Backtrack 17: Our 小大人 (little adult)

(Delayed posting due to swine flu.)


The nanny says Rosabelle is a小大人 (little adult), in some of the things she does, and in how she behaves at times.

On Wednesday night 20 May, as she was grouchy at dinner from being sleepy, I had no choice but to give her new things to play with, like the half-eaten orange left over from what the nanny had squeezed juice from for her earlier. She refused to let me hold it for her and when I removed it at times to remove the sucked-dry pulp for fear of her swallowing and gagging on them, she would protest vehemently. It’s been awhile since I let her taste orange, as I was afraid it would affect her calcium absorption if taken too young, but she loves the taste of the citrus fruit.

Likewise, she would also want to take her own drinking cup (not the sipper cup) and glug from it, and would ‘aid’ the nanny in feeding her by holding the spoon and putting the contents into her mouth, at times impatient to chomp the food down quickly.

The nanny has had quite a few food/water-slinging incidents from having to pry the spoon from her little hands, so we will give her her own spoon to hold onto today (but will have to deal with the problem of her sucking on the spoon and not letting the nanny feed her…). Of late, since the week of May 25, she has been drinking water and juices from the bowl without dripping a single drop. The nanny has conceded defeat and says never in her life has she seen a 7-month-old drink from a cup or bowl so well, haha!
On 21 May, when she was in a great mood and enjoying her carrots and potato, I was teaching her how to fling her arms in the air and extend it to say ‘Yaay! Such great food! Yaay, thank Ayi for making such a yummy dinner! Yaay, Rosabelle’s such a happy baby!”. She was observing me closely doing it for at least 10 times when she tried to also extend her arms upwards! However, as she was sitting at the edge of the high chair, she still needed to balance her arms on the table and would wobble backwards at times whenever she released her hold on the table. However, I was amazed at how fast kids learn, and watched as she followed me to fling her arm upwards when I went ‘Yaay!’.

On that night as well, when the nanny as carrying her, I wanted to carry her over and extended my arms outwards. She looked at me, then grabbed the nanny’s neck with her other arm and hid her face in the latter’s neck, before peeking at me to give me a cheeky smile. I had to clap my hands again to see if she wanted me to carry her before she smiled and came towards me for me to carry. The nanny said she was being cheeky and trying to pretend she did not want me to carry – how cute!

She has also probably observed me sitting cross-legged, and sitting with my legs out, and ankles crossed, so she mimics this action nowadays by crossing her own angles, but it causes her to lose her balance when sitting down and she will topple over, so cute!

On May 26, when Wayne was playing with her whilst I was carrying her, she was squealing with delight until Wayne said ‘Ok lah, Daddy’s going to bathe now, let’s stop playing!’, and she immediately looked shell-shocked and her eyes were downcast with disappointment, until Wayne said ‘Ok, let’s play again!’ and she continued squealing, haha! As the nanny says, she just does not know how to articulate her feelings, but she sure understands what you are saying!

This is also how she likes to open her mouth nowadays when trying hard to look at something out of her view (or when focusing).