Project Baby: The 24th Month Update

 I am happy to announce that Ju is almost at his 2 year mark, having crossed his 23rd month with a slew of new tricks, tantrums and toys. He has also learnt to pose for the camera, as can be seen below.

Juju at 23 months

Communication 

The last couple of months had me slightly worried as Ju still didn't say much more than the occasional Mama and Papa. We weren't sure if he had been referring to us specifically, i.e. actively communicating with intention or merely vocalising at random. Since the 23rd month I think, his verbal development seemed to take off steadily. He can now identify and address the following people: Opa (A-pa), Oma (Ee-pee, don't ask me to explain this one), Poh Poh, Gong Gong (Doh-doh), Yi-Yi, Uncle Tobi (Bi Bi) and Uncle Chrissy (Ee-chee). He addresses himself as Chu-chu in a barely audible mumble. He not only picks out people accurately in photographs, he has learnt to associate traits with certain people, particularly his Oma and Opa. For example, when Dan asks him in German who will pick him up at Frankfurt Airport in May, he says "A-pa", and when prompted "Who else?" he replies "Ee-pee". And when he wakes up in the middle of the night and notices that Dan is not around, he shouts "PAAA". He also greets us at the door with loud yelps of Pa and Ma when we go get him after work. It's really the best part of our day.

With Oma and Opa

Certain people have become part of his long term memory, or maybe his awareness of people in his everyday life has simply developed. When we drive him to my Mum's in the morning, he would sometimes say "Poh Poh" as we turn into the driveway. He revels in noticing things in every day life that correspond with the pictures in his book. For example, he makes a big deal each time we drive past the Esso petrol station because he recognises the petrol pumps. We have to name the pumps before he's satisfied. The same goes for the moon, the sun (setting and rising), balloons (naturally) and of particular passion, the train. Ju starts making the choo-choo action with his arms when he sees the MRT tracks and gets upset when there is no train in sight. His expressive vocabulary now includes "nana" (banana), "ya" (Chinese "ya zi" for duck), "mei mei" (Chinese "cao mei" for strawberry) and "mi mi" (German "milch" for milk).This week, he started to say "apple".

I tested his phonetic ability with the ABCs, and made an astounding discovery: Ju can pronounce A, B, but not C, D, E, not F, G (sounds like chii), not H, I, J, K, L, he does an excellent M, N, O, P but no Q. He can do an impression of R (sounds like Aaaaarrrr!), no S but he can do T. No U, V, W but an impression of X ("icks"), no Y or Z. His phonetic ability corresponds with the words and sounds he is able to utter.

Play

Ju cooks for Doggy (background)

Ju's raison d'etre is play. I've taken him out of his playgroup as it seemed to be doing more harm than good since they did a lot more teaching than playing. Ju hated being kept 1.5 hours in a small space with 4 other toddlers he had no interest in (the same held for the other toddlers). Now he spends his days walking to the playground for his daily exercise and then playing with his toys at home. He gets some time in the backyard in the afternoon to do his favourite activity -- watering the plants. Then he sometimes gets a bike ride with Grandpa to the beach to feed the turtles. In the evening back home with us, he plays with his kitchenette or reads with us. I'm not too concerned about his social development with the absence of a school environment as I mentioned before, and this month I can say there is nothing to be concerned about. Ju appears to be as people-oriented as the next 2 year old. He shows some interest in other children when they are engaged in a fun activity he would like to partake in (like tricycles and bobby cars) and responds positively when I talk about Gleb and Kyra, the Ukrainian kids next door. Last weekend, I asked Ju if we could give one of his toys to Gleb (14 months). I had placed the toy in a paper bag but he reached in and pulled it out, then pointed at himself. At first I thought Ju meant that the toy was his. But then he pointed at the door and I realised that he wanted to give it to Gleb. So we went next door for a visit. 

Teddy bear gets to eat

Ju is also fully into imaginative play now. He is quick on the uptake and imitates as soon as he is shown the first time. He loves his kitchenette and one day after he met a dog drinking out of a dish of water for the first time, he figured that animals, like humans, ate too. I am barely beginning to appreciate the wonder that it the toddler's imagination. The picture on the left was taken 2 months ago at a cafe. Ju yelled for the bear the moment its owner, a 4 year old girl, sat down at the adjacent table. I suppose he is still gender-indifferent. The girl reluctantly loaned her bear to Ju, who proceeded to pay attentive care to it, sitting it next to him and offering it spoonfuls of pretend-food. It was as endearing as it was painful to pry the bear away from Ju when it was time to leave.

Toilet Training

Last time I talked about potty training, Ju was not doing much in his potty as yet. He is now able to do his pee-pee 4 out of 5 times he's forced to sit there. Ju HATES the potty. His actual need to pee corresponds to the intensity of his resistance to it. The more pee he has to let go, the more he would protest, kick and yell. We now have a routine: pee before bedtime, after his nap and when he wakes (if he isn't still sleeping when we leave the house in the morning). I have to use various strategies of carrot and stick -- more sticks and threats -- to get him to comply, but most of the time, it works. I was and still am wary about traumatising him with premature potty-training, but it appears from observation that Ju resists for the sake of resistance rather than aversion to toilet training. If he is made to do it with enough regularity, his diaper stays quite dry. But he has not developed the inclination to tell us in advance of a pee, since his natural instinct is to do it in the diaper. Poos are almost always done in a fresh diaper. We have taken to spelling the word "Potty" so that he will not hear us discussing our plans and throw a fit to pre-empt us. I admit that it's a little undignified to pounce on a toddler and yank down his diaper whenever we want him to pee, but we've tried telling him nicely that it's time for the potty and all it's gotten us (every time) is a loud rebuke or a chase around the room.We have great moments though, like when Ju does a pee, he starts to clap his hands and say "Yay"! It's hard not to break into a grin and applaud with him.

Teeth brushing is turning into less of a civilisation battle at the sink every evening. I gave Ju one of his old water bottles minus the top part with the straw. It's a bright, colourful blue and I let him play with it with the faucet on. It gets me the 15 to 20 seconds I need to brush his teeth. He has also learnt to rinse and spit although sometimes he swallows just to annoy us. I can empathise with his 2 year old point of view: life is such an endless stream of play possibilities, why stop at all to pee and brush his teeth?

Look Ma! Fish!

The Wheels On The Bus

Finally, Ju has joined the ranks of the common folk -- iPhone addiction. We promised ourselves that we would NOT give it to him, having tsk-tsked at every family at every restaurant and food court table we've seen who were absorbed in their individual gadgets. But Youtube really has its uses and Ju gets to watch 10 minutes tops of it each day. I let him watch Wheels On The Bus (a real winner, you can't go wrong with this one) animated, he still enjoys Lisitsa on the piano doing the Butterfly Etude and two others with animated trains and balloons. The guy can scroll down my phone and start the videos he wants on his own! He's really from the generation of clicks and scrolls. I've taken to removing my phone from its cover (it's a distinctive one with white polka dots on black) when I want to use it for a while without Ju whining and moaning for the Wheels On The Bus. It's more effective than telling him the battery's flat (he understands the concept of charging batteries) since I myself would like to use it.

Last month, we took Ju to the underwater aquarium. It was a real an eye opener for him. I would have enjoyed it half as much as he if we didn't have to squeeze through it with a million other visitors. And if we hadn't forgotten to bring his shoes. Still, it was all worth getting to see him point and giggle with wonder at the scores of stuff zipping around in all manners of shapes and colours. Toddlerhood at its best. Soon he will be two -- my baby is becoming a boy!