Milestones

It's an amazing experience watching my son grow with each passing day. From a tiny little baby weighing only 2.2kg (ya, ya, I know, Keat & I are such horrible parents), Dennis has grown to the fine toddler that he is now. He might not be the biggest boy around still but he's a very active and happy kid, who spreads his infectious joy to everyone around him. He loves the outdoor and enjoys being yeh yeh's little "helper" in the garden. He loves watering the plants so much we have bought him his own miniature watering can,but he still prefers what yeh yeh uses.

Over the past few months, my baby has achieved several milestones and I'm proud to report them:

1) Dennis has learned to drink from the cup with very very minimal spillage. I don't know when and where he acquired the skill because I don't train him that diligently. So I was very impressed when my maid announced that he could already drink from the cup. Maybe, she's been doing all the hard work.

2) He can also spit after brushing his teeth. This, I've trained him for a while (maybe 6 months) .... on and off.... and one day he just stopped swallowing the water and let it drip out. It was a very fulfilling moment indeed! The training process was tedious but Dennis made it easier by coining a term for spitting. He calls it "duh". Before he learned how to spit, he would swallow the water and say "duh" - thinking the water would drip out as he said "duh". Thankfully, after many many goofy demonstrations by mummy, he finally could "duh" properly. Nowadays, when I say "duh" he knows what to do.

After the few successful attempts, Dennis, being the curious, playful kid that he is, decided to experiment "duh" in other scenarios. E.g. when he's drinking water, he will "duh" on the floor or in a cup (which he will then drink up again, and finish off with a satisfying "aaahh"). One day, Keat made an awful discovery that Dennis has been "duh-ing" in the cup which he's been using for his midnight drink. Oops...mummy forgot to mention but that's becuase mummy didn't know that daddy uses that cup. =)

3) Dennis wore his shoe on his own! Ok, I would be lying if I said he knows how to wear his shoes now. It was just one isolated incident when he was desperate to go out to the garden and decided to put on the shoes on his own. And he did! We were surprised to find him wearing one of his Crocs (wannabe) sandals. Like I said, it's only a one-off thingy and it's never happened since.

Just like most parents, I want so much for my son to pick up all these skills quickly. I want him to be independent, so he doesn't have to rely on me so much. At the same time, I don't want him to grow up so fast because I want him to remain as my baby! Zhen mao dun! (what a conundrum!) I'm very sure I'm the only one who feels this way. So make every moment that you spend with your kids special because you can never have it back again. Believe me, one day, you will look back at those days and wish you could relive those moments again - including those potty training days!!!