Month 17

Our little boy has grown so much! While he will still be my baby for the next few decades (or forever, heehee), he is definitely not an infant anymore.

Today, as he turns 17 months old, he did the following:
- did a somersault on the bed right after bathtime
- brushed his teeth for real with Colgate's My First Toothbrush and My First Toothpaste.

He's getting used to stage 3 baby food jars now and does not spit out the chunkier food particles and also likes to drink soup - often, with cereal and shredded meat mixed in. His favorite soups are the Cantonese soups with the Lotus root, the one with the gingko nut and tofu, and the Ching Po soup.

He enjoys going to daycare and would walk in by himself (w/o even looking back at Mommy) on most days. He likes to sing and dance along the music during circle time. He's also started napping on his mat consistently. We have not brought his favorite book (Good Night, Moon) to daycare for several weeks now - a good sign that he is fully adjusted to being in daycare. The daycare staff tells me amusing stories of how he starts waving and saying bye to them at around 5p and just looks forward to going home with Mommy.

He has gotten used to taking afternoon walks with Mommy within our residential compound, he likes to look at and observe the cars (especially the wheels) and is curiously enamored by an old Crown Victoria parked in front of the North building. He is very friendly with strangers we meet and waves and says HI to all, even the ones who do not seem interested in him can't help but wave back because he is so insistent. He loves dogs and would always want to reach out and touch them. He likes to touch all sorts of things - plants, leaves, shrubs, grass - and he giggles when he touches the evergreens, probably because the pine needles tickle his fingers. Sometimes, he picks things up to get a closer look and then throws them back again. Today, he picked up a piece of mulch, looked at it, smiled and then handed it to Mommy - awww, his first gift! Unfortunately, mommy wasn't thinking and threw the mulch back and was not able to get a picture.

On some days, we get lucky and there are birds and rabbits to chase around in the courtyard. He enjoys being outside so much that when it's time to come home, he would usually balk just outside the door and try to pull Mommy out.

He had his 2nd haircut last weekend and it went better than the first one in the sense that he was happy at the kiddie salon and liked playing with the toys and sitting on the big car. He didn't like getting his hair touched though. He kept glaring and batting his hand at the hairdresser whenever she touched his hair and later, when she wouldn't leave him alone long enough to play with his toys, he cried - w/o tears.

Mommy and Daddy got him a bubble machine and he loves to pop the bubbles and while he still likes to turn his cars (and anything with wheels) over so that he could spin the wheels, we now observe him playing with cars the right side up.

He is still not saying a lot of words but he does have a lot more sounds in his vocabulary now. He is also more interactive:

- says "nyaaa nyaaa" (his version of meow meow) whenever he sees a cat or when he feels like answering the question "What does the cat say ?"

- says "mmmmmm" in answer to the question "What does the cow say?"

- "Daddy" is still consistently "AAAH", much to Daddy's consternation.

He would say "nyaaa nyaaa" (Meow meow) when he sees a cat, he waves his arms about when he sees a conductor (Brainy Baby Music Video), and stomps his foot and dances when an East Indian dance comes on screen (Brainy baby Music video). In church, he sings "haaaaa", during Hallelujah.

He also made up a sign for "pick up", he puts his hands on the sides of his chest near the armpit area - just where you'd hold a toddler when you pick him up.