The night owl

She'd her last feed and a pacifier in her mouth but she ain't ready to fall asleep yet. She was playing in her cot and you guys just LOOK at the tsunami she'd just created behind her!\

Janice no longer falling asleep super early and leaving daddy and mommy plenty of time watching DVDs and playing FB doing their chores now. She would want us to chat and play with her until way past 9pm. Yippee yay! Oh yeah lah.... Yay and FUN for the first few nights when it happens but now I think I've changed my mind :p. I wished she could sleep early on certain days when I arrive home super tired or having alot of house chores to complete. I believe daddy agrees with me Gezzz...

We're still sticking to the night routine of giving her her last feed for the night, pillow talk, reading some books to her and giving her less stimulating games before we call it a night but when the lights are off, she would continue playing. She would be rubbing her eyes but she would force herself to stand up and started talking and playing. *Sweats*

When we're too lazy to layan her, that's what she would do until she's super tired and falls asleep.....

Janice starting to show interest in trains... She's holding on to Percy, the No. 6 green engine.

Lots of reading flipping!

Does the Saturday fever dance moves as part of her gym activity to maintain her 'figure' *rolled eyes*

Finally... the night owl would call it a night

The night owl still in dreamland. She wakes up way past 8am in the morning since she'd partied the night before. One thing good is that we're not required to wake up super early in the morning to entertain her like before. :p Zzzzzzzzzz...

She's 11 months old

"Aiyaks...mama caught on camera !"

That's our girl at 11 months old. She's very cheeky now and play time with her is so much fun! She shows her excited by opening her mouth wide with a big smile. It melts our heart whenever she does that. Her new words would be "Oh ho...." whenever she drops a toy, she had a fall or when we suddenly turn of the TV. She calls out for "mum mum" repetitively whenever she is hungry and she would say "Meow" whenever she sees a cat in her favourite picture book.

 "meowwwwwww"

She could recognise the clock and cabinet so whenever we ask "Where's the clock or Where's the cabinet?" she would turn her head looking at the clock or cabinet. Other items would be the television, the computer or the window. When her mood is good, she would point at it. That's the activity daddy does with her whenever she's cranky waiting for her final feed at night before her bedtime. That few minutes would be just nice for me to count 1...2....3.... scopes...4....5.. 6 DONE!

She's still crazy over stars and she can listen to that Twinkle Twinkle little star song over and over again in the car and also from her Baby Galileo VCD at home.Guess I'll be able to sing  the song in a reverse order soon :p

She's still at the stage of wanting to have a taste of everything under the sun. Papers, plastic bags, toys, dust..just to name a few. Oh guess she just swallowed a tiny piece of paper napkin at the cafe recently. I tried to dig it out from her mouth but its gone! Oh well.... hehe

As for her appetite, she prefers solid over milk. Her appetite for a 7oz feed per session has dropped to 4-5oz now. She prefers warm meaty meals and vegetables. Thus far, she'd tried quite a variety of vegetables and fruits. Apart from that, she is quite familiar with the taste of herbs in her meals namely oregano, cinnamon, thymes and rosemary. She is also quite used to having garlic with her fish porridge and also small onions in her baby pasta. She snacks on Cheerios, teething biscuits and rusk. I'll be introducing cheese sticks to her this month as finger food. The fruits which I've been avoiding until she reaches the age of 1 would be oranges, strawberries and pineapple.

"Mama's not watching...I shall open up the container and throw all the contents out of the box!Muahahahha"

Baby Janice is getting more and more curious and active these days. She don't like to sit in her walker anymore because she prefers cruising and walking (with support) from one furniture to the other. Hiding under the table and trying to climb on boxes and stools. She would lie flat on the floor or sitting still for a long time exploring the wheels on her push car or the walker. She would find ways to open a box or exploring our fax machine. I'm wondering how long will I be able to sustain the lifespan of my fax machine. I'm also wondering if we're going to have another engineer in the house in the future... Mmm..?!?

She knows that I'll whack her palm whenever she misbehave by touching things she shouldn't touch. Now whenever I saw "NO", instead of me whacking her palm, she whack me first and mimic my angry face! 0.o. So now I've to say "NO NO" and followed by "Cannot beat mummy ar!!..." Rolled eyes.....

*Oh Lord I need more wisdom to bring up this child leh!*

That's our little baby girl at 11 months old, a toddler by end of this month.

Baby J @ 10mths old

Oh Mmmmm..... How old am I again?

My little lady is 10 months and 6 days old today. She has 2 whities at the bottom and a big one has eventually cut through her gums last week. Abit cranky at times due to the gum discomfort but as long as she's distracted with her favourite toy and a good company, she's ok. She has learned the ART OF FIGHTING SLEEP! She needs mummy and daddy to be with her during her bedtime. The lights are out, she's lying on her cot. She may close her eyes as though she's already in deep sleep but the minute we leave the room, she'll be standing up and calling out loud "Dadiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii or Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" or she'll just yell out "arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". If we response by going inside the room, she'll be so happy jumping up and down and give us the cutest smile. *Naughtiness* SOLUTION: She'll only sleep when mummy give her a serious look and a 'piaks' on her backside.

Aiyor... my gums are terribly itchy leh!

She is moving alot at 10 months old. My little explorer will tip toe to grab things that's unreachable for her height. She loves my laptop keyboard. Just place her on my lap and she will tap tap on it like a pro typist. She will even move the mouse once a while 'typing'. Mmm... She must've observed how daddy and mommy uses the computer. She loves crawling to forbidden places. Places daddy and mummy would usually say no to i.e the kitchen, under the table and also our changing room. She knew these are the "NO NO" areas so when we try to catch her while she crawl towards these places, she would crawl faster and laugh cheekily away from us!

Separation anxiety has kicked in for our little girl. It was a long Merdeka holiday. She was away from nursery for the whole 5 days. On the day she was supposed to go to nursery, she woke up looking very moody and grumpy. She cried as she was placed in her car seat and all the way to the nursery. Stopped when I carried her out of the car and she started crying really hard when her caretaker carried her away from me. Heart breaking for daddy and mommy to see her crying for us but we're no choice, she need to learn to be independent :). Guess its all part of growing up. According to the caretakers, she stopped crying the moment she was brought upstairs to her room. Since school reopens, she has been crying whenever I passed her to the caretaker. Le Sigh!

Gimme my norm norm, else I'll eat my pacifier

As for her diet, her milk intake has dropped from a normal 6-7ozs to 4-5oz per feed. Janice has started to show signs of hating fish and rice porridge. I believe too much of a good thing is no good. Since she's eating porridge for lunch, I'll try to give her other variety of food for dinner. Since she love oats, I've been playing around with her new found favourite grain with milk, prunes, apples, pumpkin, spinach and all other vegetable and fruits she liked. She'll only take 10 minutes to finish her meal if its good but would easily take more than 30 minutes if its not what she want to eat that day :( She's quite like moi who's quite particular about her yums eh!.....tsk tsk tsk....

Janice will be 1 yrs old in two months time! So fast eh?! I'm currently on a food testing journey with hubby... We are hunting for a party venue for my little toddler to be. Our first time celebrating our daughter's birthday.  How exciting & I just can't wait!

Twinkle twinkle little star

Her favourite nursery song is currently Twinkle twinkle little star. Whenever she hear this song, she would stop doing whatever she's doing, raise both her little hands and show me 2 little blinking star.

Janice is learning to understand us when we talk

Whenever she is hungry...

Janice: Mama Mum mum!!! *Giving me a sad look & sometimes she will cry a little*
Me: WAIT Janice, mommy's preparing your dinner/lunch now
Janice would sit quietly while watching me preparing her meal.

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When she's hungry/craving for milk usually in the morning...

Janice: MUM-MUM MUM-MUM
Me: Daddy's making Nen Nen, Janice WAIT
Janice: *wait silently in my arms*

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Bedtime

Janice would usually sleep through the night in her own cot but occasionally, she would want to smell our armpits our cuddles and sleep sandwiched between daddy and I. We would get the cue when she stand up in her cot and do the dance for us in the middle of the night. All the time, she would fall into a deep sleep the minute we place her in between us but yesterday, she wanted to sit up and play when daddy brought her to our bed..

Me: *In a very stern voice* JANICE, NIGHT NIGHT....GO TO SLEEP NOW!!! ELSE , I PUT YOU IN YOUR COT!!!!

Janice looked at me with a sad face, lie down on her tummy and dare not move although I peeped at her several times before I eventually dozed off and saw that her eyes were still wide open.. This morning, I woke up and saw that she was still in the same position I saw few hours ago... sleeping like an angel :)

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We MUST have such conversation like this before daddy leaves the house without bringing along Janice...

Me: Daddy come back fast ok? Janice is waiting for daddy...
Daddy: Yes/Sure/OK!

If we don't have such conversation before daddy leaves the door, Janice will start to cry the minute daddy close the door and leave *I've experimented many many times and its proven*

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Daddy was wearing his socks in the morning and ready to go to work. Daddy asked for a hug from Janice before he goes out but our cheeky little gal refuses to hug... zoomed to the exit hallway in her walker and shouted "KAI!!!" (cantonese: Go out/shopping/going places) several times excitedly!

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When Janice is reluctant to finish her milk because she wants to PLAY

Janice: *cry...cry... pushed the bottle away.. cry...cry...pushed the bottle away*
Me: Don't make mommy ANGRY! FINISH YOUR MILK NOWWWWWWW!! *angry tone*

Janice would have tears in her eyes, looked at me sadly and yes...she will drink her milk after that -.-
She will look abit sad after she finishes her milk, I've to praise her for finishing her milk, give her a kiss and a hug before she returns to her cheery self again.

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Baby Janice can understand the word "NO NO" whenever she crawls to a forbidden area. Yes, and again..giving us that sad teary eyes as she move her body away from the forbidden area..

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Our dear baby is only 9 months old and we think she can understand quite alot of things. Hubby & I are praying hard that we'll have God's wisdom to bring up this precious gift God has given us.... To lead her the right way and she will grow up to be a Godly lady.

Another update from her infant teacher @ 9 months old

Receptive/Expressive Language Skills

Janice’s pays increasing attention to speech and verbal requests like “wait, don’t cry, am coming to you.”  She is also trying to imitate words and sounds and noticed she is talking to self in mirror.

Thinking/Cognitive Skills

Janice is exploring objects in many different ways (shaking, banging, throwing and dropping).

Gross and Fine Motor Skills

Janice pulls herself up to stand with furniture support and walks while holding the cot. She can stand momentarily without support. At her stage, she may be able to walk soon so both of you gonna have a big headache!

Language Development

Janice likes to babble, regular repeated sounds (eg. Mama, dadada).  She will play around with these sounds. (This is important for sound producing mechanism necessary for later speech). Janice is beginning to understand emotions of caregiver’s voice. She likes music and rhymes, especially with actions.

A nursery that provides parents their child's weekly progress (8mths 1 wk)

I've no choice but to send my precious gal to a nursery as young as 3 months old. After 2 months being with her 24/7! Argh ..it was truly a torture for me especially the first few weeks of transformation. Often times, I tried to wake up early in the morning just to spend more time playing with her before sending her to the centre because baby J sleeps at 8:30pm every night! Though the separation is only from 8:30am-6:00pm, Monday - Friday, I often felt that time passes so slowly at work! It took me weeks to get used to my new schedule and guess I was facing separation anxiety back than :D



Anyway, 8 months and 1 week has passed. Baby J is indeed very happy at the centre because my little social butterfly loves learning & playing with her little friends at the centre. A happy baby makes ME a happy MOMMY :)With all the fun & learning she had at the centre, no wonder she's so tired whenver she returns from nursery.

The nursery also provide parents a 'Progress card' via emails. The mail arrives in my inbox every Saturday morning. A good way to start my weekend :)  I just got to know from a friend that in New Zealand, all caretakers are required to go through courses to qualify to be an infant care giver. Not only that, they're also required to provide a "progress report" to parents once a week. WOW...a requirement? Guess the infant centre baby J is going to now practises the same method.

Here's the teacher's weekly progress report for Baby J. From now on, I'll be keeping her progress report her for keepsake :)

              A photo taken by her teacher when Baby J was at 5 mths+. Photo is abit blur but I love the smiles of the 2 girls having a fun during play time :)

-verbatim-

Observation (Behaviour/Sleeping/Milk Intake/Others)

Receptive/Expressive Language Skills

Janice’s learning to smile and vocalizes to mirror image.  She is also learning to babble speech sounds and understands basic words (“bye-bye”). Extremely alert little girl, she turns her head fast towards sound. Noticed Janice enjoys two-way verbal exchanges and can imitate facial expressions like sticking out her tongue and trying to roll it too. She is beginning to combine syllables like “da-da” or “ma-ma”.  Suggest you also teach her some words like da-da (daddy), ma-ma (mummy), por-por (grandma) or kung kung (granddad).

Thinking/Cognitive Skills

Ha, Janice can hold arms out to be picked up when in her cot or stroller.  When she is in the toddler’s room, she loves to explore big and small items (especially those that rolls and makes sound).

Self-Help Skills

Janice is now sitting in a high chair for her lunch, a bit difficult but still trying. She is distracted easily with the environment, turning her head left and right, trying to get up too. To distract her from moving, have to give her a small bowl and spoon with some porridge in it.  She seems to enjoy it but very messy though.

Gross and Fine Motor Skills

Janice can transfer objects from hand to hand and rocks back and forth on hands and knees.  Now she is learning to stand up. Bears almost all weight while standing supported. Even learning to sit down after standing but can see the fear in her eyes. Well, she seems to get it right but will ask for help if she is stuck.

Socio-Emotional Skills

Janice is always a bubbly and cheerful girl.  Smile to everyone she sees including parents. Smart girl, she can sense moods of others, like when I am angry with her.  She will either put her head down or on the cheeky side will try to smile and show funny face to make me laugh. 

8 months old!

Yay! As I'm writing today's post, Baby J is already 8 months and 1 week old. How time flies...  I remembered during these time of the year in 2009, I was only 6 months preggy!

Taking care of baby J has becoming more and more challenging now because she's a very active and curious baby. Hubby & I literally keeps an eye on her like a hawk. Just a blink of an eye, she would've crawled towards the kitchen, touching the TV buttons or even chewing on something that she isn't supposed to chew! She is now standing with support, crawling EVERYWHERE around the house and she can now stand with a little support. At times, she will stand with just 1 hand holding on to a table. Daddy has made the house BABY PROOF.

She is eating 2 solids a day, 1serving of fruit puree and at least 5 bottles of 6-7oz of milk per day! She's still very petite and I'm wondering where did all the food go!

Baby J could say "DADA" when she wants daddy and lift both arms whenever she wants a cuddle. Her favourite colour is now green. She used to like white when she was younger. 

Lately, there's lots of noise and merry making at our little home. Baby J will be throwing her toys from her highchair to the floor and the next thing you know, she'll be searching for the toy. You picked it up for her, she will do it again and again. It's amusing for her and a pretty good exercise for us...so no complains :). She hits her toys on the table and giggles when you turn on her favourite Baby Einstein CD. She loves it when we start to sing "TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR" to her. The minute you say STAR, she will start repeating the word "TA TA TA TA TA" like a broken record.

There's so much love around the house. Pretty tiring but FUN!

Standing Tall @ 7mths old

I've been practising my kungfu moves silently in my cot for months to strengthen my hands! That's usually in the morning when mommy & daddy is still lazing on their big bed.

Besides exercising my hands, I also include some leg exercises to strengthen my legs. Haiyakkkkkk...*split*

Soon, with the strength I've gained after drinking many many bottles of milk & days of exercising, I started to sit upright and peep what's going on outside my crib. 

During my 1 week school holidays, mommy spotted me doing the monkey swing when I woke up from my afternoon nap.

After a while, I discovered that I can actually stand with support. Yippyy!

 

I'm standing tall at 7mths 1 wk old. I was actually singing doing my goo-goo gaa-gaa when mommy took this photo.

At 6th month of age......

Mummy stuffed a spoon into my mouth gave me my first taste of cereal and i'm lovin it!

For the past 3 weeks, I've also tried papaya, avocado, apple and cranberry in cereal..yumsss...

 Mummy allowed me to taste my first piece of teething biscuit.

 My first word I spoke was 'NEHhhhhhhhhhhhh' when I was hungry 6 months ago. Mummy was happy and I was happier because my request could easily be fulfilled without much crying. 6 months later... I started to call my daddy 'DADDIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii or Diiiiiiiiiiiiiii'. Because of that.....mommy made me wear this onesies that says "I Love Mommy" pluffffttt!

 I was beginning to crawl and cruse a little...... and guess what?......

............My mommy turned me into a ladybird.

I love flexing my muscles before I go to the nursery in the morning.

I've finally learned how to sit upright on my own! yay!

So what's next... trying to take over the wheels next month? hehhee....