20 Months, 2 Weeks

It's been very interesting to see what Baby CP has been up to at daycare recently.  When he first started, he wasn't very interested in any arts and crafts projects, but recently he has been participating in things like making valentines and sandwiches.

I'm told he eventually took the sandwich innards out, ate only the good stuff and ditched the bread.

His daycare providers also continue to take him on outings to local parks and the library.  Recently they've been exploring plants and flowers.

I like to call this one Blue Steel.

A slightly odd piece of information - Baby CP is freaked out by Humpty Dumpty.  A couple months ago, we were watching a Dora the Explorer episode that includes a short section about Humpty Dumpty.  When Humpty Dumpty was in view, Baby CP started to cry loudly.  Mr. CP thought that Baby CP was distraught at the thought of Humpty Dumpty falling off the wall and cracking.  Last night that episode was showing again and I thought he would probably think nothing of it, but once the egg was in view, Baby CP started crying super loudly...tears and everything.  He said he was scared and demanded to watch Bob the Builder and repeating "No Dora.  No Dora."  Who knew Humpty Dumpty was such a scary guy?

Amazing Changes

They say that baby brains are like sponges.  They're learning constantly from the moment they are born.  First they are adjusting to day and night and just being out of the womb.  Then they learn to smile and use bring their hands together and then they sit up, crawl and then walk.  It's been 20 months of constant development, yet some of the more recent speech and motor skills development seem to be bigger.  They probably aren't, but as humans, speech and communication are so important, that perhaps we just value these developments more even though we shouldn't.

I'm not sure what is going on here...maybe they're making play-do?

Babies probably learn the concept of object permanence closer to when they are 6 months old, but now Baby CP can also remember things clearly that happened more than a day ago or people that he saw days ago.  For example, this weekend he was playing with his uncle's stepladder.  We told him not to and he would continue to try to do it with a mischievous giggling as he tried to get to it.  His uncle took the stepladder home when they left.  About 30 minutes to an hour later, I saw Baby CP take off for the hallway where the stepladder used to be with a troublemaking grin.  I knew what he was after - and then I heard "uh oh...where go?"  Haha...foiled!  One day, Baby CP saw a toy ambulance that looks just like his cousin's and started to say his cousin's name, but he hadn't seen his cousin's ambulance for at least a few weeks. 


While cousin Junior was over, I saw Baby CP walk near him and then run away to the basement door laughing.  He did this a couple times and then started saying his cousin's name from the door.  After the first couple times, I realized, he is trying to get his cousin to play a chasing game with him!  I suspect he must play this game with someone at daycare, because he runs to that specific space like it's "base".  We didn't teach him that.

Baby CP has been singing with us for a while - if we stop at the end of a line to a song, he can fill it in - but lately he's been singing on his own and sometimes close to in tune, so I don't think he's tone deaf.  =)  Last night, he kept singing "Thomas Train....Thomas Train....Thomas Train"  over and over again until we all fell asleep.

I'm sure there are a lot of other cool things he's been learning that I just can't think of off the top of my head.  He impresses me with something new almost everyday.

20 Months Old

I had gotten a video of Baby CP kicking pretty well during swim class, but I deleted it by accident!  He doesn't do it consistently, but when he does, he gets excited because he's moving forward.  He goes underwater for a little while and it doesn't seem like he's swallowing water while he is down there.

Enjoying himself at daycare.

For Superbowl Sunday, we went to Mini Burrito's house and Baby CP had a BLAST.  Baby CP went for hours running back and forth from Mini Burrito's room to the living room playing with all the toys and didn't ask me or Mr. CP to hold him the whole time.  Baby CP and Mini Burrito play very well together and didn't fight or scream or break anything.  It was nice not to have to follow Baby CP around all day...he stayed out of trouble.

Causing trouble during a diaper change.

Every now and then Baby CP can speak a full sentence.  A few days ago, he said, "kai che qu can nai nai." ("Drive the car to go see grandma.")  But actually we were just taking him to day care.  Baby CP also likes to sing and dance along with some of his cartoons.

Baby CP making sushi at daycare!

Baby CP had a doctor's appointment last week.  They said he has grown to 35" and weighs 25 lbs.  (Our scale at home says he is closer to 26 pounds though.)  


Arts and Crafts

Baby CP's daycare sends me photos on most days so I can take a peek at what he's been doing.  Today's photos are some of my favorites so far.  He looks so focused in his little chair!

Baby CP doesn't cry when we drop him off anymore.  In fact he wants to be put on the ground so he can walk up to daycare instead of being carried.  =)

No More Crying?

When I picked Baby CP up from daycare last Friday, he wasn't super clingy.  In fact he pointed to his friend, patiently waited for me to talk to his teachers and then said goodbye to his teachers and hugged and kissed them each goodbye.  One of his teachers told me that he has a lot of fun at daycare and promised her that he wouldn't cry on Monday.  She asked if he would not cry on Monday and he said "Hao."  After a little resistance with getting into the car seat this morning, Baby CP did not whine on the way there and he only said that he wanted to go outside twice when we walked into the building.  He did not cry at all, even when he was handed over to his teacher...nope, in fact he even said goodbye to me and gave me a kiss.  I wonder if this is the turning point we've been waiting for, or if he will return to crying tomorrow.

Weekend Activities

On Saturday, Baby CP woke up at 5:15am.  Yes, that's right 5:15!!  We had to get something from the plumbing supply store and decided to ride our bikes there.  Baby CP is like a kid in a candy store when he goes there because there are hundreds of faucets on display for him to play around with.  They also have cheddar goldfish trail mix and today, there were other kids to play with.  What an awesome morning!  He fell asleep during the 10 minute ride home.

I showed him an episode of Diego rather than Dora this morning and he was totally engrossed.  He learned a couple new words from it even though I think that show is for a slightly older crowd and that Dora is more appropriate right now.  He dances all the time when he's watching Dora.  He has nice moves!

Being helpful in pushing the Costco cart

Sunday morning is swim time.  Baby CP is moving his legs in the pool when he tries to go somewhere, but it's not proper kicking yet.  He enjoys jumping into the water and smiles a lot during class.  Afterwards, we headed to the Fort Mason farmer's market because we are totally out of groceries and they have good, reasonably priced pesticide-free produce there.  Baby CP loves the live music.  In the afternoon, his cousin Junior stopped by.  Ever since the trip to Tahoe, Baby CP refers to him by his name...he also refers to Junior's parents by his name.  =)

Baby CP has been eating very well the past three days, eating three large meals each day plus snacks.  His daycare provider started to separate his foods so they're not mixed together and he's been eating better there ever since.  I'm hoping it will continue, but who knows.  Apparently, Baby CP has made  a couple friends at daycare.  You'd never know given the way he carries on when I drop him off in the morning.  His teacher said that he prefers to run around with the boys and doesn't play with the girls that often.  She also said that he knows a lot of words, probably more than most of the other kids at daycare because some of them don't have any mandarin speakers at home.  He can combine more than 2 words now, though usually he speaks about 2 words at a time. 

19 Months, 2 Weeks

We spent the long weekend in Lake Tahoe.  Baby CP enjoyed running around the large house with Mini Burrito's stash of trucks.  There were four other children in the house, and sometimes Baby CP did parallel play, pushing a cement truck or "dozer" around.  Other times, he would chase after Mini Burrito or his cousin Junior or watch videos with older kids.  The dry air was tough on him though and he has his first small nosebleed in the middle of the night.  While he didn't eat a ton on the trip, he did enjoy eating plain pasta with some meat on the side.  I'll add some photos later after they're uploaded.

On Friday morning, once we stepped into the main lobby of the building in which he has daycare, he knew where we were going and immediately started to demand to leave followed by floppy body and back arching when his daycare teacher took him from me.  This morning, he didn't even want to get in the car, and boy did he fight hard.  He cried during the entire drive.  Poor guy....but look how happy he looks at the park.  His daycare teacher also told us that he ate a lot yesterday and when he got home, he ate a bunch of rice and chashao meat and a small slice of pumpkin pie.  Unfortunately, this could mean that he decides not to eat for the next couple days.  It's hard to tell with the little guy.