Bringing up baby: memories What I Love About You

* how you use your senses to investigate your world,
* your common sense,
* your laughter,
* your quiet contemplative times,
* how you use everything to interact with your world,

23 June 2012: new baby milestone

w00t! Atilla is able to let mummy and dada sleep in! For the past few mornings with us, he comes into our room, into our bed, and snuggles in.

He no longer wails to be taken down stairs!

So gonna enjoy this while it lasts.

***

 As we were having dinner tonight, I begin to speculate I may not want another baby.

Atilla has begun to practise the table manners he learned at daycare. Not throwing food around. Concentrating on eating. That kind of stuff.

And I find this sooo soothing. I relinquish a little bit of my anxiety.

Now, when he makes a mess it is sooo intentional. But I know he can feed himself and not make a big mess. He only makes a mess when he gets bored.

I enjoy not being anxious. I like having myself back. So, I am not certain I want to go through the feeding-anxiety again.

p.s. tonight I had to clean the dining table and the dining room floor to remove the grease from Atilla's dinner.

22 June 2012: new baby milestone

I'm being side-lined. Baby begins to prefer Dada. Yippee!

Now I get a chance for countless gaming time. I may be able to play Zelda's Skyward Sword!

Finish off the baby buggy blanket I started in 2010!
Bake muffins and cakes!
Creative writing!

Or, more housework.

21June 2012: baby update

To my great relief, Atilla has resumed the standard change nappy position - lying on his back.

For a very long time - since he learned to stand (before his first birthday) - he has battled against the lying down technique. This behaviour was trying for everyone concerned: mum, dad, grandma, auntie, teachers at daycare.

Sometime on our vacation, he decided he would lie down again. I don't recall when. I was busy changing him. I was too focussed on the Change Nappy routine. I remember I didn't have to chase him around the room.

I thought I ought to note this milestone.

***

Atilla combined two spoken words appropriately! "No bird" Dad reported.

***

I'm compiling a list of essential and useful words Atilla ought to know, and parents to recognise in NZSL.

In no particular order and non-exhaustive:
Biscuit
Full ('I'm full')
Hungry
Egg
Apple
Water ('drink water')
Knife
Bread
Find
Kitten
Puppy
Please
Thank you

Atilla is very familiar with Hello and Good-bye. He doesn't use them though. I wonder why?

***
23 June 2012
Correction. He does use Hello and Good-bye. Just not with me, for real.

He uses it with me in Peek-a-boo games. He uses Good-bye with others, and in games.

For instance today he was in a pay-machine helicopter in the Meadowbank shopping centre. Sadly, the machine was 'broken' ;-) though the girl ahead of him had "fun" sitting in the machine while it moved up and down.

Though mum was obtuse, Atilla finagled his way into the machine. I think he had more fun than the girl who sat so quietly in the machine.

Atilla sat on the floor of the helicopter, as he could then reach the buttons and flashing lights and joystick on the dashboard. He grabbed the heavy lock on the coin-box and it made a dulled thwacking noise as it knocked against all the metal. He pressed the buttons. He fiddled with the security chains, pulling at them and exploring them. He stood up and sat on the seat, emulating the little girl. It was boring. He stood up and his head just missed touching the roof. He grabbed the joystick and wiggled it. He grinned and smiled and said Good-bye to people walking past. Loads of fun. He pressed his hands on the plastic windscreen.

He couldn't have done all that if the machine was moving.

Besides, he's been on something more exciting: the grown up carousel on Brighton Beach!

Bringing up baby: what is he thinking?

Atilla has been introduced to spoken English, spoken Mandarin, spoken Teo Chew, New Zealand Sign Language. He has been exposed to spoken Swedish, spoken and written Maori.

As caregivers, Dad and I have been paying attention to his body language too - indications of fatigue, readiness to sleep, to poop.

All this has been a huge learning curve, possibly harder for Dad and me than for Atilla. He's always learning, but me and Dad are mostly recalling what we know. It ain't what you got, but how you use it.

I've been reading up on developmental stages of toddlers to find out what to expect.

***

Today I observed another developmental milestone in Atilla. Possibly he had always had it, but I hadn't noticed. He has begun to combine two words together, to communicate a concept.

At Devil's Dyke, on our way back to the car, I had a devil of a time to convince young sir to stay away from the poisonous cow parsley, to stay away from the stinging nettles, to not run downhill into the semi-vertical valley of the Dyke. Wee thing didn't understand why he was brought to this field of fun if he wasn't to be doing all that.

As I bodily hauled him to my shoulder, I desperately pointed to the one and only dog I could spot. I assumed it was a dog - with my myopia, it was really a brown and white moving smudge.

"Dooug?" Atilla asked. I had his attention.

"Yes, dog right there," I waved at the general direction. The dog was still a moving target, hidden by the crest of the steep hill.

"Dooug?" he said, waving his hands.

"Yes, dog."

"Dooug?" he said, repeating his wave in the 'where' sign.

"Oh. Over there." I pointed with my finger this time. His focus sharpened on the dog.

***

This afternoon the word was "ball". Combined with the interrogative 'where' sign.

Bringing up baby: I can't keep up

At this 16-17 month mark, I can't keep track of the developmental milestones.

Atilla has learned about fantasy play, such as putting a 'bag' on his arm and 'going out' thus necessitating "Bye bye". He has learned about fantasy hats, i.e. random objects placed on head becoming silly hats.

He develops games of his own, wherein only he knows the rules, such as today.

He and I are playing in the hallway, with Daddy in the living room. Then, Atilla learns he can close the door on me. So he does.

"Oh noh," I hear from the other side.

Dear me. My precious baby needs comforting. Slyly, I open the door. Quietly, to give him a pleasant surprise.

I see my precious insistently involving Daddy to get him to open the door. Atilla turns around.

"Oh noh!" his unhappy declaration sounds very genuine upon seeing me.

He toddles fast to close the door on me again.

"Oh noh," I hear from the other side. Full of curiousity now, I slyly and quietly open the dor to see what that kid is up to. He is pulling Daddy off the couch again. I quickly and gently close the door.

"Acting runs in the family, right?" I speculate randomly.

***

Another game, 'Stop'.

It starts with Atilla placed in a non-childproofed area with many irreplaceable objects such as old books with deteriorating bindings.

It continues with Atilla sloo-wly reaching out to it/them.

Mummy hurries up to prevent any contact between said Atilla and objects.

Catchphrase: "Stop!"
In varying serious tones.

Not that he takes it seriously. He thinks I've made up a new game for him. Because then he rushes to the other side of the room - similarly not childproofed - and reaches out his hand (not touching the objects) happily says "stop!" Then runs off to another sensitive part of the house to repeat the same actions.

At least he identifies the sensitive parts of the house.

***

Today Atilla had much fun chasing after pigeons in the local church graveyard. He ran after them, around them, with outbursts of, "birds!" "doove!" "birds!"

It was delightful to watch.

***

He is teething with all four molars coming through. One on each side, top and bottom. It has become tricksy to have him brush his teeth. I resorted to showing YouTube clips to show him how it can be done. So, today before bedtime, he let me brush his teeth. Once.

***

At bedtime he biffed me one on the eye. Accidentally with a board book. Not sure which one. I lost my self control - excessively sleepy, feeling ill-health - I broke down and wept. He did too. I remember I tried my best to comfort him and acknowledge his remorse. Next thing I know, I wake up at dusk 9pm with Atilla by my side on his bedding.

My eyelid is swollen and tender.

Story 6

Life was meant to be enjoyed! Atilla believed this with all his heart and mind. Life began at 3 o'clock in the morning, whatever Mother and Father decided otherwise.

He played quietly with the rattle-book for two shakes, but it proved unsatisfactory. It was too dark. His parents didn't leave him any nightlight to play by. Or read by. Silly people. Still, he had a efficacious standby solution for this turn of events.

Atilla stood by Mommy's bedside and began to wail. "Waah-hhh-"

"Hush, sweetie, what's the matter?" he hears a sleepy Mommy voice. Phase One was a success!

***

Pre-breakfast over, Mommy takes him to the bathroom/toilet for the Change Nappy Routine. Atilla conceded the battle as he had a separate goal in mind.

"Dooug," he proclaimed.

"Yes, that is a picture of a dog (on the Andrex bag of toilet paper rolls)."

"Dooug."

"Yes, that is a picture of a dog."

Nuh, Mommy still did not understand. Once more, with feeling. "Dooug," Atilla says imperatively.

"Darling, what do you want to do with the dog?"

Oh yes, now she was getting the idea. So, once more into the breech. "Dooug," he explains.

Now he hears an explicable change in tone in her voice. "Do you want to take the dog upstairs?"

Ah ha! We - she and he - has a breakthrough.

Atilla grabs the bag and hauls it to the door. Boo hoo, the door is locked and closed!

"Let me open the door for you."

Atilla grabs and hauls the bag through the open door. He hauls it to the foot of the steps (five baby steps away).

Now, how to get it upstairs? He attacks this problem with a simple solution. He pushes it vertically up the step. Then climbs up the step. And pushes the bag (as large as he is, with several toilet rolls inside) up to the next step. This is very awkward. He gives this solution another go, onto the next step. Phew... This is awkward exhausting work.

Mommy is no help. She just stands there like a muppet, watching. Bah.

Atilla attempts a different tack. He climbs onto the next step, and hauls the bag up after him. Oh yes, much faster. But still exhausting. Is there any other way?

In the meantime, let's try this climb-haul hypothesis again... Oh no! The bag has slipped out of his grasp, and fallen the four hard-fought steps! Mommy is no help. She just stands and watches.

Atilla slides down the steps, and re-starts his quest. He pushes the Andrex bag upright onto the first step. Then, brainwave!

He up stretches his arms, "Bhau bhau (Pick up)."

Mother picks up Atilla.

Atilla leans over, picks up the Andrex bag.

One carrying the other, they wended their way up the stairs to show Daddy the dog.