Baby Milestone: 1 YEAR

So quickly times has past and baby is now 1 YEAR OLD. What marks this milestone?

• His understanding has increased by leaps and bounds. These are some words and instructions he understands:
  - “pom-pom” meaning bath time – he tugs at his shirt trying to get it off.
  - “brush your teeth” - he points at the toothbrush.
  - “put inside” - put cloth diapers into the drawer, toys into containers. We got him a toy where you put the shaped blocks into the correct hole. He is able to put them in. Still a little clumsily but successful 80% of the time. I’m sure he’ll figure how to match the blocks to their respective holes soon.
  - book, ball, or shoes – he will go and find it.
  - “You want me to read to you?” – he will bring the book and plop down on our lap.
  - “kiss” – he will open his mouth and plant a kiss on our cheek or mouth with sound effects 'Aaa..Wah'.
  - “Where’s the cat?” – he will go to the door and look outside.
  - “Where’s your tummy?” – Pat his tummy
  - “Where’s your ear?” – Tug at his ear
  - “Where’s your tongue?” or if I see him chewing an unknown object, I scream “What’s in your mouth, open up!” – He will stick his tongue out.
  - “Pray Danic” – he will put his two hands to his chest. Doesn’t work all the time though, depends if he is distracted or not. Plus, only holds that position for about 5 seconds.
• Tries to pull up my shirt when he wants 'nen-nen'. He even says “Aaahhh”, opening his mouth just like when we feed him.
• When we feed him, he will put one finger to the palm of the other hand to tell us you wants more. Pats his stomach to tell us he is full.
• Likes to turn round and round to make himself dizzy.
• Likes to do writing like his siblings. He can hold the pencil and make light scribbles on paper.
• His first word is “Aaa…pa” – as in apple. He will flip through the books and look for apple. - Recently he started saying “Paaa…pa” for paper. Of course he can say “Mama”, especially when he wants me to carry him.
• When his shoes accidently come off, he will bring it to me and ask me to put it on for him. Sometimes he tries to put it on himself. The other day while I was on the phone, he brought his shoes to me because he wanted to go outside.
• He can sit on the slide by himself. Even sit on the swing by himself.
• He likes to play catching with his brother.
• His siblings quarrel often and one of them usually ends up crying. He will comfort whoever is crying – sayang their head, hug them and give them kiss.
• Likes to climb on to our back or stomach when we lie down to play horsie.
• He can climb out of the baby cot.
  
• He can wave bye-bye.
• Likes to throw everything down the staircase
• He points to the things he wants.
• Claps his hands when we say "good boy". Or he will clap hands to show that he has accomplish something or did something good. For example, he took something from the table. When he put it back like we asked him to, he clapped his hands and we had to clap for him too. Unfortunately he kept taking it just so we could clap when he put it back. Sigh! Cheeky monkey.
• Very engrossed with advertisements on TV. He will sometimes sing along or dance to the music.

Wow, quite a long list. Which goes to show the rate of development in babies this age. Well, what can I say, he is a joy to have and I love watching him grow.

Mamas Bag of Tricks:

Even though it may be dangerous and troublesome to let baby try new things, we have to give them room to explore. For example, letting baby slide down himself at first seemed like too much for this baby. But if I didn't try, I wouldn't have known he could do it himself. Daddy went one step further and let him swing by himself. Who would have guessed that he could actually do it? Of course safety precautions must be taken. Anyway, the message here is to not underestimate baby or "protect" too much less we hinder their development.