, adult food! Let me at it!

After that it was time for both you and Gor-gor to have a nap while Papa and Mummy ran some errands for your birthday party the next day. When we were done, we came home and played with you both for a while then it was off to Amazonia for your birthday treat. It's been a while since we've brought you there. I'm glad we did because now that you're walking, you totally enjoyed yourself. The ball pit was a hit and thereafter, you refused to go without a ball in your each of your hands!

Armed and ready to play!

You played on while the rest of us grabbed a quick dinner. The man at the gate had been kind enough to grant you free entrance with minimum spending of $10, and given the late hour, we decided to just grab a bite there. Fortunately they have a decent menu. After all that playing, we went to meet Godpa and Godma at Ben & Jerry's where you had your first taste of ice cream. I would have given you more but we're still cautious due to your diary intolerance so you could only have a tiny bit.

We stayed out a bit too late and you crashed out in the car but I'm sure you thought it was worth it!

We celebrated your birthday with a big party the next day that was all kinds of awesome, but that's another post.

This month wasn't a whole lot of fun. It was characterised, unfortunately, by you falling rather ill. As your fever reached 40°C on a number of occasions, it was as if you were a different baby. You were clingy and listless and wanted to be carried all the time. Your eyes lost their usual sparkle. You, my foodie baby, rejected your meals. You were also a lot more subdued, to the extent that Aunty M commented that she missed your screaming! Every time you took the meds and the fever came down a little, you would be revived and full of energy but that waned as the effect of the meds wore off.

Sick face.

We were all so worried, and so grateful when the fever finally broke after you started on antibiotics. You still have a residual cough, especially since you hate the nebulizer, but I pray that you will be healed soon.

Other than your sickness, it has been a happy month for you.

You've been enjoying your Kindermusik sessions, which you take as an opportunity to nom each and every instrument you come into contact with. You really do love putting EVERYTHING in your mouth! You are very vocal and now that you're on your two feet, you spend a lot of time exploring the classroom and following other kids around. It's been fun, spending one morning a week out with you.

You love going out and I often find you standing b the main door, tapping it and looking meaningfully at me.  We have been spending a lot of time just downstairs at the playground and that's good enough for you.

Have shoes, will wander.

You had your first encounter with sand when, on the spur of the moment, I took both you and your brother to West Coast Park on a weekday evening. Of course you tried to taste it. Fortunately I don't think you ate anymuch.

What is this? Most importantly, is it food?

You mad a new little friend -- Emily -- and enjoyed a spot of swimming together. Hopefully we can meet up again, maybe over a meal since her Mummy tells me she's as much of a foodie as you are.

Skills-wise, you've continued to develop. I must admit I'm much more relaxed about milestones with you. With your Gor-gor, I was hanging on to each one and anticipating the next. But with you, I'm just taking them as they come. The down-side to that is that I don't always remember/notice when they happen! This month you:

1. Taught yourself to drink from a straw. You were playing with Gor-gor's water bottle and managed to take a sip. I finally switched you to a straw bottle soon after and you just went with it. Easiest switch ever.

Negative demonstration.

Don't take my bottle away, please?

2. Started walking long distances and negotiating steps on your own.
3. Started saying "MUM MUM!" really clearly and loudly. Insistently too, when you're hungry. And you give a big "AH-M!" when food is put in your mouth. Like I said, you're a foodie!
4. Learnt to say a couple more words -- "Baw!" (Ball), "Boo!" (Book), "Ba-Ba!" (Balloon).
5. Hold a phone to your ear when you say "hello".

"Siang kah pager?"

6. Fall on your back when I say "All fall down!". Ring-a-ring-a-rosie is a favourite game.
7. Blow a raspberry when you hear one.
8. Open and close your fist when you hear "Twinkle twinkle little star".
9. Rock back and forward when you hear music.
10. Clasp your hands together with I ask you to say grace.
11. Learnt to sign "Please" in one day! (Food REALLY helps.) You can also do "Up", raising your hands.

I think there are a couple more things but I can't remember at the moment!

This month you also moved on to being 100% on formula. It was really a non-event. I just pumped more infrequently through the last month until I stopped entirely. You didn't skip a beat and just continued downing the bottles of formula. I am grateful for that for it really helped ease the guilt of stopping the breastfeeding sooner than I did with your brother. But I remind myself that you are doing well on the formula, and tell myself to let it go. You're still on soy, but I am optimistic you can switch back to cow's milk soon since you seem to be tolerating milk-products well.

We've been having fun with you. There's just something about you -- your mannerisms, your voice, the way you are -- that is just so cute. You are our living doll.

Sometimes also a comedian.

We love you little Meips. As we come to the end of your first year, this is also the end of this series of letters to you. I will instead be making periodic updates on your development and writing the odd letter here and there. But the absence of a monthly update does not mean that we are not ever eager to grow with you in the year ahead. 1-2 is your Papa and my favourite age so we are definitely looking forward to it and watching our big girl grow.

Continue to be a delight to all.

Love,
Mama.

Our enthusiastic eater,  eating the plate in her eagerness to get the spaghetti!
(Weight: 8.8kg, Height: 75cm)

11/12

Dearie Meips,

You're 11 months old and ready to take on the world on your own 2 feet. Yup, you hit your biggest milestone yet this past month when you started walking at 10.5 months. This is, incidentally, exactly when your brother started walking as well. We were really excited of course, but really, no one is more pleased about this development than you are. You are SO PROUD to be walking around on your own, that you're always strutting around with the biggest smile on your face.

Baby coming through!

You've actually gotten pretty good at walking over the past 2-3 weeks. Now you can walk many many steps on your own. Except when I pulls out a camera. When I start videoing you, you're guaranteed to stumble within the next few steps. Hah. You can also change direction without falling over, though it's kind of abrupt when you do! It entertains you to no end just walking around in circles in and out of Noey's room. You walk out, I call you, and you walk back in with excited chortles. If only all things could be that simple and fun.

You love to carry a book in your hands when you walk -- we think it gives you a useful counterweight. So you now have a new-found interest in board books. "We're going on a Bear Hunt" is your favourite. With your book in hand, you charge around like a baby on a mission.

Walking with a snack bowl in hand. The hammer was not the intended snack...

I have a feeling you were concentrating a whole lot on getting the walking straight, because now that you've gotten that out of the way, your cognitive skills, in particular your understanding seems to have racheted up a notch. Where previously you would blithely ignore us when we ask you to do something, or try to teach you, towards the end of the month, you started being able to do the following:

1. Consistently call "Papa" and "Mama" accurately.
2. Repeat "Papa" and "Mama" when asked to do so. You even managed Gor-gor -- "Tor!" -- a couple of times.
3. Kiss and hug Papa when asked.
4. Feed Mummy whatever you're holding in your hand, when asked. If it's a snack you want, you'll bring your hand to my mouth and quickly snatch it away to put in your mouth with a cheeky grin.
5. Shake your head to indicate "No", in contradiction to "Yes". You also know how to shake your head when asked to do something your don't want to do. You know, like sleep or drink your milk. You are a naughty little monkey.

Whot? Me? You're calling me cheeky?

I can't really complain about your eating though. You really are a good eater. You smack your lips when you see something new to eat and you'll eagerly snatch food out of our hands. You'll even cry when it's past your mealtime and you have not been fed. That is something your Gor-gor never did so it's new to us. And when you're hungry, you eat really quickly. Ah, that's such a treat, after all the pain we went through getting Noey to eat.

The best part is that you can be entertained with food to sit in your highchair at a restaurant. I managed to keep you in there for an hour once over lunch with my friends at Marmalade Pantry, which I thought was an achievement, for you and for me. Keep it up and we'll be lunching out together more often!

"Now, what's for tea?"

You're good with your milk bottle too. Too good in fact, so much so that you don't really like latching on. As a result, my supply has plummeted. It's just too difficult to pump regularly. This month, we started supplementing you with formula. I'd been worried about transitioning you due to your issues with dairy, but I started you on ProSoBee soy formula, and other than some initial confusion, you have taken to it really well. Thank God for His little mercies.

(Confession: I bought ProSoBee because it was the only soy formula I saw in the supermarket that day. I later discovered that there's also Isomil and stressed a bit about which was better. I really am a formula newbie. After some research, I decided that we'll stick to the current formula since you're drinking it well. No point rocking the boat huh!)

You now alternate between formula and EBM. I actually think you sleep better when you take formula as your last feed. With the smooth transition, the pressure on me has eased, and I guess the weaning process to get you off breastmilk has begun. As always, it is bittersweet and deserves a post of its own. The most important thing to me however is that you thrive, and because you are, I know that it is the right thing to do.

Breathing in all that EBM goodness!

You continue to be our little party animal, making it through the recent Chinese New Year without meltdowns. You let most people carry you, though you show a preference for men. It's a bit early for that, you know. But you really love being around people. You are energised and excited, often trying to talk to everyone at the top of your voice. It's impossible to put you down for a nap when you know that there's a party going on outside.

Where'sthe party? I'm here!

But once you hit your carseat, boom! You're out like a light. Thankfully, now that we've upgraded you to the sitting, forward-facing carseat, we've not had any many issues with you in it. Only if we leave you in it when you think you should be going out -- man, do you get angry!

Recharging for the next party.

It is getting more difficult to sum you up in a single post, but one thing every one seems to agree on: you are very cute. You charm strangers everywhere. especially when you see them looking and you start to engage them. As for me, there isn't a day that goes by when I don't think you are the cutest thing ever. I just want to pick you up and cuddle you, kiss your round cheeks and make you smile.

The more we know you, the more we love you. I hope you'll always know that.

Happy 11 months, cutie pie.

The ONLY way to sit in a highchair, according to the Naomi School of Etiquette.

Love you loads,

Your Mama

The 10th Month

Happy 10 months little Meips!

This has been a big month for you. I thought I wouldn't have much to update, seeing as I was SO LATE with the last one, but you're really at that stage where you just change and grow everyday. I had forgotten how much fun it is at this stage with Noey and I'm now truly grateful that I get to spend this time at home with you.

So, some of the highlights of your development this month are:

1. You can stand unsupported for a long time.

"Look Ma, no hands!"

You are now very steady on your feet. You can stand, carrying heavy objects in both hands, with nary a care. You can also squat down and stand up without holding on to anything. Basically, I consider you as having passed the standing module and ready to progress to the next level of walking. All you need is a wee bit more confidence. You've been gleefully charging around on your walker with your funny little straight-legged walk so I think it wouldn't be long before you take off proper.

2. You took your first step

And yes, you've already taken your first step. A bit of a shuffle, which you've repeated a couple of times since, though you have yet to take more than one step at a time. These days, we can almost see you assessing the gap between spaces and deciding if you can make it across. Most times, you just lunge or sink to the floor and crawl across. I think once you get the confidence, there'll be no stopping you!

All dressed up and taking your first step, in your Elly dress, no less! Aunty A would be proud!

3. You can get on and off our bed on your own. You also know to get off the bed the right way, bum first.

"No, THIS is the way you get off the bed! Use your feet first!"

I'm quite pleased you learnt this quite quickly. At least I can stop worrying that you'll plunge - intentionally - over the edge of the bed. You still have a habit of flipping very quickly into a sitting position from being on all fours really near the edge of a raised surface though. Seriously, it's a skill how you always manage to choose to sit down just where you could tip over and give your parents a heart attack.

4. You are a very proficient crawler and you are also quite a climber these days.

I like how you don't let the fact that you cannot walk on your own stop you from being adventurous. It's all systems go for you when you reach the playground. You can make your way up the stairs and up any surface that you can get a knee on. Once I turned for a moment to talk to Aunty G (Dec's Mummy) and when I looked around, you were standing on the first step of a climbing structure and were trying to figure out how to get up the next step.

You weren't too pleased after you clonked your head a few times on the step above!

5. You sprouted your first 2 teeth.

6. You're eating like a champ.

Your meals now rotate between alphabet pasta, oats, and porridge, cooked with a variety of vegetables like sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot, broccoli, peas, etc. and chicken, fish, tofu and sometimes beef for protein. You generally like everything. Atta girl. I think the one thing you weren't fond of were the bell peppers. Otherwise, you eat everything, and mighty quickly too. After your difficult brother, I can't tell you what a joy to feed a baby who actually likes her food! You even smack your lips when you see me eating something interesting. You're also constantly trying to drink from the soft drink cans in the kitchen, which are, thankfully, sealed. And you get mad when nothing comes out! You're our little foodie.

We have been happily feeding you in return, though with some restriction due to your sensitivity to dairy. I don't know if you've started to outgrow it, but after you had rashes for a week from yoghurt, I haven't dared to re-introduce dairy. You've been enjoying the soyghurt that I buy you on occasion instead.

The one thing we're not fond of giving you fish. For some reason, you tend to smell of fish for the next couple of days. "She smells like a baby... a baby MACKEREL!" said your father. We laughed, but it is true! I don't know what it is, though my latest guess is that it's your breath/saliva, that gets on your hands when you put your fingers in your mouth, then all over your head when you scratch yourself. I've got to figure out how to eliminate the smell because, phew!

Little Miss Messy-Mouth

7. You've start to show an interest in books. Like, finally! Unlike your brother however, you love the gimmicks -- the textured pages, the flaps, the sound/music/lights. Better if the book includes all of the above!

"Eh, so what's this book supposed to do? Where's the sound?"

Cognitively, we've also started to have more fun.

8. You know how to shake your head to say "no" when you don't want something.

Usually, this is your response when we try to give you another mouthful of food when you're not ready for it. Also, after being told off sternly for touching the power points on the walls, we've seen you head towards a power point, then stop short, shake your head, and move in another direction. It's really too cute. There have also been funny incidents. Like once when you were clanbering all over me, Papa looked over and said to me, "I think she's hungry. I think you should give her some milk." Immediately, you shook your head! We laughed and took it as a cue to delay your feed for a while.

9. You are starting to understand more, and can identify (ie. look in the direction) of the following when asked: pacifier, book, mama, papa, gor gor, sleep-sleep, milk-milk. You also understand "not in the mouth" though increasingly you're choosing to ignore this instruction.

Book and Ball. Check!

10. You absolutely love peekaboo. When we ask you to play, you'll crouch down behind a table, and then spring up with a yell. Sometimes you're so loud, we actually do get a fright!

"AHHHHH!"

11. Speaking of being loud, you've started to complain about your brother. Now when he harasses you, or when he takes toys away from you, you will look in my direction, expecting me to step in. And when I don't, you'll cry to complain. Gor gor can be rough most times, but I know sometimes he barely touches you and you still cry vehemently. On those occasions, I will reproach you for crying.

"Ack, hello, why isn't anyone doing anything? He's got me!"

You gor gor is lucky he's still bigger than you. He doesn't know what he's in for when you grow up.

11. You haven't been sleeping too well this month. There were a couple of days when you'll wake up in the middle of the night and be unable to go to sleep. On hindsight, this was probably due to teething, and the fact that you were probably in a skills-learning phase, both of which are known to disrupt sleep. But man, was I disgruntled by the need to carry and rock you for more than an hour each time!

"I don't want to sleep!!"

Consequently, I've brought you over to my bed more often, which surprise, surprise, you had much less trouble sleeping on. It's terrible for me though, because I then can't sleep from worrying that you'll fall off the bed, and because there seriously isn't enough space!

Stretching out. Like a boss. This is MY bed of course.

12. You've started to give us attitude. Yes, already!

We noticed traces of this earlier, but it's become very clear recently that when you're not happy with someone, you give them the cold shoulder. If I scold you for something, for example, for a while after that, you will ignore me and refuse to smile when I try to play with you. Just the other day, Papa scolded you for pulling out the tissues from the tissue box, and after that, you refused to eat the watermelon that he was holding out to you. The same watermelon that you'd been happily eating just moment before. When Papa passed me the watermelon to feed you, only then did you deign to eat it.

This one I'm not too pleased about of course. I can't believe you're already doing this, at 10 months! Hoo boy, are we going to have trouble with you over this when you get older.

This isn't a developmental milestone but a milestone nonetheless: you've finally spent your last month in the infant capsule car seat. Which you hate, by the way. I'm not surprised. In fact, at 10 months, it's a wonder you still fit into it. Baby Bites had to be given liberally to encourage you not to complain. I finally managed to get Noey a booster so you have since been upgraded to his old forward facing seat and we have much happier rides. The only problem is, you still expect the Baby Bites. And so does Noey.

Get me out of here!

It's been an interesting month.

Having been through this before, I know things are really going to speed up for you in 2012. And as much as I look forward to doing more with you, I just can't help but wish you'll stay your cuddlesome little self for longer. Difficult as you might be at times, you do have a winning personality. You engage strangers who play with you, sometimes even allowing them to carry you. You smile and squeal with delight and this makes you very popular wherever you go. You've clearly inherited your Papa's aunty-killing skill. And you are just the cutest little thing. We love love love you.

Big hugs,
Your slowly aunty-fying Mummy.

9 Months Young

 My dearest Meips,

You're 9 months old! Already! By the time I post this update, you'll be more than 9.5 months old, but at least this month, I can blame the lateness of this update in part on the fact that we made a trip to Sydney to visit your Ah Kong and Granny at the tail-end of the month. It was your first trip and while you were mostly your obliging self, I can't deny that it was tricky travelling with both you and Noey together. Still, we would never have left you behind. I got to cuddle you and soak in your babyness a lot during the trip since everyone else was on hand to help with your Gor Gor, and I really enjoyed that. You are really growing up so fast, and every day that this update is late reminds me of that.

Looking a bit like a criminal in this mugshot. This was almost your passport photo, but Papa picked a better one in the end.

Maybe it's just me, but I think you seem to be cuter every month. Your little round face framed by your mushroom hair never fails to put a smile on my face. Your Papa commented that I'm always kissing you, and that's rare, for your non-touchy-feely Mummy. You inspire that in everyone by just being oh-so-huggable. The funny thing is that you seem to be like me in this respect -- you don't like it too much!

Reluctantly being squished by Papa.

We are well into your 10th month, but I'll stick to your 9th month for this update. You've learnt to do a lot this month, like:

Say Mama!
You've been "Mamamamama"-ing away and needless to say, this is obviously the biggest thing for me this month! It's also particularly gratifying since Noey said "Papa" first. It's probably non-specific though you do tend to say it more as a distress call for me. Whatever it is, I'll take it! You also delighted Papa when you woke up in the plane, looked straight at him and said "Pae-pae". He's been trying to get you to repeat it, with some success.

Wave Bye-Bye
Or do your non-wave really, which essentially has you lifting your hand as if you're saying "Ciao!" It cracks everyone up. You've stopped banging the table when you wave. Instead you just, well, bang the table for fun.

"Ciao!"

Respond to "No"
You'll stop and smile at me like I'm playing a game when I use a stern, firm voice. But you oblige, and move away from the fan, power sockets, etc. I've only had to smack your hand a couple of times when you didn't listen, and you learnt quickly enough after that!

You also respond to your name -- this from last month I think -- though by your name, I mean "Mei-Mei". Oops. You do respond to Naomi too, fortunately.

Stand without support

"Now, where did I leave that dinosaur?"

I haven't got a good photo of this because it happens so randomly, but you are getting increasingly better at balancing on your own. You'll break into a huge grin when you realise you're standing all by yourself, before slowly sinking to the ground. You'll be walking soon enough. As it is, you love to walk, with us holding on to both your hands.

Self-Feed Finger Food

You've made a big improvement from last month in this regard. While your pincer grasp isn't that great, you haven't let that stop you from eating. Oh no. You have instead mastered the art of rolling pieces of food from your palm into your mouth. Your success rate is honestly quite impressive -- you almost never drop your biscuits on the floor. Like your Gor-Gor, you're a huge fan of Gerber Stars and Baby Bites.

"Hmmm, why does everyone get dim sum while I only get this biscuit??"

Make Your Way Into Our Bed

Snoozing in comfort = no space for Mum & Dad. And yes, you're a really sweaty kid.

This is not a developmental milestone of course. I know it's only a matter of time before you follow your Gor-Gor into our room, but I've been diligently holding it off. This month, there've been nights when I've brought you back to our room to nurse when you wake up in the middle of the night, and you've spent the night with us. And it's actually been... really nice. Maybe because I usually don't have the time to watch you sleep, I've found that I really enjoy looking at your sweet little sleeping face.

Beautifully asleep.

This does not bode well for me and my sleeping space.

On our part, we have enjoyed seeing your personality continue to emerge this month. Your cheeky grins complete with a scrunchy nose are a trademark.

Eating tissue paper, and being caught in the act, is also trademark Naomi.

You're very friendly, and would usually smile readily at anyone who plays with you. This makes you very popular wherever you go. It's a little trickier when folks try to carry you though. They don't always succeed!

Another of your trademark moves is flopping over and putting your head down on the nearest surface when you're tired. You could be eating in your highchair, and you'll stop and put your head on the tray table. Or you could be crawling, and you'll stop and put your head on the floor. It's really quite funny and again I wish I had a good photo of it.

You are loud and you love yelling and shrieking at us in excitement. Papa has taken to calling you fierce-so as a result. I do wonder if it's the result of having to fight for attention. Perhaps. We'll never really know. What we do know is that you are an irresistible force of nature.

"AHHH!"

It's been a busy month for you. There have been birthday parties.

All decked out in Gor-Gor's old gear for Nat's soccer party

There have been playdates, both for you solo and also with your Gor-Gor. I've become braver and more adept at bringing the both of you out alone, though I am rightly exhausted at the end.

Finally someone your own size! With K at Aunty Shan's place.

We even went for a couple of sessions at Kindermusik, you and I. You love music and would happily bop along to tunes so I thought you might enjoy the class. You did. You were certainly the noisiest baby in class!

"Eh, I thought this was a music class?"
This was right before you nom-ed the ball, of course.

And there was, of course, our big trip to Sydney.

All smiles at the airport! I wasn't so pleased that you were awake considering that this was taken around 11pm.

It's been a hectic 9 months. But every time I look at you, I know that it's all been worth it. Grow well, my little Meips! But also, stay little, if you can, just for a bit.

Love,
Your very contradictory Mama.