The twins have been with me for more than one month. I named them baby A and baby B. Baby A weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces and was 19 inches long, and baby B weighed 5 pounds 12 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Now both of them eat like hungry birds and grow like weeds.

Asking how I feel?

I WANT TO SLEEP!

Baby's Growth | December 6, 2011 2:58 pm | Comments (2)

After age 2, DD shoot up like sprouts. At month 39, like many three year olds, DD grew much more in height (38 inches) than weight (at least 35 lbs) and appeared skinny to others’ eyes.

But we know there was nothing to worry, since she has always been a good eater and an active runner. Everybody who wanted to hold her was surprised to find out she was much heavier than she appeared to be. “She is solid”, we explained.

Baby's Growth | October 24, 2011 7:32 am | Comments (1)

What are the development characteristics of a 38-month toddler? Look at DD!

At month 38, DD could move well and quickly, maintain perfect balance, carry drinks without spilling (if she paid attention), alternate feet when climbing stairs, gallop in high, wide steps, put on and take off shirsts without any help (and figure the front and back side quite well), and have some finger control in handling small objects.

She had a full range of human emotions. She could be excited, happy, sad, mad, cranky, frustrated and sometimes jealous (of her little sisters in my tommy).

She could count up to 20 in English and up to 10 in Chinese. She could name and match at least seven colors (e.g. blue, red, yellow, white, black, pink, green, and etc) in English and Chinese.

Baby's Growth | September 8, 2011 2:47 pm | Comments (0)

This month, DD’s most obvious change was in her Chinese language development. Although her Chinese vocabulary couldn’t match that of her English, she could easy carry a simple conversation with my parents in Chinese, using more and more Chinese words and phrases that she picked up from Chinese cartoons, books, my parents and me.

Baby's Growth | August 1, 2011 4:31 pm | Comments (0)

At month 36, I was so happy to see DD’s progress in language development. She was quite confident in speaking English, using more complicated words (such as “delicious”) and sentence structures.

She used English as a tool to express her wishes, opinions and emotions. The most common sentence structure she was using was “I want to…”, or “I don’t want to…”

Sometimes she would put in a more polite way, like “can I watch TV?” Overall, she could have a pretty long and complicated conversation with M in English.

She not only learned the language, but also learned to use it properly in different contexts. Put into another word, she began to use language as a social tool to interact with her surrounding world.

Baby's Growth | July 1, 2011 4:45 pm | Comments (0)

When I was so frustrated that DD didn’t talk, Grandpa told me “don’t worry. Before two, you teach her to speak; after two, you tell her to shut up.”

So true!

Baby's Growth | June 1, 2011 2:34 pm | Comments (0)

This month, DD leapfrogged on her language development. She could easily carry a conversation using 5, 6 even 7-word sentences. And she loved to develop her own monologue, like this:

“I want to ask (him/her): why you want to be a mousy?”
“Because I am a mousy.”

Or,

“Happy birthday!” and she handed me a nice purse full of marbles.
“Here are my marbles.” Then we counted them.
“I got to go. Bye-bye.”

She could identify at least seven colors (e.g. blue, red, yellow, white, black, pink, green, and etc), at least four actions (e.g. jumping, hopping, spinning, running, and etc), and three emotions (e.g. happy, mad, and sad).

She loved to ask “where, what, when and why” questions, such as “where are we going, daddy?”, “what’s so funny?”, “why are you doing this, mommy?”, “why go(ing) home now?” and etc.

She could count from 1 to 10 in English, and do a simple math for numbers below five.

Baby's Growth | May 4, 2011 5:13 pm | Comments (0)

During this month’s PAT visit, we were told that the general rule of child language development is “2-word sentences at 2, 3-word sentences at 3, 4 at 4, and so forth”. So there was no big deal for DD to carry a conversation of two or three sentences, each having three words.

But, what M and I noticed was, sometimes DD spoke 5, 6 even 7-word sentences and made herself 75-90% (probably more difficult to people that aren’t family) understood. For example, she would say “you are (a) momma worm, (and) I am (a) baby worm”, “houhou’s (meaning “monkey” in Chinese) blue ball went down the hill”, or “I want to go out (to) Emma’s house”.

Baby's Growth | April 6, 2011 4:57 am | Comments (0)

During this month’s PAT visit (see PAT home visit and screening in Baby’s growth, month 29), DD met all the expectations for her age development. She could brush her teeth with help, build a tower of 6 or more, draw a vertical line in imitation, balance on each foot for one second, identify a friend by naming, wash and dry hands, identify at least one color, and put on her pants and sometimes socks.

She could carry on a simple conversation using two or three (sometimes more) words and got herself 75 percent understood. For example, she introduced us to the PAT teacher at the door by saying “this (is) my daddy” and “this (is) my mommy”.

Baby's Growth | March 9, 2011 2:26 pm | Comments (0)

DD always put on her best behavior in public, even since she was few months old. She wouldn’t cry or get fussy in the restaurant, but would let out her feelings as soon as we came back to the car.

At month 31, she became a master of playing nice to strangers outside of the house. She waived and smiled sweetly to people, and always initiated to say “hi”. Of course, she got rewards, either a cookie, or a balloon, or sunny smile back. “Your child is such a delight,” people often told us.

But at home, DD was a terrible “terrible two”. She was bossy, demanding me do things that she was perfectly capable of doing herself. She screamed and tossed thing around when they didn’t go her way. She refused to listen and follow orders.

“Is every ‘terrible two’ this difficult or did I spoil her?” I questioned myself. The answer came to me at one night when DD was playing with other kids.

Baby's Growth | February 13, 2011 9:39 am | Comments (0)