Racrac at 17 months
hurray! finally Racrac said goodbye to commercial baby food and is now eating what we have on the table. it's been a struggle trying to feed him regular food...sometimes he'd take them, most of the time not. though he likes sinigang, nilaga and chicken noodle soup since he turned 1, others that were dry, lumpy and coarse he'd automatically push with his tongue. it was after we had our camping earlier this month that i noticed him showing signs of really liking food. i remember one time we were having that classic hershey's chocolate bar-toasted marshmallow-graham crackers smores, he reached for it with his mouth while i was taking a bite and he bit on it too. then again at a birthday party 2 saturdays ago, he chowed down on pancit canton with unusual open-mouth eagerness. hmmm...it must have helped that he saw a lot of people, especially kids, eating. somehow it registered on him that he should do the same thing! he's got 9 teeth now too...that makes it easier to chew.
so now i'm obsessed about feeding him 'coz he'd eat anything, even the zucchini muffins i baked! hayyy salamat....no more stressful feeding sessions and tying him up to his highchair in front of the TV while he tinkers with the toys i give him (most of the time my celfone) just to keep him busy therefore unaware of the food i thrust into his mouth.
and already he can hop big time! last month he was still tiptoeing or sort of river dancing but after playing on that inflatable bouncer at a birthday party a couple of weeks ago, he discovered he could lift both his feet and hop! so now he's hopping all the time around the house, on our bed, his bed, couch, everywhere... congratulations baby! i know you've been working on it since you were 11 months. while others your age were still struggling to stand up and walk, you were already running and thinking about hopping.
oh he's such a busy active toddler, bursting with energy...always dancing, laughing, clapping, jumping, climbing, exploring. he has had a few temporary bumps on his head, bluish-black marks on his face that went away after a few days and a scar on his knee to show for it. how my heart breaks every time he gets into these little accidents even under my watchful supervision. unbelievable as this may sound but it's normal...part of growing up. any parent would know. i myself am surprised at how tough his head and how resilient he is!
another milestone this month is that we no longer give him his bottle during the day. he takes his milk/juice/water from a glass, sippy cup or straw cup. at first he was mad about it and threw his cup a few times but he had no choice (he's thirsty) so he picked it up later and drank from it. now he drinks milk from the bottle only during bedtime and when he wakes up in the morning...sometimes at 2 or 3 am. he's still a baby anyway so we're not depriving him that comfort yet. good thing is that after he's done with his bottle, he'd toss it to us then sleep. no more sucking on it like a pacifier.
what else?...he watches his favorite kiddie shows Barney and Calliou in the morning and adult shows Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune in the afternoon. bathtime is his favorite, he's crazy about laptops, phones, TV remote and anything with a keyboard and screen on it and can't sleep without his pillows! he hugs and kisses me every time he hears that 'i love you' barney song and takes delight in feeding me his crackers and combing my hair. ouch! hehe... enjoys talking to papa on the phone while Fil is driving home. also showing signs of impatience and frustration if he can't get things done right (like maneuvering his toy train or bike) but one behavior that bothered me was when he started deliberately banging his head on the wall, floor, table or any hard surface to get my attention or make me do what he wants. he knows that if he bangs his head and cries, i'd be there in a flash. but not anymore after i noticed that he's doing it only to "manipulate" me. i pretend not to see it and just let him cry...no tears, pure acting! haha... kids!
and have you heard of "terrible twos?" OMG, he's not even 2 yet!
