Tara's Milestone @ 17 months

So fast, my gal will be 1.5 year old in another 1 month.

No improvement on her vocab. Well, I guess I'd better start reading to her more.

The little kid is running quite a bit nowadays, not sprinting of course, just slow running. The eager beaver must have thought that walking is too slow. And she's learning to jump, but just couldn't get her feet off the floor. But boy, is she doing a lot of climbing! The bed, the dining chairs, the sofa, the stools, everywhere! I'm taking extra care not to put anything near our grill-less windows. I've seen her pushing a stool around, so I'm keeping the stools too, in fact, I'm trying to keep all the moveable stuff, small tables, carton boxes etc. I don't wish to have any freak accident happening to my precious little girl.

I'm giving her more table food to try. But nothing too salty, too sweet or too spicy yet. And strictly no junk food. French fries and potato chips are still not in my kid's diet. They don't benefit her growth so those can wait. But I'm expanding the range of kid's biscuits, which are the only snacks she's allowed for now. And the little girl love bread a lot! Bob said the kid is so "low-maintenace", just give her a piece of bread and a water bottle and she will be so happy. And yes, she's finally stopped taking diluted apple juice, totally, just plain boiled water. Thanks to Mum! She love to eat fruits and vegetable too. Which is definitely a good thing.

I'm teaching her to wash her hair and soap her body during bath and shower. She has learnt how to wash her hair but still not so keen to start soaping herself. And when we change her diaper, she would pull out a baby wipe and clean herself. She will do the same even when her diaper is on, as long as she has a wipe or a tissue in her hand.

Tara will get really excited when she sees animals. Last Friday, Bob had a gathering with his poly friends. The toddler got restless and wanted to run around. We were pretty near to the koi pond so I brought her there. She was giggling, screaming and kept pointing at the koi swimming in the pond. I bought her the koi food at the kiosk nearby and let her feed the fishes. At first, she wanted to put the food into her mouth but after a while, she knew that the food was not for her. She had such a wonderful time feeding the fishes. I guess it's about time I bring her back to the zoo again. This time, I must make sure I will have ample time to bring her to all the different enclosures.

And the little girl wants more of our attention nowadays. When I'm using the computer, she would come up to me, and tugged at my shorts. And she would push me around, attempting to get me to play with her. And if her daddy is using the laptop, she would stand beside him and start punching the keyboard or push the mouse around. Just to get his attention.

I'm giving her more chance to feed herself too. I was pretty annoyed when I saw MIL feeding her apple, using a teaspoon to scrape. I preferred to let her feed herself. She have enough teeth to bite, so I don't see the point of scraping the apple into mash, that's for babies with no teeth.

And don't know since when, the toddler would lie flat on the floor and kick her legs when she's throwing a tantrum. Bob said her patterns are getting more. And now, when she threw things on the floor, instead of scolding her and smacking her butt or her palm, I simply tell her to pick up the things. But she's really very stubborn! And refused to do it no matter how. But I'm adamant that she stop this unacceptable behaviour and I refused to let let her leave until she picked up the item. I haven't succeed as yet. But I'm not going to give up.

Dad ever told me I'm a little too hard on the kid, as in I would scold her or smack her when she did something wrong. He told me the "kid-is-too-young" theory again and again. I had to retort back at him. I told him even if the kid don't understand me, I have to teach and tell her what is right and wrong. If I'm going to have his kind of thinking, and just let my kid do whatever she like, who am I to blame if she grow up to be a spoilt brat? At least I know that as her mother, I've done all that I can to teach her. And touch wood, should she become a spoil brat, I can still tell myself I did all I could. That managed to shut him up, although he don't look too convinced.

Now, it's time I start to toilet train her. But I'm taking baby steps for now. Cos I'm not sure if the kid will be receptive. I'm just taking the advantage of my MIL being Tara's main caregiver for the next one month, when she can get Tara into the habit of using a potty etc.