Walking into the New Year!

Today (New Year's Day), Janelle managed to walk unaided for at least 1 metre! She had previously only been able to walk 2 to 3 steps unaided before grabbing onto some form of support. But today she decided to be bold and just continued walking

I guess as parents, we are excited about this new development, yet fearful of what the 'future' holds now that she can explore previously untouched grounds! It means that more supervision is needed. But I guess each stage is a step of faith!

Some of Janelle's new developments:
- wave hello and call out to each stranger she meets (actually this is not exactly a new development considering that she's always been trying to get others' attention since young!)
- point to the ceiling (especially when you ask her "where is the light/fan?")
- say "NO" and "duck" (see, I was right about "no" being one of the first words babies speak!)
- spit out her food
- bark when she sees a dog or a picture of a dog

No No NOO!

I don't think I have ever used the word "no" so many times in a day! I find myself saying "Janelle, no!" countless times each day. It is no wonder that one of the first few words children learn is the word "NO". Now, I am attempting to use variations of "no" - like "you cannot do that", or use the positive form like "sit down" instead of "don't stand up".

Last night I was reading a book on disciplining toddlers (ie. 14months onwards) and I was surprised to learn that the examples of naughty behaviour quoted in the book are already present in Janelle who's 11 months old! Each day is a battle of getting her not to stand or climb out of her high chair, to not spit out her food, to sit in her carseat (which she absolutely refuses), to not scream, etc etc. It doesn't help that other older mothers tell me that it will only get worse as the kid grows older! That sure doesn't sound encouraging at all.

This morning I had to leave Janelle to play with her toys while I went for a quick shower. Just 5 minutes later I came out and found my bag ransacked, with Janelle pulling out every card and note from my wallet! Decided to snap a picture of her caught in the act...

First Christmas!

Today Janelle celebrated her very first Christmas! She got a new drum set from her mama (maternal grandmother) as well as some fake fruits from her 'chor-chor' (maternal great-grandmother).

Janelle also had great fun walking in her new shoes and playing with bubbles. She loves to hold on to one hand while walking, and wave hello to everyone with the other hand - as though she's Miss Universe doing a catwalk! *faint*

 We had a delicious dinner with our families & friends, with Royston's baked turkey being the main highlight :) It turned out pretty impressive considering it was our first try at baking a turkey! Janelle enjoyed the turkey as well :)

Janelle - 11 months old

Terrible ONEs?!

It is interesting that we know of the term "Terrible Twos", but no one ever mentions or prepared us for the "Terrible ONEs". Janelle is 11 months old - not even one year old yet - and she has already started to show signs of being really really naughty. Her latest development is her screaming. She screams at everything and for every little reason. Not the pitiful-sounding screams, but really loud, shrill and piercing screams that bring utter embarrassment to us - her parents - especially in public.

How do you discipline an 11-month old child when she screams? How do we get her to stop screaming? We are at a loss after having tried scolding, beating, covering her mouth, giving her silent treatment. But all has failed thus far. Well, if anyone has any suggestions do let us know :)

On a lighter note, Janelle is now the proud owner of her first pair of "proper shoes"! All her older shoes have been the soft-sole type that is not too suitable for walking around in (more for cosmetic purpose!). This pair of shoes has a firmer and waterproof base so she can walk about in it. She loves walking around but still insists on holding on to at least one hand.

Back from Genting

We went to Genting Highlands 12th to 14th December. Janelle simply loved the cool weather up there and slept like a pig!! In fact, she slept more than she did back in Singapore :) Brought a slow-cooker up to cook her meals and as the name suggests, the slow-cooker really cooked food very slowly!
12 hours to cook the porridge! Not sure if it was the cold weather that caused the cooker to cook even more slowly?! But the porridge turned out mushy and yucky, with the potato pieces still hard after 12 hours of cooking. Thank God Janelle had no complaints on the yucky food and finished it up anyway

This picture is of her smiling away happily. She's generally a very cheerful and smiley girl. Growing up real fast and learning things (bad things!) fast too  She has recently learnt how to scream, which isn't very pleasant and highly difficult to correct. Oh well, can only pray that God will teach her (and us) patience!

Genting Trip 12-14 Dec 06