Let's go out!
Dearest LittlerLam,
I can’t believe that you’ll be turning one year old next month! While many other mums (especially 1st-time mums) have been chronicling, scrapbooking and writing about their babies throughout every single milestone in the first year, I have been well…rather slack. I’m sorry if you don’t have as many photographs as your older sister and that you always end up having to crawl around by yourself at home, navigating dangerous spots (caused by your big sister) all by yourself. But I’m glad that while you don’t have Daddy and Mummy’s full attention, you have an extra playmate that your big sister never had. I’m quite sure you sometimes much prefer her company than mine because your face lights up when we mention her name, you squeal excitedly when you pass her room, and cry when she goes off to Kindy. The two of you are beginning to be able to play together despite the 4 year age gap, and it’s hilarious when CheChe climbs into the playpen with you. Of course it also almost gives me a heart attack when I see the bottom straining with the combined weight!
Weight. Ah yes. That is a bit of a sensitive point when it comes to you, my dear. Mummy has been constantly trying to get you up to an average weight since you were born and it’s been a bit of a struggle. Not because you don’t eat or drink milk much – in fact, you enjoy your rice porridge with lots of goodies like salmon, threadfin, beef, tofu, chicken, brocolli, carrots, pumpkin, sweet potato, corn, cauliflower and ikan billis powder all in different variations! Every day I’ve got to cook half a pot of porridge for you, which you happily eat up for lunch and dinner. The last time I weighed you at the paediatrician you were 10+ months and exactly 8kg. Which is a BIG BIG improvement because this time you are only about 0.5kg away from the average weight!! I was so happy that finally you were looking more chubby and feeling heavy despite falling sick EVERY SINGLE MONTH since you were born. You are so good with taking medicine with a syringe now, and I am so thankful that you don’t usually kick up a fuss, unless it is antibiotics! I thank God that despite your constant falling sick, you are still growing well and meeting your milestones.
You grew 4 teeth around 8months old and at 7months was able to sit up by yourself. Now at 11+ months you are standing up by yourself without support for about 5 seconds now! You are an absolute joy to play with now (even though it totally kills my joints and it is soooo tiring) because you are so responsive and communicative. Also this is the classic stage where babies are the cutest (in my opinion) and this was the time when we played so much with CheChe too. You enjoy TOTALLY different things from your big sister though. While she was always sitting and reading, listening to us read and learning objects, alphabets etc, you refuse to sit quietly to watch us read to you. You must ALWAYS grab and lunge at the book and then when in possession of it, must flip it, swing it around, whack it on the floor, like you do to every other toy/ object you get a hold of. You also have a special knack for searching out the thinnest or ‘most grasp-able’ part of an object and holding it tight, then swing/whack/ shake the item to check out if it makes a sound, and what other sound it makes when hit against different surfaces. Unfortunately sometimes the surface includes my face, or your own head. You have very good psycho-motor skills and fine-motor skills, able to pick up very tiny objects from a young age and also able to sign ‘book’, wave ‘hi’, ‘bye’ and indicate ‘no more’ with the twisting of the wrists.
You are one unique one, and I believe a very tough cookie. You survive almost daily knocks to the head and falls (of course very minor ones…nothing serious) and cry for only a while before you continue trying to stand, pull, walk along by pushing CheChe’s chair. Your very favourite position is to stand at CheChe’s table and disturb her while she tries to draw/eat/ do homework!
You have so many other interesting antics I don’t have time now to write them all down, but they are stored in my memory, my dear. So please forgive me if this could be the only entry I ever write chronicling your cuteness because I’m busy cooking, cleaning, bathing, cleaning, cooking, washing for you.
Love lots, Mum
p.s: Very soon I won’t be able to post pictures of you on this blog because you will be losing the generic baby look and starting to look like a little person. So here’s a couple for now, for posterity!
Gesticulating wildly!
Watch out! Learner driver!
Inundated!
