20 Months Old - Mom's Note

Nathan is 20 months old now. As he grows older, things can get pretty 'interesting'. His growing independence has started to show, which makes my and my husband's tasks as parents become more and more challenging. But of course, there are always time when he delights us and brings joy and warmth to our hearts.

Note on Nate's physical growth:

His vocabularies may not have expanded greatly since the previous month, but he can now pronounce his words in a much clearer manner, repeat what we say/teach him to say and he understands more than what we actually think! He can also finish the sentence in a few songs, for example:

"God is so..." (Nate: "good")

"God is so good, He's so good to..." (Nate: "me")

Nate can be very very chatty, especially at home. He can talk non-stop, using his own language that only he could understand, even though no one is talking to him. Sometimes we also catch him humming a song! (Though we don't know which song that he is humming he he he).

Nate can now recognize pictures in a book when we read to him. When we point to a picture of a baby and ask him what that is, he would answer: "Ba-by!". Or when we ask him to show where is baby, he can also point to it.

He can also now ask for things, like drink or food or when he wants us to carry him. He'd say "Ma...Minum...Please (using sign language)" (In English: Mom...Drink....Please). Whenever he passes motion (still in his nappy), he can also tell me by saying "Ee-eek". Hmm, is this a sign that he is ready to be potty-trained?

He loves to run...a lot! And when we bring him to the playground, I can see that his motoric skills are getting better. His climbing and balancing skill improves and become steadier. He can now walk up the stairs pretty well and he is starting to master the skill of walking down them.

He still takes on average 1 hour to finish his meal, and most of the time he can finish all the food served to him. He likes to keep the food in his mouth for a long time, and he chews very slowly. Often I have to entice him by spooning him water or soup just so that he can chew faster. It can get pretty distressing once in a while. He is lazy to chew when it comes to bigger chunk of food or pieces that have alot of fibre (like meat). He can spoon feed himself, but it only takes a while at the beginning of the meal. Then, he would get bored and push his bowl and spoon away from him or start to play with them.

He sleeps on average 14 hours with only one nap in a day. And he still drinks 180-200ml of milk 3 times a day. I have tried giving his afternoon milk without using the bottle, but using a cup and a straw instead. It has not worked well as yet. He still prefers to drink his milk from his bottle.

Note on Nate's emotional growth:
Overall, Nate enjoys interaction with people. Nate also loves cuddling around the people he loves. He would hug and kiss them. So as much as possible, I try to bring him out to meet his buddies so that he can play with them. He can play well with others, but recently he does show his assertiveness. He is no longer happy when things are snatched from him or when others don't give him what he wants. There are also times when he doesn't want to share.

When he is unhappy with things, he can now scream on top of his lungs and whine for ages to the point where he kicks and slaps the people near him. But he respects our authority. When he is being scolded for misbehaviour, he usually becomes quiet and shows remorse. He would also want to hug us to show that he is sorry and wants to be forgiven. After we discipline him, we always speak to him, explain what he did wrong and teach him to apologize. And after this whole episode, soon he becomes his own self again.

Nate can also behave at his best. When he wakes up early in the morning, I usually bring him to our room and give him his morning milk. Usually he'd continue sleeping afterwards. But if he doesn't want to, he would stay in our bed and just lie down or sit (sometimes babbling too) while we continue sleeping. When I need to do something urgent, I can put him in his playpen and ask him to wait for me for a while. He'd sit nicely there and read his books (we put a few books in his playpen) until I finish doing my things.

Although things don't get any easier with him growing older, I am grateful to God for him. The challenges that I face are indeed blessings from God, which shape and build me to be the parent that He wants me to be. I treasure all the moments I share with Nate and I am thankful for the priviledge God has given me to be his Mom.