There was another bout of running nose this month that lasted for two weeks. (I suspect that it was allergic rhinitis this time and not a viral one.) Thank God that she is fine now. She has had lots of opportunities to practice blowing her nose throughout the episode though, and has thus mastered the art of nose-blowing. Sort of. Since it clears her nasal passages quite effectively, we couldn't be more thankful. It is a living skill, this one.
This month was very different from the last in the sense that Ben and I made an effort to spend our weekends with Sophie away from my in-laws' place - and back at our own home, where we started out as a family. We would pack our bags, hang out on the other side of the island (which includes going to the beach at times), eat home-cooked food, and spend time cleaning out our flat together. What a difference these getaways made for us! Especially me - and my self-esteem. It felt good to mother Sophie exclusively on my own without the help of my in-laws. Wash, cook, clean, entertain, teach, laundry, etc. You name it. There are joy and fulfillment in work. We made memories and enjoyed one another's company tremendously.
Anyway, here is an update of some other things new.
For the record...
(Note: Please kindly do not compare your children with mine, or mine with yours. Mine may be slower or faster in reaching her milestones depending on her strengths - and I don't intend to vex or worry any parent. I am only doing this for my keepsake as well as for the sake of friends and family who want to follow her progresses or are in need of ideas.)
Motor skills
Sophie is more sure-footed nowadays, even while running, carrying objects, balancing on raised surfaces (from floor level) or walking backwards. She surprised us by attempting to jump at the beginning of the month. Probably saw me jumping prior to that. After bouncing on our bed, squat thrusts, mini burpees, and some padded-buttock landings (that made my heart stag-leap out of my chest, almost), her feet have finally come off the floor by a few centimeters. She lands most of her jumps quite well with a happy grin on her face. I think, jumping makes her feel powerful.
She also delights in attempts to put on shoes and slippers on her own (unsuccessfully 70% of the time, including when she mixes up her left and right), standing on chairs, putting on a pair of kid sun-glasses and strutting around the house like a celebrity, trying to work mops/lint rollers, exploring our wallets, holding a cup to stir or drink water (can't help the spilling), washing her hands with soap, fussing over her stuffed animals, kicking and throwing our huge gym-ball around, chasing games, climbing at the playground (or at home for that matter), running along the beach (chasing the waves too), and fingering my piano keyboard. She laughs when I sing (growl) "low" to the lowest note on the keyboard and squeaky "high" to the highest note on the keyboard.
I am now teaching her to stand on tip-toe (she does it pretty confidently now and holds her position for a 1-2 seconds each time), walk sideways, undo a padlock with its key, and use crayons. Oh, join and separate things too.
Ben handles the more adventurous, outdoorsy stuff, e.g. climbing up the bars or steps of slides at the playground, riding her bike, and crawling through dirty, germ-infested tunnels. I. Can. Not.
As you have probably deduced by now, she is a rather kinaesthetic sort of learner.
She even learned how to wave/shoo flies away by watching my sister, who did it while we were eating Pasembur at a roadside stall.
Identifying alphabets
Some new alphabets for the month include D, F, H, I, M, N, S, T, U, W, X.
(I previously blogged on my teaching methods here. Of note, I would love to use Montessori methods to revise the alphabet with her in the future, when her fine motor skills are more developed.)
It is heartwarming whenever Sophie tries to identify the alphabets she sees in print and make the sounds that they represent, even though they are often inaccurate. As for X, she would point to it and then cross her pointers in the shape of an X.
I think her favourite alphabet is A. She takes delight in pointing out the A's every chance she gets. Signboards, books, DVD boxes, print on T-shirts, etc. Sometimes, she makes a triangle shape with her hands to let me know that there is an A somewhere about. And then it would be my turn to look for it.
I especially like it whenever she points out M and goes, "Mama", or D and says, "Dada". She would also point to S and then point to herself.
S is for Sophie. S is a very Special letter indeed.
Red light, STOP. Green light, GO.
I taught Sophie what the colours of the traffic lights mean. As a result, she now points out to us, very diligently, all the traffic lights along the journey. No more pretending that I didn't see the red light and beating it. Not a chance. Can't be contradicting myself and accelerating while the lights are just about to turn red, can I?
Not that I always do. I am a law-abiding citizen, I am.
I now yell, "Red light, STOP!" whenever I need her to stop running and freeze on the spot. At least for a few seconds.
Language skills
I blogged about them here. Mostly.
Today, in her steely determination to request (or demand) that I bring her out for a walk, she pointed to the door and said, "Out! Door!"
Hmmm.
Sign language skills
She signs for "sleep", "thank you", "baby", "stars", "lights", "work", "drive" (car), "Sophie" (pointing to herself), "scared", "goodbye", "hello", "yes" and "no". Pretty useful, I think.
Food preferences
Chips. Or French fries. She grew to like them. Which kid doesn't? We let her have a few whenever our eat-out meals are served with chips. Yes, we let her. Sometimes, she dips her chips into honey mustard sauce. Of course, we try to get off as much salt as possible before giving them to her, but you know what chips are. A vegetable.
Otherwise, I must say that her appetite has improved from that of the previous month. Thank God! Recently, she even took to Briyani rice and Tandoori chicken. Wow.
Cream cheese. She loves cream cheese. She can down a whole wedge of Laughing Cow cream cheese in one sitting. After a cup of oats in the morning or as a snack. Yesterday, she pointed to the mascot cow on the packaging and went, "Cah...oooooooo" (Cow, mooooooo).
Did I mention that Moo is my surname? :P
Toddler tantrums
Sophie does do tantrums from time to time too - especially when she doesn't get her way. However, they aren't too bad, at least for now. Haha. I wonder how bad will the tantrums become. God help me.
There you go. Here is to another fruitful, fun, and memorable month ahead.
Loving you, Sophie.
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