My daughter is amazing. She is well behaved, obedient (well as obedient as a 19 monther can get), she's incredibly intelligent, she is massively cute, she is also very cheeky. She craves attention and does all sort to make us laugh. I love my daughter and she loves me.
But there's 2 things to which my fuses are extra short: 1. nap/sleeptime 2. screaming for attention.
After much reading, Justin concluded that she has sleep problems because she's intelligent ( unbelievable I know). Basically how that happens is that these babies/tots are sooooo into gaining input and exploring the world, that the last thing they want to do is sleep! Kinda like when we adults are hooked onto something. So this interest is like a need to them and it almost always overwrites the need for sleep and rest.
Only in VERY scarce circumstances does Aly whine for sleep and fall asleep in my arms in public/noisy/brightly lit places. She has to have her bedtime routine, has to be put to sleep in a dark dark place, and has to be patted to sleep, that with the aid of the pacifier.
So the problem I have with that is, nap/bedtime routines take a huge toll out of me. Cause when she needs to sleep, mommy is the only one she wants.
Today, it took me 1.5 hours of constant carrying and patting to make her take her nap... when it would normally take 5 minutes. Why? I don't know. But it drove me up the wall and down again. The result: I spanked her and screamed at her.
There are many things I can take, but this is just one of those things that break me. She cried cause mommy was a beast, and fell asleep. After the whole ordeal, I cried. I was alone, tired, with an achy abdomen, and tonnes of housework.
I went through a whole episode of how horrid a mom I was for losing my temper etc...
I have been relying on my own strength since Aly was born. I took pride in educating her, and raising her well. I enjoyed the praises people gave us about Aly. And I did it my way, all by myself. There is a price to pay when one does not rely on God - loneliness, emptiness, lethargy, and pain.
After pushing through this for 19 months. I am exhausted.
Today I prayed for God to come in... to forgive me for doing this without Him... for being so arrogant. There was a time when I enjoyed being weak. Things fell into place as I humbly obeyed God's leading. I pray this will come back soon.
Today I broke down and cried with my daughter. She saw her mommy cry for the first time in her life, and she cried more. Today I saw myself as I truly am - weak. But it was refreshing that in my weakness... I felt a huge burden lifted...
9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That
is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in
hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I
am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
The decision
In my last post I had a dilemma and decision to be made - to Clomine or not to Clomine. Well.. after lots of thinking, tossing, and turning. We've submitted it all to God and decided we'll do a round of Clomine. I'm finally feeling good enough to write. Cause since September, my emotions have been catastrophic to say the least. Finally today... Justin remarked, hey you're feeling better already ho? Then I realised, Gee whiz, I AM!
Had a good time just being honest and talking to God today. I miss that. Since September I've just been sending instructions and requests to God... there was no talking, no sharing, no crying my heart out, no honesty. Today I did, and there was no bombastic instant lifting of emotions. There was just a gradual lifting of my heavy heart and I'm feeling more alive now =)
After our first failed attempt, a voice asked me whether I'd be OK if Aly was the only child I got here on earth (remember I have another one in heaven). I couldn't bring myself to answering that, and I hated that question. Then that night itself, Justin asked me the exact same question. I froze. I fought. I argued. I logically analyzed the question. I even gave a politically correct answer. But I know my heart wasn't ready to let it go.
Today, my heart let it go. I let go of my dreams and plans on how my family would be. I let go of my wants and my longings. I let go. And I can finally say, if Aly is the only child I get on earth, I thank the Lord for the privilege of being a mom to my beautiful daughter, and I thank the Lord for all the joy and blessings she brought just by existing. And today, I felt liberated.
So the decision has been made, we'll do a round of Clomine, and if it happens it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. =)
Had a good time just being honest and talking to God today. I miss that. Since September I've just been sending instructions and requests to God... there was no talking, no sharing, no crying my heart out, no honesty. Today I did, and there was no bombastic instant lifting of emotions. There was just a gradual lifting of my heavy heart and I'm feeling more alive now =)
After our first failed attempt, a voice asked me whether I'd be OK if Aly was the only child I got here on earth (remember I have another one in heaven). I couldn't bring myself to answering that, and I hated that question. Then that night itself, Justin asked me the exact same question. I froze. I fought. I argued. I logically analyzed the question. I even gave a politically correct answer. But I know my heart wasn't ready to let it go.
Today, my heart let it go. I let go of my dreams and plans on how my family would be. I let go of my wants and my longings. I let go. And I can finally say, if Aly is the only child I get on earth, I thank the Lord for the privilege of being a mom to my beautiful daughter, and I thank the Lord for all the joy and blessings she brought just by existing. And today, I felt liberated.
So the decision has been made, we'll do a round of Clomine, and if it happens it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. =)
And the culprit is.....
After 2 months of TTC, today I ovulated. Or.. was supposed to ovulate. But today was a whirlwind of things and we ended up at the gynae's office. My last period came 5 days late so I initially thought I was pregnant... and it ended 3 days late which is unusual for me. But what was more unusual was the continuous spotting after my period ended. Spotting was initially brown blood which I thought was the tail end of my period. But it stretched till today.. day 14. And today, the blood was bright red. Now, google is really nifty, but sometimes it serves to make the worry wart even more worried! So some checks on google came up with cervical cancer, and seeing my last pap results came back abnormal.. this was a huge cause for concern.
Thanks to my ever amazing Gynae, she slotted me in last minute even though she was absolutely packed until end of January 2012. Ended up waiting 2 hours to see her and in the end, my cervix looked good, and nothing was out of the ordinary... nothing except my ovaries.
I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) in 2009 when I started getting irregular periods and massive hair loss. And at that point, all I took home from that was that it will be hard to conceive. After that, I got my first pregnancy, and thought, "hey, that was easy!". Then the miscarriage happened and we took a 3 month hiatus after the D&C, and on the first month we TTC, we got pregnant with Aly. And again I thought, WHOA, PCOS, you have no hold on me!!
But now, on Cycle Day 14 in my 28 day cycle, an internal ultrasound showed that I had no follicles, no ovums to be released. It was just another popped cyst. So hopes of TTC this month are well.. gone. I thought that through pregnancy, the hormone shifts etc.. PCOS will be gone. So Dr. Tang presribed Clomine to help with LH levels so that I will start producing ovums.
So that was it.. the culprit is PCOS. Now... I told Justin that I felt like I wanted to cry, but somehow tears weren't being generated. Took me a while, but I realised, I felt bad because I felt incomplete and incompetent. But in the deepest parts of my heart, I felt this calm assurance. That everything is alright! Everything is alright! That whatever happens, I am held, I have hope!
So yes, PCOS is hindering me from conceiving, but I know my God is the Maker and Creator of EVERYTHING. He can definitely cause me to conceive just like that if He willed. So now, I'm going back to what it should always have been - total surrender and obedience. Knowing that conceiving and giving birth to Aly was not through my competence or ability, but through His grace alone. His Grace is truly exceeding, abundant, above, and beyond all things. Because of this, I don't need to cry, I need only walk and live a life of victory, because My God is so much Greater, Stronger, and Higher than all others, all circumstances, everything. It feels so refreshing to be able to rely on God this way. =)
Thanks to my ever amazing Gynae, she slotted me in last minute even though she was absolutely packed until end of January 2012. Ended up waiting 2 hours to see her and in the end, my cervix looked good, and nothing was out of the ordinary... nothing except my ovaries.
I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) in 2009 when I started getting irregular periods and massive hair loss. And at that point, all I took home from that was that it will be hard to conceive. After that, I got my first pregnancy, and thought, "hey, that was easy!". Then the miscarriage happened and we took a 3 month hiatus after the D&C, and on the first month we TTC, we got pregnant with Aly. And again I thought, WHOA, PCOS, you have no hold on me!!
But now, on Cycle Day 14 in my 28 day cycle, an internal ultrasound showed that I had no follicles, no ovums to be released. It was just another popped cyst. So hopes of TTC this month are well.. gone. I thought that through pregnancy, the hormone shifts etc.. PCOS will be gone. So Dr. Tang presribed Clomine to help with LH levels so that I will start producing ovums.
So that was it.. the culprit is PCOS. Now... I told Justin that I felt like I wanted to cry, but somehow tears weren't being generated. Took me a while, but I realised, I felt bad because I felt incomplete and incompetent. But in the deepest parts of my heart, I felt this calm assurance. That everything is alright! Everything is alright! That whatever happens, I am held, I have hope!
So yes, PCOS is hindering me from conceiving, but I know my God is the Maker and Creator of EVERYTHING. He can definitely cause me to conceive just like that if He willed. So now, I'm going back to what it should always have been - total surrender and obedience. Knowing that conceiving and giving birth to Aly was not through my competence or ability, but through His grace alone. His Grace is truly exceeding, abundant, above, and beyond all things. Because of this, I don't need to cry, I need only walk and live a life of victory, because My God is so much Greater, Stronger, and Higher than all others, all circumstances, everything. It feels so refreshing to be able to rely on God this way. =)
Remembering Grace
So it's been 2 months since we've began TTC (trying to conceive). Ever since, I've learned many terms like dpo and BFP. I've also learned that the really good pregnancy tests like ClearBlue gives about 54% accurate results 10 dpo, and the accuracy increases greatly with every 24 hours after that, until the first day of a missed period where accuracy is 99.9%.
I've also learned that having unprotected sex on the day of ovulation isn't as effective because the mucous is at it's thickest and makes the environment almost hostile to sperm.. that and also the ovum deteriorates real quickly, so if I were to ovulate in the morning, and sex happens only at night, the egg is almost at its half-life and hence, not as viable as it was when released. So the best time is 2 days before ovulation.
So I've been reading, and learning, and praying, and hoping, and waiting, and seeing "not pregnant" signs. On the first month we tried, I was so sure I was pregnant that I actually started having morning sickness symptoms. Nausea, dizziness, lethargy etc. Talk about the power of the mind.
So now I'm at a point where I'm switching modes. Yes, we want a second baby, we're doing everything we can, but this is not within out control. As with Aly, it was all by Grace. I remember how my world fell apart when I realised I miscarried our little one. I remember walking around wondering whether there is any more meaning in life. And I remember that Sunday during worship where I told God I needed something from Him, an assurance.. and a voice said "Just a little longer". Words I held onto. And how 3 months after that, Aly was conceived. Of all the months this was the month I felt least pregnant!
So here I am remembering Grace. Remembering that I.. a human who has no ability to keep my heart beating, or my lungs breathing, let alone command that I bear another child.. that I have a God who makes all things perfect in His time. I'm going to choose to let go, enjoy my amazing husband, and my precious, perfect daughter, enjoy what we have now, until God says it's time. (Thanks Ju Li for the encouragement and reminder).
Hubby asked me the other day, what if Aly is all we'll ever get, no other children. I couldn't answer him. But now... I think I can say.. it will be OK. Because if Aly is all we'll ever have, she's perfect! I'm remembering Grace. It was Grace that gave us Aly. I can trust in my Jesus.
Sick logs... September - November 2011
September 2nd. Hospitalization
It was a Monday, I came back from work and was vegetating on the sofa and she was playing next to me on the floor. She climbed onto the sofa and knelt while playing with Justin's laptop. The laptop slid off her lap and the next thing I knew I saw her grabbing onto the laptop and she slid down as well.. head down on to the laptop which had fallen onto the carpeted floor. She cried as usual and it was her forehead that was red. I pacified her and she was OK after that. 30 mins later after a few spoons of porridge, she vomited. REALLY vomited. Almost all her food came out. I panicked, but Justin came home and calmed me down. 20 mins later, she vomited again. And she didn't stop. At 6.40 we rushed to Dr. Pauline (she's amazing) and she did a thorough check, said that her responses were perfect, but the vomiting was worrying. She wrote a letter for admittance into Pantai Cheras, which we eventually changed to SDMC because of distance.
Rushed to SDMC ER, where we waited 10 minutes until she was checked out. Then waited another 1 hour until an IV was put on her to help with dehydration. It was painful to watch as they bundled her with a bedsheet, I held her tight while trying to calm her as she kept calling and screaming "mommy mommy". My daughter was in pain and all I could do was hug her. I was helpless.
The consultant paediatrician in charge said she'll need a CT scan just in case but she she needed to be really still.. aka asleep.. so we waited for another 2 hours until she had gone into deep sleep. We got her scanned, and she remained sleeping (they had already added an anti vomit drip only 30 mins prior). Results showed NO brain damage, swelling etc. It was normal! But the diagnosis was a mild concussion with no lasting damage. Relieved, we checked in to the room for overnight observation and for the drip to run. She vomited a total of 16 times.
Next day, we only managed to check out at 7pm, with a whoopping 1.7k hospital bill. That night, after milk she vomited again.. but not much. So we prayed and went to sleep.
Next morning, after milk, she complained of stomach pain. My heart dropped. And 1 hour later, she vomited in the lift in school... My heart stopped. After cleaning her up, I got a call from Dr. Pauline who was calling just to check on Alyssa (see why I said she's amazing?) And she asked whether Alyssa had diarrhea, which she did this morning! Two smelly runny poop filled diapers! And that was when Dr. Pauline said, then her initial diagnosis and hunch was right - there was no concussion. It was a case of bad bad bad viral stomach flu (which I caught just 2 days before Aly fell sick). With proper instructions and medication - probiotics, anti diarhea, oral salts, Aly recovered 2 days later... All I can say is that God was so kind.
But that virus was really something... a day after coming home from hospital, Justin caught it and started vomiting. The next day my mom took care of her and started vomiting before the end of the day. The day after that the same fate landed on my sister who took care of Aly while my mom was sick. =/ Really something.
October. Flu, cough, and sleepless nights
Few weeks after the hospitalization, she case the common flu bug. Needless to say.. stuffy runny nose and itching throat kept her waking almost every 2 hours.. and us with little and close to no sleep. Her nose recovered in 3 days and her cough went away after 10 days. Phew.. we had survived another wave...
October: Swollen hand.
Another Monday.. while on the way to the carpark, I let Aly stand in the lift. Then lift door opened and her hands was on it... her hand got dragged into the space between the door and the lift. She screamed, and I immediately yanked it out. She was then crying inconsolably. We rushed her to the nearby clinic outside ,fer,REER(re because Dr. Pauline wasn't opened. The doctor said it was unlikely that it was a fracture, but we should monitor her swelling and her pain levels. At 7, we visited Dr. Pauline and she gave the same diagnosis..
soft tissue damage. We were sent away with an RM80 bill and pain and swelling medicine.
The cute thing about this was how Aly reacted! She literally went around like her arm was broken/detached from the shoulder. It was really really cute! But sadly, with the whole worrying and crying, I forgot to take pictures! =(
So this lasted for the whole night. To monitor her, I let her sleep next to me on my bed and I basically kept watch almost the whole night, making sure she wouldn't roll over and hurt her hand, and to reposition her once in a while so her hand will get enough blood circulation.
Next morning I decided to stay home but it was evident that she wasn't showing that she was getting better. And my daughter being drama queen Justin suggested that we bring her to school for half a day. Just to see whether she'd come alive with the students and the excitement. True enough, she did come alive. First order of business upon entering school was to announce (like a boss) that her hand was pain. "baby.. hand.. pain!" Then she started running around and playing, with the "hurt" hand. Suddenly it was business as usual, she was drawing with that hand and playing catching with Elise (her favorite che che).
After the trip to school, she was miraculously healed and that was the last of this episode.
November 19 - privates infected.
During lunch she started crying and screaming while holding on to her diapers in the groin area. 2 hours later, same thing happened.. and we noticed she did it while peeing. I was worried that it could be a UTI so we rushed to Dr. Pauline who examined her thoroughly and took a urine test. Test results were negative for bacteria so it was unlikely that is was UTI. Her vulva and anus were red, which could be the cause of her pain. Urine stinging infected parts = pain. So we were sent home with a bill of RM83, some pH medication soap used for her to soak in, some cream, and probiotics.
I set up her tub with the prescribed soap, and got her sitting in it. a few seconds later, she stood up screaming in pain. the concoction must have really stung. But we were instructed to soak her for 2 minutes, so we had to literally hold her in while she cried "daddy naniiiiiiiiiii naniiiiiii" (daddy, no no). Sigh... Broke Justin's heart.
Applying the cream after that was equally bad. But the fun part was that she was to go diaper-less. And boy, did she enjoy that. 30 mins later, she peed with lots of screaming and tears. another 15 mins later, she peed again, this time with no screams.. but whines. 30 mins after that, she peed a whole puddle and we didn't even notice cause there was not even a squeak from her until Justin went checking on her and she exclaimed "daddy, peee peeee". And another 30 mins after that she again peed a puddle, and this time kept real quiet and had fun time playing with the pee, which included rubbing it over her face. Sigh. So, it seemed that the medication did work really fast and well as Dr. Pauline said it would.
With that, I close this sick log entry. I hope it'll be a LONG time before I have to enter another log.
=]'[;
X][[X[X[CFFFFFFFFF <<< Aly says hi.
It was a Monday, I came back from work and was vegetating on the sofa and she was playing next to me on the floor. She climbed onto the sofa and knelt while playing with Justin's laptop. The laptop slid off her lap and the next thing I knew I saw her grabbing onto the laptop and she slid down as well.. head down on to the laptop which had fallen onto the carpeted floor. She cried as usual and it was her forehead that was red. I pacified her and she was OK after that. 30 mins later after a few spoons of porridge, she vomited. REALLY vomited. Almost all her food came out. I panicked, but Justin came home and calmed me down. 20 mins later, she vomited again. And she didn't stop. At 6.40 we rushed to Dr. Pauline (she's amazing) and she did a thorough check, said that her responses were perfect, but the vomiting was worrying. She wrote a letter for admittance into Pantai Cheras, which we eventually changed to SDMC because of distance.
Rushed to SDMC ER, where we waited 10 minutes until she was checked out. Then waited another 1 hour until an IV was put on her to help with dehydration. It was painful to watch as they bundled her with a bedsheet, I held her tight while trying to calm her as she kept calling and screaming "mommy mommy". My daughter was in pain and all I could do was hug her. I was helpless.
The consultant paediatrician in charge said she'll need a CT scan just in case but she she needed to be really still.. aka asleep.. so we waited for another 2 hours until she had gone into deep sleep. We got her scanned, and she remained sleeping (they had already added an anti vomit drip only 30 mins prior). Results showed NO brain damage, swelling etc. It was normal! But the diagnosis was a mild concussion with no lasting damage. Relieved, we checked in to the room for overnight observation and for the drip to run. She vomited a total of 16 times.
Next day, we only managed to check out at 7pm, with a whoopping 1.7k hospital bill. That night, after milk she vomited again.. but not much. So we prayed and went to sleep.
Next morning, after milk, she complained of stomach pain. My heart dropped. And 1 hour later, she vomited in the lift in school... My heart stopped. After cleaning her up, I got a call from Dr. Pauline who was calling just to check on Alyssa (see why I said she's amazing?) And she asked whether Alyssa had diarrhea, which she did this morning! Two smelly runny poop filled diapers! And that was when Dr. Pauline said, then her initial diagnosis and hunch was right - there was no concussion. It was a case of bad bad bad viral stomach flu (which I caught just 2 days before Aly fell sick). With proper instructions and medication - probiotics, anti diarhea, oral salts, Aly recovered 2 days later... All I can say is that God was so kind.
But that virus was really something... a day after coming home from hospital, Justin caught it and started vomiting. The next day my mom took care of her and started vomiting before the end of the day. The day after that the same fate landed on my sister who took care of Aly while my mom was sick. =/ Really something.
October. Flu, cough, and sleepless nights
Few weeks after the hospitalization, she case the common flu bug. Needless to say.. stuffy runny nose and itching throat kept her waking almost every 2 hours.. and us with little and close to no sleep. Her nose recovered in 3 days and her cough went away after 10 days. Phew.. we had survived another wave...
October: Swollen hand.
Another Monday.. while on the way to the carpark, I let Aly stand in the lift. Then lift door opened and her hands was on it... her hand got dragged into the space between the door and the lift. She screamed, and I immediately yanked it out. She was then crying inconsolably. We rushed her to the nearby clinic outside ,fer,REER(re because Dr. Pauline wasn't opened. The doctor said it was unlikely that it was a fracture, but we should monitor her swelling and her pain levels. At 7, we visited Dr. Pauline and she gave the same diagnosis..
soft tissue damage. We were sent away with an RM80 bill and pain and swelling medicine.
The cute thing about this was how Aly reacted! She literally went around like her arm was broken/detached from the shoulder. It was really really cute! But sadly, with the whole worrying and crying, I forgot to take pictures! =(
So this lasted for the whole night. To monitor her, I let her sleep next to me on my bed and I basically kept watch almost the whole night, making sure she wouldn't roll over and hurt her hand, and to reposition her once in a while so her hand will get enough blood circulation.
Next morning I decided to stay home but it was evident that she wasn't showing that she was getting better. And my daughter being drama queen Justin suggested that we bring her to school for half a day. Just to see whether she'd come alive with the students and the excitement. True enough, she did come alive. First order of business upon entering school was to announce (like a boss) that her hand was pain. "baby.. hand.. pain!" Then she started running around and playing, with the "hurt" hand. Suddenly it was business as usual, she was drawing with that hand and playing catching with Elise (her favorite che che).
After the trip to school, she was miraculously healed and that was the last of this episode.
November 19 - privates infected.
During lunch she started crying and screaming while holding on to her diapers in the groin area. 2 hours later, same thing happened.. and we noticed she did it while peeing. I was worried that it could be a UTI so we rushed to Dr. Pauline who examined her thoroughly and took a urine test. Test results were negative for bacteria so it was unlikely that is was UTI. Her vulva and anus were red, which could be the cause of her pain. Urine stinging infected parts = pain. So we were sent home with a bill of RM83, some pH medication soap used for her to soak in, some cream, and probiotics.
I set up her tub with the prescribed soap, and got her sitting in it. a few seconds later, she stood up screaming in pain. the concoction must have really stung. But we were instructed to soak her for 2 minutes, so we had to literally hold her in while she cried "daddy naniiiiiiiiiii naniiiiiii" (daddy, no no). Sigh... Broke Justin's heart.
Applying the cream after that was equally bad. But the fun part was that she was to go diaper-less. And boy, did she enjoy that. 30 mins later, she peed with lots of screaming and tears. another 15 mins later, she peed again, this time with no screams.. but whines. 30 mins after that, she peed a whole puddle and we didn't even notice cause there was not even a squeak from her until Justin went checking on her and she exclaimed "daddy, peee peeee". And another 30 mins after that she again peed a puddle, and this time kept real quiet and had fun time playing with the pee, which included rubbing it over her face. Sigh. So, it seemed that the medication did work really fast and well as Dr. Pauline said it would.
With that, I close this sick log entry. I hope it'll be a LONG time before I have to enter another log.
=]'[;
X][[X[X[CFFFFFFFFF <<< Aly says hi.
After a loooooong break
Haven't visited this blog for a looong time. A lot, and I mean a lot has happened in these few months.
Firstly, Aly learned to walk at 13.5 months. and then there was a mental leap that got her spitting out words like a bullet train. Till date, she has a vocabulary bank of more than 180 spoken words, and more than 230 understood words. On top of that she's able to answer quite a number of questions with yes or no. E.g. Do you want to take a bath? And she'll say "yesh". I'd really like to list a few words she can say.. but that will have to wait till I can find the time to do so. Oh yes, she's also gotten quite good at 3 words sentences. Like.. baby wear shoes, baby wear shades. etc. She even said a 4 word sentence a few days back, but I can't remember what it was =(
She's also started learning how to count. I'll say 1, 2 and she'll say 3. I'll say 4, 5, 6, 7,8, and she'll say 9 and 10. But she has learned the consequence of saying 9 and 10 means some fun activity will end. So she has learned that in order to prolong fun time, she'll prolong saying 9 and 10.. or just say no when she's supposed to say 9 or 10. =/
She's also learned distraction techniques. Like when I catch her doing something naughty, she'll very quickly "distract" me with her tricks (like pointing to her body parts and naming them.. baby... eyes) or pointing and naming other objects, or asking me to do something for her. =/
At 17 months, her stranger anxiety has skyrocketed. She'll literally claw on to me when a stranger approaches and she's even started showing her "shy" face. Frozen body, very very quiet, her head bowed down. Which is actually pretty cute to watch! Really similar to how cartoons portray shy kids.
She knows every single one of my students by name and face, and she can now say all of their names. All 34 of them. She's also extremely helpful. She'll pick up rubbish when she sees any, and she'll help me deliver test papers to students. I'll go: Baby, give this to koko ____ and she'll do it. =D
She also started referring to herself as "baby" 1.5 months back. She'll say baby this... baby that... she's able to differentiate between what is daddy's and mommy's and what is baby's.
She also learned to walk backwards 2 months ago and she's been learning to run. Trips alot and somehow has learned to blame the floor - a habit I am in the midst of breaking, but I wonder how she got the idea in the first place. That and the idea of stepping on an ant when she sees one! Argg..
Sleep wise, she's getting way easier to settle down now, and I've stopped carrying her to sleep for more than 6 months now. =) And 2 months ago, she started falling asleep in her own cot as opposed to our bed. =) Next step of sleep training is to get her to fall asleep without body contact (patting) and singing.. and finally to be able to fall asleep without me.
She's also been getting extra cheeky, testing and pushing boundaries every hour!And it seems that she more or less knows when she's crossed a line. There'll be this cautious look on her face as she scans my facial expressions and tone of voice.
Sooo.. that's all the updates I have for now. Will try to blog more now that I'm on a long holiday. Hopefully upload some recent pictures of her too!
Ah.. in the mean time.. please keep us in prayers, we've been TTC for 2 months now, but so far, no + signs yet. =( It is disappointing and frustrating.. the whole wait and trying.. wait and trying... But.. that's all that we can do.
Firstly, Aly learned to walk at 13.5 months. and then there was a mental leap that got her spitting out words like a bullet train. Till date, she has a vocabulary bank of more than 180 spoken words, and more than 230 understood words. On top of that she's able to answer quite a number of questions with yes or no. E.g. Do you want to take a bath? And she'll say "yesh". I'd really like to list a few words she can say.. but that will have to wait till I can find the time to do so. Oh yes, she's also gotten quite good at 3 words sentences. Like.. baby wear shoes, baby wear shades. etc. She even said a 4 word sentence a few days back, but I can't remember what it was =(
She's also started learning how to count. I'll say 1, 2 and she'll say 3. I'll say 4, 5, 6, 7,8, and she'll say 9 and 10. But she has learned the consequence of saying 9 and 10 means some fun activity will end. So she has learned that in order to prolong fun time, she'll prolong saying 9 and 10.. or just say no when she's supposed to say 9 or 10. =/
She's also learned distraction techniques. Like when I catch her doing something naughty, she'll very quickly "distract" me with her tricks (like pointing to her body parts and naming them.. baby... eyes) or pointing and naming other objects, or asking me to do something for her. =/
At 17 months, her stranger anxiety has skyrocketed. She'll literally claw on to me when a stranger approaches and she's even started showing her "shy" face. Frozen body, very very quiet, her head bowed down. Which is actually pretty cute to watch! Really similar to how cartoons portray shy kids.
She knows every single one of my students by name and face, and she can now say all of their names. All 34 of them. She's also extremely helpful. She'll pick up rubbish when she sees any, and she'll help me deliver test papers to students. I'll go: Baby, give this to koko ____ and she'll do it. =D
She also started referring to herself as "baby" 1.5 months back. She'll say baby this... baby that... she's able to differentiate between what is daddy's and mommy's and what is baby's.
She also learned to walk backwards 2 months ago and she's been learning to run. Trips alot and somehow has learned to blame the floor - a habit I am in the midst of breaking, but I wonder how she got the idea in the first place. That and the idea of stepping on an ant when she sees one! Argg..
Sleep wise, she's getting way easier to settle down now, and I've stopped carrying her to sleep for more than 6 months now. =) And 2 months ago, she started falling asleep in her own cot as opposed to our bed. =) Next step of sleep training is to get her to fall asleep without body contact (patting) and singing.. and finally to be able to fall asleep without me.
She's also been getting extra cheeky, testing and pushing boundaries every hour!And it seems that she more or less knows when she's crossed a line. There'll be this cautious look on her face as she scans my facial expressions and tone of voice.
Sooo.. that's all the updates I have for now. Will try to blog more now that I'm on a long holiday. Hopefully upload some recent pictures of her too!
Ah.. in the mean time.. please keep us in prayers, we've been TTC for 2 months now, but so far, no + signs yet. =( It is disappointing and frustrating.. the whole wait and trying.. wait and trying... But.. that's all that we can do.
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