Milestones

Both my boys are growing up so fast. Bryan's quite excited that it's a brand new year. And he's a 'big boy' in kindergarten. He has started taking the school bus home and he enjoys it. He sits with his classmate in the bus so it's not too scary for him. He's also decided that he will stop wearing diapers at night. I try not to give him too much to drink at night and make him go before he sleeps. But so far so good. He's managed to stay dry. Very proud of him. He also seems to be making some sort of progress with chinese. He seems a bit more confident with words but we still have a lot of work to do.

Meanwhile, Gabriel's good on his feet. He's running around and chasing the dog. He hasn't really spoken much. But he's generally pretty quiet. Except for the funny whining sounds he makes. Sometimes though, he will suddenly say 'dog' or 'car' or 'ta-da' or 'na-na' (calling nai-nai). But no one seems to be able to make him repeat it. He will say 'mum-mum' when he really likes what he's eating. He can scribble on paper and place shapes into the right places. I'm wondering if he's ready for playgroup yet though. Maybe in a few more months?

Hide & Seek?

What in the world is in there?

Walk Part 2

Gabriel can walk now. On his own, without help. He's rather unsteady but he does give it a go anyway. And sometimes when he is in the mood, it's quite fun. He still prefers to crawl though because he's very good at it.

Haircut #2

We took Gabriel for his 2nd haircut. This time, the hairstylist suggested we sit Gabriel by himself. I have to say that I was very surprised. He managed it all by himself. We distracted him with everything we could think of, including a DVD of Thomas the tank engine. He didn't get upset at all. Not even when the hairstylist used the buzzer. So he had a fabulous cut this time.

Walking Part 1

Milestones

It's been a busy few weeks for me. I haven't had a chance to even document Gabriel's 1 year milestones. He walks with support, but still very much prefers to crawl. Even in the baby wading pool, he would walk for a while then try to crawl. And he talks more too. He'd say 'ba-ba' and 'da-da' and 'hei' and the occasional 'wa'. I'm still working on 'ma-ma' though. He now would pick up a pencil/crayon and start scribbling. Then he'll try to chew on the crayon. Gabriel eats two big meals and a few smaller ones in between. He has porridge or soft pasta with some minced meat and pureed vegetables. He loves his fruits too. He still drinks his milk, three times a day. Gabriel still has 4 teeth and I think he's teething because he'd get these urges to bite things.

Meanwhile, his big brother, Bryan is already 4. He is starting to read. He picks words up very fast and is easy to teach. He can also add simple numbers and counts all the way to a hundred. Bryan is starting to eat meals on his own but is also becoming fussy with his food. He'll start off eating well then has to be fed towards the end. He loves playing games, and especially likes Uno for kids. It's his favourite game of the moment.

Teeth

Gabriel now has 4 teeth. It took me a while before I managed to get a photo with him smiling and with ALL his teeth.

A Special Day

Today is the 9th of the 9th month (September) of the year '09. I don't take note of numbers usually but I thought this is pretty cool.

This is the day that Gabriel turns 11 months. And the day that Bryan has a special programme in school and swimming lessons.

I think it should feel like a special day. Not like a birthday or christmas. But maybe like the end-of-school-day or a going-to-the-zoo day. I should do something special with the kids.

Crawl Part 2

Gabriel loves to crawl. He'd insist on getting down from the chair so he can explore. Which would be great if we didn't have a dog at home and a marble floor. So I try to keep him in the playroom where we have those rubber mats. But he gets bored with his toys and wants to do some exploring instead. And he does gets quite insistent.

So here is Gabriel with mom giving in...

Toys

This is one of Gabriel's favourite toys. It's handed down from Bryan, who got it from his cousin. Gabriel has to put in balls into the top, where it will follow the ramp down and appear in one of the tunnels at the bottom. Now Gabriel thinks it's for all balls. And he will try it on anything spherical. It may not fit but he'll give it a go anyway.

Meanwhile, the ruins of Leith Road...

10 Months

Cuteness overload at 10 months. Gabriel crawls now and pulls himself to stand whenever he can. He can just about stand on his own too. Then he falls right on his bottom. He loves reading. He can flip the pages of a board book and loves looking at the pictures.

Playroom Fun

The playroom floor has recently been refloored with alphabet playmats. So that Gabriel has a space he can crawl around in and play. Usually he plays in his playpen so this is a whole lot more he can explore. Which he loves to do. A lot of Bryan's toys are neatly stored in plastic containers so Gabriel can't get to them. He plays with Bryan's old baby toys instead. Like the big lego blocks.

Stand Part 1

After we put down the cot, Gabriel now tries to stand up in it. He'd grab the side rails and slowly pull himself up until he can grasp the top. Then he'd tip toe to try to look over the top and get excited at what he can see. He gets tired though and then he'll let go and fall on his bum. After which he'll try again and again and again.

Bathtime

Gabriel sits up in his bath now. And he gets all these lovely bath toys to play with. All handed down from Bryan. He has a fish and a star and an octopus but his favourite is the cup. We use that to pour water over his head to wash his hair. Then he'd take it and try to scoop water up to drink.

A Cut Together

Bryan wanted a haircut over the weekend. So I brought him to his favourite hairdresser. I thought since I'm already here, I may as well cut Gabriel's hair too. Otherwise the next trip would be in at least 2 months time. And Gabriel's hair is already growing past his ears.


So my little baby had his hair cut too. Very short. Very cute and neat. He fussed a bit, towards the end, when he got a bit upset with the hairdresser and the clippers. But it was done, very quickly.

9 Months

Gabriel's 9 months! He's more mobile now. And can push himself around on his tummy to get to stuff. We had to lower his cot recently too because he was trying to stand in his cot.

And he's such an angel. So lovely to look after. He takes two 2 hour naps. One in the late morning and another one in the afternoon. Then at night, he sleeps by 10pm and wakes up at 7am. He can be a bit fussy with food. He likes his cereal a certain texture. But he would eat most vegetables together with his porridge. No fuss.

Crawl Part 1

Gabriel can just about move around on his tummy now. He'd get up on all fours, then push himself forwards. It's not quite crawling but it's getting there. He can even push himself over objects on the bed like people. So he needs to be watched if he's on the bed by himself.

Gabriel used to flip over and over and try to get to where he wants to go. It's really interesting to watch. Over a couple of months, he's discovered that he can get up on all fours. And when he rocks back and forth, eventually he gets enough momentum to move a little bit.

I've always found the way babies move quite cute and fascinating. Basically, they try their best to move whichever way they've discovered.

Favourites

Gabriel's favourite song is 'Twinkle, twinkle little star'. He'll get really excited when he hears it. He'll bang on the bed with both hands in between verses.

So after I sing, "Twinkle, twinkle little star..."
Gabriel will smile and go - bang, bang, bang.
"...how I wonder what you are..."
more bang, bang, bang...
He just gets so super excited.

Sit 2

At 8 months, Gabriel is getting better and better at sitting up. He loves to sit up and play with stuff. His toys, or Bryan's toys, or mommy's stuff. He'll stretch and try to get things out of his reach. And for some reason, he finds the remote control rather enticing. So recently, he's been learning the meaning of the word, 'No'.

He is also trying his best to crawl. He's get up on his hands and pull his legs up to his knees. Then he'll get a bit top heavy and end up with his forehead on the covers. He'll try to push himself but somehow ends up going backwards or toppling over instead. It's really cute to watch.

Having A Meal

Gabriel is easy to feed. He'd sit happily in his chair and let himself be fed. I have to keep his hands busy with other extra spoons/toys. Otherwise he will end up snatching the feeding spoon from me.


Before (looking forward to a yummy dinner)... I tried not using the flash but the photo is a little grainy. Already F2.0 and ISO 800. This is the best one I got.


During (what a mess!) ... My initial few tries with the flash ended up with it being over exposed. I had to turn the flash down a couple of notches to get it right. Hmm... maybe I should borrow hubbie's detachable flash and play around with it.


After (clean up time)... Gabriel tolerates my cleaning him up with out too much of a fuss. This is him in a good mood though. Usually he gets tired of sitting in his chair by the end of the meal and fusses for me to pick him up. Yep, I'm going to scrap this.

Meanwhile, Bryan has his own table and chair which he sits for dinner. I really dislike kids running around in restaurants. So I've decided that my boys are not going to be like that. I try my best to make him sit and finish his dinner. It's not easy to keep an intelligent pre-schooler sitting in his chair for the duration of the meal. In the end, he ends up watching Playhouse Disney. Sigh...