My First Haircut

Tantrum

The majority of my articles tend to highlight the positive side of Louna which explains her overall rating as a cool, easy-to-manage kid. Some friends even tease us that we have to plan for another child so we could feel the real parenting experience. But what is a real experience anyway? She's an ordinary child all the same, ready to express her anger and other emotional outbursts when need be.

Just like adults, kids need to evacuate these bad feelings for emotional equilibrium. It's healthy and normal. But unlike adults, kids lack self-control so they tend to express their emotions physically. I've seen toddlers who hit, bite, pull their friend's hair, throw toys, etc. Again, it's normal. When I was not a mother yet, I thought these kids are aggressive and violent, and get this, at a very young age! That's from someone who needs a course on child psychology or better yet, someone who needs to be a mother to understand kids. I'm learning.

As I've said, it's healthy and normal but it's not a reason to leave kids throwing tantrum on every occasion they get and hurt themselves or other kids. Careful, kids could abuse and consider it as a child's play (well, I guess I need to stop watching Super Nanny hehe, I start to be paranoid). Parents should be there to take control of the moment and explain the situation to them till they get the right self-discipline they need to master their emotions. You won't want to see your toddler alone at school because he's biting everybody, right?

Louna's method is quite brutal. She would cry and lie down on the floor. The moment I take her in my arms, she would hit me on the face. Merci (thank you). She's still a work in progress on this point. Before, I would try to calm her down at once but all I get are endless punches and louder cries. She won't even listen. So now, I let her blow it all out and talk to her later, after her tantrum. She sometimes continue to punch so she goes directly to the time-out corner (yes, we finally used this method). I guess she understood that corner means punishment so at times when she accidentally leaves her hand out of control, she would transform the gesture to a caress and lets out her sweetest smile. Smart.

Some tantrum moments:
- she doesn't want to enter the house
- she doesn't want to be taught how to hold her spoon
- she want's more baguette (french loaf)
- she doesn't want something in her possesion to be confiscated (like a big bar of chocolate, my mobile phone..)

16th Month Wonders

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.

My First Book

Dear Louna,

I have been reading my past entries about your developments and I just noticed how it sounded like a technical report. They talked about your height, your weight and your latest developments and nothing more. They lacked emotions. I seldom expressed how happy and proud we are to have you as our daughter. Yes, we are really proud of you. Of course, every parent has the same statement for their children, you would say. But what if I tell you, most of the parents around me complain about their kids (they're French!) and I just cannot take their lead because I cannot complain about you. Here's why:

- Sleeping Patterns. You started having a whole night sleep (8h!) at 3 weeks old. I was told that most children establish their sleeping rhythm at 3 months old or later. I was so worried about you that I went to the health center to talk about your case. The other mothers were jealously laughing because it was their first time to hear a mother complaining because she sleeps well at night. I was quite embarassed, I'm a first-time Mom and it shows. The health center's pediatrician adviced me to wake you up for a feeding session every 4 hours because you're still too young and it's easy for you to fall on hypothermia. But a week later, your pediatrician told me that I should leave you in your slumber as you would cry if you're hungry anyway. From then on, everybody in the household slept a complete night, not tired at all.

For quite sometime now, your degree of comprehension (in english and in french) just amazes us more and more. Each time I tell you it's bedtime and that we have to go upstairs, you automatically climb the stairs and follow me. Last night, we we're busy watching TV and nobody wants to accompany you to bed (yes, it happens sometimes, bad parents you have), so I told you the ritual 'It's time to go to bed, Louna'. To our amazement (and I have to admit, I was so proud of you), you started walking your way to the stairs. (I told Papa to wait and observe). You then hit the steps one by one, and arriving upstairs, you started to close the security barrier and off you went to your room. You're really amazing! We were so proud of you.

- Crybaby ??. Not at all. As infant, you cried when you had wet diapers and when you're hungry. You really gave me an easy task there. When you're sick, crying is really the last option. You would just talk less or should I say babble most of the time. Your teeth didn't even disturbed your mood. You cry sometimes, ok, but just a matter of few minutes, then it's finished. How could I complain?

- Eating Habit. Oh, you love eating. The good thing is that you still eat even when you're sick. That helps to keep you going. You knew how to eat on your own at barely 16 months old. Holding your spoon is probably the skill you learnt the fastest. The bad part is that you don't know when to stop and you hate drinking water.

This would make you laugh I swear, but do you know that most of the time, you don't want to leave your high chair because you still ask for mam mam? And when I do shop, you become my mam mam detector because you know when it's food or not? What a skill!

So how do we manage to give you just the right dose without succumbing to obesity? - Fruits. And if it's really time to leave the kitchen, we move you out of your high chair by force. You whine a bit and stop just after. I tell you, crying isn't your strongest point.

If you read and understand this, I should congratulate myself as I set that as my objective - you as a multilingual child. By the time you read this, France must have probably changed, but for now, everybody around me thinks that I'll just confuse you with all these languages. And I just limit it to English and French. Remember, you're half Filipino and every Filipino speaks at least 2 languages. Now that's a challenge.

Je t'aime bébé.

PS: Strictly no sugarcoat added.

Animal Feeding

Credits: Backgrounds from Lyndsey Deeds, Alphas and Stitches from Free Digital Scrapbooking, Flowers from Petra Losbichler of Pc Scrapbooking .

We were walking around the park this weekend and my attention was caught by a group of kids crowding before the animals. I approached them and watched what they were doing. Wow, they were giving some foods to the animals. A little girl handed a slice of apple to me and I really thought it was for me. I was about to bite on it when Papa stopped me and showed me how to do. He guided my tiny little hands to the animals and two tiny goats started to bite on it. I continued feeding them and it was funny. I wasn't frightened at all. I love feeding the animals!

Potty Trainee at 16 Months Old

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.

Mam Mam

Credits: Background by Lyndsey Deeds. Alphas by Marie from Free Digital Scrapbooking.

Eating is probably one of the skills she discovered with ease. She's a gourmand (I hate to use glutton for her). She started eating solid foods at 4 months old and after 10 months, we started to give her her own spoon. We were surprised with her agility to hold her spoon, to scoop some food from her bowl and to bring it to her mouth for the first time. We were sure, it was something she did with gusto. She never did try to use her hand for eating like other kids do. She sometimes try to pick some food with her fingers but I guess she understood that it's not proper so she try to hide when she does. And by the way, she picks food with her finger under the table and not on her plate. For her, plate is to spoon, as floor is to finger hehe.

As I said, she's a gourmand. She loves eating. She loves everything we present to her - fruit, vegetable, French cuisine, Filipino food... The problem is, she doesn't know when to stop. We stopped giving her her dose of milk for dinner as we know, she would want to share our food. It's more convivial for everybody, right? So we started having her on our dinner table last week. And guess what? She refuseS to move out of her chair even after we're done with the dishes. What to do?