Somehow it didn't exactly strike me that gabe's development process will continue even though we're not in sunny Singapore. And quite a lot has been happening, the good and the challenging.
My baby's first tooth has finally cut through his gum!!! The boy has been showing signs of teething since like what, the third month?!?!? But it's finally here; the little whites bits are quite cute :)
My son has been shouting and screaming whenever he detects that we adults are up for a meal. This is not at all nice, as we can be in restaurants, eateries or trains. In fact, I now have the privilege of having the very child that I'd glare at when children of other parents show such misbehaviour in public. Derod and I are really working out how to deal with the boy we have now.
So one way to shut him up is to give him the food he so wants to eat; food that he can eat of course. And to our amazement, we discovered he can eat Japanese rice well. That and tofu, small bits of vegetables and grilled fish. With processed food (cereals and jar foods) being his main diet, I decided to try giving him a fresh meal one day and guess what, he downed a small bowl of rice mixed with tofu and vegetables. My son has transited to rice!!!!
His comprehension of words, tone of voice and physical punishment has transited to another level. Back in Singapore, I'd tell him "no no and wait wait" and leave him on the sofa bed for a few seconds to turn around and grab something and he'll sit motionless until I'm done. Here in Japan, especially derod's allocated extremely-small hotel room, he is confined to the bed. When I run in to the toilet to pee or wash something, I have no choice but to leave him alone on the bed, with only the instructions and will always return to see him in exactly the same position and activity that I left him with. I'm so thankful and proud at the same time. His comprehension and response to the word "no" is also rather complete now. He'll reach for something (he reaches for everything in radius) and I'll say "no" firmly. He'll hold back, look at me and try again. We repeat this about thrice and he'll get the idea and move to something else. But if I get really fierce and give him a harsh "no!", sometimes he'll be on the verge of tears. So poor thing hor, so I sayang la. Physical punishment? Need I say more? Haha
Gabe has always been active, from the non-stop kicking and punching when he was in utero and while he was an infant is now a challenge to us. He can clamber all over you, tugging at your sleeves and body parts just to get to a standing position. Or, he'll assume the role of a tank and just barrages through human bodies to get to the edge of a bed or a chair.
Gabe's official words (those that we can comprehend at least) are:
1. papa (this started a few days prior to our departure)
2. mama
3. muum muum
Of the three, the usage of muum muum is the only one he can most obviously use to communicate to us. He'll punctuate the meal (in between mouthfuls) with "muum mmmuuuumm". He'll also act like an alarm clock: when milk or meal times near, he'll say "muum muum". Quite cute hor! Derod joked that we should tap his head to snooze the "alarm" for us to get ready.
Please continue to pray for us to be wise parents.
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