Yummylicious

It's ice cream time at her nanny's place this afternoon. If you notice, Louna still doesn't know how to lick her ice cream. She was actually following procedures, tucking her tounge in and out through his new-found-friend's request. But well, if you again notice, she's a fast learner..

J'adore Mes Chaussures

My new found discovery. I could spend my whole day doing just that - removing and putting my shoes on.

Maman left me with apple slices but they were not enough. I wanted to move out of my high chair to find more apples but it was too complicated. Now I'm blocked.

17th Month Wonders

My little toddler is growing up at a lightning speed. Reminds me, I need to be on full focus. Suffice to observe her one minute and I'm on for endless sweet discoveries. When I saw her playing with the computer mouse, clicking left and right and scrolling the wheel with her index finger while holding the mouse correctly, I thought it was just a simple game for her. But when I noticed how she was focused on the computer screen observing the changes, it was different. She knew what that little thing was for.

Another wonder is how she maneouvre her toy stroller. She walks from one ramp to another with magnificent ease. To think, I've learnt this technique at 29 years old (by asking a mommy friend how strollers work at ramps, escalators, metros and buses).

Louna with her stroller at the park.

I know she's on for more discoveries and I'd gladly accompany her. I'd love to watch the world through her innocent eyes.

Nature Lover. The first thing she would do upon arriving at home is to smell the tulips at the back of our house. Then she would take her toy stroller and walk around the garden, spending more time on the steps separating the terrace. She loves to climb them up and down.

This weekend, she stopped on the first step of the terrace pointing on something while saying tee tee. I checked on what captured her attention and there, I saw some ants and a bug merrily crawling. I then pointed to the ants and said ants, then to the bug and said bug. She then followed suit, pointing to the ants and said tee, then to the bug and said tee. She looked at me with that delighted and triumphant look so I was forced to clap my hands and say Bravo Louna.

PS: I don't force her anymore to get inside the house. She's an outdoor person. She enters when I announce that it's bath time.

Come Maman. She's got a new style. Each time I tell her anything that has something to do with taking the stairs like bath, potty or bed time, she would take my hand and lead me to the stairs. She's over with the crawling episode and would prefer climbing the stairs standing up with the help of Maman or Papa. Her legs are still too short to climb them alone.

Stair Gates Down. We finally decided to remove the stair gate. Louna knows that she's not allowed to go downstairs alone, too dangerous. She would normally stop before the stairs and call up. She never tried nor dared doing it alone. She climbs up the stairs alone though, but she would close the gate as a security measure upon arriving upstairs. Smart little girl.

Funny anecdote. She would close the security gate of any playground after getting in.

Down to 2 Diapers per Day. The nanny already informed us that Louna is almost potty trained. It's either she would say po to say pot which is pronounced as po in French, or she would take nanny's hand and lead her to the potty chair. Last week, it was no success for us to keep her on her potty chair. I've tried every method possible but she didn't cooperate. This weekend, we tried leaving Tetite (her fave toy) with her. And voila! She did it and she was proud.

Tetite has always been her toy fetish. It helped her crawl and walk. And I think there will always be great adventures coming with Tetite in tow.

Bon appetit. She's an easy-to-please little eater. She eats just about anything we offer her and even ask for more. With that comes her determination to hold her spoon and eat on her own. And she does that tidily. Even picking those tiny little crumbs around her bowl, put them carefully on her spoon before directing them to her mouth. And she even takes her glass of water from time to time to quench her thirst. She also blows her food even when it's not hot. She's a grown up.

Eating in a restaurant is not a problem anymore. She even livens up the discussion most of the time.

Tender Louna. Imagine her on her Papa's shoulder, caressing Papa's head with her tiny hands. That's video perfect. Aside from that, she hugs and she kisses (with sound!). What more can a Maman ask for?

Co-Sleeping Advocate. Ask her where she wants to sleep and she would run directly to our room giggling.

Vocabulary Check. She's learning slowly. She always babble different sounds which are quite hard to decode till now, like walawalawala or gonong gonong gonong. Friends say she speaks Tagalog. She also babbles tatatata melanged to a certain melody when she sings.

Here's some words/phrases which I was able to decode lately:

Ta Tee Tee. Translation: One Two Three. That's when she wants to play jumps. We hold her hands and then carry her forward at the count of three.

Ya pu. Translation: Il n'y en a plus pronounced as il nyona plyu (I'm bad at this one) which means nothing anymore in English. This is accompanied by hand gestures (holding her hands up high and turning left and right).

Be. Translation: Birds. We couldn't miss one. She sees and hears them. Just this evening, she saw a fly on the window. She immediately pointed at it and said be. Now, everything that flies is a be. And boy, I didn't know that a fly could be that amusing!

Window-Shopping Toddler

Louna translated.

Look Maman, this one looks nice. I really think it is. Don't you think Papa? Ow, this one is nice too. Wow wow wow. Everything is nice. This one. This one. That one. I want everything. Heeee.

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.