Huirou @ 21 months old

That’s 1 year 9 months old for people like me who are not very good at counting in months.

Growth, Food Intake and General Well Being

• Huirou is growing taller but I don’t know by how much.
• We weighed her on the adult scale and she’s now 11 kg. She refused to be weighed at the paediatrician’s office
• Bedtime is now “officially” 10 pm.
• We let her have sushi for the first time. I thought she would not like the taste of sushi vinegar but she enjoyed picking up the rice balls and the taste.

Physical Development and Communications

• The major achievement this month for her is stepping. Now she gets onto raised floor surfaces and our bed (which has a ledge around it) easily. No hands.
• She has also begun to jump. Just slightly. When we help her “take flight” she squeals in delight.
• She’s also into the habit of walking up the stairs herself, adult-style. She will only allow Daddy to carry her upstairs or when she wants to go up fast she will let me too. All other times I have to inch slowly behind while she pulls herself up with the help of the railings.
• Since I don’t know when (2 months ago maybe?) she can screw and unscrew bottle caps. Her shu shu (ch: uncle) taught her that.
• She now likes to dictate what we do around the house. At dinner she arranges each of us into the seats that she likes. At bedtime she wants Daddy on her right and I on her left.
• There was once she felt cramped and wanted Daddy off the bed by saying repeatedly buyao buyao (ch: no) and zhou (ch: go).
• I tried to introduce her to a few potential loveys but I think she has since picked her pillow for when it’s near bedtime she will hunt for her zhentou (ch: pillow)
• And yes, you read corrrectly, she now communicates in short phrases. They are mostly 2 word short phrases such as mama lai (ch: mama come) or repeated words such as yummy yummy (meaning: cow’s milk)

Character and Temperament

• She’ not afraid of a lot of things. not bugs. not thunder. and never papa or mama. but she’s afraid of noises like the vacuum cleaner.
• She seems to be more aware of her surroundings and can sense a lot more danger than previously. If the doorbell rings, she runs to one of us before wanting to look out to take a look at the visitor.
• When she’s mad at me, no amount of persuasion will make her give me a kiss; but when she’s in a good mood she can literally shower me with kisses.

Update on my pregnancy
Check-ups are now every 2 weeks and that means I am not too far away from my due date. Baby weighs 1.8kg at the last check-up, so he must be at least 2 kg by now (2 weeks later). Huirou loves to hunt for my belly button now and poke at it and kiss it. She seems delighted to know that there’s a Baby in my belly. I hope the goodwill feelings will be there once he arrives.