Yup, we spent the long weekend in Malaysia with our relatives. We drove up on Saturday afternoon and drove back on Tuesday evening. Ryan spent everyday with his cousins and was completely content to be left with them while Richard and I ran our errands with babydoll. When we dropped him off and Richard tried to escort him into the house, he stopped Richard and told him, "You stay outside". Heh heh. It was actually exam week for his cousins, but they made time for us, so that was really great.
The most interesting development as regards babydoll is that she has started displaying some stranger anxiety. For sometime now, she can distinguish who are strangers and who are not and her usual reaction is to girlishly hide her face behind me when a stranger speaks to her (although not always). Recently, her reaction has been a little more pronounced. She doesn't seem "anxious" as in she doesn't whine or throw a fit when meeting a stranger. Rather, what she does is to stop in her tracks, go completely still, and slowly lower her head to look down. It's like a robot shutting down. It's very funny! The moment I call her, she will lift her head up and walk to me as if nothing had happened and as if I pressed a button to re-activate her. It's really, really funny.
She doesn't exhibit this reaction towards every stranger though, and I haven't sussed out what makes one stranger different from another. Here you can see her sitting down with a complete stranger at the bookstore. She saw this boy and, completely unprompted, sat down and pulled out a book to read. She wouldn't leave despite me asking her a couple of times to move on to the next rack.
Babydoll is, more and more, showing us that she is a quick learner. She also reminds us that our actions speak louder than our words - she learns and copies our actions so quickly. For example, after her meals, she will take a tissue and wipe her mouth. When I sit down with Ryan to do some writing, she will want to sit down and pick up a pen to scribble. She is starting to use the spoon to eat. She can flip the pages of a book like a seasoned reader. She knows where her shoes should be kept, she points to the playroom when she wants to play, she points to the fridge when she wants her yoghurt. All these actions were not deliberately taught to her by us. She just observed us going about our day-to-day activities and copied us on her own.
Here she is, insisting that she carry my handbag. This was just before she slung it on her shoulder and, when it wouldn't stay there, she carried it in the crook of her elbow with her hand up in the air. Like a pro. Looks like I have to get her a bag of her own.
In the photo above, Rachel is wearing the latest mummy-made addition to her wardrobe. I'll show you better photos of it next time. I was rather pleased that about half of the clothes that I packed for her for our trip consisted of clothes made by me. Such a great feeling to see all those clothes in her luggage.
That's all!
1 comments:
So cute! We must get her a bag!
She looks so lovely in the dress too :)
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