The flight to and fro were also relatively easy and I realize it would have been even easier if she were even younger and not needing to be active at times. Between 9-10 months, having discovered the joys of being mobile, I could sense she was aching to get down on her fours and crawl up and down the airplane's aisles.
The flight to Singapore was late evening and relatively empty. In the 5 seater, only 2 of us (me and another female passenger) occupied it. So for dinner time, I plopped Keina into the empty seat and quickly wolfed down my chicken. It was on this auspicious flight that Keina pulled up to a stand on her own for the first time. Prior to which, she had been using us for pull-ups and supported herself by leaning against the bed or sofa. On the airplane, she got to try her latest skill with the armrests and slowly pulled herself up, leaning forward as she stuck out her diapered butt. When upright, she had this gleeful look of self-satisfaction, I put my dinner down and reached out to congratulate her with a tight hug. Oh, how I love all these little milestones! Little did I know then that she would continue to amaze me and my parents more in Singapore.
The flight back to Tokyo was early morning and terribly packed. I got the aisle seat on the bulkhead but I had to sit sideways as Keina's legs were getting jammed against the sides of the seats whilst in the sling. She had obviously gotten bigger since our last flight. She slept till late morning and became restless at some point so I got up to walk a bit when the flight's turbulence warnings went off. Despite being able to fly 'free' (I had to pay some administrative charges even though she was going as infant on lap and I had bought my ticket via my miles), I suppose once she starts walking, she would find it even harder to keep still and I would probably need to buy her a seat then. Anyways, I am happy that she was relatively easy and am relieved by the experience.
Although I kept trying to keep mental tabs on her milestones whilst in Singapore, my mama brains don't seem to hold that much these days. And many of them I would have to attribute to Keina's doting grandparents who treated her with so much love and care and showered her with so much attention I know that even if she doesn't have the words to express it, she misses them terribly. Her very visible delight on her face whenever my mom beckons her to the laptop screen via Skype is testament enough to the fact. Her tushie shakes and wobbles as she perches and leans against the sofa.
Albeit in a slightly uninteresting and clinical manner, I am just going to randomly list what I can remember:
From pulling up to a stand, to using her palms against a flat surface. She now crawls to me in the kitchen and stands up against my leg and looks up and begs to be carried.
From 2-3 tentative crawls, to adventurous journeys from bedrooms to kitchen. She now crawls anywhere and everywhere.
From being tentative about going forward to cross that the tiny ledge partitioning the floorings of my dining room and kitchen to being smart about maneuvering so that her tushie gets down first, she now doesn't hesitate much about getting down from anywhere. She even grabs any obstacle in her way and pulls them aside to clear her path. Or if she can't, she would proceed to climb over it. Now her mission is learning how to climb/get UP. (Sidenote, she is such a "xiaojie" in that she is so careful not to hurt herself. Even a small ledge, she needs to make a dramatic U so that she can 'step down' with her tushie. (Naoki interjects here that he noticed her making the effort to do the U even on our 2cm thin futon!)
From being wobbly as she stands, she has started knowing how to use different heights to leverage her way up and using furniture to cruise around. But she hasn't gone too far yet. Just a few meters.
In saying Hi and Bye, she used to flip her wrist up and down and knows the cue when I pick up her arm as we bid farewells. Now, she is recently fascinated by how her hand clenches and opens and closes her fists instead. Sometimes, it appears like she is saying 'come over' (ala Bruce Lee before a fight).
She follows my finger when I point and alert her to objects. When my mom says fan or clock, she would look at the wall fan we have in the kitchen.
My mom is the most ardent teacher in social manners. To date, she has taught her to wash her hands and dance.
She understands that the door leads her to the amazing world outside. She is visibly excited when we approach the door with her body rocking forwards and back and her legs swinging. The lifts are her next favorite marker.
She has added spinach and porridge (finally!) to her palate. She doesn't like the taste of papaya. And goodness knows what my dad may have tried to feed her. Oh and she embraces the taste of dried scallops and tiny sardines. And there is another secret fruit which we think she would enjoy even more when she grows up.
She loves to join in any conversation. Her varying tones of ahh makes her a very formidable opponent in getting any word in.
She expresses sadness when we leave her. When I left her with Naoki to buy some drinks, she looked at my parting profile and let out a sad Um-m-m-ma. When Naoki left her for work, she had a sorrowful look on her face and let out a whine.
She expresses discontent when we take away a toy she has become interested in but would allow us to distract her with something new. Her favorite activity of late is seeing what materials she can tear apart with her hands and the easiest of which are tissues.
She loves to dig into any bag or hole and pulls out everything till it is empty. Her favorites are our bags. My task would be to teach her how to put things back IN.
She can hold her teething biscuit for a looooong time. Her record to date is about 30min without letting it go and switching hands in between.
She has (unfortunately) become recently fascinated with the idea of gravity. Experimenting with different objects and dropping them down with intent. She seems to be delighted at our frustration so nowadays, I try to pick things up without a fuss and simply tells her to 'hold onto (it)'.
She holds her own bottle.
She engages with furry animals. Dead or alive.
She poops on the potty with dramatic facial expressions and sound effects.
She tries to catch the shadow my dad creates on her feeding tray.
She plays each key on her toy piano when she used to just bang them randomly.
She leans her head to the phone when we pretend-ring it.
She likes playing peekaboo with Naoki through Skype.
She can open and close cupboard doors.
She can't keep still for a diaper change or a clothes change.
She loves to splish splash water in a tub.
She bangs objects together.
She bounces on Rody (our toy rubber yellow donkey).
She rocks to and fro when my mom asks her to 'shake shake shake'.
She starts rocking whenever a music pips her fancy.
She enjoys dancing in our arms and holding out her hand to grip our thumbs and if we drop our arm to her hip, she picks it up again in a gesture to continue dancing and swaying to the music.
She has started to sleep through the nights sometimes with 5h stretches (Hooray!!!).
She has two teeth out and one emerging on the side at the bottom jaw and 4 coming out together at the top (ouch).
She still smells like heaven and I'm enjoying every minute (ok, so I exaggerate, make that every HOUR instead) of her.
:)
3 comments:
Wah! your memory very good liao lah.
Erm, seems like she develops faster in Sg. Think you better bring her back more often. heeeee. Naoki will kill me.
HellO~ It's great that you're documenting all of her developments. It makes me sad that I have yet to hold her and already she seems to be growing up so quickly. Nonetheless, I really appreciate your blog as I get a glimpse at the new things she's learning and have grown to know her alot through your blog! =) Many hugs and kisses to Keina, you and Naoki! Love loads!
oh that's so sweet of you! your comment made me tear *sniff* makes me realize how far away are you BUT if we think about it, 3 months is not too long away so hang in there! MISS YOU LOADS!
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