8/31/22
We clapped today! Not sure if it was just because I was doing the clap motion with his hands and he continued after I let go, but he was smiling so big doing it! And then we got excited and AB made a lot of excited noise and scared him and he started to cry 😢. Haha!
9/12/22
Baobao got sick again. Thankfully it was only a runny nose and cough. But we did miss church.
9/25/22
Found out Baobao has allergies! Everytime he goes outside, he gets a runny nose.
Baobao discovered how to spin in circles. He started doing that, got really dizzy, and bumped into the cabinet. 😂
He started saying "duck duck." He likes his little joker rubber duckie. He also knows what as his "jiaojiao" (feet) and "tofa" (hair). He will sometimes wave.
10/2/22 13mo
Baobao now knows how to open doors 😱. He will also climb into the upstairs cabinet and and through to the other side. Haha.
It's been hard to figure out nap time. He used to nap 3-4 hours a day. But recently he might sleep in the morning and refuse afternoon nap, or if we put him to nap a bit later, he will only sleep 1.5 hours and then want to stay up until we put him to sleep at 8p...then he is awake for 6-7 hours! Yikes! But also he has been sleeping longer at night: sometimes 12 hours. Fortunately he has been ok playing with his rabbit in the morning even after he wakes.
10/15/22 almost 14mo:
We tried 1 nap, but it didn't work. So now we went back to 2 naps unless it's Sunday and he won't sleep at church (so we rush back after quick lunch and he sleeps at 1p). But now with 2 naps, we have to make sure to wake him by 12:30-12:45p or else he won't take an afternoon nap 3.5 hrs later. He will throw his bunny out, stand up, and roll around for an hour. Sometimes he throws his bunny out because he pooped.
Lately he has started to like reading and books again. His favorite book is the Hickory Dickory Dock book of nursery rhymes. AB does a good job doing hand motions and slapping the book and he will laugh.
10/24/22 14mo
Baobao started to stomp his feet when he's not happy and when he's really excited. He also likes dancing (will wobble side to side). He will bring his shoes to us when he wants to go outside. And he'll sit down to put them on when we tell him to sit down. He sticks his tongue out when we say where is tongue in Chinese. He also opens doors now, yikes 😬.
New words: uh oh, nainai (milk), wooo, "A".
11/12/22
Visiting friend in NY and then going to Portugal. Thought we had a good flight: AB was amazing and swayed for 2 hours while Baobao napped on the plane. Decided on 1 nap (kept awake before noon flight), and so he successfully napped 2 hrs. Then at night, he was able to go to sleep even though new place. Sadly Airbnb is really dingy and not even close to childproof. Ugh!
Second day started ok. Overnight cried briefly at 4am, went back to sleep. Woke eventually at 8:30a happily. We went to visit friend and went to park. With a little struggle (crying 2 min), he went to sleep at friends condo. We hung out at her place, went to Grace restaurant nearby, and said our good byes for the night. Got back 7:45pish and started gathering things for night routine, but since we took all the stuff to nap at friend's place, it took a long time to get all the sleep stuff ready. He struggled during the night routine, and then continued to stand up right away and throw out bunny. Since he was crying so vehemently, we decided on holding him to sleep. He fell asleep, I transfered him to pack n play, and was about to step out when I noticed he started getting up. Shoot, he woke up. Transfered too early when not in deep enough sleep. He refused to sleep, kept on trying to stand up when I had my hand on him, and when I sat there, he would throw the bunny out. Finally I gave up and left, maybe let him cry 5min and then Farber method. Alan decided to try, not sure what he did, but then he vomited in the pack n play, and more on the carpet and sleep sack. 🤮😨😩🤦 After a bunch of cleaning, I held him to sleep and he conked out after several minutes, finally around 10p in my arms and I successfully transfered him. Found out my friend had vomiting and diarrhea, but I suspect Baobao's vomiting was still related to the extensive crying. But who knows.... Was it because he was over tired bc he woke up from nap at 3p? Was it because lack of wind down time? Was it because new environment? Food poisoning? 🤷 But for sure, another day of feeling like the worst parent in the world. Praying God to give me wisdom.
12/3/22 15mo
After the trip, it took about a week for his sleep to get back to normal. I don't think the trip was worth all the trouble. He was jetlagged, kept on waking up at 3:00 a.m., and refused to go to sleep by himself. We had to re-sleep train him. It is hard to listen to him cry, but in the end it was totally worth the retraining.
Now Baobao will play hide and seek, run really fast, and he can stack two blocks together. He has more separation anxiety, so when we leave for work, he gets a little upset. He still loves to stick his finger into holes and screws. He also loves to go to our neighbor's yard and play with the rocks. Puddles are a favorite too.
His favorite letters are O and B. Strange because he always picks out those letters on the alphabet puzzle. He also likes his tool kit with it's holes. He likes putting pencils in the holes of the egg carton.
12/26/22 16mo
Few other words: owl, up, door, wow, oh no, apple (abu)
Went to parents in law for Christmas and saw his 20mo cousin. So cute to see the 2 together but they also fight over toys. Baobao is very possessive of his toys and keeps them in a firm grip in his hands.
12/30/22
New words: rabbit ("tu").
1/26/23 17 months!
He's napping well 1 nap a day from 1p to 4p. Sometimes more sometimes less. Night sleep is from 9-8ish. He's saying bubble, poo, uh oh, ah yi, do (peas), Wawa (water), mobile.
He's been taking his bunny everywhere he goes. Sometimes he would have blowouts in the morning after a ton of pee.
He's been interested in screens, so grandma has been able to give him a nice haircut. He is also interested in cars, tools, and trains now. He loves sticking things in holes like sticks and leaves. Still loves rocks! He loooooves buckles - when he sees one, he can't help putting them together. Thankfully doesn't know how to take them about yet.
He likes veggies, and usually likes fish and tofu, but has some trouble with other meats. He loves raspberries and started eating carrots.
2/20/23 almost 18mo
Baobao started trying to copy our motions when we sing "Jesus Loves Me." So cute! 🥰
He says about 20 words now: ahbu (grandma), Wawa (water), ew, uh-oh, duck duck, nainai (milk), no, ack-ack, mama, baba, bubble, mobile, ball, tutu (rabbit), ahyi (aunt), baby, Baobao (pickup), mianmian, nana (banana), wow, bing, tick tick, owl, hoot hoot.
His schedule has been pretty consistent. He usually wakes up between 7:30 and 8:30. Drink some milk, eats breakfast. Then he eats lunch at around noon, and then take a nap from around 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. . He eats dinner at around 6:00 p.m., snack at 8p, and then goes to sleep at around 9:00 p.m.
Baobao likes to grab our hand and lead us to things that he wants. Then says "baobao" to be picked up and be closer to what he wants.
2/26/23 Finally made it to 1.5 years!
Actually from 1 to 1.5 years has been the best time so far. Now Baobao sleeps through the night and one nap. We get to do a lot of activities with him. He also isn't as messy when eating. He can use a spoon now, and he can drink from an open cup.
Recently he is fixated with playing with water. Anything water: water fountain, faucets, bath water, puddles... We have a hard time getting him to stop playing with the water and to move on to the next activity. We're trying the method of telling him one more minute. But he just laughs at us and sticks out his one finger.
National parks he's been to (including in the womb): Death Valley, Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, Gateway Arch; Couyahoga, Yellowstone, Grand Teton.
Funny quotes
"It's so easy to give him a back massage because there's only 12 in of space (on his back)." -AB.
Things that make Wes laugh now:
*Rolling golf ball down the slide.
*Playing hide and seek with daddy.
*When other people suffer (AB tongue burned from hot soup).
*Played a game with AB: Who can peg the baby the most times in 15min with soft balls. I lost. Baobao was not bothered at all (laughing and confused what was going on).
*Wes buckled himself in his chair and then couldn't get out. He crawled with the chair attached to him and cried bc he couldn't get away from the chair.
Ab: Do you want to go to the Vancouver wedding?
Grandma: no, not a good idea.
Baobao: No!
