can draw/scribble with a pen, can eat independently

jasper can make an impression with a pen on the doddle board, they arent exactly straight lines more like random strokes and scribbles. He has been starting to eat independently for a few weeks with his bare hands, not much luck with any cutleries yet !! Therefore I try to make his food in manageable bite sizes. He was able to hold a spoon at 4 months but now seems to be going backwards at nearly 18 months.

Merry Xmas, very warm in Sydney

Its quite warm in Sydney and I heard they recorded 41C somewhere! I will definitely enrol baby into the upcoming swimming class. He was quite fearless when diving under the water last season (at 6-mths). Last year he wore a pair of 6-month-old swim pants and I wasn't sure what to get him this year so I bought him two different swim suits - a 1-yr size and a 2-yr size, the 2-yr size seems to be a better fit for him, donno what to do with the 1-yr-old swim suit. Coincidentally I cant fit into my old swim suit either so had to buy new ones.

We have finally moved Jasper and his cot to the warmer second room (24th Dec) and he seems to be sleeping ok there without the use of a sleeping bag which functions like a quilt. The only reason we didnt move him earlier was mainly a space issue. As far as counting and numbers go, he has finally uttered the sound "tee" for "two", I am quite confident he understands the numbers one to ten but he has been able to pronounce "six" and "nine" accurately only. He still says "tair" for "ten". I will start him with Cantonese numbers instead maybe they are easier to say. Before I realise it, I notice he actually uses a few words quite actively to indicate his wants and actions - he actually asks for milk(which is put just out of reach) and points to it on the table then I have to fetch it for him. We were playing a game on our double bed and then suddenly he said "bye bye" and got down to the floor and zoomed out of our bedroom.

I personally like smaller turkeys as they have more tender meat, however, MIL is cooking a 20 kg bird hopefully the meat will be palatable for my tastebuds.

Library Card

Jasper's got his own library card today and can borrow up to 30 books at one time. I helped him borrow ten board books. There aren't that many lift-the-flap books in the library which are his favourites.

Jasper's favourite feeding dish

I am carrying this little feeding dish when I go out including holidays away. Jasper is now eating three meals a day and a small afternoon snack. He can now feed himself breakfast from start to end using his hands without my help. Breakfast -- I normally offer him lots of fruit pieces and sliced-up toasts in his favourite feeding bowl (which is like a flat dish) and a cup of milk with a straw. He picks food from his plate and into his mouth, he grabs the cup from the tabletop, drinks from it and puts it back on the table and so on. I have just had two friends visiting Sydney and stayed over for a few days and they were surprised he could empty his breakfast bowl into his gut so independently - the girls witnessed this 1.47 years old eating a bowl full of chopped melon, grapes, pitted cherries and kiwi pieces, two whole chopped bananas, and one and a half slices of toast with jam and butter on toast, and then washed down by a full cup of fresh cows milk. shocking! They eat less than what this baby eats.

As for lunch and dinner or at the restauraut, I put pasta pieces and neat food pieces(such as chicken and chopped cabbage) in his bowl where he self-serves. Also, he is quite happy munching away a whole snow pea and loves the crunchiness.

He is pretty much eating like a normal adult when sitting at a table - food being offered in his feeding dish are of manageable sizes. I dont know how or when to start him on cutlery such as the use of a spoon, knive+fork and/or chopsticks, or maybe I should just lay the spoon on his side and let him *copy* the way we eat.

Jasper and The Dish

We went to visit the Parkes Dish, it is the same giant dish in the movie "The Dish" - the telescope that was used for transmitting first images between the earth and the moon.

17 months

17 months - he is 82.5cm tall - weighs just under 12 kgs - head circumference almost 50cm - shoe size 6.5 or 7. He continues to say new words inaccurately as each day goes by. He says these alphabets A,B,C,D,E,H,I,O,P,R,S,T,X&Z ; He can pronounce and point at numbers 6,8,9 & 10. As for two-word sentences, "big ball" is as far as he can say. I have been trying not to get that many new toys and focus on books and flash cards as they are a great space saver. He is eating 3 meals a day with an afternoon snack. I have finally managed to wean him off formula and put him on normal cows milk. I have also weaned him off all types of sippy cups or straw cups with soft silicone straws. He now uses a normal hard straw with any cup.

Breakfast: 1 cup of milk & some toast plus some fruits - grapes & melon are his fav.
Lunch: a plate of pasta, chopped meat, boiled veggies, baked beans, 1 egg & 1 cup cows milk
Afternoon tea: 1 cup of milk and some biscuits or bread buns
Dinner: similar to his lunch but mainly a bit of everything from the family table.

He sleeps 2 to 3 naps during the day and night sleep from 9pm to 7:30/8am. It's a total of over 16 hours each day.

7:30/8am morning wake
9am/10am - 11:30/12:30 morning nap usually 2.5 hours
2:30/3:30pm - 4:30/5:30 afternoon nap ususally 2-3 hours
7:30 evening nap sometimes 0 - 0.5 hour
9pm night sleep 10-11 hours