We had a good excuse reason to indulge in yummy, creamy, delicious ice cream last Sunday when Ah Kong and Ah Ma came for a visit. Now, who could say no to that? 🙂
All about Emma
Who knows why babies gravitate towards tight spaces?!
When Emma was in her cruising stage, she used to frequently cruise under our dining table and through a hole in between the legs of the table. Now that she is taller, she realises her head will knock onto the table if she walks under it, she is exploring the small space under our bar stools, and has also successfully and regularly climbed into the tight space between our DVD storage boxes and the wall behind our television.
It’s small enough to fit just her, and actually, don’t you think she looks like the cutest DVD seller ever? 🙂
Remember our Sunflower Growing Competition back in September? Well unfortunately Mommy and Daddy have been disqualified because no mater how many seeds I planted, none grew for us adults. Bummer.
The kids’ sunflower plants, however, have been thriving! Although Hannah’s seed was the last to sprout, it looks like her plant is the tallest among the three now.
We’re just waiting for that first bud to show! 🙂
Don’t let my calm demeanor fool you. I may strike you as a quiet and serious child, but I’ve really got the grooves and the moves, baby!
Scrap Credits
a hopping hallOween QP freebie from Sahlin Studio
Weight
7.7 – 7.8 kilos.
Height/Length
Not measured.
Teeth
11 teeth: 5 bottom teeth (3 incisors and 2 canines) and 6 upper teeth (4 incisors and 2 canines).
Motor Skills
- Emma can do a perfect down dog.
- Her walking speed has increased in leaps and bounds. I have no doubt that she’ll start hopping, running and jumping soon.
- She can also climb up the stairs (on all fours) pretty quickly now.
- She has a pretty strong grip and she loves to hold on to the grille gate and place her feet on the bottom-most bar. That’s how she greets Daddy’s return home every day.
Communication and Social Skills
- Emma will shake her head for “no” and “I don’t want to”; and nod her head when she means “yes”.
- She seems happier nowadays, and we delight in hearing her giggle all the time.
- Seems to call “Mahmeeee….!!!” only when she is desperate enough to get attention.
Food and Feeding
Emma is eating almost everything we eat now with the exception of very salty or very sweet foods. I’m also not giving her shellfish and dairy just yet.
However, we can see that she really loves food, and shows a keen interest in whatever we are eating.
She loves her nutritious bowl of homemade chicken porridge and is getting better and better at self-feeding.
I also found a little pre-loved plastic straw bottle, which Emma loves to drink from now. You’ll see it in the picture above. We’re hoping this will help her drink more water.
I’m very happy to see all my kids putting in an effort to exercise. Today they will demonstrate how to perform the Down Dog pose. When done correctly, the Down Dog pose will energize the body and calm the mind, and results in an excellent all-over stretch.
To jog your memory, here’s Ethan doing the down dog when he was just 3 years’ old!
Down Dog example #1: Ethan
Down Dog example #2: Hannah
Down Dog example #3: Emma
Have you done the Down Dog today yet? 🙂
Just like chicken soup that warms the tummy, it warms my heart to see them playing together like this. Certainly makes the sighs and grumbles of the day worth the while. ♥
In my ongoing efforts in bringing back some semblance of fitness into my already-overbusied life, I’m trying to to the 7-minute HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) at least once a day. There are 12 different exercises to be done in intervals of 30 seconds each, with a 10-second recovery period in between.
One of the exercises is a Wall Sit, and after I’d explained to the kids how I do it, Hannah was happily “practising” it herself. What was amusing was that after she demonstrated the exercise, Emma walked over to the wall, and tried to do the same thing!
My two girls…they have just grown so close to each other. I pray they will grow up in each other’s love and support always. ♥
Scrap Credits
I Love You Dairy Much QP freebie from Just Us Dreamers Designs
Weight
7.6 – 7.7 kilos. Our latest visit at the pediatrician had her weight read at 8.1 kilos but I reckon that was just the additional weight of the diaper and clothes.
Height/Length
Not measured.
Teeth
11 teeth: 5 bottom teeth (3 incisors and 2 canines) and 6 upper teeth (4 incisors and 2 canines).
Motor Skills
- Emma is now walking more and more and getting confident in doing so. She started by using her arms for balance but now, sometimes she will just walk really quickly without extending her arms.
- Eagerly tries to walk up the stairs!! :O Mommy is getting tired just chasing her around the house.
- She has also started to attempt climbing up on stools and chairs and anything at all within her climbing reach.
- For the past few months, she has started to turn around to “see” what is in front when she is placed in her rear-facing child seat in the car. Recent studies have advised that the child should be at least 10 kilos and aged 2 years before switching to a forward-facing seat, so wait we will.
Communication and Social Skills
- She understands when I say “Let’s go upstairs” or “Let’s go downstairs”; she will point to the direction we want to go.
- She also understands simple instructions like “Please bring me the car”, or “Please give this to Mommy”
- Says “Buh-bye” very clearly while waving and at the right time too, e.g. when a show she is watching has ended, or when leaving a room to bid farewell.
- Emma loves to hold the remote and she will sometimes pretend that it is a phone, holding it to her ear and pretend to talk.
- Says “uh-oh” or “oh” when she accidentally drops something.
Others
- Ever since she started walking, I have been showering her without the use of the bath tub. She stands in the shower stall while I wash her. So we definitely have a pre-loved baby bath tub for sale now. 😛
- Lately I have also noticed that when she is about to poopoo, she will stop whatever she is doing, look at me worriedly, and say something in “baby talk”. It could be “per per” or “baba”. Sometimes she will point to her diaper too! Perhaps it’s about time I start potty training for poopoo.
Food and Feeding
Most of her diet still consists of Mommy’s milk but she is showing an increasingly keen interest in the food and drinks we take. Soon (we hope) she will be able to eat whatever we eat at meals. She will sometimes self-feed herself with her hands, and I allow her to do so with finger food and snacks. Sometimes she will also attempt to feed herself with her spoon. This is all well and good and in line with my relaxed approach to baby-led weaning.
Some of the foods she has tried in the past month are:
Her favorite food currently is homemade pumpkin and beetroot porridge. Sometimes I add in a bit of chicken for that extra taste. I love the bright color and interesting texture of this combo, and Emma loves it too!
So far though, she has not taken a liking to tacos, naan, bread and guacamole. 🙁 I’m working on it…
My little baby Emma became a toddler not too long ago. Whilst we were expecting her to walk around 12-13 months, she had her own plans and preferred to take her own time and was so far only cruising and not walking unsupported.
Because she tended to scratch her skin due to eczema, I have had to dress her up on sleep-n-play onesies that cover her feet most of the time. That could have caused her apprehension to walk sooner because it was quite slippery compared to stepping out on bare feet. A few weeks ago, I decided to put her in regular onesies and allowed her to explore.
By and by, she gained some confidence and started reaching out from point to point and taking baby steps to reach places. Over the next few weeks, she started walking more and more. From two steps to three, then four, then all the way to the foot of the staircase!! Oooops!!!
Awww…I’m feeling emotional just watching her attain this milestone of hers, officially elevating her status from baby to toddler.