Thinking about life. 😂
She was in the playpen waiting for breakfast to be served.
I realised last night that I've completely forgotten to do her 17th month milestone update!
It was that night the video uploading went haywire and for the next 3 days my entries were about blank videos and tests, which I couldn't remove because the edit function didn't work.
Once I clicked on "edit", I was immediately kicked out of Dayre with the error message: "Unfortunately, Dayre has stopped working."
Very unfortunate indeed.
I wrote to the help desk reporting this issue, and also tagged @blog but unfortunately there was no response at all.
Understandable, because I'm but one out of many users and no one else seems to have this problem.
It dampened my mood a little, because I'm the kind who would read my entry each day and edit a little if needed, just to make it easier and better to read.
Even if no one else reads it. 😂
So I was half hearted about updating with that black screen on top because the entry just looked screwed.
The good thing with all those "tests" is that I've isolated the issue to videos, ie those I select and directly upload onto the Dayre.
The videos work fine on their own so I'm sure they are not corrupted. My sis tried to do the same thing with her Dayre and she, too, got kicked out.
So I guess it's some bug with Dayre and my phone.
I don't think I'll stop using Dayre because I still like it more than I dislike it. Afterall it's free, it's convenient, it has a nice community. We can't be too demanding.
I'll just have to keep the videos to myself. 😅
What we uncovered yesterday.
Slight resemblance between Clarissa and her Xiao-yi at two years old?
She was very intrigued by the photos and spent some time flipping through the albums.
Much better than scrolling through the phone, I say.
At 17 months young now, she can recognise people in photos and point them out to us.
She gave me her classic "What are you talking about, Mommy?" frown though, when I showed her a picture of the teenage me and asked her, "Where is Mommy?"
I thought the answer was obvious because there was only one person in the photo. 😂
We brought her to the park yesterday evening.
She saw an adorable baby in a pram with her parents, and actually walked up excitedly to say hello to the baby.
The baby's parents gave her a box of chocolates, and she happily held on to it. She loves boxes and bottles.
I must admit I felt a little worried and skeptical when I saw them giving the box to her. I was standing about a metre away, thinking she'd catch up and walk towards me after saying hi. Our helper was standing right beside her.
I walked back to check what they were giving her, and realised it was chocolates.
I thanked them as this little girl walked away gleefully.
The recent incident in Taiwan really shook me. I cannot imagine the pain that little light bulb's mom is going through right now.
How do we keep our kids safe in this crazy world, without becoming paranoid and skeptical?
I was nearly lost in my thoughts when I realised Clarissa was off following her next target:
A boy around 10 to 12 years old. 😂
Her oldest target so far (she usually goes after babies or kids up to 5 years old).
She wanted to follow him out of the running track and onto the path towards the shopping mall. 😐
Yet the boy only gave her looks of disdain and his mom looked at Clarissa like she was a spectacle and simply said to her son, "Wah she likes you eh. See, she's following you."
Which made the big and burly boy look even more disgusted at this little toddler who was innocently trying to walk to the mall.
Now I don't expect everyone to smile at my kid and coo about how cute she is. I know that not everyone likes kids and they don't have to. Perfectly ok.
I just felt a little bad for Clarissa because I thought they were being unkind. There was not even a polite smile to say, ok thank you for following us but perhaps you'd like to go back to your mom?
Only looks of disdain wtf, even from the adult.
When all she did was to quietly walk behind them. She wasn't screaming or being a nuisance.
I'd usually smile and apologise when Clarissa stares too hard at people. Because they usually smile at her and tell me it's ok. I don't think they smile because they like kids or find her cute. I think they smile because they are being kind and polite.
So yesterday I did not acknowledge them at all. I smiled at Clarissa and told her we should walk towards the playground instead.
Everyone would face some form of rejection with varying degrees of disdain. Karma is a matter of "when", not "if".
I have no more words for people who are unable to show kindness to a child.
As luck would have it, I just realised that was the boy, his sister and his mother, walking behind us, in the top left corner of the picture above. ☝☝
The incident clearly did not bother her at all as she went on to try to stick her tummy along the curves of this giant microscope. 😂
And then her face and arm.
We are constantly amused by her goofiness.
Yesterday we were watching cartoons with her and she suddenly turned to look at us with her eyes squinted and her cheeks all squeezed together. And then she laughed.
Is this considered a developmental milestone? 😅
She has her quirks and her mind's really a mystery sometimes.
The potty that she liked so much when it first arrived?
She refused to sit on it when she was about to poop.
Last night she had a massive meltdown because her poop wouldn't come out. I tried to get her to sit on the potty but she refused to.
Instead she clung onto me and wept.
I tried to show her that sitting on the potty was the way to go, by putting her duckie soft toy on it.
"See? Duckie's pooping here," I said. 😂
She would have none of it.
We ended up changing her out of her sweat-drenched clothes with her standing up. She refused to even lie down. She must've been in a lot of discomfort.
My entire shoulder was wet with her snot and tears. 😂
This morning she tried to poop again, standing. In the middle of her attempt, she took her duckie soft toy, took my hand, and walked us to the potty.
She placed duckie on the potty and placed one hand on my shoulder, grimacing while trying to poop, standing. 😂
Trying to trace her feet on the drawing board. 😂
Two weeks ago she made me put my hand on the board and tried to trace it. And then she put her hands on it and got me to draw the outline of her hands.
Turned out that it was the hubs who taught her to do this. 😁
She has since extended this to her feet. 😅 I also caught her placing Piggy and Giraffe friend on the board and trying to trace their silhouettes.
Words
While "Ah guem" remains a mystery, she can say more words now.
"Aiiii..yah" in an exaggerated tone when I lift her from the ground into my arms.
I didn't realise I almost always say "Ai..yah!" when I carry her, because of the strain on my back.
This cheeky girl would say "Ba! Ba!" (抱抱) and as I bend down to lift her up, she'd imitate my tone, dragging out the "Aiiiii" and exclaiming "Yah!" when I get back to standing position.
Ok, technically speaking, "aiyah" is not a word. 😂
She can also say "Duck" referring to her duckie, "Dar dar" when the lights go out, "Koh koh" to any cold stuff that just came out of the fridge, and "Ga-ga" when she really meant Gor-gor (ie older brother).
Took me a few encounters at the playground to realise she was referring to the older toddler boys and not cockroaches or ants. 😂
Oh, and "Meh meh" referring to her Minion friends.
She says no by very definitively shaking her head or waving her hand, or both.
She tickles us by scratching her fingers on us very quickly.
This was how she tried to wake me up this morning (I was already awake though). 😂
We would pretend to giggle (it's actually not that ticklish) and she'd laugh cheekily.
She doesn't like kissing, but the hubs found a way around it.. by asking.
"Can Baba kiss you here?" He'd ask her, pointing to her cheek.
If she is not willing to be kissed, she'd wave her hand and walk away.
If she is willing, she'd tilt her cheek towards him with a really shy smile, and let him kiss her.
It's so heartwarming to watch them, regardless of whether the kiss happens or not. 😁
She hates to see us in pain (even though sometimes we pretend or exaggerate), and would burst into tears when she thinks we are hurt.
She loves cats and birds and would always stop by, half squatting, to look at them.
Day by day, I feel like I'm getting to know her better and yet she surprises us with her new antics every other day.
I love her sense of humour, and all of her. 😘
weeirdism 