A month ago, I received my weekly newsletter from BabyCenter which stated:

Variety is the spice of 2-year-old life. Your child needs exposure to all kinds of playthings and places to stimulate his developing brain.”

Now that statement is burned into my mind and I try to expose Owen to as many different things and places as I possibly can.

Our first trip that weekend was to visit our nearby park. Daddy was busy, so it was just Owen baby and I. It was a pretty sunny day with breeze so the canoes and kayaks were out. Needless to say, I took advantage of these stimuli and urged Owen to explore them. I have to come to realize, however, that Owen is quite timid when it comes to new things…he is afraid of them and needs coaxing before he would even come near them. I attribute this to our (grandparents as well as myself) over-protectiveness when he was younger. We will work to help Owen becoming more daring.

As you can see from the pics, Owen did finally get into the kayak and canoe! (of course Mommy had to get in it first to show him that it won’t hurt him).

Owen’s favorite term right now…that is how he greets himself when he sees his own reflection in the mirror, in door knobs (brass knobs so reflects), how he greets his stuff animals (I knew saving all my stuff animals was the right decision!), live animals, and other inanimate objects every day. Oddly enough, I seem to be the only adult that he uses that term with. Not sure where he got the expression from - but probably either from me greeting him in the morning or after work or reading to him.

As I observe Owen explore and play everyday, I am often reminded of what it is like to be a kid. Watching him say hi and bye to goldfishes in restaurants and plastic rabbits in yard, I am reminded to be friendly and kind to all living and non-living things. Observing his insistence on removing his choo-choo train from its designated track and “driving” it up the stairs (meant for the little people that comes with the playset), I am reminded of children’s boundless imagination (there’s no limitation on what you can or can’t do). Sherwood often corrects him, saying “Trains need to stay on track, only people take the stairs.”, I advise him to just let Owen be - and let him do whatever he wants in his imaginary world. Why restrain his imagination and put limitations on what he can or can’t do when it’s not necessary? Frankly, I envy Owen’s simple and anything-is-possible world; for me, that’s the best part of being a kid, so I want him to enjoy that world for as long as possible.

P.S. On behalf of Owen to Uncle Raj: Thank you, Uncle Raj, for remembering my birthday! You are my #1 fan and I love you so! Hope to meet you one day!

Wow, so behind on the blog…these past 2 months have been hectic, with our week-long trip to NY in mid-June, day trip to Wilmington Beach for July 4th, and just everyday tasks of working, cooking, cleaning, playing/taking care of Owen.

Really need to get back on track…esp since in the past 2 months, Owen has also become exponentially interactive - talks a lot (actually saying first word, then 2 words, and now phrases that we understand ;P) and frequently does or says things that just crack us up!

Let me first start off by sharing his dancing moves from last month…he danced a whole song from a Chinese soap opera (2.5 minutes) from start to finish. Poor Owen got so tired at the very end he could barely move and kept looking at the singing cell phone as to say “when are you going to stop?!” - but the little man has got perseverance and despite the odds, kept going and finished .

I have been weaning Owen since April and now, more and more frequently, I will try to nurse but Owen would become frustrated because there is little breastmilk for him. Not long ago, after a few minutes of sucking, he pushed me away, and said “No, no, nothing.”

Looking back at 22 months of breastfeeding - 20 of those REAL feedings until April - there are so many memories. From waking up every hour when Owen was just born, to my highly stressed period during Owen’s first year (not due to caring for Owen, but my self-imposed goal to nurse him through at least the first year), to my insistence to go just a little further to 18 months, to finally conceding to it’s time to wean him.

I think back to all the things I have done to ensure that I can nurse Owen as long as I possibly can and can honestly say that I have done my best:

- nursing every hour in the beginning
- coming home during lunch from work every weekday for 20 months
- countless HUGE bowls of fish and pigfeet soups to stimulate milk glands (I don’t even eat pigfeet!) every night during the first year
- pumping every 3 hours at work during the first year

Although it has caused some level of inconvenience to my life, I did not mind it at all and would do it all again in a heartbeat given the endless benefits to Owen. I have really treasured these intimate moments with Owen, cuddling him close to me and happily watching his little face grow content in the nursing process, and just basking in the joy of motherhood and my God-given ability to provide him with the nature’s best food.

The intimacy is a big reason why I am weaning him so late…I do not want to let it go. I am not ready to let it go. I don’t think I ever will. Owen seems to have a hard time letting go as well, as he certainly does not need the milk anymore, but still wants to nurse. It’s still the first thing we do when we wake up in the morning, when we come home, before we sleep at night, and through the night. Both of us need time to slowly let go, so we’ll let nature take its course.

Obviously in the rear seats, but which one? Accordingly a new study done by University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, it is the center seat. The results showed that children seated in the center had a 43% lower risk of injury than those in either side position.

Really glad I came across this article because we usually place Owen’s car seat in either rear outboard positions but never in the center for ease of access and keeping an eye on our angel. But with a stat like that - a whopping 43% lower risk - I will happily do more stretching in putting Owen in and out of his car seat. Regardless of where he seats in the back, I can’t really see his face anyways, so why not put him in the safest seat?!

Praise and thank God - I prayed for Owen on Monday and asked that God help him adjust to the new routine and the new nanny/surrounding. His nanny and I already had a contingency plan (I would come back at 2pm to pick him up if he refuse to drink or eat by then), but God answered my prayers and helped our little angel eat and drink! When I called at noon to check up on him, I was ecstatic to hear that he made such huge progress! He had also stopped crying for the most part, and was starting to observe the new environment!

It’s truly amazing how adaptable kids are - by Thursday, when the nanny greeted us in the morning and held out her hands, Owen reached over for her to hold and did not cry at all when I left! Both the nanny and myself were pleasantly surprised and were so happy that he had adjusted so quickly! By Thursday and Friday, whenever I call, the nanny would tell me that Owen was happily doing this and that. He also has been eating pretty well. Having taken after his Daddy though, he doesn’t like eating the same food twice in a row, so he is starting to resist eating the leftovers from previous night’s dinner (we all bring leftovers for lunch the next day since I don’t have time to cook “fresh” lunch in the morning in addition to preparing the breakfast). So now I have make a special extra meal for our little prince every weekday - he had better treat me well when he grows up! ;P

We used to have to worry about Owen eating every day since he would eat well one day and very little the next - however, since I’ve discovered a secret weapon, we no longer fret over meals since if he doesn’t eat well during dinner, I would just wait an hour before trying again, this time while he’s watching Little Fox flash songs. He’s so absorbed in these songs that he would probably eat rubber if you feed it to him (haha, of course that is just an exaggeration, but he truly eats everything you feed him until he is actually full, then he will say “done”). For those who are interested, Little Fox is a Korean company that made hundreds of popular childrens’ songs into Flash intended for children 3-12 to learn English(http://www.iselong.com/online/Flash_Songs_For_Kids/LittleFox/index.htm). Their drawings are REALLY colorful and cute, and since they move, Owen absolutely adores these songs! Just take a look at how intense he’s staring at the screen whenever he is watching/listening to these songs (for this reason, we only limit him to max of 30 mins a day - almost exclusively during mealtimes only)!

Technically, it’s not really a preschool, since Owen is far away from kindergarten, but it is the first time he will be cared for outside of our home. Grandparents Yao are going back to China next Monday, and although praise and thank God we found the ideal caretaker for him (an experienced mom of 3 in her 30’s who has a degree in child development who is bilingual, and who would only be taking care of a max of 3 boys - her 2.5 yr son, Owen, and another boy who would only be part-time), we had to wait until this week to get Owen acquainted with her.

We decided to take Owen to the caretaker’s home just mornings this week to somewhat ease Owen into the routine. Frankly, I was REALLY worried and anxious about dropping him off this week since Owen has very strong stranger anxiety (first reaction when he sees any strangers in our house - even if they are not even attempting to touch him - is to cry).

So on Monday, I stayed with him during the 2 hours we were there….during the first 30 mins to an hour, he would not leave my side since he realized that it was a new environment. I quickly came to realize that I need to “disappear” in order to force him to adjust, so while he was temorarily mesmerized by the other kids, I sneaked away upstairs. Our caretaker swiftly took over the pacifying when Owen realized that I was gone and started crying. To my surprise, it was very brief. He quickly got sidetracked by other activities, for the next hour or so, would only cry when he periodically remembered Mommy, and cried for me, “mama, mama” but then again would be distracted by other things very soon.

So yesterday, I did not stay long before I was “shoo”ed away from the caretakeer…she took him aside and said that I could go, and that he would cry only briefly. As hard as it was to see him cry, I know it’s a stage he has to go through, so I left as instructed. A later call to the caretaker reassured me that Owen was indeed happily going about his business. ;P When I picked him up yesterday noon, it was the cutest thing; I saw him as soon as I made the turn onto the street since the caretaker was holding him standing in the driveway and he was not crying, yet as soon as she pointed to my car coming down the street and he recognized my car and me, he started crying! It was as if he wanted to tell me how much he missed me! The same thing happened today when his Daddy dropped him off.

The only catch now is that Owen is very cautious - he won’t eat or drink anything from someone who he doesn’t trust yet. So…he has still yet to eat or drink something that the caretaker gives him (even if it’s a food or drink that he usually loves). Our guess - and hope - is that by next week, when he will be there for the entire day, he will have no choice but to eat/drink due to hunger/thirst.

I’m a proud Mommy - came home from work today and Grandpa Yao happily told me that Owen “poop-poop”ed in the potty this morning! To make sure that I shared in the joy and witnessed this historical event, Grandpa and Grandma Yao deliberately saved the poop for me to see (despite the fact that it was stinking up their bathroom ;P ). Being a Mom, I almost went running for my camera to take a picture of this poop for memory sake!

I asked Grandpa Yao if Owen got scared when the potty started singing and he said no, though he did find it very amusing! Hopefully, that will encourage him to go running to the potty next time he has an urge to poop!

I’ve been scratching my head constantly for the past few days in search of answers to Owen’s two recent “non-angelic tricks”:

1) Hitting people
2) Throwing food on the floor

First on the people-hitting: he started this behavior sometime last month (~18 months) and used to just hit me, but now hits grandpa and grandma Yao frequently as well. Initially, we told him “no, no, can’t hit people.” Doesn’t work. Then I tried hitting his hand lightly, hoping he realize that it hurts and stop this behavior. No luck. Last technique I tried was giving him time-out in his room for 5 mins. Worked for 1-2 days only. Since this is becoming a daily action for him, I was alarmed by the aggression he was showing; at a loss as to what to do, I researched a bit online for suggestions and advice. What I read comforted me.

First of all, it is common for children this age to hit, bite, or kick (thanking God already for me only having to deal with 1 out of 3 behaviors). This is because toddlers during this phase is still preverbal, and yet wants their own independence, and thus they have much more opportunities to be stuck in a situation where they are frustrated or angry, but can not express themselves verbally. They do not know what to do, so they lash out; once they learn to really talk, most toddlers will grow out of this phase. This is completely the case with Owen. Looking back, I have noticed that Owen hits only under 2 circumstances: 1) When you make him do what he doesn’t want to do (ie.eat food when he’s not hungry) or 2) When you don’t let him do what he wants to do (ie.turned off the computer when he wants to watch singing flash videos or Barney dance).

What to do? Several things:
- Do not hit him back. Toddlers is not capable of making the association that since it hurts when others hit them, they should stop hitting others. The only message they will get, instead, is that hitting is ok since you - the parents - do it too.
- Try to catch toddler in the action and while holding his hand in yours, tell him that hitting hurts. Then guide his hand to gently brush your cheek, saying “touch gently”. Experts say that toddlers this age needs to be provided an alternative; telling them what to do vs. what not to do.
- Verbalize toddler’s feelings for him. For example, tell him that you understand that he’s frustrated with xyz. If possible, again, try to provide an alternative to the source of frustration. (if he wanted a glass, provide him with a plastic cup instead) If not, redirect.
- Be consistent.

I just started following these suggestions today so we will see if it works. Haven’t really found a solution to the throwing-the-food problem other than the fact that most likely, it just means that toddler is not hungry.

Wow, time sure flies…Owen celebrated his 18 months birthday this past Tuesday (the 12th). Can’t believe our little baby is almost 2! (ok, “almost” may be an exaggeration, but it’ll be here at a blink of an eye!)

Owen seems to be very eager to grow up as well…in fact, so eager that he appears to have skipped childhood, teens, and adulthood altogether and gone straight to old age! At this age, he’s already walking like an old man!