Wednesday, January 31, 2007

19 months

Crystal is 19 months old


here are her pictures taken while her grandma and grandaunt was cleaning her house since it's near to CNY.






Saturday, January 27, 2007

i love book !

taken on 27-Jan-2007 (before bed time)
















Thursday, January 25, 2007

Smarty got flu again ... and the following impact to Crystal

oh boy... Smarty got flu and cough again these few days.
so it's unavoidable for Crystal (just as most of the time).

after returned home last nite around 11.30pm .. from dinner with our CEO and Asia Pacific VP, i found out that Crystal got a flu by her breath. she was sleeping.
and on around 3am, she woke up for a short time, saying: "snot. snot." (she likes to repeat a sentence or a word she says). then i wiped her snot. only several seconds, she complained again: "snot. snot. eeehh... " i wiped it again and said, "mama has wiped it. now you can sleep again."

My in-laws took Smarty to visit an old 'Chinese doctor/herbalist doctor' (zhong yi 中医,in Indonesia people know it as 'shin shei'). The doctor is around 70 years old and owns his own herbal store. He sometimes goes abroad to cure his patients. Smarty went back with a herbal bandage tied on his feet.

Usually if Crystal gets a flu, i give her a kind of chinese medicine, of very light one made of herb, with red sugar taste, so she wants to drink it. if we ask, "Jing-jing, what are you drinking?" she says, "ban lan gen".

Monday, January 15, 2007

thoughtful lill girl

Thoughtful

Crystal is such a thoughtful lill girl. Since few months ago, i noticed that everytime for example her head strucked my face or somewhere else, and i said, "aiyooleee.. you strucked mama's face. it hurts." she would quickly turn over and use her little fingers to touch my face and do a little massage.

Saturday nite when i fed her some fruit soup, she bumped into my arm so the soup was poured onto my jacket. i said, "you look at it .. mama's jacket is now wet. don't bump mama's arm again, sit nicely and have this fruit." she stood up, walked into the dining table, got a wipe paper and then came to wipe my jacket.

how thoughtful this lill girl is, is she?




another same case i notice she would do:

put on the plastic into the trash bin whenever she sees us taking away the garbage;

take shoes out for me from the cabinet when i get home (and also for her dearest grand-aunt)

take (empty) potty and shoes for her cousin when he wakes up from his nap (if she has awaken from her nap)



if she pees in the potty, she will bring the potty by herself to toilet, pour it into toilet, get some water to rinse it, wipe the edge of it with toilet paper, then put the potty on the usual place. of course i would help her on the part when she brings it to toilet and when she rinses it (she copies what i do everytime she pees in the potty, and insists to do by herself).


deliver bowl, chopstick or glass to kitchen.

pick up a used toothpick (if she found one) and deliver to trash bin (her grandpa/ma often put used toothpick anywhere instead of putting it straightly into trash bin).

if my glasses drop from my nose, she will fix the position with her fingers.

probably these all make her feel important..hahaha... !



sometimes while having dinner, she would call her daddy, "papa.. chi fan!" (daddy, have dinner!)

several times i asked her question like: "do you love mama?" she would answer: "love mama" (intentionally i asked about everyone except her uncle, then she would say by herself, "love uncle")

i often teach her to ask other people to have dinner (in case somebody hasn't come to the dining table). i also teach her to greet good morning, good nite whenever she is going to sleep or just waking up. she could also know how to reply when somebody says 'xie xie, Jing-jing!' (thank you) to her, she will say, "bu yong xie" (no need to thank)


Ooh...oooh...!

if there is some certain thing she cannot express in words, she would say, "ooh...oooh...!?" with puzzled eyes and face, sometimes pointing with her forefinger. just like Sunday nite, grandma took a piece of plastic rope and tide grandpa's plant in the living room. she felt that there was something unusual, she looked at the plant and said, "ooh..ooh...oooh!"

we all agreed that it ain't look good that way. i taught her to say that it ain't look good. and she followed me by saying, "bu hao kan!" so now if we ask her, "Jing-jing, does it look good?" she will not say 'ooh...ooh...' with puzzling face anymore

Saturday, January 06, 2007

new year's photos

New Year's Eve 31-Dec-2006;
wouldn't cooperate coz wanted to grab the camera, wanted to see pictures in it.



with mommy alone at home (6 Jan 07)


pose for the camera with winter outfits =)
eating some frutty snack .. smile .. raise hands up .. aaaah... give me the camera i wanna see.. ooooh, i'm not happy if mommy won't give me !


in Hefei, during winter the lowest temperature is around -7 centigrade. only several apartment blocks have heating system. normally we have AC in the house. but we seldom turn it on, coz to be honest i myself don't like it, it makes the skin dry and uncomfortable for our throat. so usually we wear more cloth at home or outside.
winter outfits for Crystal:
shirts:
cotton shirt
woolen t-shirt
cotton vest
thick cotton shirt
woolen shirt again
outside layer to prevent from dirty
pants:
cotton pants
2 - 3 pairs of woolen pants
thick cotton pants

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Where is it? It is here!

Crystal is 1 year 6 months 3 days old today.

i often read books for Cyrstal before bed time. or sometimes she looks at the pictures by herself and i ask her questions.

there is one content like this:
eye-eye-eye.. where is it?

eye-eye-eye.. it is here.
nose-nose-nose.. where is it?
nose-nose-nose.. it is here.
mouth-mouth-mouth.. where is it?
mouth-mouth-mouth.. it is here.
(i usually improve with other parts of body that she knows, such as neck, fingers, thumb, hair, etc.)

this afternoon i fed her a 'lu-gan' orange (jeruk lokam) in our bedroom. i asked her to put the orange peel into the trash bin. she went out to the living room and said by herself :
trash bin, trash bin..where is it? it is here.

few days ago, i asked my mother-in-law where Crystal's moisturizer cream was. Crystal was sitting on a stool in living room, drinking her milk and watching TV. out of our expectation, she came to our bedroom, holding her bottle with one hand, and the other hand pointed at the shelf telling us,
"it is here. it is here."

not only i was surprised, also her daddy, grandpa and grandma. it's the joy that you would get when your toddler starts to talk more and more.

the other day, i was looking for her milk-bottle-straw, but couldn't find it. then i asked her, "Jing-jing where is your straw?". She was drinking milk with her bottle, there was another straw in it. She's pointing at the bottle and said, "it's in here." and this one surprised me 'coz i found out that she understood the word: in

two days ago, she wanted to change her shoes. she brought her red shoes to me, saying , "wear big red shoes." actually the shoes are a bit bigger, i often hide it, not let her wear it. but sometimes she just could find them. if i dont change for her, she will cry insistedly. so i change for her.

later on i went to balcony to put some laundry on the clothsline. she went following me bringing her pair of orange winter shoes and said, "dry for a while..dry for a while.."
i never taught her these words (to dry something in the sun). she must have heard either one of us saying it.


another day, her grandma told me that she tested Crystal by asking, "what's grandpa doing?" she answered, "grandpa's reading a newspaper." and as usual her grandma feels surprised!

usually if i play with Crystal and at the same time seeing her grandpa is reading a newspaper, i will tell Crystal what her grandpa is doing.


if you want your toddler to speak more, talk more to her/him. it enlarges her vocab. and you will feel surprised and also you will feel the joy!

Sunday, December 24, 2006

little mouse ate an orange

Crystal was sick this evening after nap time, 39.4 centigrade! we took her to doctor. her high fever was ceased down after having some medicine. she's got a throat infection.

her grandma blamed me for letting her catch a cold this the morning while she woke up. saying that i didn't put her cloth on immediately. actually it wasn't really cold this morning. actually i thought the most reason was she was having an orange two days ago. during winter we shouldn't have too much oranges (not chinese 'lokam'/ 'lu gan' orange. lokam orange is ok, you can have as much as you like).

there was another story behind it. Smarty likes to beat Crystal on her head with his hand. if he beats her, Crystal will say, "bu yao da mei mei. bu yao da mei mei." (don't beat little sister). and then Crystal will run to her grandma or grand-aunt, saying, "grandma carry me up. grandma carry me up." Smarty will chase her of course.

on friday, grandma had used an orange to attract Crystal to our bedroom in order to separate Crystal from Smarty for a while. Crystal followed her. after giving her a slice of orange, granda went to kitchen and left the orange on our computer desk.

when grandma came back to the bedroom, the orange wasn't there. grandma looked under the table and the bed, but couldn't find it. finally grandma found out the orange peel in the living room trash bin; noticed that Crystal had eaten up the whole orange and threw the orange skin into the trash bin.

at her age of 12 months or so, Crystal could differ which things could be thrown into the trash bin. her grandpa often puts after-used toothpick everywhere, sometimes on the living room table, sometimes on the phone table. if Crystal sees it, she will take it and throw it into the trash bin.

oh yes, Lin often plays with Crystal and Smarty by letting them throw the orange skin bit by bit into the trash bin. so these two toddlers will walk back and forth like busy bees, taking the orange skin from Lin's hands and throw into trash bin.

it's very funny thing also yesterday when i took away the plastic bag from the trash bin in our living room. and put it outside to be delivered later on to the big trash bin on the first floor. Crystal then took an empty plastic bag from the living room table drawer and put into the trash bin. how cute!

we usually use water from cloth washing to flush toilet. now everytime after pee, Crystal wants to flush the toilet by herself. of course i should assist her to avoid her cloth and shoes getting wet.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

darling, mama's home

lill darling,
it's always the sweetest time for me when i see you smilingly come to me and call me mama as i open our front door and come in. do you love it as then i hug and kiss you .. as i always love to do it?


that's the most reason i always wanna be home as soonest as office hour is over. that's also why i seldom go shopping or often refuse dinner invitation from friends as much as possible.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

to the country side (3~4 Oct 2006)

i always wait for the chance to take Crystal to the country side or to the nature. during Chinese National Holidays (1-7 Oct), on 3rd and 4th Oct, we went to the country side to visit my mom-in-law's mom, who at this moment lives at her 4th daughter's house.

I believed Crystal enjoyed her time there. this was her third time going to the country side. she was very happy to see ducks, cow, dogs, chickens, cats. saying, "mama .. take my hand", she held my hand and chased chickens on the front yards. of course the chickens were afraid of her, and ran for their lifes... =)

she also put her finger for the duck after seeing me doing it. and immediately pull back her finger when the duck bit her. but then she put her finger again for the ducks. or ask me to put my fingers to the ducks, saying "mama bite...mama bite..." (means: "mama, let the duck bite your finger")

she also liked a lot to play with the hand-water-pump. since she could never pump out any water, she always called me to pump for her. then she would wash her hands under the water flow.

other things she liked to do was going in and out the bedroom, climbing up and down the stairs, playing with vegetable basket, playing with hay broom, or playing horsey at mama's back.

when i found a small caterpillar, i picked it up and handled to her. she brought the caterpillar with her thumb and forefinger and showed to her grandma enthusiastically. too bad we didnt have chance to show Crystal's father, who was sooooo afraid of caterpillar, bcoz her grandma immediately stepped on the poor caterpillar once it dropped to the ground.

i also took her to a small pond nearby the house. seeing some plants, trees, wild flowers, and cow's poop on the way to the pond. =) her daddy threw a stone into the water. she immediately tried to do the same, but the stone fell into her back. i had to help her throwing the stone into the water and she giggled happily.

during the time we stayed there, she almost never left my side. she always asked me all the time to take her hands and walked around with her. even it was hard time for me to go to toilet. ;-P she would cry all the time, "mama...carry me up... mama.. carry me up..." or she would cry if she didnt see me around.

sure i am very happy to know that i am her highest preference.

Saturday, September 30, 2006

15 months old

Crystal is 15 months old today.

83 cm height

below are her 14 month's development :

most improvements are especially in verbal side. there are a lot of words and several simple sentences she can say now. some motoric improvement are such as: climbing a chair or bed more steadily or more quickly. when driving the scooter, she can make a turn quickly and easily.

she also now can eat by herself using a spoon. however, with me still holding the bowl for her, coz she surely cannot hold the ceramic bowl (heavy and worry she would drop it). the bowl should be hold right below her chin in front of her chest, since she eats porridge with is more liquid and she still cannot well control her hand movement.

9 Sep 06
say new words :
er duo (ear)
tou (head)
tou fa (hair)
mei mao (eye brow)
shou (hand)
jiao (foot)
bi (nose)
xia (get down)
xia (shrimp)
bye bye
shu shu (uncle)

10 Sep 06
xie diao lo / wa diao lo (her shoes are dropped / when we take off her shocks)
qing wa (frog)
hou zi (monkey)
bu yao (don't want)

now we don't have to worry in case when we take her out and would lose her shoes, since she will immediately warn us about it. one day i took her to play outside in front of a medicine store, when i carried her home for having dinner, she exclaimed, "xie diao lo...", i saw her right shoes dropped on the ground.

15 Sep 06
ya chi (tooth)
yan jing (eyes)
yan jing (eye glasses; with different tone)
e shu (call her daddy er-shu following the way her cousin calls her daddy)

18 Sep 06
eat pomegranate and spit out the seeds

19 Sep 06
bo li (glass)
a, b, c, d, e, f, o (saying it)
mei mei (younger sister)
di di (younger brother)
jie jie (older sister, actually she can pronounce it before, but i forgot when)
de de (should be 'ge ge' for older brother)
wo (me or i)

20 Sep 06
ai-yo-leee... (when she feels hurt, e.g.: her fingers got stuck)
what is daddy's name? liu-chu-lin (should be: liu chunlin)
nai nai huai, ye ye hao (her grandpa teased her by saying "grandma is bad", she repeated and continued with "grandpa is nice")

23-Sep-06
call: da mama and da bobo (means: auntie & uncle. without guidance anymore, usually i needed to guide her with 'da', then she would say da mama)

24-Sep-06
niu niu chi (a hand-drive scooter)
qi qiu (baloon)

27 Sep 06
count completely from 1 to 10
mama lai (mama, come here)
mama la (mama, take my hand)

30 Sep 06
Nai nai tuo di (grandma is mopping floor)
ai ni (love you)
mama wo ai ni (mama.. i love you. also daddy i love you. love mama ...etc.)
9th tooth (1st molar), right upper molar
eating by herself using a spoon

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

our lill smarty

14 mo 4 weeks

Crystal's grandma told me this after dinner: "Cyrstal's got the brain."
this afternoon, Crystal and Smarty were playing at our main bedroom. there's a computer there. they were clicking the CPU, keyboard, mouse, wanting to climb up the bed or chair, unloading things from the cabinet, etc. So grandma said to Smarty and Crystal, "ok kids, let's get out from here and let's go and play at the next bedroom."

So Smarty and Crystal went out. Smarty went to the living room, while Crystal went to the next bedroom.

Yes, basically, we can communicate easily with Crystal. i can say that she can understand everything we tell her or ask her to do, she also can give responses by answering our questions with some simple words that she can say.

I do hope our Crystal is an intelligent kid. Which parents don't?

another progress she made this week was that she could now count completely from 1 to 10. if we ask what our house phone number is, she would say, 55667788 ... hahaha... almost a correct answer.

Monday, September 18, 2006

count the flowers

1 year 2 months 3 weeks

i really enjoyed my weekend with Crystal. she can walk steadily now. she almost never falls, unless her bro pushes her. so i'm fully protective if her cousin is around.

she accompanied me when i was busy tidy up out the house. sometimes busy with things on her hands she was mumbling by herself, "yeni..mama..yeni .. mama.." sometimes she would come to me whiningly, "mama bao..mama bao.." (mama, carry me up) or held my hand and walked to anywhere she liked around the house. or sit on a stool in the toilet, watching me washing the cloth.

we went out in Saturday afternoon. there is a licensed store for 2008 olympic mascot. She kissed the big version doll FUWA JINGJING; which she has the tiny version. i bought for her especially 'coz her name is Jing Jing 晶晶 (means Crystal)

there are 5 dolls, call FU WA; fu 福 = good fortune. wa 娃 = kid. the name of the mascots are fuwa Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan, Yingying, Nini. BEIJING HUANYING NI 北京欢迎你 = Beijing Welcomes You.














This morning, Crystal woke up and looked at our wedding picture hanging above the bed, saying, "papa..mama...papa...mama...". i said, "there are flowers on daddy's hand, count it ... Crystal." She started to count, "yi er san .. wu liu qi ba jiu shi" (usually she skips the 'four', that i have to remind her and counts faster from 5 to 10). around 2 months ago she could recognize the numbers, but could not say it.

i always love to be around her.
i think i need her much more than she needs me =)

Thursday, August 31, 2006

14 months old

below are Crystal's 13 month's development
10-Aug-06
"what's your name?" she said, "Ji-ji." (should be Jing-jing).
can say: yi, er, sa (whispering, should be 'san'), si (whispering), wu, liu, qi, ba, jiu, ning (should be 'ling'). but of course still cannot count from 1 to 10

13-Aug-06
says: Papa hao, mama hao, nai-nai hao, a-yi hao ...etc. a way of greeting in china, means something like "hope papa is fine."
"Are you happy?" she expressed that she was happy by kicking her legs in the air (while seating at the shopping cart in Carrefour)

15-Aug-06
whispering 'xie-xie' (thank you).
how does a dog bark? 'wou wou !
'how does a cat miaw? 'miaw..miaw..!
'how does a gorilla sound like? 'a wooo.. ooh..ooh..!' (slapping her chest with her hands and then raising her two arms)
how does a hen sound like? 'de-de-de-de-da...' (should be ge-ge-ge-ge-da)
how does a tiger roam? 'aaah..mmm..aaah..mmm..'
how does a lion roar? 'uuu...aoowww...!'

19-Aug-06
We were playing near dining table. Crytal looked at me and say, 'ba-ba..' and slapping her butt. i quickly carried her for poop. mostly now she can say 'ba-ba' when she wants to poop, or say 'niao-niao' when she wants to pee. but sometimes she also says 'ba-ba' when she wants to pee.

24-Aug-06
saying a sentence 'yeye da dou-dou' (grandpa is playing marble game)
saying 'da jiu' (first uncle) and da jiu ma (aunt)
saying 'da ji ji' (a kind of expression, maybe in indonesia similar to "duileee..")
what is your surname? 'liu'
what is grandma's surname? 'ma'
what is mama's surname? 'yeni'

27-Aug-06
jingjing was happily playing with a girl of 4 years old at the nearby medicine store. running in and out and standing on a weighing scale. playing pick-a-boo with her new friend. she laughed and giggled. saying 'liu da' (means go for a walk) saying 'ah-niu' a malaysian pop male singer which is quite famous in China.


others:
imitate an old man walking with a stick
rub talc to her own body or face
climb up toddler dining chair 8th tooth (lower gum, 2nd right front tooth)
say 'mama bao' (ask people to carry her up)
blink her eyes when she was asked to
bite if her cousin is being bad to her

Sunday, August 13, 2006

after lunch, Smarty's mom and dad were lying on the living room floor, sleepy. it's quite a hot summer day!

Crystal and I were winding around living room, bedrooms .. here and there. Smarty was following us everywhere we went. Until then Smarty grabbed an empty plastic chocolate bottle from Crystal's, actually he had one in his hands, coz i gave one each to both of them. of course Crystal wouldnt let him do it. so they were vying for it. i released Crystal's hand coz i knew it would hurt her hand!

after having the bottle, Smarty hit it to Crystal's head, and i quickly covered Crystal's head with my hand (we're sitting on the floor). my sis-in-law said, " Smarty, do not beat mei-mei." (mei-mei = little sister)

Smarty grabbed another toy also hit to Crystal's head, my hand still covered her head. then i carried Crystal, stood up. Smarty took another toy, throwing towards us. when he failed, he spat! oh boy.... ! and during that moment, my in-laws including my father-in-law just watching it and said nothing about it! they really had over spoiled the boy!

i went to bedroom where my mom-in-laws and husband were taking nap. Smarty's following us, and still throwing things to us. i went out. he's following again. at that time, his hand was holding other thing, i said to him, "if you dare throw it to me, i will spank you 3 times." he hesitated for a while, then threw it low to my leg. i spanked him 3 times, not so hard, in front of my in-laws. he spat. and i said, "if you spit again, i will spank you 3 more times." and he spat! and his parents again said nothing!

i went to bedroom and closed the door. he was crying and howling in the living room, wanted to follow us. since he was angry, throwing things in the living room, his grandpa asked him to beat his dad. and his dad said, "beat me Smarty, beat me. even you beat me to death, i will not beat you." oh boy ...!!!!

after 5 minutes, he didnt stop, i went out again with Crystal and he stopped crying. but then he started kicking his mom's legs. his mom just let him do it without saying anything and his grandpa was laughing on it.

how a kid behaves, depends on how the adults treat him, especially parents and or grandparents. here in china, mostly grandparents take care of kid while the parents go to work. so often a kid is spoiled by his/her grandparents.

in my opinion, if a kid is over naughty, sometimes you have to spank him, otherwise he will be out of control, especially after he grows up. and when either of you spank your kid, the other shouldn't laugh or stand on his side.

Crytal always played with the electric fan, turn it on, turn it off, turn it on..off.. once Lin beat her hand hard and she cried. after that, she almost never played with electric fan anymore.

just last week, when we were in the train, Echo (my colleague) couldn't sleep during the journey, got annoyed by a 3-year-old boy; i said to her the next day, "i never feel annoyed by any kid". this time i really feel annoyed. but i think mostly not bcoz of Smarty, but bcoz of his parents and grandpa.

Friday, August 04, 2006

i am a true lill chomper

Crystal's cousin (Chong-chong, means 'Smarty') is quite a naughty lill boy somehow. he always robs anything (except food) in Crystal's hands, either a toy or a book. and not only that! sometimes he wants to beat Crystal with hand or with toys in his hand.
when i am at home, Crystal often takes my hand and together we will see some posters of animals, abc (and singing the song), fruit, etc. everytime Smarty will follow us (bcoz i like to ask him play together), but then he will stand in front of Crystal, pushing her away and hampering her from seeing the poster by spreading his legs and arms.
the same thing happened tonite and .. suddenly Smarty cried loud! i thought Crystal had scratched him. my sis-in-law came and found some biting marks on Smarty's left arm. oh ghosh, Crystal bit Smarty! it was so quick that i didnt see it at all! later on, the same thing almost happened again several times. since i was already aware about this, Smarty's arm was safe from Crystal's quick movement. i wonder, how a 13-month-old toddler could do it, nobody taught her! it's instinct i guess.. since Smarty annoyed her all the time, maybe it has reached the limit of her patience. hahaha...!but if Smarty doesn't annoy or push her, if we put Smarty's hand in front of her mouth, she won't bite it, she smiles & turns her head away.
Crystal's grandma and grandpa said, "well, at school nobody will be bad to her in the future. she knows how to protect herself."
hahahaha!

Monday, July 31, 2006

13 months old

below are Crystal 12 month's developments

lately Crystal likes to play horsey by sitting on my tummy or on my back, while i will say, "ride a horse...rise a horse...rise to grandma's house. we cannot go to grandma house by horse. it's far far away; it's in indonesia. we should take a plane. how does a plane fly?" she will raise her hand and say, "buuummm....buuummm..."

She likes to pick sandal or shoes one by one for everybody. She never mixes up with other pairs of shoes. And mostly she can recognize which one are daddy or grandpa or grandma or mama's shoes. She also likes to take my bag, puts on her shoulder and walks around as if she is going shopping. or explores things in my bag, takes out everything, keys, paper, pen, bus IC Card, office card, tissue paper, wallet, and takes out everything in my wallet, money, invoices, name card, etc.

She will be very happy to be given a job. "Jing-Jing, bring this to grandpa in the kitchen." said grandma and handling her an empty plastic bowl. She walks importantly to the kitchen, holding up the bowl with her two hands, handling it to her grandpa and finally got an applause and thanks from her grandpa that would make her smile happily. Or other time, "Crystal, throw this into the trash bin... Crystal, pick up the comb and put in its place." (sometimes she takes the comb and plays with it and leaves it on the floor)

she also likes to play phone call. she will climb the cough and play the phone, pick up the phone and say, "papa...papa....". Sometimes she will put a remote control, a bottle, a toy or even her brother's sandal (!) into her ear and say, "ee.....eeee...papa...."

she is very sensitive to the door-close voice. she will immediately say, "da...da..." or brings me my outing shoes indicates me to take her out. if i take her out, she will climb up and down the steps in front of the bakery, drug store, bank, etc. sometimes she plays with the weighing scale in front of the drug store, or rushes into the drug store, wants to take things from the shelves. so i would say, "do not take it, just touch it ok? mama will not buy it. so you just touch it for a while." amazingly, sometimes she listens and just touches it for a while. she also likes to sneak into the place where the shop keepers stand, behind the glass shelves, so i need to pull her out. if i ask, "what is it?" she will say, "yao." (medicine)

the other time i take her to bakery shop and sit on the swing inside the store. there are plastic grapes above the swing. if i ask her, she would pretend as if she picked the grapes which are 1.5 meters above us.

we dont wear her diaper. she only wears diaper during sleep at night. it's troublesome somehow, but we think it will be more comfortable for her without diaper. so everytime i take her out, i should equip myself with toilet paper and her pants. coz she would pee or poop. sometimes i need to clean her urine on the floor of the drug store. but of course usually i will try as much to carry her out to let her pee and then let her play again inside the store if she wants.


OTHERS :
knows cousin, grandma, grandpa and great grandma's names.
knows uncle and aunt's name and uncle Ma's name.
few weeks ago, she already knew daddy and mama's names.

she can crawl now !!! (the moment i've been waiting for since few months back)
can ride a hand-drive scooter more steadily.


can say:
mao jing (towel)
yi fu (shirt)
wa (shocks)
mao (hat)
niao (bird)
ji (chicken)
niu (cow)
mao (cat)
mao (modem)
ma (horse)
zhu (pig)
yu (fish)
e (hungry)
na (get it)
ai (love)
bo bo (uncle, daddy's big brother)
can differ cloths on the hangers, which one is grandpa's, grandma's, daddy's or mom's cloth.
can mimic an ugly face
7th tooth (lower gum, 2nd left front tooth)

and i think i missed taking notes on some of her developments (especially in knowing new things and saying new words) since i was extremely busy this month, don't have time to write details.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Bali, 2006 most favorite island

Old favorites top this year’s lists for World’s Best Islands. Bali is ranked No. 1 for the fifth time and other classic choices also get top billing—Santorini and Kauai—as well as new more exotic, adventure-oriented locales such as Tasmania, Saba, and Borneo.
http://www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest/2006/results.cfm?cat=islands
(ngambil dari blog-nya enda nasution)

TINDAKAN SAAT GEMPA BUMI

Jika gempa bumi mengguncang secara tiba-tiba, berikut ini 10 petunjuk yang dapat dijadikan pegangan:

DALAM RUMAH
Getaran akan terasa beberapa saat. Selama jangka waktu itu, upayakan keselamatan diri dan keluarga. Masuklah ke bawah meja untuk melindungi tubuh dari jatuhan benda-benda. Jika tidak memiliki meja, lindungi kepala dengan bantal. Jika sedang menyalakan kompor maka matikan segera untuk mencegah terjadinya kebakaran.

LUAR RUMAH
Lindungi kepala dan hindari benda-benda berbahaya. Di daerah perkantoran atau kawasan industri, bahaya bisa muncul dari jatuhnya kaca-kaca dan papan-papan reklame. Lindungi kepala dengan menggunakan tangan, tas atau apapun yang bisa digunakan.

DI MALL, BIOSKOP, DAN LANTAI DASAR MALL
Jangan menyebabkan kepanikan atau menjadi korban dari kepanikan. Ikuti semua petunjuk dari pegawai atau satpam.

DALAM LIFT
Jangan menggunakan lift saat terjadi gempa bumi atau kebakaran. Jika merasakan getaran gempa bumi saat di dalam lift, maka tekanlah semua tombol. Ketika lift berhenti, keluarlah, lihat keamanannya dan mengungsilah. Jika terjebak dalam lift, hubungi manajer gedung dengan menggunakan interphone jika tersedia.

DALAM KERETA API
Berpeganganlah dengan erat pada tiang sehingga tidak akan terjatuh seandainya kereta dihentikan secara mendadak. Bersikap tenanglah mengikuti penjelasan dari petugas kereta. Salah mengerti terhadap informasi petugas kereta atau stasiun akan mengakibatkan kepanikan.

DALAM MOBIL
Saat terjadi gempa bumi besar, akan terasa seakan-akan roda mobil gundul. Anda akan kehilangan kontrol terhadap mobil dan susah mengendalikannya. Jauhi persimpangan, pinggirkan mobil dan berhentilah. Ikuti instruksi dari radio mobil. Jika harus mengungsi maka keluarlah dari mobil, biarkan mobil tak terkunci.

GUNUNG/PANTAI
Ada kemungkinan lonsor terjadi dari atas gunung. Menjauhlah langsung ke tempat aman. Di pesisir pantai, bahayanya datang dari tsunami. Jika terasa adanya getaran dan melihat tanda-tanda tsunami, cepatlah mengungsi ke dataran yang tinggi.

BERI PERTOLONGAN
Sudah dapat diramalkan bahwa banyak orang akan cedera saat terjadi gempa bumi besar. Karena petugas kesehatan dari rumah-rumah sakit akan mengalami kesulitan datang ke tempat kejadian maka bersiaplah memberikan pertolongan pertama kepada orang-orang berada di sekitar anda.

EVAKUASI
Tempat-tempat pengungsian biasanya telah diatur oleh pemerintah daerah. Pengungsian perlu dilakukan jika kebakaran meluas akibat gempa bumi. Pada prinsipnya, evakuasi dilakukan dengan berjalan kaki di bawah kawalan petugas polisi atau instansi pemerintah. Bawalah barang-barang secukupnya.

DENGARKAN INFORMASI
Saat gempa bumi besar terjadi, masyarakat terpukul kejiwaannya. Untuk mencegah kepanikan, penting sekali setiap orang bersikap tenang dan bertindaklah sesuai dengan informasi yang benar. informasi yang benar dapat diperoleh dari pihak berwenang, polisi, atau petugas PMK. Jangan bertindak karena informasi orang yang tidak jelas.


jangan panik !


note:
sebelumnya beredar forward-an dari email soal "teori segitiga kehidupan". setelah diselidiki, ternyata teori ini kurang valid.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

acting

Today, Crystal was a bit naughty... though actually i called it 'she explored her curiosity'... and her granny spank her, so she cried.

if her grand-aunty asked, "Jing-jing, did grandma spank you?", when she saw her grandma was around, she ignored the question, as if there were nothing.
again her grand-aunty asked, "Jing-Jing, did grandma spank you?"
she used her hand to spank her own butts, but on the same time, she saw her grandma walking to kitchen, suddenly she stopped spank her own butt.

after some time again she was asked the same question, her grandma was taking nap, so she dared to spank herself.

when i returned from work, carried her in my arms, her grandma asked me to ask her same question in front of her grandma, she spanked her butts with her tiny hand.
"and how did you cry?"
she rubbed her arm on her eyes pretending she was crying.

her grandma said, "see this little naughty thing tell her mom on me!"
hahahahahaa.... our little actress !

Thursday, July 20, 2006

her preference

mama: jing-jing, mama goes to work, ok?
jing-jing: (shaking head)
mama: jing-jing, mama stays at home and take care of you, is it ok?
jing-jing: (smiling and nodding head)

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

yeni...yeni...

a month ago, everytime Crystal wanted me to carry her up, she would say, "ni... ni..." and raised her arms to me.

now i understand what the "ni..." means in her dictionary. just two weeks ago, (6 July) when i came back from Ninghai and Tianjin, she could pronounced, "yeni".

when i said Chunlin, she said, "papa" (it's her daddy's name). and when i said, "yeni", she smiled and followed me by saying, "yeni" with her lower lip slant aside. =)

and this morning, when i handled her to her grandma coz i would have my breakfast, she protested by saying, "eeh... yeni," reaching her arms to me.
i kinda like to hear her calling me by my name! it sounds cute, funny, sweet!

Monday, July 10, 2006

careless mom

i was such a careless mom !
this Saturday, i had the toilet door closing on Crystal's lill finger and hurt her so much. my heart was crying (and now still is!). how i regretted it so much! usually i was extra carefull on such door things, but on Saturday, i dont know ... why i was so careless. luckily i closed the door slightly, otherwise, i don't dare to imagine!
i am so sorry, my lill darling!
mom will be extra extra carefull not to hurt you anymore!

Friday, June 30, 2006

FIRST bday 30-June-06

- Crystal is one year old
0first birthday
Crystal is having her first bday today !

-----Original Message-----
From: Dian Angela [mailto:Angela.Dian@sa...]
Sent: 2006年6月30日 10:12
To: Ding, Jenny
Subject:

Hai.. happy birthday buat anak mu ya... ^_^
Thanks and Regards,
Angela Dian

So surprise to get this email from Angie.
Yes, it's Crystal's 1st bday today.
Thanks Angie for remembering.

This morning Crystal pooped twice, the first one in her diaper and the second one while we were at the balcony. last nite she also pooped while i put her in walker for feeding her dinner. so we had to clean the floor, walker and washed her and her cloths.

i felt guilty for being too busy working mom. i didnt prepare much for Crystal's first bday present. after work, i went to Carrefour to find a disney doll. but didnt get what i wanted. then rushed up to the baby store nearby our apartement. finally finding a blue fish (perhaps one character in the "finding nemo"). also bought hello kitty shoes for her. and she likes the fish.

no birthday cake.
she had her first birthday cake in Chinese first bday celebration which was ahead of time (17 June 2006). Due to local Chinese tradition, call "zhua zhou" 抓周,which should be celebrated ahead of time from her 'chinese bday'. my parents-in-law call it 抓前 ( 抓 zhua = to catch, 前 qian = ahead of time, same tone with 钱 qian = money). where a lot of stuffs are put in front of the birthday girl, which will represent what she will be in the future. alamaaaak....complicated bener yak !
Crystal grabbed a pen. will she be a scholar? i want her to be a president ...hahahaha...!


11-Month-old's development
new thing:
butterfly, flies, knee, thigh, spider, frog, old man, baby, pimple, belly button, sand, police car new

people:
baked-bread seller, lu chai seller, shoe repairer

new word :
ye-ye (grandpa) , nao-nao (actually is niao niao, means pee), ya (duck), yao (medicine)

* when ask, "do you love mama?" she will say, "mama"

* where do you want to go? "da...da..." (liu-da means go for a walk outside)

* point out red or blue, blue or orange (pictures of 2 baloons)

* drive a hand-drive scooter, but of course still cannot do it well and cannot turn around

* how does lion scratch when itchy ? she will scratch herself. or she will use back-scratcher to scrath her body (17-Jun-06).

* shake someone's hand and kiss the back of the hand

* walk for 3~4 steps (around 12-Jun-06)

* walk up to 5 meter (end June-06)

* dance by shaking her own boots (standing by holding on the bed side), favorite song: jingle bell

* raise her hand for expression, "hi / hello !"

* squat for pee/poop (14-Jun-06). now she can squat down by herself everytime she wants to
pee or poop.

* sit up from lying on her tummy (17-Jun-06)

* take a piece of paper and move it back and forth as a 'fan'

* if we ask her whether she has had enough food, "可吃饱了?" she will put her hand on her tummy and say, "bao..bao.." (means she has enough food already).

* she likes to bring sandals to somebody else (with we holding one of her hand, the other hand will bring sandal one by one, she doesnt mix up with other sandals).

* put something into a bottle, can open a bottle cap.

* rub some powder on her own face / body

* first time falling from bed (21 Jun 06) , lucky there was plastic mattress on the floor

* stand up by herself from squatting position, however, she still cannot stand steadily for long time.

* move from side to side by holding table / bedside

* if i say, "spank mama... pinch mama .." she will slap me with her hand or pinch me, her pinch is quite hurting. same if i say, "pinch mama's ear", she will immediately pinch and pull my ear.

* spank her own butt when ask to.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

KFC and MacD

One day, my friend, Pauline Wen, took her 4-year-old son Zhang Anwen to Carrefour, and there is a KFC outlet.

Anwen : Mama, take me to KFC.
Pauline: KFC is junk food, it’s not good for children.
Anwen : No Mom, you’re wrong. KFC is not junk food. MacDonald is junk food.

The other day, Pauline took Anwen to Bai Huo Department Store. There’s a MacDonald nearby.

Anwen: Mama, take me to MacD.
Pauline: MacD is junk food, it’s not good for children.
Anwen : No Mom, wrong. MacD is not junk food. KFC is junk food.
Pauline : KFC and MacD both are junk food.
Anwen : if we eat junk food not very often, i think it will be OK.

Monday, June 26, 2006

touched

i'm so touched today by my lill girl.

this morning when i went out to work, she cried so loudly as i closed the front door. again i had to leave my heart at home. and this afternoon, when i got back from work... as usual when i walked thru the front gate, i would look at my apartment window, on the 4th floor, hoping to see my lill girl standing there, looking down, so i could wave at her. and there .. there she was! her grandma's holding her, looking down thru the window. she saw me! yes, she could see me from the 4th floor, and i heard her weak voice also saw her mouth saying, "mama.. mama...", waving her hand at me. i was so touched and almost cried, waving and replying, "eih... ! eih .... ! mama is coming home," and i rushed running up to our apartment.
as she saw me, she kicked her legs happily in her grandma's arms, reaching her arms to me impatiently. and when i carried her, she screamed and jumped happily in my arms, with her hands slapping my back several times.

oh my lill darling, how mama loves you so much ! to mommy, you are the world !

Saturday, June 17, 2006

week 51: SIT UP by herself

week 51

since last week, Crystal can walk for 3-4 steps.

i am always very proud of her, proud to watch her rapid development day to day.
now, before she reaches first bday, she can already pee and poop by herself by squatting down, so it will not make her pants turn wet or dirty. but of course she misses it sometimes.

she also can crawl up from lying on her tummy and sit up. it takes a lot of her effort to do so. and i enjoy watching her doing it. she did this on her 'move-ahead-chinese-first-birthday' (16-Jun-06). based on chinese tradition, when a baby reaches one year old, there is a ceremony call "zhua zhou".

and basically she can understand whatever we talk to her or ask her anything, as long as we ever teach her the words before. even, when ask whether she has had enough food, she will slap her own tummy and say, "bao...bao.." (means she has had enough food)

she can also ride her little scooter (which should be ridden by moving the steering left and right, so the scooter will move forward). this was bcoz she's often trained with the musical toy-train or toy car in the park, which have the turnable steering. =)
but of course we still have to sit with her in the back.

now she likes to bring shoes to everybody. but to me, she often brings and gives me my blue shoes and points at the door, which means she wants to go out for a walk.


pregnancy
i am proud of her since the very beginning.
i never had problems and never had to suffer during pregnancy. i could eat all the food, fruit, drink everything that i like (of course without alcohol of cafein content). never felt too tired for carrying her in me all the time, never had sleep problem, in all, no complaint during pregnancy.
the only complaint was she arrived too late compared to the predicted due date (due date was 23-June, she arrived on 30-June) while i was too eager to meet her asap.


the labor
during the labor, she didnt bring me unbearable pain and suffer. yes, somehow there was pain during the labor, but bearable, not as worse as i imagined. i had prepared my mental for the most 'to-be-said-so-painful' pain. even i didnt suffer so much during contraction. it took total 20 hours for her to arrive after my first contraction on around 5pm 29-Jun-05. (she was born on 01.08pm on 30-Jun-05) she was just in the right size to fit my size .... lol ... =) she was 3.25kg when she was born. and i didnt take any pain-management options. just took deep breath and sang during every contraction.

thanks to my mom and sister-in-law (Mery) for their most precious advise: should control not to push while the opening is still 0-8 cm. also to my mother-in-law's advise: to eat and also to poop before the labor. to me, everything was just so easy and smooth.
i remembered Lin even had thought that i would ask for c-section in the middle of labor process, since many of his friends, at the beginning wanted to have the natural labor, but then switch to c-section bcoz coundt bear the pain anymore. Lin also sent a towel for me to bite during the 'pushing' process. but i didnt need it. here in china, mostly the husband is not allowed to come into the labor room.

also thanks to the mommy who was next to me in labor room, she was quite calm during the labor process, she didnt scream at all. it encouraged me also i guess.

after she arrived, and while the doctor was cleaning and working on her, i was just so impatient to hold her in my arms.


first 4 days at hospital and after returning home
Crystal was never cranky or annoying since her very first days. she always slept so well every night. i never suffered those restless night. she just woke up for nursing every 2 hours. after nursing, she would return to sleep calmly till the next nursing time. even Lin's sleeps were never being disturbed by her.
she also seldom made the cloth diaper filthy. her cries for hungry, pee and poop were just different, that i could recognize. everytime she wanted to poop, she would give some sign. but often she just pooped in the middle of nursing time. lol...!
until her becoming first bday, she was only being cranky twice during night time when she was having fever.
she makes everything become easier and easier while in her 7th month, she could say "nai..nai..." (milk) when she is hungry.
now she pees and poops by squatting down. it's her great great grandma (my mom-in-law's mom) that taught her to do so. she often takes care of my Crystal during day time too.
Crystal now also can drink with her own drinking bottle, she can also use a straw to drink and she can hold a piece of fruit or food and eat by herself. again it makes everything become easier.


tantrums
we think that all babies are smart and fast learner. we have to cope with it, not to be tricked by our little baby.
if Crystal is screaming or throwing tantrums bcoz of wanting something, we dont want to spoil her. for example, if she wants our mobile phone or something which is not safe for baby, we dont give her, and when she begins to scream .. this is what we do:
we just let her cry or scream. sometimes we put her sitting on the floor or lying on the bed and crying. after several minutes, since she knows she just cant get what she wants, she will stop crying. and nowadays, if she wants something, we dont give her, she will not be too pushy anymore. she just cries few seconds, after that she will forget.
it's Lin that persisted we must do this way. i agreed with him. this is also what Jason or Echo did to their kids.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

naik gaji lagi nih

wah, naik gaji lagi nih hari ini (17%).
gak nyangka si bos, aku pikir mesti nunggu setahun lagi.
soalnya kalo gak salah ingat, baru Februari ini dikasih naik 7%.
tapi rasanya jadi biasa2 aja dg jumlah segitu itu, setelah tahu
i can worth twice as much (belagu banget yah ...?!)

tapi gak pentinglah.
yang penting bukan berapa duitnya sekarang,
walaupun kayaknya bakal menggiurkan juga yah!
yang penting justru kesempatan dan kejelasan.

Monday, June 12, 2006

baby's day


Crystal's daily schedule

6.30 get up and milk time (150cc)
6.45 play time on bed (sometimes listen to music from daddy's computer)
7.15 don’t want to play on bed anymore, want to get down
8.00 change baby diaper into cloth diaper, wear socks and shoes
8.30 breakfast
9.30 if mom’s at home, take a walk outside, sun bathing =) for around half hour
10.30 milk time (150 cc) and play around
11.30 1st nap
13.00 wake up and lunch time
14.00 play time
15.00 have some snack or fruit and play around
16.30 milk time (150cc)
17.30 2nd nap
18.30 wake up, time to go out to the park and play
19.30 dinner time
20.30 play around with mom
21.00 bath time
21.10 change cloth and put on baby diaper for bedtime
21.15 play on bed with mom, story telling time
22.00 milk time (150cc)
22.10 roll on bed for bed time, sweet dream, mommy & daddy love you!


How Lill Crystal Play
1. Favorite toys: santa claus with saxophone, lady bug, rubber duckling, little bear head


2. Books
* for baby under 1
* colors
* numbers
* little baby is 1 year old
* little baby is 2 years old now
3. Posters
* animals
* ABC
* Pin yin (chinese spelling)
* Numbers
4. Bikes: snow white tricycle, baby walker, scooter-bike


5. Go to balcony, look at flying birds and swallows, flowers and plants, catch flies or mosquitoes (in imagination), play with cloth hanger, or mop stick, while at night, look at the moon and the stars, look at the street/shop lamps
6. On baby walker, her favorite place is kitchen, play with cupboards, some vegetables; go to living room, play with tv on-off switch, go to wash basin cabinet, open the drawers, take out toothpaste, toothbrush, soap etc.
7. Learn new things around the house
8. Watch tv mostly is music program on tv with the adults, and she likes ads. Favorite ads: bao bao jing shui (a kind of mosquito repellent for baby)
9. Play with phone
10. Play with pen and paper

11. Play with plastic bottle and its cap (she could be doing it for 15-30 minutes)


12. Play in the park:
* sit on toy-train, toy plane, drive it (there is a steering wheel)
* pull-up / hang on the bar (just like in gym)
* play with sand
* look at ABC hung on a kindergarten fence
* look at dog and do dog barking
* look at birds and do birds flying
* look at rabbit, duck, chicken
* look at kite, plane, clouds or pale moon in evening sky
* play around with tricycle-bike
* learn new things
* socialize with other babies or the adults
* pick up leaves, flower petals, or other stuffs on ground
* on way home, look at fruit, lamps, newspaper, prawn, fish seller

Friday, June 09, 2006

picky baby

lill Crystal is very picky on food.
everytime if i get home and try to feed her dinner,
she will taste a bit for the first spoon.
you cant even imagine how smart every baby actually is !
they only cannot speak out.

if she thinks it's delicious and if i ask her, "is it delicious, my dear?" she will clap her hands or smile with her eyes and express thanks with her hands. but often this little piggy head thinks it's not delicious, she is too picky! she will shake her head for a "no..no..no.." for the second spoon, and pull her head away.

i have to play some trick in order to make her wants to eat more. if still she doesn't want it, i have to re-make the meal for her. usually she prefers cereal powder or porridge with steam egg. she also likes fish, shrimp, and pancake. but i try to feed her vege whenever possible. spinach and green bean is the best choice.

it takes almost 1 hour to finish her meal. oh baby, you think mama doesnt need to have dinner?

she likes any kind of fruit, including those with sour taste; and of course she likes all kind of snacks.