Sometimes, I looked at DD, I was wondering: is she really a two-year old? She has been growing so big and tall.

At month 25, she was already near half of my height and more than a quarter of my weight. A 3T or 4T shirt wasn’t large enough for her. The perfect size was 5T. Shoes with the size of 5.5W seemed to get tight overnight. She needed an upgrade to 7W.

She could point to an object that I named, recognize the names of many objects, major body parts and some familiar members in English and Chinese, follow simple instructions, repeat some words she overhears, wash and dry hands, hop like a bunny, brush teeth (well, kind of) and play make-believe.

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Baby’s growth, month 25 | August 3, 2010 8:00 pm | Comments (1)

Since her one-year birthday when she made her first independent stride, the last one year has been a banner year for DD’s physical development. Now she can run in loops, walk on her tiptoes, avoid obstacles that block her path, sit and stand quickly, and walk upstairs, downstairs, backward and sideways with no problem. And on her two-year birthday, she got the idea of jumping and hopped like an energizer bunny since then.

At month 24, she finally began to accept the training toilet again. This time, I learned the lesson and didn’t push too hard. Instead I asked her whether she wanted or not. If she wanted to try her potty seat, she would take off her diaper and sat on the potty seat for a few seconds.

Whenever she stopped for a few minutes during play to have a bowel movement, I would ask her the same question. It was up to her to say “yes” or “no”. Even she turned it down most of time, it was ok. The goal at this stage was to help her feel comfortable with sitting on the potty seat

Still, unlike most 2-year-olds who want to play side-by-side, DD wanted to play with other kids. She was still bit of aggressive when playing with her peers, mostly boys. She still wanted to hug or kiss other toddlers at her age, which always scared them away. She still chased big sisters and insisted to be accepted, which often happened as she wished. Overall, she initiated a social action rather than watching and waiting.

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Baby’s growth, month 24 | July 2, 2010 7:18 pm | Comments (1)

As she approaches her second birthday, DD developed interest in playing the emperor in “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. She loves to strip herself into nothing but a piece of diaper, wrap herself up in blanket and walk proudly around the house. When she tried to go out, I would say “but you have no clothes on!”

She had no problem in bending over from the waist to pick something up from the floor. She didn’t have jumping in place yet, but she kept practicing and could manage one foot off the ground at a time.

She began to have less patience in sitting still and waiting for the end of stories. She was running, climbing, jumping, twirling, spinning, shouting and laughing. Put into one word, she was always in motion, full of energy.

To help run off her steam, we took her to local parks. As always, she loves to play with other kids, especially older ones. One day, she chased two big sisters in the playground and did as they did. Finally, the two sisters accepted her into the group and played with her. The other day, she easily won the hearts of two older girls and they competed with each other to play with her. And she cried when we had to leave.

This month, the most word DD said was “no”. She said “no” to anything. She pronounced “no” in such a clear and professional way that she earned the title “Miss No-no”.

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Baby’s growth, month 23 | June 3, 2010 12:28 pm | Comments (1)

DD was doing great during her twenty two months. She could easily kick a big ball forward without falling. She didn’t have problems in turning corners when running around the living room.

She was delight in using her ever-more-dexterous fingers to build a tower of eight cubes, and opened my zipped purse with no problem. She could wash and dry her hands, after a messy playing with the water.

Unlike a typical 22-month-old whose vocabulary consists of about 20 words, DD could say a few Chinese words and a couple of English words. This month she added daddy in English and grandpa in Chinese into her vocabulary. But she understood many more words than she could pronounce—she could identify a number of pictures by pointing. And she understood and followed a two-step oral command, unwillingly sometimes.

She continued to show affection to her teddy bear, little dolly, and toys. She also freely kissed and hugged us, though sometimes rejected to give M hugs and kisses when she didn’t get her way. Overall, she was a kind, loving and sweet little one.

[......]

Baby’s growth, month 22 | May 3, 2010 2:06 pm | Comments (4)

At month 21, DD’s desire to be more independent was not only displayed by her physical abilities to do things, but by being comfortable to be left alone.

As to her language development, she began to say few words, some in English and some in Chinese, depending on whichever was simpler to pronounce. [......]

Baby’s growth, month 21 | April 3, 2010 6:22 pm | Comments (0)

At month 20, DD fell in love with everything I had. She attempted to put on my coat, hat and glasses. In particular, she loved to try on my shoes. I also noticed her pretend playing with toy animals and her dolly. [......]

Baby’s growth, month 20 | March 2, 2010 4:39 pm | Comments (0)

At month 19, DD continued to test her locomotion skills. She loved book-reading. She also desired to help, by imitating what we were doing. She started to show feelings and emotions as an individual human being. She showed more affection towards her toys, especially her teddy bear and dolly. [......]

Baby’s growth, month 19 | February 2, 2010 3:01 pm | Comments (0)

At month 18, DD was on the move every minute except sleeping time. She still kept one habit that soothed her—sucking her thumb. Growing with her height was her tamper tantrums. [......]

Baby’s growth, month 18 | January 4, 2010 1:46 pm | Comments (1)

At month 17, DD continued to constantly test her physical abilities. As to language development, she seemed to understand every word out of our mouth, no matter it was English or Chinese. Her growing independence is asserting itself in numerous ways. [......]

Baby’s growth, month 17 | December 1, 2009 1:28 pm | Comments (0)

At month 16, DD further challenged her physical limits and learned to use tools. She became a creative climber.

Her language development reached a milestone. She understood much more than she could speak. It was amazing to watch her do (or not do) exactly as we said, English from M and Chinese from me. She also began to show the urge to build social connections, especially with children. [......]

Baby’s growth, month 16 | November 1, 2009 1:37 pm | Comments (0)