A is making progress playing independently

Someone told me that after the child turns 2 and 1/2, the child will be able to play more independently. That has def. been the case with Mr. A. Of course, he still like for someone to play with him but there are times in the day where I found him playing by himself. For example he will play with animals and he is doing the pretend talking. Before, it was always "I want you to make the (insert animal) talk".

A is also making progress socially. While the older kids are in their homeschool classes, moms with small children gather in the nursery and the children play. It is very unstructured. Before, it was very difficult for me to talk with other moms since A needs me a lot more. But recently, probably in part because he has become used to the routine, he has been playing more independently. Last week, I was there for about 1 1/2 hours, and A did not need me at all! I was shocked. It was wonderful. I had a great time chatting with other moms and he was happily playing. Also recently while we are in the library, A played with another little boy who is 4 and even let the other boy hold his hands and lead the play. Before that, the two boys played on their own. Mostly because A gets defensive when other children comes close. He is very protective of his personal space. When he came back, he says J is his friend and he likes him. :)

One activity I have found that occupies A for quite some time is water play. I give him a big bowl filled with water and add little detergent and little water color to make it more appealing. I also give him a funnel, a test tube and two containers to pour water back and forth. Of course, I also give him a towel to wipe his spills. He loves this and plays happily by himself for 15-25 minutes. This is great since sometimes A will say "I want to do something!" which is his way of saying I'm bored.

Ok, just now, A is saying, "Somebody play with me!" :) Also, at church, gone are the days when I have to worry if I will get paged or not because A is crying. In fact, he likes going to Sunday school. We'll just have to work on him liking preschool in the fall because we do plan on sending him. I think that help him get more comfortable with other children and adults. Just yesterday, I told him I am going to take him to see different preschool and see which one he likes. He points and touches my nose, and says, "I like mommy preschool." ha-ha! Guess I can't trick him.

A is increasingly aware of his feeling and is not shy of saying them in front of others. A favorite saying is "I don't like you!" :(   He has little outbursts of emotions but in general recovers quite quickly. A lot of times, he put himself in timeout, like facing a corner or hide in the pantry and close the door for 5-10 sec. then he'll come out and be happy.

One thing that has been consistent is he never wants to go bed although on rare occasions, he will say, "I want you to put me to bed". A also never wants to take a bath. So we still struggle with that.

Something A continue to love is singing. He knows quite a few songs and surprisingly is not afraid to sing it in front to others. I have taught him few simple Chinese songs and he loves to sing them. We love to hear that, makes me happy to hear him sing. It def. makes him happy. 

So overall, A is doing fantastic! He has not been sick at all this winter and is the only person in our family who has that distinction. Most he has had was a little running nose. For that, I'm extremely thankful.

Feeling thankful

It's busy around here, but feeling thankful that A is healthy and doing well. One of our dear friend's son (3 years old) is going to through some health issues and currently back in hospital having surgery. So in light of this, I'm feeling grateful that A is healthy and haven't even been sick since he's been born other than a rare running nose. In fact, all the kids have been healthy and doing well. :)

A just finished his 2 years old (mommy and me) session 1. We had great time and appreciate the structure the program provided. That was my once a week, ultra concentrated one on one time with A. Other than when he's watching TV, A wants to play with someone, and it is usually me. Recently, he's been making great progress in stacking blocks and can do 10+ with little cylinders and planks. He is also discovering the fun of pretend but still needs a lot of input from other people. A favorite is little people animals. Before I forget, A is really into pretend sword play but he hates to be the "bad guy" and will protect with crying. He wants to "fight the bad guy". 

Another reason to be thankful is A is a great eater. He have no issue eats vegetables, and esp. loves cabbage, broccoli and carrots. And he loves "cuties" oranges and eats 4-5 or more if I let him. One thing I 'm hoping is he will drink more plain water. Right now, he still loves his rice milk, doing good with tangy (crytal multivitamin mixed with water) and honey/lemon water.

Now his nap is getting shorter and shorter, usually about 30 minutes in the afternoon. So not much free time for me. Thankfully, his brother/sister happily plays with him when I really need a break.

A is a lot more vocal with them than with other children. I think a big part is probability due to his comfort level. So sometimes he gets little bullied and was feeling hurt and crying when a 3 years old didn't want him to play with a toy. But in the 2's, I noticed that is fairly common. The 2's haven't quite mastered the art of sharing or asking using words. They use more body language than their voice.We are going to work on that.

Okay, maybe more later. But right now, I have got a healthy and happy 2 asking me to play with me.

27 months update on A

A started a 2 year old program few weeks ago and I think he really likes it. He thrives having me there, seeing other children his age there, the new toys and the structure. His teachers thinks he's a sweetie, saying he looks "happy all the time". HA-HA! Well, yes, if things are going his way, and mommy gives him her full attention which does happen at the 2 years old program. It is my special time with him.

Other than that, not much else is new. Though just yesterday, I vowed to start speaking to A exclusively in Chinese after reading that in bilingual families, one should speak to the child in the foreign language exclusively. And even when the family does activities together, if I address A specifically, then I should still do it in Chinese. I was doing that but mixing a lot of English in and that didn't work too well. I think I was afraid he won't understand, but actually A understands more than he can say.

Much to my dismay and the declining health of my sanity, A is staring to skip his nap. Arghhhh!! And in Sunday school, he is refusing to stay in the room and we have been paged the last 3 times. Same thing with gym so I am taking a break but hoping to try again soon. I know it's all temporary, but it's hard.

One little success, I did "wean A off" on the ipad. He still looks at my phone a lot but not as long if I were to give him the ipad. I'm going to try to get a schedule going for A and do something similar with him like the 2 year old program. He was hooked on these plastic insects, and last time it was the bears. So that will be on his Christmas list along with a few puppets.

Some new sayings at 26 months

We are surprised by him every day. 

Most recent is "Daddy, don't leave me", 3 seconds pass, he says, "Daddy, please don't leave me" when lights is out and daddy is trying to put him to bed.

I say "Thank you, Alex" and he will reply" You're welcome, mom." :)

"Don't hit my butt" to brother when he bounce a ball on Alex's butt just I'm writing this.

He also says, "Bless you" when someone sneezes and today, he said, "I am really tired" while we are driving home.

Although more common, is "I don't want to go to bed!!" :( and when he doesn't have a shirt, he says, "I'm naked and sexy too" Where did he learn that?!  But tonight I talked it out with him. I told him if I don't get enough sleep, then I will have have grandma take care of him. :) and that worked liked magic and he let me go to bed.

He also says, "This clothes is FeiFei's, not Alex. What the? " :)

"You gotta be kidding me". :) That, I know he learned from his brother. The amazing thing he uses it in correct context. 

Alex likes to sing a lot and he sings "Happy birthday", "Twinkle, twinkle little star" and "Row Row Row your boat".

He was little sick a couple of days ago and now every night he wakes up at 4:15. Arghh!!

I'm excited he is going to be starting a 2 years old program one day a week. It's like a mommy and me program. And I'm thinking about signing him up for Music and Me in the winter.

We also went to the zoo recently and he really liked the giraffe.

He is getting used to going to gym childcare and about 2 weeks ago, no longer cries when he is going in so that is great progress. I don't think he really plays with other kids but he does watch them. And at church, daddy thinks he is playing and exploring more with the toys rather than just observing. But whenever he sees relatives, he still refuses to say hi or say anything. And if you approach him, he will tell you, "NO, NO, NO!!!" so still can use some progress in this area.  I try to remember every kid is different and that he will be fine as he grows older and learns to trust people more.

some pictures of A to make you smile!

A @ 25 months

Oh, my, this month, it seem like everyday A surprises us with some new word, phrase, or understanding. It's hard to remember them all, but here are some examples.


A: Mommy, Rice milk! (for a long time he only said, milk and not clearly) but now it is very clear
Me: Okay, I'll give you a little bit.
A: No, not a little bit, A LOT!!

A: "Eat that!" (opening freezer himself), pointing, "Up there!"
Me: This? (ice cream)
A: No, down
Me: this?
A: yes!
I take it out,
A: Open it!
so I open it and give it to him A says, "wait, Alex take off shoes"
... and when he's done, he tells me, "mommy, hold this" giving me his mostly eaten strawberry bar. 

One day as I rolled down my window on the right, A is sitting in the back,
"my side! Open it" (while pointing to his side of window") showing he know what he is talking about

Or I say, its time to say bye-bye, and he will say, "not yet mommy", or "okay, I am ready, mommy"

These days, most stuff is his, as in "Alex's phone, my phone, Alex's shoe, Alex's clothes" or "Alex's turn"

And some bad words he picked up from the siblings or made up himself,

"chicken boobie" whenever he doesn't like his bro/sis,
 "stupid shoe" he made that up himself when he is having trouble taking it off.
"meanie, jiejie(sis) or jiejie, meanie butt" when he thinks sis is not doing things his way.
"no kissing me"

Or on eating a juicy piece of chicken or whatever, A says, "tasty!"

He also knows to say , "thank you, (insert name)" or "sorry, mommy" when prompted.

He seems to understand most everything we tell him and can def. follow directions. He is moving past just picking up key words to saying more close to a full sentence.

I'm sure it is the case with other 25 months old, but A have strong preference on who does what. For example, since he is very close to me, he will want me to do/get him everything. Everything is "mommy do it, mommy get it"  I have to buckle his seat belt, (if his sis/bro did it, there will be lots of screaming/crying) or I have to get him milk.  "Daddy have to cajole him into letting him get it for A, like C'mon, daddy will do it ", then only if he agrees will he happily let you go. Otherwise, you will hear him protest!! Getting back to seat belt, there is one time I forgot to buckle him up, and he yells, "Alex not buckled up!":) Thanks, buddy!  He also tells us, "(insert name), buckle up!!

A is esp. affectionate with me, and tells me many times a day, "I love you, mommy", "wo ai ni, mommy"( in Chinese), kisses, hugs me. It is probably because I do the same to him.

I was talking to one of my friend that A is pretty cautious and for whatever reason does not put anything in his mouth without my permission. Even when he picks orange cherry tomatoes, he only picks the one I tell him too. He will hold a yellow/orange one but won't pull it off until I okay it.  He has also been loving to play with water beads, but he never puts in his mouth. I feel confident that he knows this is not for consumption. I think it is part of his personality or maybe he can tell this is not for eating as we are not eating it.

Independence: A is able to open the frig. and get food for himself now so he likes doing that. He feeds himself.  He always helps his brother unload the dishwasher and he is learning to sweep. Whenever he sees one of us sweeping, he takes out his little sweeper. 

And A says," okay, mommy I'll clean up." when I tell him to clean up and he actually does. (which is the best.)  He also helps me charges my phone and knows when the battery is running low. Essentially, he likes to do things himself and you can see the joy in his face when he is able to the task. Sometimes he will do it over and over just to make sure he can do it.  This month he figured out how to unbuckle the top part of his seat belt. Also, he is mostly potty trained at night. We put on diaper when he naps/night but it has always been dry this month.

Physical development : A loves to moves and to just go, go go whether that is a car ride to somewhere or out to our driveway.  He loves to throw/catch balls. A favorite game is throwing/catching balloons filled with some water. He loves to climb whether it is at the playground or at home on the couch or on me. He likes to roll too and walk down on the slide. He watches his sis do situp and does them too. He can almost do a full split  and will often walk on tip toe. He likes to kick his soccer ball and hold tennis racket. He loves to help pick up tennis balls and brings it to us. He tries to imitate everything we do.

Social:One thing I hope A gets better is when he meets our adult friends. Most of the time, he will turn his head away from the person who is saying hi or give you the look he does not wish to talk to you or say hi until at least for some time, usually when it is time to leave.  He doesn't seem to have this problem with kids his age. He might not say hi but he won't turn his head away. A usually is interested in what his siblings are doing rather than what his little friends are doing, but sometimes, he will watch them and play side by side. He might even show them how to play certain things or how not to. He is only affectionate with only one friend, a sweet, sweet girl 2 weeks apart from him. They def. have a bond.

Sleep: And as since birth, we still struggle with sleep. I have com to the conclusion that A just does not need a lot of sleep. These days, A either skips the afternoon nap entirely and get sleepy around 9pm or he will take a nap around 4-5 in the afternoon and then he really have a hard time sleeping at night like 10. And he always cries for us when we try to put him to sleep. It is def. not like my oldest where I can do the usual bed routine and turn on some music and she will drift to sleep by herself. Or my second oldest, he will be be falling asleep sometimes while he is still eating. But no matter when he goes to sleep at night, A is usually up between 7-8. Once in a great while, he wakes up in the middle of the night, comes to sleep with us and in those cases, he might sleep closer to 8:30. 

Officially 2

A is officially 2. We celebrated with a few of his friends. As one of my friend says, "it is perfect, small and intimate". On his celebration day, it rained, so we had move our little party inside so put it was different than I had planned . However,  A still enjoyed it immensely and really liked having his friend over. He def. cared about his party and because it was small, he was not overwhelmed. It is funny even though there were only 4 kids, all the kids were little shy in the beginning but eventually warmed up.

The kids all played with playdough and then free played while the adults can eat, relax and talk while keeping an eye on the kids.

Happy birthday, A!! We love you so much. And even though you are "right on time" on your terrible two as daddy says, you are still as cute as a button and have so much personality.

Some of his new favorite things are watering the plants, going to potty with older bro"ge-ge", playing with play dough, and playing cars. He likes pushing the baby stroller outside and he loves riding in his bike trailer. Often, even when I am done biking, he refuse to come out.  He is also loving the music CD (from Music and Me- highly recommend) I put in the car and sings a few words. Of course, A still loves to be read to, and surprises us with new words everyday. For some reason, he is not really into the swing or slide so the little play structure we bought sits there mostly unused.

A also def. got a sweet tooth now. Rock candy, lollipop (good thing they are made from organic cane sugar), string cheese are some of his favorite new food. He is still crazy about pineapple of all the fruits.