self-feeding independence
Just a week away from him hitting 15 months, and this monster is gradually becoming this little person in his own right.
The trip to Houston was an eye opener for me. Not because we are in a place we.have never been before, but because of him. I had to step away from being the “traditional” mom (in our household), and allowing more freedom and flexibility in this foreign place. It was tough but by the end of the trip, I felt a little more relaxed about how things turned out and I understood my little monster a little more.
Food and sleep routines were my biggest issues overseas. I was constantly on the lookout for healthier choices, grilled chicken, wraps..etc. Most of the food he had were high in sodium, so cue mama stepping in to remove the heavily seasoned crust so that he could have the chicken on the inside. I was constantly asking Ollie if he had enough, though he could not really understand the concept of fullness yet. I was trying to constantly pile him with food (fries, bread) just to make sure he had what I considered as enough.
We did a lot of shopping in the first couple of days. Ollie’s sleep was compromised especially at night. He would sleep in the carrier during the day, but the gaps between his naps were stretched and he slept shorter as there was a lot of activity going on. By the time we got back to the hotel, it would have been close to 11pm, and he would wake up when he was placed in the car seat, have a late shower and then go back to sleep after.
He has discovered independence and he wants loads of it. Depending on his mood, he will refuse food unless he is feeding himself. He will allow you to help him pick up the food but he wants to use his utensils to feed himself. For some reason, it was during this trip that he seemed to start speaking a little more. Worse that we had previously used with him, he would suddenly utter them. He was a lot better at following/comprehending instructions, though this was dependent on the company around.
His walking got a lot more stable and he was accommodating when I told him that he would need to hold my hand when we were walking. We walked a lot more as we went to the parks and walked along the streets near to the hotel. He had a field day at the Children’s Museum, being able to do the things that we usually say “no” to, like opening and closing the doors, switching the light on and off, climbing up and down. All of that in a safer environment. At some occasions, I felt that I was more excited than him about doing some things. I then had to step back and let him do it himself, just following him around, and helping him out when he had some trouble (i.e., inserting coloured sticks into the holes). It was really wonderful watching him explore and wander around, and watching him do things within his own capabilities, or pushing himself to do it.
On a side note, Singapore should really have a place like this!
Ollie also discovered tantrums. And I discovered trying to handle them. I had to learn how to ask him questions about what he wanted. It was like playing Jeopardy. I had to constantly remind myself that he could be tired, jetlagged, as I was trying to enforce his routine on him. Everything was new and exciting for him and I was curbing him from exploring. During the trip I decided that I’ll let him decide when he wants to nap. His longest gap between his naps were 5 hours, which was a little tricky seeing that nap time was also lunch time which meant he couldn’t really decide whether he wanted to eat or sleep. He then settled for a snack and then nap before waking up for lunch.
Ollie has also been signing a lot more, picking up on the signs we have been signing to him and a lot more verbal with actual words. Song requests are made using the actions for the song, and using the sign for Itsy-Bitsy Spider for songs with no actions as well. Argh. This song request thing could be a little annoying cos you would be jumping from song to song depending on his actions. Handy for bedtime, but annoying for other times. Gaah. He is more distinct with saying “no”, says bye, bag, bread (“beh”), bottle (“boh”) and tries to imitate the words we say pretty well.
He has shown a lot of physical affection towards Donald and I, “washing” our hair, “scratching” our heads, patting our faces before leaning over to give a wet kiss with the sound “muah!”. He would gamely hug us randomly and lean his head on our shoulder. It is really endearing, and he makes it hard for me to remain frustrated with him. Haha. He planted heaps of wet kisses on me one frustrating afternoon of trying to put him down for a nap after we came home. It was hard for me to control my laughter.
He’s grown taller too. *sigh* Maybe it’s the clothes. I dunno. He’s definitely grown up a little more, becoming his little own person. Things are getting more interesting from here!
