Mountain Boy Updates

Haven't done his monthly updates for quite a while now. He turned 19 months about a week ago and i finally found some quiet time to write. The change in nanny has been quite hell-ish for us cos he wants to sleep on our bed all the time. His naps have just gotten better and he has just started to sleep past 12 midnight in his own cot.

Developmentally, he jumps like a big kid. He used to be able to jump only without shoes but now he can lift off wearing shoes. He goes up and down the stairs pretty much unassisted. He climbs tables and chairs and everything dangerous. He can pretty much drink from a cup now, though i still prefer the straw bottle to reduce the potential spills. I have no intention of changing him to fresh milk yet so he's still sucking his milk bottle.

Speechwise, he is still on 2 syllables. But lately he started stringing 2 syllables together. He can't make every sound yet (like words that start with K). Although we speak to him in english, he is starting to show that he is bilingual. He knows words in both chinese and english and will say them when you ask for a translation. Most of the time he verbalizes the easier version first (ie 飞机 instead of aeroplane). He definitely comprehends instructions in both languages.

I know that the Terrible Twos is just around the corner for him. During this period the child develops his own agenda but has limited means of expressing himself, so he gets frustrated when the adults misunderstand his needs or when things don't go the way he wants. So as a result he tends to throw more tantrums or vent his anger in other manners.

Already Mountain Boy has started exhibiting some pretty violent behaviour such as hitting, pinching and pushing, but it's mostly channeled towards either myself or the nanny, not other kids (thankfully). I do sometimes flare up when it really does hurt and i'll make him cry. But being fierce mostly doesn't work on him. Actually i don't know what works, sometimes i get quite desperate and i know Mountain Man can identify with the feeling especially after spending an extended period of time with the boy. Sometimes i really want to smack him!

It's gonna get harder. I sometimes wish i had more family members to fall back on so i can take off somewhere and have a holiday for a few days.