Yan Yan – 19th - 22nd month update

I have not been diligent in keeping a record of Yan Yan’s development – I started with monthly updates, then decide to do it bimonthly, and now, the last post on Yan Yan’s development was done four months back! So I think I’ll do this penultimate update post, and round up with another post when she turns two in two months.

19th – 20th month
Since she bathes standing up now, she’d scream whenever I rinse shampoo off her hair and water runs down her face. Funny coz she wasn’t like this when she was younger. There was once when she tried to run away when she saw me reaching up for the shower nozzle after shampooing her :-) She’s also obsessed with the toilet roll, and many-a-times, would pull the toilet roll until it ends up in a pile on the toilet floor.

I was away for 10 days in March, and had fervently hoped that she would have weaned herself from my breasts, but no, when I came back, she still remembered her nen-nen and continued suckling to sleep and when she awoke during the night. Sigh! I must have dried up by then, coz I didn’t even need to pump the whole time I was away. But good thing is her intake of formula had increased – sometimes, she would even ask for milk-milk up to 3-4 times a day at the babysitter’s, and I’m definitely not complaining.

Although she still doesn’t speak well, she understands most of what we tell her. She developed a liking for singing for she would only sing the last syllable of each line, like so:
我是一只小小小小鸟
想要飞呀飞 却飞也飞不高
我寻寻觅觅寻寻觅觅一个温暖的怀抱
这样的要求算不算太高

Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are

21st month
Her molars are finally sprouting! I had been quite worried to the extent of thinking if I need to take her to see a dentist. Haha! She still doesn't brush regularly but I know I should make it a habit.

She got acquainted with Mr. R.O.Tan this month. I don’t remember having to use Mr. R.O.Tan on Yiu Yiu this early so this girl is definitely more spicy than her che-che. I didn’t use a normal cane, though, coz I didn’t have one at home. Instead, I used the balloon stick, and as a result, one of the two welts was visible for days. Truth be told, I felt really bad seeing the welt for so many days but it probably didn’t hurt as much – she only cried for 2-3 minutes and was back to her usual self after that. And though the welt was visible, when I touched and asked if it still hurts, she kept saying no. I was reprimanded by hubby and even the babysitter’s hubby for that! The good thing is, she’s afraid of the cane now, and would say 不要 repeatedly, and stop misbehaving when I wave it in front of her. Thank goodness I haven't used it on her again since.

The raised welts, about 30 minutes after the beating

The welts, still strongly visible the next morning, though no longer raised. The one on her upper arm took days to fade.

She knows how to say sorry when asked to, and does it while patting the head of the person she wronged :-)

22nd month
She can speak quite a number of words now, but some are comprehensible only to us. She loves to rummage through her che-che’s lunch box to look for food whenever her che-che returns from kindy daily. One day, she was happily eating the leftover red bean bun in a corner, and when caught in the act by the babysitter, she smiled cheekily and said, “Umm…yummy!”

She can wear her shoes properly, and knows which shoe goes to which foot. Many-a-times, we purposely put them in the wrong order but this girl will know and switches them to the correct side before putting them on. We’ve started teaching her to say please and thank you, but she still needs reminding most times.

She loves her che-che to bits, and loves to follow whatever her che-che does. And whenever she’s offered a snack or vitamin gum drop, she’ll ask for two and give one to her che-che.

I was in Jakarta for a few days two weeks ago, and when I came back, when she asked for nen-nen, I told her it’s finished, that it’s empty. She suckled nonetheless, but after few seconds, looked up as if it felt awkward, and stopped. She asked a couple of times after that, and each time I told her it’s empty, and she would still suckle for just 2-3 seconds, and pull away. It’s been more than a week that she didn’t ask for her fix, and she doesn’t need to suckle to sleep anymore. If she stirred in her sleep, on all occasions except for two when she was extremely cranky, I only need to pat her back to sleep. Looks like we are on the way to successfully weaning her. Yay!

She’s diaperless at the babysitter’s but not at home. Mummy and papa are just too lazy to bother with cleaning up after her in case she has any accidents, so we still keep her on diapers. And she hasn’t started complaining yet.

She’s a much better eater than her che-che, but slower milk drinker. Each and every time, she would finish her food faster than her che-che, and finish her milk slower.