New tricks from a 14-month toddler

Yiu Yiu has learnt quite a bit of new tricks since her first birthday. Here's a list of her recent accomplishments:

• She is mastering the art of communication and can comprehend a lot more. Though she is still speaking in her gibberish baby language, she can now indicate her needs and wants by pointing to things, nods and shakes her head when she wants or doesn't want anything, respectively. When she misbehaves and we reprimand her, she'll start to cry, as if she knows that we are cross with her. She'll lift her legs up when changing diapers, and lift her hands up when changing clothes. She also knows more words and phrases, e.g., she can point to her nose when asked to.
• She is mimicking the actions of adults, e.g., by pointing the remote controls at the TV, holding the mobile phone to her ear, pressing the lift button, knocking on doors and wiping her mouth with tissue. So it's time for us to watch our actions and words to set the right example for her.
• She knows how to climb down from the bed and sofa by positioning her feet down first and prudently assess the distance between the bed/sofa and the floor.
• She can hold a spoon on her own and naturally, she wants to feed herself now. When I was feeding her porridge over the weekend, she kept grabbing the spoon from me so I gave her another set of spoon and plate. Not satisfied that she only got an empty plate, she used her spoon to dig into the porridge and created a mess. Looks like I've got to come to terms with messy feeding sessions in the process of her mastering the art of self-feeding.
• When she's asked (in mandarin), "Papa/mummy zui sayang shi shei ah?" she'll lift her hand up to indicate herself.
• One day, the babysitter carried her out to the gate while sending off the older boys to school on the school bus and she asked Yiu Yiu to cover her mouth and nose with her hand to avoid inhaling the exhaust fumes. Nowadays, whenever she sees the bus dropping the boys off, she'll automatically cover her mouth and nose.
• Whenever she poo-poo and we say, "Hmmm…chou chou ah" she'll pinch her nose with her thumb and forefingers indicate that it's smelly.

It's a joy watching her growing sociability and independence, which comes with a price. She's starting to test her limits and exhibit those temper tantrums that go hand-in-hand with her budding independence. We’ll just have to be firm and nurturing to ensure Yiu Yiu turns out to become a lovable and well-adjusted child.