Ning shows concern

I cut my finger 2 days ago using the new ceramic knife on lotus roots.

Before she showers, she said, "Mummy remember, do not wet your finger. You just watch me shower by myself. You sit in the bathroom far away ah."

While drying Ning yesterday,  the wound hurt a lot and I squirmed.

Ning said, "Mummy, if your finger is painful I can dry myself."

In the end, I used the hair dryer on her.

Am very touched by her thoughtfulness.

Teeth ("teef"), Hair ("heh"), Eye ("ah!"), Toe, Cheese ("cheez")

She's pointing to more body parts and asking for names. She said teeth after popping off the breast! She was sucking midway and pointing at Mummy's face and other body parts.

Mummy names them for her, and she's getting more specific. She'd point to the jaw, then to the temple.  Sometimes she'd point to a few spots of the same part, just to check if the name changes.

Clever girl!

Ning uses predictable actions to her advantage

When Ning wants to get the long stick that Mummy puts out of her reach, she uses predictable actions.
 
She'll get a little ball, or puzzle piece, one small enough to roll or throw under the sofa, and chuck it in there.
 
Then she'll go, "ah!" and over comes Mummy.
 
Mummy says, "aiyah, it's too far for Mummy to reach, we'll need the stick", but of course, Ning was already on her way to the stick and pointing at it so that Mummy can take it for her.
 
Once she has the stick, she's no longer interested in the item under the sofa. She'll go walking around tapping the floor and trying to sweep other things on the floor with the stick :)
 
Smart girl eh? Sigh, I'm one busy and outsmarted Mummy. Took me 3-5 times before I realized what she was doing.

Ning's turning up the volume and testing limits

She's trying out her vocals a lot more now!

The most noticeable is her volume. She'd say things 3x, once softly, once louder, and another loudest, without yelling. She did this most frequently with the words, "Baba" and "Kakak".

Sigh.

No "Mummy" audible...

The best to date is, "Ma".

First time signing and peeing outside home!

Today, after breakfast at the nearby coffee shop, we hung around our flat's void deck. Mummy was blowing bubbles, it's quite cathartic, for Ning to chase. Ning chose to step on them instead.

She was racing against a boy, about 5 years old, who purposely slowed down to baby pace and let her over take him, what a nice boy. After she overtook him, she turned around and urgently started her "toilet" sign. Mummy signed the correct sign and she nodded. So we went to a quiet corner, took off her shorts, held her legs up, she squirmed and complained a bit, and she peed into the drain!!! A lot!

Mummy's elated!

Mummy kissed her, and praised her for peeing with pants off, keeping her pants, legs and shoes dry!

I've been trying a different mode nowadays, since she's been doing it every where but the potty. As soon as she's out of potty and not interested, back into her nappy. When we go out, and Mummy feels it's about an hour and half since last pee, will try to cue her. If she doesn't calm down or pee, will put it back on. I don't want to force her, just let her have the opportunity to let go, if she's ready.

"Calling" Someone is...

calling that someone with a telephone, at least to Ning.

Recently, when somebody approaches our home door, I'd ask her to call out that person's name. And she slaps her hand to her ear, as if putting the phone to her ear, then said the person's name.

When Papa opens the door in the evening after work, Mummy says, "Papa is home. Go call Papa," and she puts her palm flat against her left ear, to "call" Papa.

So funny.

Walking on adult hands, preferred

She holds up one hand while the other holds Mummy's finger. Then she lifts her bum and off she goes.

No longer crawling as much as before. Sometimes she hardly depend on Mummy's hands, figure she has Mummy right where she wants and feels secure.

Maybe nothing to attract her out of her secure zone. Hmm.

Buka, star, dog

She's saying "buka" perfectly, we taught her the meaning after she learnt how to say it. Now she points at closed doors, boxes, umbrellas and says "buka". It means open, in Malay.

She pointed at the star in Dora's Fairytale Adventure songs book and said star. "S" sounded soft. Then she flipped to the Boingy Bing song and pointed at the dog, said "dog". "G" quietly. Yay! Mummy's "dog" prevails over "wow wow"!

She also demonstrated that...

(during the last 2 weeks)
 
Keys open locked doors.
Ning asked Popo to bring her out. Popo shows that she cannot open the door because it is locked. Ning points to bunch of keys hanging next to door, then touched her index finger at the key hole.
 
When it's time to sleep, we go upstairs.
About 9pm daily, she'll start creeping to foot of stairs and point upwards then nod, indicating it's time to go up for milk and bed. The amazing thing is, the timing is very regular for a 11 month old who can't 'read' a clock / time yet!
 
That a pencil or a pen is for making marks on paper!
We've shown her before, to teach her the actual purpose of pencil so she won't poke, bite or eat the pencils and pens she finds. She found a pencil and paper (that Cerys left around) at Popo's and started making marks too. Mostly striking lines and dots on the paper. She chose the pencil during her birthday 'gift selection'.
 
Switching on and off television.
This skill is quite empowering, especially when it comes to the television. Now Mummy must respect her wish to have Mummy pay attention to her.
 
She understands Mummy don't allow hitting people, even if they find it funny.
She was swiping Mah Mah away initially, then when Mah Mah reacted funnily, she began doing it on purpose. I said sternly, "No hitting Mah Mah", and looked at her disapprovingly, shaking my head. She didn't do it again. Come to think of it, she didn't really swiped much later on, except when she's sleepy and really don't want others to carry her.
 
She understands the Cantonese word "Pai pai" and can do so.
Worshipped the altar for ancestors and Goddess of Mercy.
 
Swipe the touch phone and make things appear and disappear
Omnia II has a 'desktop' which when swiped changes. She did it a few times today. Wonder what other programs she can play, might come in handy while traveling.
 
What 2 is
There were 10 preserved fruit wrapped in paper in a bottle, she was initially taking them out randomly and putting them back in. I asked her to take 2 out for Mummy. After taking 2 out, I waited. She tapped on the bottle as if to say, 2 already, what are you waiting for? I said, "Oh, thank you!" and praised her for it. Then I poured out all from the bottle, and asked her to put 2 back in, and she put 2 in. Then she swiped the rest away.
 
I'm impressed. I'd never thought that a baby can be so intelligent so early, though I've read it and believe it, it never ceases to amaze me.
I'm just hoping I'm doing enough to feed her learning apetite. Gotta find out more about our natural environment to point things out to her.
 
Have vowed to myself:
to show her at least 10 new things a day;
read at least 10 books to her a day;
do as much doman cards to her as possible a day.

Chatter Climber Descender

We spent the last 2 weeks at the grandparents and celebrated her birthday @ Crystal Palm restaurant :)

In this span of time, she learnt...
Wo wo is dog,
Meow is cat,
Kai kai means going out,
Mum mum is food,
Poot poot is car (sigh)
From Popo and Gong Gong.

said...
Go(ng) Go(ng) go where? when she saw photo of Ah Gong.
Thank yee (you), after playing with Gong Gong, and separately after playing with Cerys.

Climbed 1 step and half at Popo's,
descended the bed by herself by putting 1 foot over edge first, roll on to her tummy, then lower both feet till they touch the floor,
crept with knees off ground, when put in a dress (hamper normal creeping),
said the sweetest "Papa" over the phone to Papa,
and can now easily climb on and off our mattress and guest bed.

Hmm, will monitor and see when we can restore our bed to normal height.

Crisp and clear "Done" yesterday

She said it crystal clear, "Done" after going on the potty.
And in the most adorable little girl tone!
I just melted inside and was wishing for more :P
 
Saying a lot of "mm, (o)kay".
And a whole lot of other words which I don't understand.
Am beginning to notice she says them consistently.
Need to tune in more often then.

Nipple, areola and breast

She knew and pointed them out correctly after being told twice!

Amazing!

"Dee ah" is actually "there"

Realize it recently when I opened the windows and I said "there". Then changed her diaper and I said "there". When asking her where was the ceiling fan, "there"!

I said "there" more often than those words I wanted her to learn! It's no wonder she picked it up before all the other words.

Wow.

I must mind what I unconsciously teach her.

"Baa baa" and "Meh'lk" or "Meh'k"

That's what she's been saying the last 3 days, rather consistently.

"Baa baa" for Papa :P
"M'ehlk" for Milk.

I'm so happy! This is an early surprise.

Yeah, I realize she's not saying "Mummy" yet.
I'm still very happy at this new development!

A most eventful week @ Popo & Gong Gong's

In this week, Shay Ning's...

Been a great party buddy @ Huey Huey Yee Yee's wedding until 11:30pm. She was bouncing on my lap and laughing gleefully to the on stage singer's oldies right to the closure of the dinner. I'm so happy. Her Gong Gong and Popo are also very entertained. Papa's a little apprehensive as he has to leave her that night to go home.




Spontaneously waved "bye bye" whenever we said "bye bye" and "good night" to Popo.


Gave lots of "High 5s" and "5s" to Mummy, Gong Gong and Popo.

She's lunging and plucking her butt up and above the floor more and more now. Her butt is rising higher and higher off the floor, sometimes with one leg stretched out kicking. Am wondering if she's trying to crawl or sit up.

Gotta go now, Shay Ning calls :)

It's past 7pm now and I've just fed Shay Ning to sleep.

This is also a week where she got to see and hear her Papa the least as Papa left his mobile phone at Ah Gong's place. When she met him for the first time after so long, the emotional display was a surprise for all of us.

Papa was walking out of Gong Gong's toilet. She focused, unmoving, at Papa all the while. When Papa finally reached out to carry her, she pouted and cried, pouring out her feelings at finally seeing her Papa. As soon as Papa carried her, she stopped and was smiling again. So emotional. Such a darling.

A Very Pregnant Photoshoot @ Week 33

Lougong remarked we don't have any photos of a pregnant me.

Actually we did take some, they weren't very flattering. That's why we didn't put them up. Oily complexion and water retention doesn't make for a very flattering shot ;)

Anyway, here's 2 that made the censorship and into our memory lane / album :)

Checkup @ Week 31

Last obstetric visit was a non-event. I was attended to by Dr John Su (Su Si Chang) at Clinic C.

Travelled 45 mins there, waited almost an hour, in and out of the Doctor's office in under 5 minutes.

I printed out the revised Birth Plan for the Doctor to follow, only to have him glance at it for 2 secs to figure out what it was, then declare, "Sorry, I'm afraid you cannot follow it."

I defended that I've first cleared it with the nurses at the ante-natal class to see what was feasible in KKH before submitting this plan. Only then did he have a second glance while the attending nurse prepared me for the Doppler scan to hear the baby's heartbeat.

After hearing the heartbeat, the Dr Su explained that what's in my list is already what KK does. There's no need to have the birth plan.

I'm very disappointed at the doctor's initial response. Subsidized patient means part of the fee is paid by government, doesn't mean they're paid any less. How can he discount the service quality as well?

Other than that, he says everything seems smooth so far, and gave me an appointment 4 weeks later. I thought I would be seeing Doctor every 2 weeks from now on, in 3rd trimester, but no, wrong again. Sigh.

Ultrasound @ Week 27

This week, I'm scheduled for a Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) and a Growth Scan :) Lougong and I are eager to catch another glimpse of baby.

UltraSound Picture

The left one shows back of baby's head and the one on the right, side profile :) Amniotic fluid normal, baby's already turned downward, in good position for vaginal birth :)

Sigh. Am happy.

Add-on: Turned out my OGTT was normal. I was a little worried about this one *phew*

Pregnancy Symptoms @ Week 23

I went to KK for my check-up appointment. This round, it was relatively fast :)

Doctor asked me if I had...
any concerns/complaints?
any leaking fluids/bleeding?
enough supplements?

And then proceeded to listen to the babies heartbeat using the Doppler machine.

My only concerns were:
1. Numbness in my hands and difficulty (sometimes painful) in bending fingers...
2. Floaters, like worms of silvery light snaking up on my peripheral vision whenever I just get up, sneeze or cough. I read an article in the papers just the day before that this can be dangerous and may indicate a tear in the retina.

Doctor assured me it's normal. Baby's probably pressing on certain nerves causing all these. I should only be concern if my water retention/numbness is accompanied by obvious red inflammation, or high blood pressure.

*phew*

It concurred with my previous consultation. I'm more at ease now.

Moving on with the remaining 4 months :D

We've passed the 20 week mark!

Half way there already!
Ooh...

My tummy is noticeably bigger, the baby's movements are unmistakeably more distinct now. And most importantly, this Thursday, 25/6, Lougong felt the baby move for the first time just before sleeping. We were expecting to feel it, like the book said for 1st timers, between 21-23 weeks.

Work's been quite demanding. Although I have finally been able to sleep thru the night at the start of this week i.e. Monday, I'm still pretty worn out by the end of the day. Hopefully, after next week, some normalcy would resume and I can begin my exercises and cooking again :)

This is also the week that the numbness I've been feeling on/off the past 2 weeks become more intense. Checked out with the doctor, she says it's water retention. I've been feeling numb in my feet and hands, especially in the night, my right hand actually hurts when I grasp the bolster or the toothbrush in the morning. It's like wearing a very tight glove, and hurts like your nerves are going to break on stretching. Doctor confirmed my suspicion of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), guess the recent weeks of work aggravated the symptoms with increased use of the mouse & keyboard doing all the system testing. Oh and by the end of the day, my feet, the toe half, feels as if there's very cold chilly rubbed on it. Doctor, being conservative, wanted to prescribe me medication to alleviate the symptoms, but as long as it's not something detrimental to the fetus or myself, just discomfort, I'd rather go without it. She agreed with me and let me off without the prescription.

Lougong's been really caring, bringing me whatever I need, massaging my feet, though he previously believed my numbness was because I slept on my hand :P Since the doctor confirmed it, he's been more symphatetic :)

Sigh, feeling the baby move, has been my perk of this whole week.
Kept feeling my tummy for the baby's movement. Sometimes, so frequent and often, it seems like she's putting up a show, disco dancing or something in there :D

*sigh*