Tired after a bit of shopping for souvenirs in florence.
On the bus near the the Colosseo, Rome.
The view of the Romun Forum from the colosseo, Rome.
Under the shade near Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, across from Foro Traiano.
At a restaurant in Rome, waiting for his french fries. Not happy!
Playing with pigeons at the Pantheon.
At a backyard garden in Hotel Fontana, Rome.
Izani travels quite well. Since he doesnt take milk from a bottle, he travels quite light. He also eats everything we eat, so feeding him was quite easy. After the 3rd day though, I think he grew a bit tired of eatng fries and pasta and pizza so he got very cranky during meal times, refusing anything but milk. He got abit of a diarhea towards the end, but not so bad.
Izani really liked chasing the pigeons around and he laughs so loud when they fly away, much to the amusement of spectators. The italians loved Izani! They keep coo-ing "bambino" and asking me how old he is. I have learnt to reply "uno anni, tre months" :D
I don't know whether he'll remember this trip, so I hope this blog will last so that he can look back at it and be reminded.
Izani is doing all the things mentioned there. He's waving bye-bye, he's standing alone, he's drinking out of a cup (though with an open one he'd dribble all over, he's now very adept with his non-spill sippy cup).
He is now very vocal about what he wants, screaming "Baa", for "abang" (big brother) and a lot of "mama"s when he's upset and crying. He screams really loud when you take away anything from him, but if you ask nicely sometimes he'll give it to you. He gets his hands into everything, so I have decided to kid-proof the house, with locks and latches for all the drawers and cabiners, except for the one filled with tupperware. Just this morning he got his hands on the inking pad of my stamping kit and his hands, mouth and face was covered in blue splotches.
"My name is Ihsan and I have a baby brother he's [his] name is izani he likes to bite peapoules [people's] fingers if you put your fingers inside his mouth"
Do your kids have comfort items? A bear or blankie that they get attached to and can't live without? Hm.. my kids don't seem to have those kinda attachments to things.. is that normal?
Izani is already 13months, and I think he's doing pretty well *beams* These progress points were taken from babycenter.com:
Standing and walking At 13 months, about three-quarters of toddlers are walking on their own -- albeit unsteadily. If yours still hasn't stopped using furniture or other objects to support himself, it just means that walking on his own is going to take a little longer. Some children don't walk until 17 or 18 months or even later*. *oLaB, take note!
Walking around in the museum while Bonda solat
Somehow most Kustamang's grandkids could walk by the time they turn 12months. It's like someone pushed the 'walk' switch on in their brains and they would just start walking. I encouraged Izani to walk, but I didnt really coax him, but like a few days after his birthday , he was in front of the Tv and he stood up and took not one, not two, but 6 steps on his own. I kept quiet and still while I watched coz I didnt want to startle him, but I couldnt help whooping and hugging him when he decided he had had enough and sat down. From then on, it was no stopping him.. he'd wanna walk everywhere. He can even chase after his elder brothers now! :D
Exploring and discovering With his new walking legs, your child can roam where his growing curiosity takes him -- examining the cat up close, and then suddenly backing away if it frightens him. This is a great achievement. He's exploring all right. And with more than just his legs too. His hands goes into every nook and cranny he could find. He tries to open, and sometimes even successfully open, anything that can be opened, be it a drawer, a cabinet or someone's handbag. I have to make sure bedroom and bathroom doors are closed to avoid from him getting into places and things i dont want him to. If he's being too quiet, I know he's up to something!
Grasps and manipulates objects As he gets better at using his legs, he's also getting more skilled at using his hands. Most 13-month-olds are able to grab a block and drop it into a container; some are already able to scribble. He might be able to grip a spoon, but don't expect him to be using it with consistent success yet.
Izani standing at the front door with a pump in his hands
Izani wants do everything on his own now, and sometimes insists on eating on his own. He can grip a spoon and has made several attempts at feeding himself, and sometimes even succeeds in doing so, even if he gets the food on the wrong side of the spoon!
Grows more slowly and eats less Don't be surprised when your formerly super-hungry baby starts to eat less. Between birth and their first birthdays, babies typically triple in weight and add 25 cm/10 in to their height. But between his first and second birthdays, your child's growth rate will slow considerably, and he'll start to lose his baby fat. Expect the amount he eats every day, as well as his food likes and dislikes, to vary.
He is now 9.8kgs and 74.5cms. As I mentioned above, he likes to feed himself, so I usually give him finger food like apples and carrots or pieces of cheese on toast (or even just cheese). He also likes to gnaw on fried chicken (I usually give him the wing or drummets). He absolutely loves macaroni and lets me feed him that for a longer period of time than any other food, before he would have a go with his own spoon. He wants to eat whatever we're eating, sometimes even asking to sit on our lap during dinner to taste rice and curry.
Communicates and understands He's got the hang of using "dada," "mama," plus a few other recognisable words. Without much vocabulary, He's worked out how to make his desires known. When he wants to get down, he'll point down; when he wants your attention, he'll tug your shirt. He's also understanding a good percentage of the simple language you use around him every day.
He does alot of screaming nowadays, especially when there's alot of people around. I think it's because he thinks he needs to do that to get my attention, which is absolutely true. With three other taller and louder kids trying to tell me things all at once, sometimes the shortest one do get a little ignored in this house. He understands "No" and "Mintak" (give me) and I recently discovered, "Kiss", where, if he's in the mood, he would give you a little kiss. (If he's not in the mood, he'd just turn away and look at you out of the corner of his eye).
Izani 'reading'
He babbles A LOT, but I can't understand a word he's saying. Sometimes you'd hear a bit of "bus", "yess" or "pur-duss" and the other day even a "yum", but it's all out of context and in between gibberish, so I don't call it real talking yet. I'm just enjoying the fact that he's enjoying himself. If you talk back to him, though, you could actually hold a conversation with him! :D
Lives mostly in the here and now Your toddler's play mostly involves experimentation, like "What happens if I drop the plastic cup?" or "What happens if I rub my fingers in the gravy?" He likes to watch what happens after he does something, and because his memory isn't well developed he is not bored by repetition. He's only started to like rattles and banging things, irregardless of what it is, and he always acts suprised when things make noise. He loves playing in the water, so I usually give him a few minutes in the empty tub with the tap running a bit, after bathing him to let him enjoy himself.
butt crack!
Come again next month to see what new tricks he's learnt!
Gosh, I can't believe it's been a year already. Eventhough I probably spent more time with Izani during his first year than I did with my other kids during their first year, I still feel like he's growing up so fast. I am so thankful, though, that I get to witness almost every minute of his first year :), and that I can report on his progress to you, via this blog!
Taking his first steps That major rite of passage is almost here - sometime this month your baby may take his first steps alone. Also at about this time, your baby may begin feeding himself with a spoon, though he still frequently misses his mouth.
Well, he has taken ONE step alone. He could, however walk a few steps while I hold one of his hands though. I'm not too worried because I know it's going to happen sooner or later. Most of my kids start walking a few weeks after turning one.
What's over there?
Izani can't feed himself with a spoon yet, but that doesnt stop him from trying. I notice that he likes finger food more than other kinds of food and insists on feeding himself. So he eats a lot of fries if we're out. At home I give him rusks, crackers and fried chicken wings. He also loves roti canai. Oh, he can drink from a straw!! The first time he did it was when he took a sip of lollies' strawberry smoothie in Q@tar.
mmm yummmeeehh!!
New kinds of play Around now your baby's play will probably start changing from mastering his fine motor skills (he's got that thumb-and-forefinger grasp down pat) to exercising larger muscles. He probably thinks it's fun to push, throw, and knock everything down. He'll give you a toy as well as take one, and likes games where he can put things such as blocks in containers and dump them out.
His favourite game nowdays is 'memunggah' (rummaging). He'd open up drawers, cabinets, bags, laundry hampers and take out all the stuff. His favourite toy nowadays is a tupperware, either with or without the lid. I have a cabinet full of tupperwares in between my stove and my sink, so that he can play with them while I cook. The other day, however, he ventured into the dining room and decided to play with the real stuff instead of the plastic ones and broke one of my neighbour's ceramic casserole dish (she had given me some food and I had not returned the dish yet). Aiyoh!!! It was a good thing that HomeCenter was on sale, so I bought her a new one as a replacement. I brought him to the playground for the first time a few weeks ago and discovered that he really likes being on the swing. What a delight to watch his face light up in discovery of the sensations of being swayed this way and that.
wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!!
Making bedtime easier As your baby approaches his first birthday, he may begin to resist taking naps, and his growing independence may lead him to make a fuss at bedtime. Following a well-established nighttime routine, which might include a bath or a bedtime story, for example, may help settle him to sleep.
This explains why you have not seen me blogging as much as before. He only takes 3 naps during the day. Once at 10am (which gives me time to shower and do a litlle housework), another at around 1pm (which gives me a chance to make lunch and eat it), then another at around 6 or 7pm (which is my only 'me' time). We don't have a routine, but switching off the lights usually works like magic. As long as he can't see anything, he'll go to sleep. As long as there are 'activities' around him, he'd try his best to keep himself awake, so that also means shoo-ing everyone out of the bedroom.
It's hard to say good-bye Your child has probably had bouts of separation anxiety during the last few months. This is natural: he loves and depends on you, so he'll be distressed when you leave.
Oh man... Whenever Izani sees me putting on my headscarf, he'd know I would be going somewhere, and he'd immediately ask to be picked up. I would say "Bonda tak tinggal nya" (I wouldnt leave you), but still, he wants to be picked up. NOW. The only thing/people that could distract him would be his siblings. So far, I've only left him a few times, when we went out shopping in Jakarta. I don't know whether I'm gonna be sending him to a nursery or not, because the one at my compound costs SR600/month. I was thinking, with that kinda money, I'd rather lug him around myself while I go spend it shopping somewhere.
So, can I get my driving license now?
Learning more about language Though at this point their vocabulary probably consists of only a couple of words besides "mama" and "dada", many one-year-olds can babble short, fully inflected sentences that sound like they're speaking a foreign language.
I was asked what language Izani speaks, by someone the other day. I'm sure he meant whether it was English or Malay, but I answered 'German' because that's what it sounds like to me. :) He understands "mintak" and of course, "No".
Giving everything a name It's up to you to help your baby make connections between objects and their names - the more you do, the faster your child's vocabulary will grow. Keep talking to your baby and labelling things. Count stair steps as you climb them and point out the names and colours of the fruits and vegetables at the supermarket. Read your baby a picture book and ask him to point to or name familiar objects. Give him choices sometimes. Ask him if he'd like to wear the red or the blue socks, or if he'd like to play with his blocks or his stacking rings. He may not answer, but then again, you may be pleasantly surprised. I'm sure the guys at the grocery store call me "The Crazy Lady" because I talk to my baby all the time. Sometimes Izani even helps me pick out my clothes.
All in all, I think Izani is a very cheerful boy. He is not shy to laugh when something or someone is funny.He is also somewhat of a comic. He knows that I laugh everytime he sneezes, so sometimes he fakes one and gives me a cheeky grin.
There is a correlation between the increased mobility of a child and the increased insanity of the mother of the said child.
Growing physical independence Your baby is no longer that helpless infant who couldn't do anything without you. His growing independence -- evident in his solo standing, stooping, and squatting -- is becoming apparent. Izani has started standing up on his own, but he can't stand for too long. If he's not aware of it, he could stand for about a minute. But once he realizes he's standing up, he'd immediately squat on the floor.
Taufik trying to coax him to stand for the camera
He finally stands!
We would usually whoop and applaud when he stands, to let him know that it's quite an achievement and to encourage him to do it more often.
He has also started climbing up stairs on his own since the last two months (but I forgot to write about it). Before this, he'd stop at the first few steps and make noises and wait for someone to go up with him, but nowadays he doesn't care anymore, he'd go up whenever he pleases. When he does this silently it's quite scary coz one moment he'd be downstairs with me, the next thing I know, he's already upstairs! *shudders*
Half-way there!
Books for your little reader Your child likes to look at books and leaf through the pages, though he won't always turn them one by one. I bought him Goodnight Moon a few months a go and so far that has been his favourite book (to look at and to chew). But he's not opposed to grabbing and tearing up his older sibling's books, especially if he sees someone really engrossed in it.
Becoming his own person At this age your baby may assert herself among her siblings and begin to engage in parallel play -- contentedly playing alongside (but not with) another child. He likes playing together with his older siblings, but he also likes playing alone. He likes it when we lightly tap his mouth while he makes a sound to make that woo woo woo "indian call", but sometimes he'd grab your hand and try to bite your fingers. He'd play with toys with his siblings, but he's not learning to share yet. If you take his toy away, or if you do something that bother's him, there is hell to pay!
Playing around with his abangs and kakak early weekend mornings
He knows how to play peek-a-boo on his own now. While I dress him up after a bath, he'd grab the towel over his eyes (and shuts his eyes) and won't bring it down till I say "Cak!". It is such a joy to watch!
Time to start setting limits Your baby now probably understands simple instructions and may purposely choose to ignore you when you say no. (To help the word carry a little more weight, reserve its use for things that are truly dangerous.) His desire to explore is stronger than his desire to listen to your warnings, so it's up to you to protect and teach him. What seems to be defiance isn't; it's just his natural curiosity to see how the world works. Just like my sister tulisje, I'm also scared that Izani would think his name is "Izani Nor". You'd think with 3 kids before him, I'd be more prepared for this. It still drives me crazy when he crawls away like a turtle on speed and I can't chase him fast enough before he dips his hands into the toilet bowl. Sometimes I don't know whether he wants to sit on my lap or be carried around or stand on his own or sit in his walker or sit down or what coz he's wriggling wriggling all the time. My tactic for now is ignore his crying and try to distract him.
Talking up a storm Words and wordlike sounds are now spilling out of your baby -- words she's now able to use meaningfully. This may be just mommy-ears talking, but I think he's constant repeating of "the the" is actually his version of calling me 'Bonda'. My other kids called me the same way when they were small. Izani does alot of baba's and mamami's anyways, so i can't really tell when he's really trying to say something or when he's just plain babbling, but I know when he sees me and reaches out his arms and say "the the" , he means to call me :) Sometimes he'd pick up something and starts having a conversation with me, showing the thing to me and pointing at where he picked it up, then giving me a silly grin, as if saying "Look here! I got this thing! I picked it up from down there! yay!" in his own gibberish. Of course I'd indulge him and tell him he's such a smart boy, even though what he'd picked up was just dried cereal from breakfast.
Drooly happy baby
Can't wait for next month!! What do you think, party or no party?
I can't believe it's already been 10 months! Times seems to fly so fast when you're having fun...
Becoming more mobile By the time they're 10 months old, babies are usually able to crawl well on their hands and knees. At this age, your baby can also sit confidently and may even walk while holding onto furniture Izani can crawl very very well... he looks like a cockroach with a missing foot (lipas kudung) when he's chasing after something or someone (most usually, me). He can already stand and inch his way while holding on to furniture. The malays call this 'infecting' (berjangkit), depicting the movement from one furniture to the next.
Izani standing holding on to a chair and a table
Grabbing with his fingers Your baby's fingers are becoming more agile. He may be able to pick up a small object with his thumb-and-finger pincer grasp without having to rest his wrist on a solid surface. He's intrigued by tiny things and is still likely to taste-test them. Tell me about it! This boy wants to put EVERYTHING in his mouth. He has eaten pencils, erasers, rubber bands, candy wrappers, and has chewed on his siblings' books. I have to make the older brothers do a 'security check' and clear the floor of anything Izani might put in his mouth. (Ilham just loves the military sound of this request). It's worse now that he's got so many teeth. He could bite through bottle caps, paperback book covers and even people's fingers and toes. I've had a few bite marks on my thigh because of him.
Count my teeth! And I have more coming!
He is also quite adventurous with food. He'd want to try anything you're eating. In fact, he has developed his own taste. He doesn't like sweet stuff (though he likes chocolates), but prefers savoury food. He also loves crunchy stuff, like crackers and crisps. Just like me :)
Izani stuffing himself with goreng pisang (banana fritters)
Blooming personality Your baby's personality is probably really emerging now. He may be very social, granting broad smiles to everyone he meets, or a little more reticent, shyly hiding his face when well-meaning strangers try to engage him. When we went home for the holidays, he was quite shy with the new people he met, even his grandmother. After a while though, once he is used to the 'new person', he'd be comfortable with them. It took him a while before he allowed my mom to hold him, but she grew on him after we went to Jakarta and spent a whole week together.
Izani with his maklong (eldest aunt) and his nenek(grandma)
Izani is very attached to his older siblings. The first week when we got back to S@udi and the kids started school, I found him wondering from room to room looking for them. Nowadays he refuses to go to sleep after 1pm coz he knows they're gonna come home soon, and he shrieks with excitement when he sees them as I open the door.
Izani and Ihsan
He'll repeat sounds, gesture for your attention and may even wave goodbye when he sees you head for the door. He's also developing a mind of his own, which you've probably already noticed when he protests being put in his car seat or pushchair Izani waves his siblings goodbye at the door every morning when they leave for school. Sometimes he even imitates me scolding the kids, with raised voices and pointing his index finger. It can be quite funny to watch. He also has this cheeky expression he makes when he thinks he's caught doing naughty stuff.
cheeky cheeky little boy!
Handling your baby's fears There will be times when your child is scared of things he can't understand or of things that didn't formerly bother him, such as a ringing doorbell or the telephone. When this happens, the most important thing you can do as a parent is comfort and reassure him; tell him that you're there and he's fine. So far, he has not displayed any fears yet. A few startles when I suddenly scream his name to stop chewing on wires or something, but nothing that made him really scared. He doesnt like to have anything over his eyes and on his head, though. Playing peek-a-boo can sometimes get distressing instead of fun if it wasnt done right, and I have a hard time making him wear the spiky hat we bought him on new year's eve in Jakarta.
my durian boy
Talking to your chatterbox Your baby is just beginning to understand many simple words and phrases, so it's more important than ever to keep talking to him. Give your chatterbox a head start on good speech patterns by repeating his words back to him using adult language. Though it may sometimes feel silly, having conversations with your baby is a great way to encourage his language skills. Giving your baby a blow-by-blow description of what you're doing is also a great idea, whether you're dicing onions for dinner or folding the laundry. Since he's my only companion at home during the day, I can't help but talk to him about everything. I'm afraid I'm guilty of sometimes using baby talk, like "mamam" for eat, "muah" for kiss, and imitating him blowing raspberries. Most often than not, though, I talk like a regular person. Sometimes I talk to him even when I'm outside walking or shopping, which makes me look like a crazy person, but what the heck. He already recognizes his name and of course, the first word all baby learns: "No". I think the first phrase he'll learn would probably be "Izani!!! What's that you've got in your mouth???" or the malay equivalent "Izani makan apa tuuuu?????". I think he probably already knows what it means coz as soon as he hears anybody say this, he'll clamp his mouth shut.
Bouncing up and down Your baby can now support some of his weight on his legs, and he loves to bounce. What's more, he's probably able to sit unsupported (which will free his hands for exploring), and he'll turn when sitting to reach a desired object. He may even be able to get into a sitting position from lying on his stomach by pushing up on his arms. Oh yes, that’s the theme for this month. He’s very mobile now, and would not take sitting still for a long time. This means a lot of work for me during playtime. I can no longer leave him under the pooh baby gym, coz he'd get bored instantly and roll over, try to get up by pulling on the arches and then yell and scream when he can't quite make it. He wont roll around quitely on the floor because he's attracted to tables and chairs and would want to pull himself up. The thing is, he is still unable to balance himself well on his feet, so more often than not, he'd end up falling on his bum again, or worse falling back and banging his head. This means that I can't really leave him alone .. I have to monitor him constantly.
Learning to grab Your baby's fine motor skills are coming along, too. By now he can probably scoop things up with just one little hand and transfer them from one hand to the other fairly easily. He may also be able to clasp his hands together and sip from a two-handled cup (with your assistance). Before long you'll probably notice the noise level increasing, not only because of your baby's babble, but also because he'll find out how much fun it is to bang objects together. Izani can’t transfer things from one hand to the other yet, but he can sure grab things. Combine this with his crawling, and you can just imagine the things that he wants and is able to grab..
Teething See for yourself:
Testing your authority At this age your baby may begin testing your authority by refusing to follow your directions or entreaties. When he puhes back, he's not being disobedient or wilful - he's just curious and simply can't remember things for more than a couple of seconds at a time. The best tactic is to use a simple no, then distract him. AHH! *rolleyes* You don't need to tell me this. After four kids, I had figured out how to handle tests on my authority. I think I've watched enough SuperNanny and Little Angels to have an idea of what to do.. :) Thank God there are no BIG tests yet.
The beginnings of separation anxiety Your baby's reluctance to be separated from you may delight you but may also frustrate you at times. In either case, it might help to load a laundry basket with his toys and move it - and him - from room to room so you can get the jobs that need doing around the house done while enjoying each other's company. Izani is feeling this with both Taufik and me. Sometimes even when I'm in the room with him, he'd cry when he sees his dad get out of bed and leaving him, and it's vice versa. Again, we'd use the distraction method, coz really, babies have such short memory spans. When it's just him and me in the house, I carry him around everywhere. If we're downstairs, then he'd be in his walker and can follow me around as I move from kitchen to living room to laundry to storeroom etc. For short amounts of time, I could keep him occupied with the knobs on the drawers of the cabinets in the living room, but usually he would push himself about the house to look for me.
Recognition skills Your baby now actively engages in hiding games and can remember that the jack-in-the-box pops up at the end of the song. He's also able to recognise different tones and inflections and may burst into tears if you speak harshly. 'Ci-ku-cak' (also known as peek-a-boo) is his favourite game. His elder siblings could previously suprise him by popping up at different spots behind the sofa, but now that he is able to prop himself up against the back of the sofa, he is quite adept at listening for rustling noises and figuring out where his brother/sister is going to pop up next. It still delights him endlessly though. I can't even scold his brothers now, without him feeling hurt by the tone of my voice.
Figuring out how objects relate Your baby's beginning to understand how objects relate to one another in three-dimensional space. He may be able to sort toys, grouping items such as blocks by size. And if he admires his reflection in a window, and you suddenly appear behind his image, he's likely to turn and look for you instead of believing that you're in the mirror itself. Ooohh i don't know about the sorting out toys part, but I do know that Izani just loves the mirror. Previously, he would look at his reflection curiously, thinking if it was a nother baby. But I think my constant kissing him in front of the mirror taught him that that baby is actually him. He would usually turn to look at me , and then turn to look at me in the mirror to check.
Stimulating toys and games Your baby enjoys playing the same game over and over because he likes predictability. In addition to peekaboo (see above), try adding classics such as round and round the garden and patta-cake patta-cake to your repertoire. I've modified "The Wheel on the bus" to play with him while he's sitting up instead of him lying down now. He seems to love it. He doesnt have that many toys at the moment and doesnt seem to mind it a bit. Even a tupperware filled with beans is a great joy to him. tee hee!
Is my baby developing normally? I think he's doing splendidly!
Yummeh Mummeh of Four,
Toasting Life,
Spreading Love.
Disclaimer: The author of this blog is not responsible for any diets ruined or weight gained or drools dribbled as a result from reading her food posts.
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