nearly 13 Mths - 31st July 2005

Jasper is one week to 13mths and this month has been the most interesting month so far. As of today, he can climb up the stairs very fast, in less than 1-2 seconds he will be from the floor all the way up to the top of somewhere. He climbed up onto the pile of storage boxes behind our sofa yesterday(which had shocked us!). Of course he has fallen a few times but I have already added extra foam mats here and there. I usually let him fall and watch him, or I'd place some cushions at his expected spot of landing. In fact, his falls are VERY *calculated*, he pays attention to where he is going to land and how. He would choose to land on his buttom and with his hands on the floor, thats baby's survival instinct I guess. He has a very acute sense/perception of depth and height, he usually stays at one place when he is stuck higher up, and he will shout for assistance.

I cant write enough about this month as there has been so many things happening after his 1st birthday. He doesnt blow raspberries as much as he used to, and certainly doesn't do mini-push-ups no more.

This is a summary of the milestones based on my diary, I didnt summarise it earlier because it had been very uneventful for quite a while. This list is written more for myself than for anyone else.

- 20th Aug 04 - first meaningful smile (when an old lady talked to him)
- 25th Aug 05 - holds a rattle
- 3rd Sep 04 - tummy time - can lift elbows
- 8th Sep 05 - sleeps through night, no middle of night feed
- 1st Sep 04 - sucks left thumb1st time
- 11th Sep 04 - sucks left hand 1st time
- 23th Sep 04 - shows coordinated hand control, tries to grasp objects
- 29th Sep 04 - confirmed hand control, can swivel, turns and flicks toys
- 30th Sep 04 - laughs, (can laugh very loud a week later)
- 18th Oct 04 - puts toy in mouth first time (elephant trunk, it was funny!)
- 19th Oct 04 - puts any toy in mouth
- 23th Oct 04 - shreiks very loud first time
- 24th Oct 04 - doesnt cry upon waking
- 7th Nov 04 - blows raspberries
- 8th Nov 04 - semi-roll, can roll to side
- 10th Nov 04 - holds bottle and drinks from it for a few seconds before dropping bottle.
- 12th Nov 04 - self-feeds whole bottle of milk without dropping bottle(standard neck bottle).
- 15th Dec 04 - puts spoon(with rice cereal) in mouth
- 19th Dec 04 - can wriggle himself out of the playmat.
- 23rd Dec 04 - holds both feet
- 26th Dec 04 - sucks toes, uncoordinated clapping 3 times (clapping finger tips into other palm)
- 4th Jan 05 - reaching out both arms for bottle and pulls bottle to his mouth
- 27th Jan 05 - sits assisted by toy or human
- 5th Feb 05 - first swim lesson
- 7th Feb 05 - puts a biscuit in mouth
- 13th Feb 05 - can sit for 1 min before falling.
- 19th Feb 05 - sits while holding onto a large toy.
- ?? Feb 05 - does mini press-ups (hands on floor)
- 7th Mar 05 - first crawl !!!!
- 8th Mar 05 - first tooth
- ?? Mar 05 - uses thumb and first finger to pick things up.
- 17th Mar 05 - can stand inside cot while holding onto the bars of cot
- 21st Mar 05 - whole biscuit eaten.
- 22nd Mar 05 - does mini press-ups with hands on raised objects off the floor.
- 26th Mar 05 - switch from a crawling position to a sitting position
- 1st Apr 05 - stands holding on, walked 2 steps while holding onto a toy stool.
- 9th Apr 05 - pulls himself upright with furniture.
- 11th Apr 05 - pulls himself up to an upright position in the cot, supported standing.
- 12th May 05 - stands unsupported for 2 seconds.
- 13th May 05 - drinks from a straw
- 14th May 05 - sticks tongue out, pulling funny faces.
- 22th May 05 - changes between sitting and kneeling, bangs 2 toys together, crawls with toys in hands
- 6th June 05 - crawls with fists on floor (instead of open hands)
- 9th June 05 - stands alone for more than 10 secs
- 20th June 05 - stands alone for over 1 min
- 5th July 05 - first haircut, first time he swallowed rice and didnt refuse rice.
- 13th July 05 - Andrew saw baby walked 2 steps (first occurence)
- 15th July 05 - climbs up and stood on sofa with both hand holding TV controller teething.
- 16th July 05 - climbs on any knee-high objects (toys, boxes etc) very fast.
- 22nd July 05 - climbs stairs alone
- 25th July 05 - climbs up and down the sofa very fast
- 26th July 05 - waves bye bye (specific), to a person.
- 28th July 05 - initiates to play peek-a-boo, repeatedly pulls blanket over his head
- 29th July 05 - baby walks 2 steps (second / multiple occurences)

Walked 2 steps - on his own

I have finally seen Jasper walking 2 steps or 2.5 steps on his own. In fact Andrew and I have both seen bb doing it quite a few times tonight. He pulls himself up to a standing position and then walks a few steps towards another toy or falls back down to continue crawling. I still think it will be quite a while before he can walk properly, his standing is still a little unsteady. We have tried to hold him up or lead him to walk but he doesnt walk properly and doesnt seem at all interested bearing weight on his legs (swaying, bow-legged, tip-toed etc) and tries to drag his body down to crawl. So, we will prob just leave it to nature. Interesting thing is that he can interchange between a full squat and a standing position many times over.

Jasper - "peek-a-boo anyone?!"

I bought two pieces of e.v.a foam mats today, they are of size 1Mx2M. I placed them on top of the existing blue yoga mat and the multi-coloured "number" jigsaw mats. Jasper has been peeling the pieces of the jigsaw mats off the floor and fights with them or teeths on them. The e.v.a foam mats are not big enough to cover the whole area so i have to keep the cardboard boxes on the side and also keep the existing beach bench mattress in front of the sofa.

Meals, *On* the fence!

Meals

Jasper wasnt really eating much solids between 6mths-12mths and hated rice and congee - the only things he ate were baby museli, baby pumpkin in a can, sliced Kraft cheese sticks and arnotts milk biscuits. Things have since changed after 12 months he prefers solids to milk now so I have switched back to the 4oz bottles. We went to a BBQ lunch on Sunday and he had meat of at least 3 drumsticks, some rice and macaroni. Afternoon tea was a bottle of milk 7.5 oz, some bread & biscuit, followed by a late dinner/supper which was some chicken and noodle followed by a 4oz BM just before bed.

He skipped breakfast yesterday(Monday) and had 1 egg plus noodle for lunch followed by a light dinner.

This morning(Tuesday) he had had 7 oz milk for breakfast, followed by an early lunch which was 1 whole sliced banana, meat of 2 chicken drunksticks and half a baby bowl of noodles. Afternoon tea was some Hor-Fan(rice noodle) and some chicken pieces followed by 4oz milk. His milk intake has reduced to between 12oz & 18oz a day, sometimes even less, or no milk for the day, who cares when he has so much fat reserve.

Wednesday 27 Jul 05 - its a little disappointing he didnt seem to be keen on milk at all. As he refused milk for breakfast completely I gave him one whole banana instead and then he took 2 oz of milk(maybe for washing it down), i changed over a few different spouts for the bottle but he kept throwing it to the floor. Lunch was ½ lambsbrain, 1 leg, 1 biscuit and some noodle, again he refused milk. There is no afternoon tea because he has fallen asleep and will wake up for dinner

*On* the fence!

Furniture fence is not good enough for baby as he can climb up and down the sofa very fast now(he even tried to fall to the floor while on the sofa arm-rest). He can also pull himself up any big carton boxes and continue to climb onto anything within his reach. Bought an extendable baby fence made of metal frame and strong fabric. Will plan to use it as a baby wall and replace any low-rise furniture as a fence. Can't take my eyes off him for a second or simply put him in the cot would be best,i regret very much not getting an American size cot which has higher barriers for taller kids.



I forgot to add... Baby doesnt wear any long johns or leggings because i want him to be able to get better footing with bare knees and feet, wearing socks or long pants makes him clumsier and he may lose his balance and slips.

Shhhhhhh ! .... new swing gate

New swing gate!

I love to climb!

Jasper is now practising his climbing skills more than ever. It seems that he grows so much so quickly so suddenly that we are not quite prepared for what have been happening. He managed to climb over our low shoe cabinet onto the other side of the living room. He also climbs up the sofa in less than half a second - while on the sofa he crawls from end to end really fast then reverts to an upright position bouncing up and down like on a trampoline before falling to a crawling position again. He got hold of our plant on our lamp table near the sofa and playing with the mud - that was his first time(and last) we weren't prepared for it.



I have had a very busy day, sold off the baby walker(didnt help baby to walk!) and the Graco stroller(too narrow, no leg rest), and bought a pressure-mount baby swing gate. Then I rearranged the *fence* of our living room. When I need to be away for a minute or two the only safe places I can put him are (1)the cot (2)tie him onto the high chair. I have had a visual of him walking 1-1.5 steps before falling to a crawling position, still cruising along furniture a lot, can stand for a few mins, crawling as fast as a bullet. I wonder when he will climb out of the cot!

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I am a big kid now...

Video Clip 1.5MB 15/07/05

Video Clip - You can view this with QuickTime.

Video Clip QuickTime (.mov)1.5MB 15-July-2005 Jasper was playing on his own.

well, that tickles !

15th July, 2005 - I was browsing the net in the study room when suddenly i heard the TV switched on in the living room. I saw Jasper standing ON THE EDGE of the SOFA with both his hands holding and teething on the remote controller which was originally placed on top of the book case next to the sofa. It scared me so much even i find it hard to balance on the edge of the sofa myself. I didnt take any picture of his stun.

He laughs and giggles an awful lot....

feet , shoes

Andrew saw Jasper walking two steps on his own yesterday (before leaning forward to a crawling position) but too bad I didn't see anything, and I haven't seen anything today either. Jasper has been mimicking sounds lately - he says "peas" accurately, but he says "grace" when we say "grapes". Whenever I hum the song "london bridge is falling down" he hums along the last few notes... he has 8 pairs of hard sole shoes and 2 pairs were brand new never worn, outgrown before he even walks. I took a cast of his tiny feet after he was born and they are framed nicely together with his pic. I will plan to take another cast and some imprints when he starts walking unassisted. It will be a good momentum.

More milk please

He can guzzle down 220ml really fast....

Shape sorting - SQUARE !

I have finally seen Jasper fitting a SQUARE block into a square slot today. He has been doing circles a long time ago and it has taken him so long to do other shapes. He was using both hands to fit a SQUARE block into the square slot. I bought a Shape-O sorter for him, it has 12 different shape blocks and corresponding slots/holes. Even I get quite bogged down by this shape sorter. He has just started to appear a little bit *constructive* as we often see him destroying things, messing things up and knocking things over only. Meal times appear to be a lot easier now as we just feed him whatever we are having even spicy food! He has just had (meat of) two chicken drumsticks, one biscuit and 7 oz of milk for dinner. The things in the nappy tell us he cannot digest carrot AT ALL. We went to inspect some of the storage solutions this afternoon, it is actually quite affordable compared with the high cost of buying/renting new place or moving elsewhere - both Andrew and I have agreed to store away our junk currently in our study room and free up the study room for Jasper, and this will be something we hope to achieve before the summer comes. Things don't quite work for us at the moment because almost the whole of our living room is a giant playpen fenced off by stocked low-bookcases, and I think Jasper is old enough to sleep and play in a room of his own. No new pictures because the weather has been very glum and we didnt go anywhere interesting with baby.

Yum!

Jasper's appetite has since changed these days. Breakfast is ½ slice of toast, ½ or whole banana plus milk. Lunch will be half a bowl of noodle and meat of 1 chicken drumstick, plus milk. Afternoon tea is 2.5 chinese buns plus milk. Dinner is 1 biscuit, 2 drumsticks plus noodle, rice or bread, followed by milk. Mealtime usually lasts around 20 mins for Jasper, any longer on the highchair he would get bored such as twisting and stretching his body, rubbing his eyes and his face. To avoid much mess, banana is sliced up presenting to him about an arm's length away on a fork, he would reach out grab the fork and puts it in his mouth, so he is the one who sets the pace; similar with chicken pieces. Other types of *neat* or *clean* food such as biscuits or bread I ususally let him feed himself. I have to say this - my Valco Urban 5.2kg stroller is so perfect!(or at least for now)

12-month vaccination - breath holding

I forgot to mention Jasper had had his 12-month vaccination - HIB, Meningoccol & MMR. We had 3 nurses each holding one needle - they did it to 2 legs and 1 arm. He cried so much during the vacc that he was holding his breath and started to turn blue and the nurse had to blow air onto his face to wake him but didnt work, so finally i had to lie him on the floor and he finally caught a second breath and broke his cry. Well, this was the last vacc until 4-years!! Jasper was traumatised but guess how cruel his parents were taking pictures at the scene - the following picture may be disturbing to some viewers (so i downsized it for public viewing!).

jasper's 1-yr-old checkup, strollers

Jasper's 1-yr-old checkup - everything seems fine and he weighs 10.950 it was over 11kg last time(well it fluctuates!). They say growth will be more stablised after 1 year so I dont expect him to gain more than 2 kgs by end of his second year. Jasper seems to be more interested in toys and objects than humans and the nurse suggested spending even more time with him. I accidentally hurt my lower back while lifting him into the car. I now need a hold onto an supporting object to get up from a chair and walk very slowly. A wriggling 11kg is not easy to lift into the baby seat inside the car. Finally I got another stroller, it's a Valco Urban 5.2kgs with leg rest and multiple position reclines. My Combi Calpico 5.8kg is reallly crap as the handle feels wriggly and I almost twisted my hip and lower back steering it, Andrew gave similar comments after using it - combi may be good for newborn but not for a 11kgs. My Graco Citisport 6.6kgs is one of the best ones I have tried, it is extremely sturdy and can certainly take most abuse! I will sell off the ones I dont use. Some acquaintances of mine got pissed and threw in their comments with my perceived infinite obsession of getting new strollers but I was the one who got knee and hip pains not them - my effort of trying to explain to them of my back pains and my difficulties of folding up the stroller or lift the baby and/or stroller in and out of the car was in vain, zero empathy and what I got in return was almost a big slap - "you can choose not to drive", "at least you have a car", "I can only stroll the baby and can only use public transport as I dont have a car". Well, I've learnt a very good lesson not to hang around with them too much, it is similar to someone with a waterview house complaining to a homeless person the waterview bores him to death. It is just commonsense. It was like the loniness of no one understands the boredom of a bad but high-paid DBA job which was just mind-eroding. Jasper has a new toy telephone and a dozen of other new toys... its more fun watching him play - at least if anything happens to me he will always take my side.

JASPER'S 1ST BIRTHDAY (UPDATED)

We had held off his haircut until his 1st birthday. It was a Tuesday and Andrew took the day off. As soon as Jasper had his morning milk and toast we took a leisurey stroll and ran our errands (post office, bank & library etc). Long before we arrived at the children's haircut place Jasper was already fast asleep in his stroller. We waited for a bit as there was another kid in the queue, and it just happened that he woke up the very moment when it was his turn for his haircut.

Jasper seemed to be quite composed from start to end, maybe because he just woke up and his brain cells weren't quite in full gear just yet. He didnt cry or scream, nor did he try to get off the seat. Andrew was trying to show him rattle and teether and things like that to stop baby from moving too much.

The hairdresser lady awarded him a "first haircut certificate", we got to keep some hair as well. I think I am going to find a nice pouch or a small box to store his first curl. Actually I have kept his cord stump and cord clamp and I will keep them all at the same place. He now looks like a boy after the haircut. Guess why I say this, thats because he had been mistaken as a girl all the time with his long hair and big eyes.

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After he had had his first haircut we took him to the "playpen" so he could have a bit of fun with other kids. It was around mid morning we went to the cake shop to select a cake for him - we chose a vanilla birthday cake as we assumed the other cakes that were ordered for his party might be dark or mudcake but we didn't know (was going be a surprise for us!). It was mid to late morning we went to a Chinese cafe to have our breakfast, Jasper had a bit of rice meat dumpling(jong) and then he wanted more milk before dozing off to sleep in his stroller again. After the breakfast we strolled back home to take the car to go to the party.

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Birthday cakes:

My favorite pic - Jasper at 11 months

This is one of my favourite pictures, he is such a natural drummer !

break dance

I havent taken any pictures of BB for quite many days because I havent yet recharged my camera battery. I was going to go to buy a new umbrella stroller and had been seriously trying bb on almost all the umbrella strollers on teh market, I set my hearts on this umbrella stroller which has an adjustable leg support, adjustable foot rest, adjustable handle bar, a see-through window on canopy, layback or upright seat. Finally, I am not getting any umbrella stroller. I was told bb will thin down in a few months when he grows taller. My Graco stroller is a little narrow and short for Jasper for now but things may improve later. I have stitched up a leg extender/support at the front of the seat so my Graco stroller looks more like a long bassinet when it is in layback position and I am content. I go out (and drive) a lot so a good bb stroller is very important for me. Almost all layback umbrella strollers are over 7-8 kgs why would I want to get a stroller that weighs more than my current Graco 6kgs ?! I wouldnt be able to lift it in and out of the car! Most importantly, i love the convenience of a single handle bar as i normally steer single-handed on an escalator with my other hand on the escalator handrail. You need two hands to steer an umbrella stroller and most of them have a very tiny unusable basket, cant do shopping with them.

Jasper woke up at 8:30am on Saturday and 9:00am on Sunday so I could only give him 3 feeds a day. He can now eat half a bowl of noodle (and much less milk), one whole banana.

I haev also noticed something new with Jasper. He sits on the floor, then rolls to a crawling position, and then rolls in the same direction to a sitting position, rolls in a similar direction to crawling, sitting, crawling... positions. He keeps going on and on in a kinda circular motion. Its like hands/feet on floor, then roll to bottom on floor, hands/feet on floor, bottom on floor etc. Looks a little like break dance(but not quite!).