New school.. No problem

This morning was her first day at her new school. As much as we and she loved her old school, this one is closer, cheaper and has more flexible hours.

Drop off this morning went smoothly. She's a happy girl, very friendly to everyone and excited by the new environment.

She had no problem saying goodbye to me. They will give her a week to get familiar with place then start potty training ASAP (I didn't even have to ask).

Another parent I know who's kid is in her class saw her there and told me she is doing well. As if she had been there for months. She transitions to new environments so easily, thank God.

Also she enjoys the stroller ride to school, loves to observe the outdoors. So being nearby helps to save on car gas as well.

Phrases and anecdotes

~Phrases
. Mommy, whatcha doing?
. Oh no, what happened? (says this a lot when something is wrong).. Example when a classmate started crying.
. Ooh, what's this? (when she saw something new at the home)
. Open wiiide (when feeding me cheerios)
. I'm so cute (I tell her she's cute all the time)
. I'm so heavy (after taking out of bath tub).. I said this twice and now she says it every time.
. Be careful..  Even saying this to a soap bottle when it almost lost balance
. Don't moOove~
. I like cheese.

~Funny stories
Tom was busy for a while changing light fixtures in the living room. A started to miss him. She calls out for daddy.. "daddy help open [milk]". I proceed to help her open it and she says with such fierceness, "I SAID, DADDY!". I was floored with shock! What sass!

We went to a pool party at a friends apt. As we are about to enter and I tell her we are going to a pool, she says, "I'm so happy". Same thing when I was about to give her ice cream.

A boy was playing with her arms and feet while in the pool. He lift her feet up and it bends 90° to her body. She says, "no feet, put it back". HAHAAh.

Daddy: "do you love me?"
A: "Okay"
Daddy: "do you love mommy?"
A: "Yes!" =)

~Other memories
She had so much fun with chi Alyna and bac ngoc. They stayed in the basement. After they left, she would motion to the basement and longingly call for them. She definitely remembers. Occasionally she would bring up Umma and gong gong.

She was a flower girl for aunt Mai's wedding. We didn't practice bowing much, and when it came time to do that, she inside crouched down to leave her basket on the floor. So cute, I have to out a video. Also right before entering the aisle, she had a meltdown to the floor. Miraculously, she switched off and resumed to walk down the aisle with big cousin Alyna in the sweetest way.

23 month update

Allison is 23 and a half months right now. She turns 2 years old very soon, in two weeks! She is a happy and independent  little girl, and loves social environments and new places.

She talks a lot and her vocabulary is growing by the week. She picks up very quickly from us and uses learned phrases to apply to her own situation and surroundings. I will put a separate post about phrases she has said.

Food wise, she has become a great eater with a big appetite. She shows interest in eating food that she sees and even trying new foods such as beans, hummus, kimchi, pickled veggies. She gets goldfish crackers at school occasionally and will regularly ask me for them. I try to keep her away from junk food and have sparingly given her ice cream, chocolate and cheeto chips. She loves cheese and milk.

Sleep wise, she is good for night time. Our bedtime ritual is very much a predictable routine, with bath time, brush teeth, book reading, then place in crib. She will sing and talk to herself for a while.. Kind of like digesting her day. It's funny to hear the random songs she'll sing or phrases she'll say, to herself, in the crib, in the dark. We stay in the room in the dark until she falls asleep on her own, then sneak out.

Nap time on the weekends with us, she will still only fall asleep in the stroller. Attempts to get her to nap in a kiddie air bed didn't work. I believe she fights her naps bc she doesn't want to miss out in anything, but the stroller does the trick every time. We still have to try because when winter comes, I really don't want to bring her outside for naps.

Potty training wise, we put her on the big potty in the am/pm, and if she has to go, she will pee on her own demand. Only very recently did she initiate the interest to sit on the potty to pee. Today, she was having a hard time going number two in her diaper, so I asked if she wanted to sit on the potty. She usually says no but today, she agreed. Lo and behold, she poo poo'ed in the potty! She was so proud and wanted to tell daddy. "look daddy, I went poo poo!" I am so so proud of her!

Development wise she knows her ABCs, can verbally count form 1-20, shapes (ovals, rectangle, diamond, star, octagon, hexagon),  animals, colors, etc. Next focus is on size (big, small), pronouns (you, me), ownership (mine, yours).

We are switching her to a new Preschool when she turns two, for economical and convenient reasons. We are going to miss her current school, where she loves and they love her. I hope the new school will be just as good.

Terrible 2's

Terribles 2's are in full effect in our household, and boy is it unbearable! She'll have meltdowns if she doesn't get her way.. which include dropping her full body weight to the floor and crying inconsolably. Also, she says no to everything, even things that she wants. She'll throw it back, even though it's something she likes. At this point I don't enjoy being around her when she is like that and am relieved when she is shipped off to school or goes to sleep. Lord, grant me the patience to love her even when she is terrible.

Sleep success!

It's been 2 months (starting at 19 months) since Tom has taken over the bedtime routine. He reads books with her, I say goodnight towards the start of that, and then he turns the light off and puts her into her crib. Because she generally doesn't like to be alone, he would have to pat her to sleep on her back with his hand. if he stopped, she would look at him, sometimes getting up and sometimes taking his hand and putting it on her chest.

In order to get her to the path of independence, we've made a new rule that daddy shall not pat her to sleep. He will sit next to the crib, but he will not pat. She would occasionally look up to see that he was still there but generally she was ok without the patting. The next step was to move his chair farther from the crib. Knowing he was still there in the room, she would go to sleep on her own. In the case that she was too wide awake and had trouble sleeping, he would leave the room to let her cry it out a little, and that she did. Of course he came back.

Tonight was a momentous occasion; she tossed and turn for a bit but was clearly trying to settle in to sleep. Because Tom is not really near her crib too much, she doesn't seem to look for him much. Tonight, he was able to leave the room while she tossed and she didn't even notice! Eventually she fell asleep on her own. This is a huge deal!!

Also, her middle of the night wakings seems to have ended. For the past 3 or so nights, she has slept up until 5:30 am. At this point, we don't try to put her back to sleep anymore. I think things changed because one night, she woke up at 3:30 am; we were too tired to go to her so we didn't. When I woke up at 5:30 am, I heard her still. So Tom went to her, put her back to sleep, and she slept until 7 am. So I think her body realized that she should just continue sleep. Hopefully if she does wake up again, she will exercise her new skill to fall asleep on her own without needing help.

21 month update

Today, June 3, 2015, Allison turns 21 months old. Her 20th month has been quite eventful. Here is how she's been doing:

Personality - 
Allison is quite the social butterfly. She has friends at school that like her (they say her name when they see her), friends at church that love her, and she can be quite friendly with her grandparents, aunts and cousins, from both sides, and our friends.

She's also very cheeky and quite the curious troublemaker. She loves to get into things, to hold/touch new things, curious about new people and environments, loves anything fun.

She's obsessed with bubbles and drawing on paper. She doesn't play with her toys much and would rather be near us more than anything. Even if she is watching her favorite program on TV but I leave the room, she will come follow me like a puppy :)

At 20 months came the start of the terrible 2s - opposing almost everything we ask or offer immediately by saying no.. it's her default answer without thinking, which I can catch her when I offer something I know she likes. she'll say no and then want it, the little bugger ;) I try to give her as much freedom as I can and also give her a majority of what she wants but when I say no, I have to stick with it. The best way to avoid meltdowns from being upset is to move on to the next topic or item or object in which I know she'll be ok with. This helps her foget about being upset. If she is still upset, that means she really did want that something so I usually have to give in just a little.

Favorite Activities -
reading, coloring, going to the library, park, playing with bubbles, watching TV

Favorite characters - 
Elmo, Daniel Tiger

Discipline
Now is when Tom and I truly have to exercise our parenting skills. Our human nature and upbringing naturally inclines us to be the boss of our child, to raise our voice and be stern. However, in situations where Allison does something wrong like hit us, and then we react that way, we find that reacting in such a manner is not helpful at all. She would then get really upset that we were upset and then the original offense just gets lost. In those situations, she will be stubborn about not saying sorry due to pride. So, Tom and I have to change our ways and go for the more calmer/teaching route where we have to tell her that what she did was wrong. She's learning to say sorry after I myself have apologized to her for doing something wrong to her. Even I learned from Daniel Tiger that first we say sorry, then we see how we can help to make things better. For example, she knocked her dinner on te floor by accident today. Tom's reaction was to get mad and yell, but I asked her to say sorry and then help us to pick up the food. I'm starting to think about how God feels about us as His children when we don't behave.

Manners -
Please - we usually have to ask her to say this
Gimme! - we usually have to ask her to add on "please"
Thank you - starting to teach her think. She's said it on her own a few times.
Sorry - getting better at saying this when I ask. She sees how happy I am when she says it. We also watched an episode of Daniel Tiger on this topic.

Development -
Allison is going through a mental growth spurt right now. She's learning/absorbing a lot of things and words at this age and is very observant. She knows about ownership (mommy's phone, coat, hat vs. daddy's vs. her's). She's also putting two and two together. For ex, outdoors, on observing airplains in the sky, we taught her that the airplane is in the sky. When inside, asking where it is, she would say "outside airplane sky". Her memory is very very sharp. One morning, I pointed out in a book that the duck was in the water. She told Tom that later that night. I wore a particular jacket one day, one that I hadn't worn in a while, and the next day, she identified it as mine. She knows exactly which pocket in my purse that I store my phone. It's amazing for us to watch her grow.

Words -
The number of single words that she now knows is too much for me to count. She is able to say 3 word phrases now.
Bless you daddy (which she funnily says after anyone sneezes, burps or coughs)
I see you (when we say when she hides)
Thank you mommy
outside airplane sky
can count from 1-10. Now teaching her 11 - 20.
shapes - can recognize most. still has trouble with colors.

Songs which she knows most of the words to - 
ABC (very surprising to me that she knows the song verbally, even the part at the end "now I know.. next time..". We are working on identifying the letters now, which she can for A - G.
Mary had a little lamb
Wheels on the bus
Row Row Row your boat
Twinkle Twinkle

Eat -
She loves her meats and carbs. I would sneak in veggies through smoothies, but then I read that that doesn't teach them to love veggies. I think read an article that gave the idea to serve veggies first on its own. With no other food option + a hungry stomach, they should be better about eating it. I tried it a few times with edemames, Jap yam and roasted cauliflower and it worked! This month she has tried frozen blueberries which she loves, and I freeze smoothies into small bite sized ice cubes which she enjoys as well. Going to try freezing yogurt next.

Potty -
Allison is able to identify that she has to go #2 before it happens. However, she does not want to do it on the potty yet (it's quite early for it anyway so I don't push her. Will try more around 24 months). The times that I put her on there, she is able to go #1, so that is promising. Her school is to help with potty training as well.

Sleep -
Bedtime routine continues to be where mommy gives her a bath, brushes teeth and daddy reads her books and puts her in her crib. It has evolved from him patting her to sleep to him sitting nearby but not patting. The aim is to get her to be able to fall asleep on her own. The problem is that she has separation anxiety right now, a normal thing that happens to toddlers during their quest for independence (venturing on their own yet wanting a safety net).

Unfortunately, because of her mental growth spurt, she is going through a sleep regression since May 24, which means she wakes up in the middle of the night, like at 3am. This is because her mind is working overtime to proccess all of the things that happened during the day. Tom has to go in and help her go back to sleep. I can't be involved in putting her to bed because there is a certain dependency that she on me that we are trying to wean from.

Summer -
We hope to do many fun activities with her this summer. We already went to the zoo, and want to go to the Brooklyn Bridge Park, Manhattan, museums, and swimming. There's going to be a big change coming up when we move into our new house in July. I hope that she is able to transition well.

Veggie tales

How I usually serve Allison her meals is all the food together; most, carbs and veggies. As an eater, she focuses on one type at a time because she wants to indulge in that type. So usually I would serve her most first for the protein, then carbs bc she loves carbs and I didn't want her to fill up on that first. The veggies haven't been prominently served so she shows no interest in it.

In an effort to get more fiber in her to help with bowel movements (after suffering from some painful constipation), I served her smoothies made from frozen fruit and veggies (beets, carrots, spinach). It helped and she was none the wiser.

However, a nutritionist that I follow online made such a wise point that sneaking veggies into things like smoothies is a disservice to kids bc it doesn't give them opportunities to love and embrace veggies. Her son delights in veggies the same way as desserts. I would love it if Allison would love veggies as much as I do, but how?

I then came across an article from a blog that I follow called Super Healthy Kids. It was mind blowing. The main point is, serve the veggies first on it own, without any other to distract them. With given a choice between veggies, carbs or meat, of course veggies will lose. But on its own, especially dinner time when she is the most hungry, it has a chance.

I am so proud to say that it's worked. So far she has happily eaten roasted cauliflower, boiled Japanese yam, and edemames. "yum" with a smile :) I also feel like she is more open to trying out new foods, so I will totally take advantage of this to introduce other fruits to her besides tangerines which she loves. Other fruits I have also served through smoothies or oatmeal but now will try it fresh.

Mother's day, 2015

Mother's day gift/craft from school. Homemade lemon scrub and coasters <3 Also enjoyed the mommy and me breakfast that they hosted this morning.

More Development updates

Allison is around 1 week short of turning 20 months old now. Here are some development updates:

1. She does really well with puzzle boards now. She plays with this at the library, where they have a lot. 
2. She can count verbally from 1 - 10, and can also count objects from 1-10 (hasn't recogonized numbers yet tho). The only thing is that she always skips #5!
3. She can say "ABCD" and as of yesterday, can recognize those letters if put in order. 
4. Has started stringing together 2 words. So far it's been "no daddy"or "no share".. both beginning with no, hah. 
5. has started recognizing what belongs to whom. She'll point at my coat or shoes or phone and say "mommy". same with daddy's stuff and her stuff. 
6. she is still obsessed with elmo. we've started letter her watch Daniel Tiger (a reboot of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood) and she also loves that. so far she doesn't freak out when we turn it off as long as it has been  sufficient amount of time. 
7. She remembers her friends and relatives name. at home, out of the blue, she will say her friends names, or will say the viet word for Grandpa (Ong Ngoai), which then leads to other words for grandma (ba), then other grandpa (gong gong) then other grandma (umma). This shows that she can associate those people together, even they one set of grandparents aren't usually with her at the same time as the other set. 
8. Recently at her preschool parent-teacher mtg, her teacher told us that she is emotionally mature. When other kids cry, she comforts them by hugging and kissing them. awww! She is also a teacher's helper. 
9. She is very curious about everything, new surroundings, things. she likes to get her hands on things, which is why we call her a troublemaker sometimes. strangers comment that she is well behaved in public. 
10. on April 12, we went to a kid's bday party which was held at an indoor gym type place which had mats and stuff. she loved it, and was climbing around everything. 
11. still not eating a lot of veggies and lately has been having constipation problems because of that as well as an increase in milk intake (dairy can be a cause). Just this past weekend, she caught a stomach bug from school but is showing signs of improvement. 
12. She's very good at identifying most animals. She is also very observant. We were at a shoe store and she points out elmo. Where? A tiny character on a shoe. We were on the LIRR train looking out the window, and she points out a dog while in the train, passing the outside scenery at a quick pace. What dog? It was on these multiple posts that said something about do not let dogs trespass, and had an icon of a dog. Also, small butterflies on her clothes that I never noticed. 
13. She loves stairs. Going up and down. Can do it all day. 

Brooklyn Botanical Garden

Something I have always wanted to do, since it was a childhood tradition of mine. I've always wanted to come here and take nice pics; it is usually still cold in April but luckily it was very nice weather today. I love to enjoy flowers and nature; it reminds me of God since He created it. I look forward to coming here every year when the cherry blossoms bloom. 

Not so nice personality traits

At 17.5 months she started hitting us. It all started when she developed an ear infection which required us to give her antibiotics in the form of a nasty syrup. Of course she didn't like it and attempts to mix it with something else didn't always work so we had to hold her down and force it in her mouth, a complete violation of her trust. From then on she would show her contempt by slamming on the table or hitting us and say no. For 2 weeks she occasionally hits us for no reason and I believe it is to test us. Now at 18.5 months she doesn't hit us anymore or slam the table because there is no pent up anger towards us anymore.

When I scold her after she hits me, she immediately makes up for it by reaching out to kiss me because she knows what she did was wrong. It doesn't make it OK and I need to make that clear to her.

On Mar 12, we had people from church over for Bible study. There were several other kids. Allison did not like them playing with her toys or when Tom held any of them. When a boy opened this toy door, she'd slap his hand away and close it, saying no. This repeated about 10 consecutive times.

Today, same thing. We were at someone else’s home and there were 4 different kind of laptop computers. If another boy crept up to her laptop, she’s push him over with her body to edge him out. She did not like to share and I did not like to see this side of her. I made it very clear to her that she has to share and she understood bc she looked sad. 

I am reading that not sharing is normal for this young age and is something that they will develop over time. So as parents we have to promote it as best we can by modeling it with each other and encouraging her to do so. 

Development stories

1. While brushing teeth I often give her an old smart phone to watch videos so that she won't fight the teeth brushing. I keep it behind the mirror and she knows to point to it and ask for it only during teeth brushing time.
2. She knows that we keep snacks in a certain pantry so when I ask her if she wants a snack, she goes to it and opens the door.
3. Very consistent about pointing out the owls, butterflies and ducks in her bedroom. And dogs and elmo whenever she sees it. Any other animal she will call a dog tho, lol.
4. When we read books over and over, she really remembers the words on some pages and will say it before we do. For other words that we teach her, she is able to remember it after only teaching a few times.
5. She is able to count from 1 to 10 in alternating fashion with us. So I'll say 1, she says 2, I say 3, she says 4, and so on. It also works when I start on 2. I've counted from 1-10 a handful of times with her and they do that in school as well. It's pretty amazing to witness!
6. March 10: when picking her up from school, she ran to me as usual and then went to go get her coat from the table (first time ever). It shows me that she knows the pattern.
7. March 11: I asked for a kiss and she said no. I acted very sad so then she gave me lots of kisses. This shows me that she can understand feelings and even more, tries to make the situation better. Amazing!
8. Tom has been working late so it's just me and her in the evenings. She asked about daddy and pointed to our bedroom.
9. As of March 10 she calls out for "daddy". Said it the first time when she woke up crying for us. I don't think that she knows how to say mommy quite yet. She called me daddy when I picked her up from school and says it when I ask her to say mommy.
10. When we pick her up from school and see that she is in the middle of fitting a wooden puzzle piece, she yells in delight to see us but finishes putting the puzzle piece in before running to us. Hehe.
11. Unrelated but something I want to document. We taught her the sign language for "please" & "thank you" so when we ask her to say that in relation to giving her something she wants, she only signs it and doesn't say it. One time she was asking for something and keep signing please but I didn't pay attention so she said really loudly, "please!!" It’s funny to me.

Words

Allison has been picking up a lot of new words. At her 18 month checkup, the doctor asked the following: can she walk up and down stairs assisted? Can she feed herself with utensils? Can she say at least 15 words on her own? Yes to all. Here are the words she can say on her own, some of which she learns through books: 

Food: Water, rice, bread, cereal, ba"nana", oatmeal, dan tat (egg tart), to"fu" 
Animals: dog, duck, butterfly, lion, mouse, elephant. Can recognize seals. 
Greetings: hi, bye bye, night night, please, more
Cloths: socks, shoes, hat
Actions: change diaper (in viet), up, down, fart, all done
Objects: brush, paste, TV, phone, book, fork, spoon?, this
Expressions: oh no, wow
People: mama, daddy, gong gong, Umma, elmo, ba ba, Mei mei
Body parts: can point to nose, ears, butt
Numbers: Can count in alternating fashion with us (I say 1, she says 2, she says 3, etc).
Colors: can say after repeating but not yet recognize: orange, blue, red, green, purple.
Other: can say after repeating : soon, outside 

Words that she can sign but not say: please, thank you, more, itsy bitsy (as in the spider)

To teach next: colors, shapes, abc

Hats

Different hat projects made in school to celebrate holidays

18 months

today (Mar 3, 2015), Allison is official 1 and a half years old! She's very aware of everything that goes on around and knows what to expect because of the routine that we have. For example, she knows that when one puts on their coat and/or shoes, they are heading outside. She knows that when we go in the car, we are heading someone else. She's very happy when we drop her off at school, which is such a happy thing for a parent to see.

She also picks up and remembers things pretty quickly. She can identify ducks pretty well, even if she hasn't seen that particular one before. For books that we read often (even library books), she remembers the words we say with most pages and will say those words before we do (like this book we read about dim sum and the characters "ba ba"or mei mei"). There is another book about Pandora which I read to her and she now can do or say the same things that I did when I read it to her before (like saying "tee hee" or "oh no!"). I have captured it on video and will post it. Similar effect with children songs that we listen to often, she can say some of the key words at the right time... like itsy bitsy spider or wheels on the bus or twinkle twinkle little star. It's very cool to see her grow up in this way.

lately she's been calling our phones "rice", it's so funny. "rice? rice? rice?" It's also amusing to hear her say the word "shrimp" very clearly.

The latest thing which I'm very pleased to see is that she has shown me that she can connect the words "poo poo" to the action. When I said it, she pointed to her butt. This happened yesterday and is a sign that she may be ready to start potty training (can happen as early as 18 months but average start is 2 years). Maybe this means I don't need to buy anymore diapers!

Last week, she had a cold and somehow developed an ear infection. She had elevated temperature for a whole week and had to stay home with grandma while one of us worked from home. Antibiotics in the form of a bubble gum flavored syrup had to be taken 2x a day for 10 days, 1 teaspoon each. It's been a struggle of sorts to get it into her mouth. So far it's worked when mixed with oatmeal for breakfast, and in the evening, 1x with apple sauce, 1x with flaxeed oil. other times we have had to hold her down and force it in her mouth, to which got her very upset. She'd spit it out or blow it out but eventually swallow. It's upsetting for us to have to do that to her, and I realize that is the reason why she was very contentious with us this weekend, slamming hand to table and yellow no! or hitting us. I think we've hit a new break tho because I bought this very tasty mango smoothie from the Naked brand and it's strong enough to mask the flavor of the syrup.

Beginning of hide & seek

One day I picked her up from school and saw her being playful like this.. Hiding underneath some coats that were hanging on the wall. She definitely has a silly side =P

buckles and things

Allison shows a fascination with all things buckets, like in her high chair and stroller. She's interested in how it snaps in and tries to do it herself. Maybe it is the little engineer in her :)

Winter 2015

It's been snowing and freezing this winter; the coldest that I have ever known, with real feel temperatures of -10/-15! It snowed overnight but the temperature today is very bearable at 30-40 degrees, so we took a walk outside. She enjoyed it bc we haven't let her walk outside on the street; we carry her to be quick.

In these pics, check out her new sneakers now that she has outgrown the first pair. They are size 5.5 and look like big girl sneakers (new Balance brand). My little girl is growing up!

New foods

This morning, she ate two new foods really well and it surprised/impressed me. We had thin slices of toasted French bread. I ate it with brie cheese and wild caught smoked salmon from trader Joe's (yay to wild caught). I didn't think she would eat the lox so I just gave her the toast with brie cheese. I even expected her to take the cheese off but she didn't, and seemed to like the cheese so much that she was sucking it off the bread. When I gave her a piece of cheese on its own, she happily ate it. 

After a while, she asked for the lox. She usually shows interest in trying out new foods but would spit it out if she didn't like it. So I was expecting her to spit it out but she liked it! So much that she ate a whole bunch, I had to cut her off bc I wasn't sure of the affect it will have on her (smoked process uses nitrates, which is why pregnant women shouldn't consume it). Anyway, I am proud of her.

She's a decent eater. Not too too picky. Doesn't eat a lot but eats. So that means frequent eating during the day. She swallows her food very quickly so I wonder if she chews thoroughly; I have to keep reminding her to.

Later on, she is happily eating lunch with daddy and I put on my coat to go out and get a haircut. She says bye to me several times bc she saw me with my coat on. Lol. She did the same thing to her maternal grandma once, and it was the first time we saw that she knew that association.

"duck"

Alli pointed out the small bird on the back of the Bible to mom and said "duck". And she said it again several times when I asked her afterwards. I am amazed bc we never talked about that particular image b4. Only duck we talk about is little quack on the bottom right.  

she also recognizes dog now. Although, she calls a lot of things dog, like a horse or this stuffed hippo we have. 

other personality traits

At 16 months we started seeing signs of jealousy. When Tom played with nephew Liam, Allison would go up to him and want him to hold her. Her teacher has also observed it when she is holding other kids. Allison would go up to the teacher and whine until she was held. I'm sure she would react the same to me so I try not to do that to her.

We have a book of colors. She says blue a lot (even if it's not blue) but can correctly say orange at the right page. Another very interesting thing is counting. We could from 1 to 10 with her. In one instance, she was able to say the words for 1 to 5 along with us. Another time, she said the even numbers (2-4-6-8-10). I don't know how normal this is but I'm pretty proud of her and happy that she is developing well. I credit a lot of it to being stimulated at preschool.

Today, Allison vomited majorly 2.5 times. I am just praying that it won't last as long as it did last time or become as devastating as it was last time (refusal to eat for 5 days, weakness, neediness). Dear God, please.

17 months

Allison is growing up fast. She's a toddler now; walking and talking a lot; exerting her will and showing attitude. She's also very playful and fun. She's doing much better with socializing with people. For a period at the end of 15 months old, she was very clingy to me and had some stranger anxiety.

Feeding wise she is doing very well. She shows interest in trying out new foods but will spit it out if she doesn't like it. She also shows interest in using utensils and does a good job getting the spoon and fork to her mouth. After dinner I give her some supplements: teaspoon of flaxeed oil for DHA/omega, chia seeds for fiber, iron, calcium, and yogurt with probiotics and calcium. Her favorite foods are broth and rice. She shows more interest in drinking water but milk is something we still need to practice on.

I remember this morning, dropping her off at school. we came in and her classmates were singing a song. she immediately smiled. when we went to the door of the classroom and she saw her friends in circle time, Allison was so giddy that her legs started to dance with excitement. She happily went in and had no problem with me leaving.

At 15 months in the beginning of Dec, both mommy and daughter had a stomach virus. Allison was the most sick we have ever seen, not eating or drinking for days while vomiting. It was a very hard time on all 3 of us. We were most worried about dehydration. We were so relieved when she showed interest in eating again. Child refusal to eat or drink is one of the most stressful parts of being a parent.

At the end of Jan (right before turning 17 months, we took our first trip on an airplane to Florida to visit cousin Alyna. Alli did well on the plane; she is a very active toddler so it was a bit exhausting for us. She had a blast down there with cousin and auntie/uncle. Alyna is a loving cousin and it was a great environment to play in.

Words that Allison can say are: hi, bye, amen, more, pray, up, down, rice, thay tha? (change diaper), night night. I love you = "avoo" <3 :) she says this back to us everytime, it is sooo cute! She is also very affectionate to us, giving hugs and kisses when we ask and even when we don't ask. her kisses are soo sweet! She also knows to put her hands together when the viet words are said (i.e. before praying). Recently she even learned a bit of spanish. teacher says "te"and she says "amo!" which means I love you.

She also enjoys watching youtube videos of nursery rhymes (too addicted to it actually). She knows certain songs and sings along, like itsy bitsy spider and wheels on the bus. we figured out to sing these songs in the car to entertain her.

here are some videos and pics:

Airplane ride to Florida

from the epic stomach bug at 15 months