17months

Time reallie flies... Lele is coming to 17months old...

From the day he was born, Lele has become the focus of the family. As the youngest and only baby at home, he enjoys unlimited love and affection from all of us at home (mama, papa, yeye, nainai & shushu). Of course, his waigong (maternal grandpa), waipo(maternal grandpa), jiujiu (maternal uncles) and their girlfriends dote on him lots lots too!

I'm glad that despite (or because of?) all the attention he gets, he has not become self-centred or selfish. In fact, if I may say so myself... I think that Lele is quite magnanimous, gentle and nonaggressive.

Magnanimous: When he is enjoying a slice of apple and we ask to have a bite, he will not hesitate to offer his share, no matter how little of it is left. Even as he is trying very hard to take as little a nibble as possible so that the apple will "last" longer, when we ask to have a bite, he will let us have it (as long as we don't gobble up the whole thing. He hates that.).

Considerate: Now that his language skills are more advanced, Lele can address all of us in the family, except for nainai. He can even address his uncle , who is currently away, and his jiu jiu, whom he seldom sees, but not nainai... ... ...
As if wanting to make up for not being able to address nainai, each time nainai asks him to say "nainai" and he can't, he will do a little 'stamp feet' dance for her or give her a little peck on the lips!

Sociable: Lele is quite a people-person. He likes to ensure nobody is being left out. Take for example, there was one time when we were all in the lift with Lele in yeye's arms. Nainai requested Lele to kiss yeye, which he dutifully did. After kissing him, he turned to each of us and kissed us... Besides in the lift, Lele repeated this action on several ocassions too. We are all amazed how such a young boy can understand not to leave other people out of his affection... ...

If I bring him down to the playground with his papa and asks to hold his hand to walk with him. He will hold my hand and then asks to hold his papa's hand too. Same thing with nainai. As long as there is more than 1 person of the family walking with him, he will ensure that none is left out...

Non-aggressive: At the playground, if there is a piece of equipment, like the see-saw, which he wants to get onto but which is used by another child, he will patiently wait for the child to get off first before going to it. No matter how much he wants to have a go, he will restrain himself.

When he comes across a toy or equipment belonging to another child/person in the playground, he will want to go touch it like all toddlers do. Each time, I will explain to him,
"This (name of toy/equipment) belong to (either gorgor, jiejie, uncle or auntie), Lele. If you want to play with it, you will have to ask them, 'gorgor/jiejie/uncle/auntie, can I play with your toy/equipment?'. If he/she says, 'Yes.', you may play. If he/she says, 'No.', then you may not play."
After I explained to him, he will choose to go on to other things.

Despite being able to show respect for other people's things, Lele is always willing to share his toys with others. He will not bat an eyelid when his ball or tricycle is played with by others.

I must say I have learnt alot of things from him too. I have learnt that it is very important not to compare my son with other children, because each child if unique, with his own strengths and weaknesses. A child who is good in climbing might be slow in walking. A child who started walking very early might start talking late. So 1 child's strength might be another's weakness. It really is quite pointless to look at how much another child can do, and refer to our own children as "slow" or even "useless", especially not in front of the child!

I have also learnt that we should treat our children as little adults and not children. Adults don't like to be restricted. So it is with children too. If we fulfil their needs for attention, movement, exploration and excitement, they will be all the more ready to listen when we have to say "No, you may not do that, because..."

Wah! Such a long post...