First is to get Kyla potty trained before she enters daycare on September (tho it's not an obligation). So far, so good. It seems that she definitely said goodbye to daytime diapers since a week now. She gets to control her "needs" better now. No more accidents!
Second is to teach Louna how to bike. Allow me to show you the evidence and appreciate it yourself.
1 year and 7 months old! And yet, she just started walking 2 months ago, at 17 months old. But then, she's got all her baby teeth and she eats on her own. Each kid has his own developmental milestone and I vowed to respect my kids' time.
She tries to run. Climbs up the stairs. She knows when she does her potty thing (she says o-o), even sits on her trainer without her diapers but still couldn't do it. In fact, she informs us when she's actually doing it. There's a problem of synchronization but I'll seriously start training her this summer.Since 3 weeks now. And she's lovin' it. Here's a video taken before Louna's Carnaval at school. Of course, Kyla's got her own costume too.
It’s been over a month now since I updated the blog and I feel a bit guilty for not taking the time to chronicle each tricks and milestones as they arrive. So to recap this month’s progress...
Louna’s been excelling on her speech development. She’s been talking a lot using correct grammar, a rich vocabulary and sweet phrase constructions which surprise me each day. Just a second ago, she told me while showing her book ça, c'est mon livre adoré (this is a book that I adore). She could have contented herself by telling me that it's her book but adding the word adoré made the sentence extra special.
She's singing quite a lot too. Not with the correct phrases but it's sweet nevertheless. Hear her sing here:
Kyla on the other hand is not really gaining a lot of weight, hardly going over 8kg at 8 months old. So I thought giving her spinach instead of her toes could solve the problem but no dice. Not a gram more.
Since the girls are growing up too fast and the little girl in me had been wanting a playhouse, the whole family engaged in an ambitious project - a playhouse.
Sorry, I don't know what this picture has but I can't turn it!
Wonder what a 6 months old kiddo could do? This! Wohooo! Taking into account that Louna did it at 5 months old, we could only blame but the weather and Kyla and her covered feet.
My little Kyla lost her lovely smile..
to this...
look closer - she's got two teeth!
.. and I thought I still have time to buy chamomilla vulgaris from the pharmacie. I had been touching her gums since last week. The Mommy in me felt that those tiny teeth are on their way but didn't expect that it would be this soon and not two teeth at a time. This evening, at exactly 5 months, 1 week and 2 days old, the tiny teeth surprised me. The little girl's ok - no fuss. We were obliged to pinch her so she'd cry and open her mouth. I took the pictures right away. Bad parents.
On other developments, she starts to have a good control of her hands - she grabs everything infront of her. She particularly loves papers which she puts directly in her mouth. She still regurgitates a lot inspite of the medicines prescribed by the doctor. As they say, if symptoms persist, insult consult your doctor. So this Friday, Kyla has another appointment with her pediatrician. I hope he'll give us something more effective - changing Kyla's shirts and bibs all the time to keep her dry starts to be real tiring. Add to that the fact that Kyla smells like a stinky milk after a day. But well, I start to love that smell anyway.
I'm a lazy blogger mom. My mom asked me to update the blog so my family could see how beautifully this little girl grew up. She reminded me how regularly I updated the blog at Louna's time and how happy Kyla would be when she's older and could read what I've written for her. Oo nga naman.
So. She still has plenty of hair. This little princess laughs when somebody talks to her. She's eager to communicate. She tries to lift her head when laid on her back, to grab and hold toys infront of her and to suck her fingers. She still regurgitates quite a lot and often cries after feeding. The medecines she took didn't do her any good so her pediatrician asked us to undergo xray examinations on her stomach in the next week. I hope it's just nothing. She had her second set of vaccin shots. At 3.5 months, she weighed 6 kg and measured 66 cm. Big girl!
She's now taking 4 bottles of 210ml a day and sleeps longer hours at night. She could stay from 9pm to 9am now but still irregular. If I want to have uninterrupted nights, I need to give her the last bottle later in the evening, like 9 to 11pm.
Well, aside from frequent regurgitations, this little girl grows up wonderfully. Never been sick since birth. Smiles when she wakes up. Wets and soils her diapers regularly (oh yes, even that could mean happiness to parents!).
Louna, 3 years and 1 month old
- She believes in Santa Clause but quite afraid to approach him. She met him twice - at school and at the company party. The only motivation for her to approach him was when I told him that Père Noël would give him candies again.
- They celebrated Christmas party at school last week. They sang a song but Louna wasn't singing, only observing. She was happy when she saw me among the crowd but that didn't motivate her to sing. It was quite difficult to take a picture of her because even if she's one of the youngest in her class, she's one of the biggest too. She's positionned at the last row.
- She watched her first movie, Madagascar 2 last week. She cried at the end of the movie, not wanting the film to end. Now, she can't wait for the next film to watch at the grande télé (big TV).
- She could form longer sentences right now. Like Papa n'est pas gentil. Il a tapé le visage à Maman. (Papa is not kind. He slapped the face of Maman.) That was when Papa jokingly slapped my face because Louna said there was a fly. But Louna didn't get the joke. She thought it was real. She's been repeating that sentences over and over. I just hope she's not telling that to her teacher or to other person. We need to be careful at home now, lol.
- She can do a 15-piece puzzle easily, even with her eyes closed, lol. So we bought a 45-piece puzzle which she can do with a little help from us.
Kyla, 2 months and 3 weeks old
- It's more agreable to get into conversation with her now. She's responding with sweet smiles, tiny laughs and some boo and coo. In fact, she loves to communicate with the person infront of her. She could stay calm for 2 hours like that.
- She takes 5 bottles of 150ml a day. But the best part is that she's got rhythm now. She takes her bottle almost always at the same time - 11am, 2pm, 6pm, 10pm and the last one at night varies from 4am to 6am.
- She has discovered her hand and she's fascinated by them. I would oftentimes catch her looking at her hand intensely then try to put it in her mouth. She even tries to suck it. She also tries to hold everything infront of her but she's not ready yet. She's able to grab a toy sometimes but it's more accidental than intentional. But that milestone is not far from now. A week or two from now and she'll be able to hold her toys. I can't wait!
- She's calmer now and could even sleep on her own after an hour or two of playtime - provided that she's got clean diapers. Playtime means conversing with me, observing her toys and her hand and grabbing some toys.
- She loves to look at the telly when Louna watches her favorite DVDs.
- She could hold her head erect for a few moment when sitting down and lying on her tummy. She tries to lift her head when she's lying on her back, like she's doing crunch exercises, lol.
It's Louna's 3rd birthday today and it's also the 3rd time she blew her candles for this special day. She celebrated her birthday with the family last week. Then with her teacher and classmates yesterday. Today, she blew her candles with her nanny.
On her 3rd birthday, she promised to be kind because otherwise, Santa Claus or Père Nöel as they call him here won't be giving her gifts this Christmas. Good deal. Let's see if she could hold her promise till Christmas.
Kyla on the otherhand had been sleeping straight since two nights now. At the first night, she was able to hold 7 hours without asking for milk. We woke her up at 6am to nurse her. Even second time parents are still afraid of leaving their kids sleeping that long for the first time. At the second night, meaning this night, she was able to hold for 9 long hours! Whoa! That, is a milestone! Congratulations Kyla!
So what's the trick? Well, I have started mixing between breast and bottle feeding, right? I introduce bottles once or twice a day since she's a month old. But since two nights ago, I give her a bottle at around 10:30pm and that knocks her out till sunrise.
Another change is that, I let her sleep in her bed now. Since she arrived at home, she always slept with me on our bed as she's being breastfed. It's more convenient for everybody. I nurse her twice, around 3am and 6am without waking up even Papa who sleeps in the same bed as us. I think we're synchronized. We wake up at the same time so even before she cries and claim for her milk, the boob is already jacked in her mouth, lol.
So who says she'll get bad habits in sleeping in the same bed as her mom? She didn't say anything when I tucked her in bed last night.
Yay! Time flies. When was the last time I updated Louna's milestones? Since time immemorial? Can't even remember when. But that doesn't mean nothing interesting is happening to this active toddler. Or should I say, pre-schooler?
She's attending pre-school since two weeks now. Aside from the shy tears she shed on the first day, everything is going impeccably well now. She's excited to go to school everyday - you can't hear her complain. She already knows the direction going to and from her school which is just 2 blocks away from our place. She's attending morning classes now, 8:45 am to 11:45 am, while I'm on maternity leave. Then we will switch progressively to whole day classes as I approach the end of my leave which would be by the end of December. Teacher B remarked how disciplined she is and how attentive she gets when she's reading a story. I even witnessed it once when I arrived earlier to fetch her and watched the kids by the window. Louna was actually imitating Teacher B's geste, even doing hand movements even before her teacher executes.
She's talking quite a lot too, forming short but complete sentences with subject, verb and complement. But that's when she's in the mood to talk clearly. Because there are a lot of moments when she's in the mood to talk like a baby. She hadn't even mastered talking perfectly that she already starts to deteriorate her level, lol.
She likes helping with the household chores when she's in the mood (Well, in fact, she likes doing everything in just one condition - when she's in the mood to do a certain task). She likes staying in the kitchen with us so most of the time, she's the one arranging the utensils in the dishwasher then arrange them in their proper place afterwards.
Today is Louna's first day at the pre-school. The night before, we were able to let her pronounce her teacher's name which is Barbara. The next day, everybody was up quite early, too excited maybe to prepare ourselves for the first day. Even Papa took his morning off to experience this special milestone with Louna.
Arriving there, some kids already started crying while Louna stared at them, holding our hands, quite teary-eyed herself. She was probably thinking if crying was SOP. Does she have to cry too? Then she started to try the new toys around, then moved from one table to another. She was even able to talk to another girl and asked her if she could take the toy camera. Then she started taking pictures till it was time for us to leave.
Teacher B took her hand trying to assure her that everything will be alright. She cried silently when we left. But like a spy, we peeked on the window before we left. There, she was already mingling with other kids. She in fact stopped crying in no time.
She was already smiling when we went back to fetch her. First day was a promise of a fruitful school year. Parents had worried faces when they brought their kids to school. But all those worried faces were replaced by happy faces, excited to know how their kids fared. My, still can't believe I'm one of those parents.
She finally understood how it works. She loved it and she's proud of her new skill. She had her first bike long time ago and I think we really bought a big one for her. She loved staying with her bike but she just couldn't play with it. She sometimes ride on it and we stay at the back to push her but that is quite a tiresome activity.
Then we thought of this old bike. This is somewhat a heritage thing in the family. Her cousins rode and learned how to pedal from the same bike. And look at how Louna fares. She's biking like a pro!
Changes had been a-bounty. It's quite impossible to update this blog for each change, unless I work on it fulltime and blog everyday. First off, she finally had her ears pierced for her 2nd birthday, had her real earrings for Christmas and lost them last week - barely a month after she had them. Life is great. If losing her earrings will continue at this pace, we will surely need to invest on a gold mine!
Singing still remains her passion I think. Hear her sing at 1 year old, and now at 2 years old.
Playing has taken a different dimension too. In this picture, she's playing with the Dora house which her Nanny offered to her last Christmas. She's in fact playing her own scenario - Dora doing dodo (sleeping) while Swiper is looking by the window. It's also funny to note that Dora and Boots could sleep together on Dora's bed while Swiper sleeps exclusively on the sofa.
But now, at 26 months old (it even started earlier), she could go do her potty alone without us asking her all the time. She could remove and pull back her panties alone so all we have to do now is to flush her business in the toilet. In case of poopy business, she of course ask us to wipe her butty but that's all.
Our little darling is blowing her second candle today, November 8th. She's at the height of her development - playing between her terrible and terrific twos syndrome. Tho 2 years might not seem that long, it is just enough to make us addicted to her and make life without her unimaginable.
Take a look at this cute videos of her at 2 years old:
Oh yes ! The trick is, we have to remove her diapers at daytime for her to tell us it’s time to do the potty. When she’s with her diapers, most of the time, she won’t even bother to inform us that it’s poo time. So here are the tricks which worked for us:
- No to diapers during daytime. At first, she refused to remove her diapers and it was a real tug-of-war between us. She in fact understood that without the diapers, she was obliged to remember (because she tends to forget when she’s busy playing) and inform us (most of the time, it’s one second too late, thus the accidents). Practice makes perfect. After repeated accidents, she understood that, well, she had to think about going to the toilet sometimes.
PS: This strategy is coupled with the questions Pot Louna? Non. Sûr? almost every 30 minutes. Yes, we have to think for her sometimes.
- Let her know that accidents are not acceptable. She has to have the notion of what is good and what is not. Time-out corner, when used moderately, doesn’t hurt.
- Encouragement. Kids love to be applauded and praised – and know what, this doesn’t cost a thing. Louna is just so proud when she does it. There was one afternoon when she wanted to keep her potty because Papa hadn’t seen it yet. And Papa was still at work! So I tried to negotiate to keep the potty chair inside the toilet, without 'flushing’ the content, but she wanted it to be near her inside her playroom. She doesn’t trust Maman when it comes to potty matters. Imagine the odor propagating everywhere inside the house! Panic! I called up her Papa and explained the situation. They talked over the phone and Papa said Bravo Louna. After then, she took her potty chair and headed to the toilet. It was ok to flush her business. Whew.
It’s been almost a month now that she’s doing her potty business without any accident. She could even control herself now. Hope this progress continues.
Another milestone is taking into form right now. Last Monday night, bad Maman as I am, I told Louna to Go do your potty on your own. You’re a big girl now. when she started to say Pot. That was because this bad Mom was busy watching the telly. But… before criticizing me, read this:
Louna went to her potty chair, pulled down her pants and diapers, then did her business. She then went back to me, pants pulled up correctly with some bumpy thing inside. I checked on it and it was in fact her diapers (it was night time – diaper time) which she wasn’t able to pull back up with her tiny hands. That was really cute! Papa and I was laughing our hearts out, followed by Louna who equally giggled on her own. We were really proud of her.
We’re not into systematic rewards each time she does something good. But that night, she had her Kinder chocolate for a job well done.
My little girl's growing and it's quite hard to realize that she's nearing 2 years old and she'll start playschool starting February of next year. She's mastered a lot of skills and tricks now that makes her more adorable. I'm sure you're excited as me to unravel her cuteness.
Vocabulary Check
Mamie and Papi - the French words for grandma and grandpa were a hit this summer, especially that she stayed almost two week with her grandparents. She calls her nanny's mom Mamie too. And mind you, she could exige Mamie's attention with matching stamping of her feet. What an authority!
Pain - French word for bread. She's quite addicted to this word as much as she is addicted to the actual bread. And the way she wipes her plate with her bread, or the way she dips her bread to her cup of milk, you would know that she's a real Frenchie.
Tchin-Tchin - Here in France, if they don't say Santé (to health) to say Cheers, they would say tchin-tchin. And my little girl would ask for a tchin-tchin everytime she drinks her glass of water.. so careful if you serve yourself with wine.
Main - Hands. Of course, she knows where her hands are and she knows how to wash them. She would take one chair near the wash basin, climb the chair and ask help from Maman or Papa by shouting 'main main' with her hands held up high.
Moo - it could be Nemo when she wants to watch the movie or a cow if she sees one.
Oh Men - Have you seen Dora the Explorer? Do you know Swiper the Fox? And do you know what Swiper says? Oh men!
Back Pack - Still with Dora the Explorer, now with the Back Pack. Louna has some collections of Dora band-aids (which her Maman bought of course) and I caught her one time at the playground telling her playmate about her band-aid - she was singing the Back Pack song while pointing on her knees with the band-aid.
More Tricks
She also loves patterns - you know, she had to follow the trail when we do hiking. Look at the picture attached, she walks on the green lane.
She’s a Frenchy. I have been trying to instill Filipino values by dressing her up Divisoria-style but aside from the Zambal song Popo Talobo she’s requesting each time I change her diapers and her morena color, no other traces of her being half-Filipino have blatantly marked her developments. She’s growing frenchier by the second. It’s inevitable. She’s growing on a French ground.
Language and comprehension skills are the important milestones this month. Aside from the words and phrases already listed two entries ago, she’s got new additions to her vocabulary. All French, of course.
Aïe Aïe Aïe (Ay Ay Ay) – Could be translated to Ouch, to Oh boy! to Oh dear! depending on which situation she employs the word. But hmm, she’s quite abusing this word.
Là – There. Ask her to search for something and she’ll answer you with là.
Coucou – Another way to say Hello.
Coin (pronounced as kwang)– Corner. Remember the Time-Out Corner when she does something bad? She knows it by heart now. She even goes there without being punished to practice her crying prowess. She pronounces it as khang.
This girl is a promising talkie-walkie. She talks a lot and she expresses herself so LOUDLY. And I mean loudly. She probably noticed she could get more attention by shouting all the time. How could I explain to a toddler that she could get what she wants even without yelling?
She’s now into Role Playing too. She plays Mom to her favourite doll. She feeds her doll, installs her on the high chair and attaches her with the security belt, puts on her shoes, dances with her, talks to her and cuddles her. Her doll has her own dose of khang too. Nasty doll!
Other toddler wonders she’s mastered right now are:
- Sending flying kisses and giving out real kisses with sounds.
- Playing with building blocks. She starts to pile up goods inside a grocery when left unguarded.
- Putting on her own shoes.
But this girl has two faces. She’s also a Bad Girl in the Making. She’s in the process of pushing our patience to the limits. She would refuse to arrange her toys. She wouldn’t oblige if we ask her to point on her different body parts. She wouldn’t concentrate when we want to teach her something. She would play when it’s bedtime.
Bref, she’s a growing toddler, with her highs and lows.
First time Mom, away from the family and living in another country are the perfect factors to feel lost. I've conditionned myself to rely on my instincts but there's just some situations that I feel the need to rely on something else. Since my pregnancy to present, I have been a grand devourer of books, magazines and internet sites. I've frequented Mommy and Baby bloggers around the net. I have learnt a lot of Mommy tricks, but the most important of all, I've learnt that there's no such thing as Child: User's Guide.
Every child has his own curve of physical, cognitive, social and emotional developments so no need to stress out over something because statistics say so. I have stopped worrying that my child walked later than her peers. I have stopped worrying that she just started potty training at 16 months old. I have decided to let her grow at her own pace, not worrying about statistics. I have decided to watch her grow without pushing. I have decided to savour the magic moments of her little discoveries without worrying.
She sees/hears the world. She stops when a dog barks and says 'waw waw' in return. She looks up in the sky when she hears an airplane and points at it. She loves observing birds and would stop walking just to see them fly. She would stop walking, lacking confidence, when she hears a motorcycle pass her way - like she's sensed danger. She would stare at someone and wait till he says hi and would smile and wave her hand in return.
She imitates. She cleans the toilet bowl with the brush (even if I say no). She puts toothpaste on her brush. She uses her toothbrush as a lollipop. She combs Papa's hair. She holds the (computer) mouse like a pro. We were once walking at the town center and some teenagers shouted. She stopped, turned to the youngsters, and surprised everybody when she yelled back at them. It's the time of parenthood when we have to be careful on what we say and do before her.
She makes us laugh. She would swing from one foot to the other when she hears music and look at us with a smile. She would do something good and would clap her hands.
She understands. More than what we think she does. She shows where her nose is and if she points somewhere else but her nose, it means playtime. She would arrange her toys, put her diapers in the garbage, goes to her room when it's bedtime, bring something to Mama or Papa... but all that, exclusive when she's on play mood.
She drinks on her own. This one's a milestone! She holds her glass, ask for a toast (when she's on play mood), drinks what's inside, and ends the whole procedure with a cough. Chic!
She knows good from bad. It's either we applaud or nothing. Depending on the gravity, she would either give us a hug or a kiss or go to the corner. She would always try to push to the limits, of course, but kids will always be kids. I let her be. That's part of the gazillion joys of parenthood.
The nanny informed us last week that Louna should start doing her poopy business like a big girl now. My first reaction was 'Ain't she too young?' First-time parents as we are, we didn't even thought about the idea. Not yet. She just started to walk, to hold her spoon, to eat by herself.. and now, she had to do toilet training as well. Too much tasks for a 16 months old.
We asked her pediatrician about the subject and he was all out to the idea of potty training her now. The earlier, the better. It's a skill that needs time to be mastered. It's something that needs to be learned. It's not a matter of age. It's a matter of the child's willingness to cooperate and learn.
Kids in France have to be diaper-free before entering nursery school at 3 years old. Though it seems too early for Louna to learn now (well, at least for me), it will be interesting to know how she would react to this new discovery. I've noticed that she's been staying in one corner everytime she does it, and even cries when I ask her what she's doing, like as if, she's ashamed of something. It means that she knows when it's wee-wee or poo-poo time, right? Now we need to wait for the time when she will say, 'It's poo-poo time Mom'.
Yesterday morning, just after changing her diaper, I saw her doing her poopy business silently in one corner. It was a sign. I quickly called up Papa Frenchguy and he in turn, hurriedly took the potty chair. We asked Louna to sit down and we waited. We were there, infront of her, excited and all, waiting for the result. After 1 or 2 minutes of no result, we decided to leave her so she could do it without being embarassed. And who would appreciate being watched at that poopy moment? It was a good strategy, she did it just as we left. We're proud parents!
It might be too early to consider it a milestone but we have promising result and we will surely continue the experience. Louna's now a certified potty trainee at 16 months.
