21 Months, 3 Weeks

These pictures make me laugh.

Baby CP has a new favorite cartoon - Busytown Mysteries.  He likes to sing along with the theme song.  He definitely has preferences for different shows at different times - he might request Dora or Busytown Mysteries one day, but on another he'll say no Dora.

  I think these are fine motor skill training exercises.  He looks very focused.

Baby CP was sick this week.  His teachers said that on this particular day he was so unhappy except when they were making these lanterns.  He had not been this unhappy since his first week at daycare and he insisted on being held all day and asked for mommy all day.  Poor guy.  His runny nose seemed to have dried up yesterday though, which is pretty good.  Usually it takes about 10 days to run its course.

Sentences, Counting & Songs

Baby CP has started to link more words and can form sentences....many are commands, but he can make some statements too.

Come here Mama.
Come on Baba.
Baba shang che ("daddy get in the car")
Kan baby shu ("let's read the baby book")
Mei kan dao Dora ("I don't see Dora")
Ziji Zou Ziji Zou ("I want to go [downstairs] by myself")

I have no idea how he ended up with the pineapple cookie cutter, but I LOVE it!

Baby CP understands the concept of counting and can count up to five in English and 10 in Chinese (though for some reason, he usually stops at 3 or 5).  He's more likely to count higher if you ask him how many of something there are in a book.  He also says "abcd" and sort of understands the concept of letters, because I was told he saw a "6" somewhere and said it was a "b", but I've never heard him say any letters beyond "d".

I'm not sure whether this is bread, a cookie, or nothing edible at all.

Baby CP likes to request songs and he can sing along for a good part of the Wheels on the Bus song, Row your Boat and the Chinese song about two little tigers.

Ahhhhh - Open Up Mr. Fishy

After Baby CP had his cleaning, he had some time to kill before the dentist came in to check his teeth for cavities and gingivitis.  Baby CP was being helpful by helping Mr. Fishy brush his teeth.  If only he were this good at brushing his own teeth...

This is a recent video of Baby CP kicking underwater.  He's still got some improvement to do, but he has no fear of going under the water and trying to go somewhere.

Baby CP was making his own lunch last week - wontons.  Yum.  He ate 6 - which was the most of anyone else that day.

Baby CP had to get some shots today.  He seems to know that he doesn't like the doctor's office, because once we went in, he asked if we could leave.  I let him watch some videos so things were fine until the shots, partly because I had to hold him down.  He really really hates being held down.  He stopped crying a few seconds after the bandaids went on though.

21 Months Old

Baby turns 21 months old this week.  We've hit a little rough patch with the sleeping.  I'm not sure why...he just tries to delay when it's bedtime or he listens to all his stories but then has some trouble settling down.  Maybe there is some extra brain development going on.  He's been learning words super fast these days and putting ideas and words together.  He can jump about an inch off the ground with both feet.  He can even take apart and put train tracks together.

I think Axl Rose had a similar look...

This past weekend, we went to the Aquarium by the Bay on the Embarcadero.  Baby CP enjoyed looking at some fish and especially liked touching the starfish.

I see you!

Let me at 'em!

My precious starfish.

Baby CP went to his first dental visit this week as required by his pediatrician.  Much to my surprise, Baby CP allowed the dental assistant to clean his teeth and brush flouride onto his teeth and then he let the dentist check for cavities and gingivitis.  I was a little annoyed because if Baby CP let's me brush his teeth (which is about 1 out of every 2 nights), he only gives me about 20 seconds to do so.  The dentist told us we had to pin him down to do it for his own health though...so that's what I do now...but I still have to work very fast.  I think last night (the second time I had to pin him down), Baby CP realized that it had to be done, so after his crying and my brushing, he said he wanted to sit on the bench with me and brush his own teeth.

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.)