Junya turns 14 months today!
(Also read 1st month , 2nd month , 3rd month , 4th month , 5th month , 6th month , 7th month, 8th month, 9th month , 10th month , 11th month , 12th month and 13th month here.)
Here’s what happened in the past month!
1. A Boy
I know i have said it many times before, and i’m likely to say it many more times in the near future, but last month, my baby has grown into a boy.
Even though he looks as baby as he always used to be.
He could walk at a speed where chasing is needed now. And, last month i was just saying how i dreaded one day he will just break off from holding my hands and run off. Well, he cannot run or speak yet, but he already doesn’t need me to hold his hand anymore.
T___T
And oh ya he can also walk backwards now (and he loves doing that to amuse us lol).
He is smarter, he has developed the ability to work the magic of his tinny little brain to think for himself,
2. A Rebel
and not just do what he is told. In fact the very opposite.
I thought Terrible Two is supposed to start at age 2?
He loooooves rummaging through my make up drawer and messing everything up. And i will put up one finger and warn him “Uh uh.” Soon enough he learnt how to use it back at me. When i say uh uh, he would stare right back at me fearlessly and say in a loud voice “AHHHHP“. That’s his version of uh uh right back at me.
And that is when i knew my uh uh has failed. T___T. Now i am alternating between ignoring him (while pulling my hair off silently then loserishly arranging back all my eyebrow mascaras), and pushing the drawer closed by force (then watch him go ballistic sitting on the floor).
AHHHHP!
3. Independence
On the other hand Little Big Boy now is independent enough to spend some time by himself.
I no longer have to wake up together with him. By 7am or even some other random hours he would climb off the bed and play little detective to investigate things in the room. First he would wake Champon up to be his loyal hound and follow him around to sniff /flip/ inspect things, and when he is done they will both come and wake us up. *yawn* Okokok baby.Good morning. Okok.
And he is also taking on new challenges and adventures.
Including camping at Champon’s den.
And also very kindly donated RM1 and his sunglasses to his favorite dog.
4. Ain’t no mountain high enough
His climbing skill is so fantastic now the can climb onto the roof top.
I’m not even kidding.
Roof top of Champon’s house in our bedroom. At least.
His favorite hobby is “pushing things around in the house”.
5. Table Manners (and the lack thereof)
Junya now can put his hands together when i tell him to say Itadakimasu, before eating a meal.
Just as i was feeling quite glad that my son now learns the concept of table manners, he started doing this.
The chao ah pek style come out liao T___T.
6. Meal times
Food update!
I was quite surprised to find out at in Japan and some western countries, most parents do not give their toddlers formula milk after the age of one.
Most of the Japanese baby food recipe books state that follow-up milk (formula) is not necessary, in fact it is a better choice to get most of the nutrition from their daily meals, and replace formula/breastmilk with cow’s milk. Follow-up is only recommended when the toddler has an eating problem or is not getting enough nutrients from baby food.
But most of the parents i know in Malaysia are strong believers of formulas (once they wean the baby off the breast) and give formula to their kids as long as they can!!! I know some kids who are like 5 and still drinking formula!
I believe that it is maybe because our local cow’s milk has really low quality. Most local milk tastes like vanilla-flavored water. -__-
So Junya is still sticking to formula, but i do let him have Hokkaido Milk and he looooves it.
He has been drinking Meiji ever since i started him on formula, but at the previous check-up with the ped, Junya was suspected to have acid reflux, because at age 1 he still has random spit-ups quite often T__T. (Although at the time of typing it has gone away yay!!)
So last month i also started him on an anti-reflux formula from Morinaga that has this thicker texture to prevent reflux.
Annnnnnnd somebody finally accepts snacks.
He will now happily munch of biscuits, senbei, fruits… until he decided he has had enough of it then he will donate it all to Champon. I guess i should be glad that he is at least generous. XD
He has also developed a liking for soup and loves drinking it from his cup/soup bowl.
Miso soup, chicken soup, vegetable soup… 😀
7. Weight
“Finally, mama.”
YES BABY. YES MY GOOD BABY.
He was stuck at 7.6-7.8KG for like, half a year?!? And when he finally hit 8KG one day, the next day he dropped back down to 7.9KG, and i was secretly wishing he would poop in his diaper there and then so that it would make up for that 100gram and so that i could feel better lolol.
But really. I started getting all paranoid when his weight fell outside the growth curve. Is he not eating enough? Does he have digestion problem? Was it some sickness i couldn’t tell? Did i cook something wrong?! I got so worried to the point that i suspect his body was not absorbing anything i made him eat T____T.
But within this month he gained a whooping 500grams at one go!!!! CELEBRATION TIME! HELLO BRING ON THE STEAKS !!!
8. More words
New vocabulary this month includes: Tes (Yes), Milk Milk (which also sounds like Mama), Shoes, Fish , Ball Ball, Cat, Duck/Dog (cannot differentiate one from another, depending if he is speaking Australian or Manglish).
He could also shake heads to express “no” now, which looks like he’s doing hip hop dance because his whole body shakes together LOLOL. But after a few weeks of practicing now he’s almost perfecting the no head shake. Which is all he’s gonna do for the next 20 years.
9. Sweetheart
So yea he gets a lot of scoldings nowadays because of point No.2 (see above), and usually he says AHHHHP to silence me. (If i say, that’s not very nice. Then he will say AHHHHP again, only louder T____T)
But one day.
One day, he rummaged through my accessory drawer as usual, and threw my sunglasses on the floor. I was very angry, i bent down to him and said, “Junya, this is mama’s sunglasses, you don’t throw it on the floor, okay?”
Guess what he did?
He said nothing (no AHHHP), he just walked up to me and kissed me on the mouth.
Where… where baby.. did you learn this from?
Oh right. From your mama.
I felt as if i was 16 and my secret crush just stole my first kiss. I was stunned frozen. The heart-racing but shockingly sweet feeling swept me over.
Immediately i thought OKAY JUNYA HERE ARE MORE SUNGLASSES FOR YOU.
Sigh.
I want more boys.
For Papa
The ever so busy Papa has been consciously spending more time with his son, which made them a lot closer. Junya used to not even let him carry and would cry out for me, which made the danna really quite sad lol. But now they can play together and Junya will manja him sometimes.
Which obviously make Papa flower heart angrily bloom (心花怒放) lolol.
But when he says “Junya, call Papa!” Junya just goes “Mamamamamama”. So yea. I still win. XD
This is why i love boys.
For Mama
1. Dealing with Seperation Anxiety
Mine. Not the baby’s.
The danna and i have ever left to travel together without Junya once when he was 3 months old. I was offered a cruise holiday (neither of us had been on one before and it’s sponsoreddddd so why notttttt but it was a cruise for 18 years old and above which main events were hardcore boozing and all-night-long rave in bikinis by the pool @@).
Instead of enjoying some quiet (hardly. I called the concierge for ear-plugs) times together as a couple again, we were so miserably missing our son that we bought a last minute flight the moment we got internet when the ship docked at Langkawi just to go back home 2 days earlier lolol. The parties would be the same. But our son will never be the same as the day before!!!! It was impossible to even think about being separated from him for a couple of days.
I said to the danna, “i will never go on a holiday without Junya ever again!!!”
But then few months later, i jumped at the chance to travel to Kanagawa. But because it was for work obviously i couldn’t bring my family. And the danna was like, “eh i thought you never wanted to travel without Junya anymore? So i see. You love Japan more than your son.”
I WHAT??? HOW DARE YOU. I WILL NEVER LOVE JAPAN MORE THAN….
Oh. Uhm.
He was right.
I… have no excuse.
Hey. But you cannot judge me liddis. Because Japan is my religion, and you cannot simply accuse a person for loving God more than her own children right? Same logic.
So…
Anyway i have just taken another offer to go to Japan in Sep (to make regular pilgrim), without JunJun this time. (But but but!!!! After my work trip we will immediately to to Japan AGAIN for family trip! All is good!!!! )
Which i think it is time for the next point:
2. Weaning
No i still have not weaned. Not because i am one of those parents who like to compete in how long they breastfeed their children, but because i keep failing to wean.
You may remember my post on sleep-training Junya earlier. Actually i failed. I let him cry-it-out, it was good for about like a week, and then all my effort and his tears went down the drain the moment i gave up and flipped my shirt open. Never in your life will you consider exposing your boob a failure would you?? (Unless you are Janet Jackson.)
It is especially hard these days as he would cry middle of the night, fully awake, looking for his source of comfort. I had to pretend to be sleep hugging a bolster tight against my chest. But he doesn’t buy that anymore. He is no longer a baby who cries out of hunger. He is expressive and he takes actions to get what he wants – by climbing onto me, prying my arms off my chest and pulling violently at my shirt while crying with a sniffling mama…milk milk….. T____T. I realized that it sounds very wrong and i had to stop this.
So for about a few days, i have moved him to his old crib (which ended up as a massive storage box for his toys -___-), and let him sleep alone there.
And fiiiiiiiiiiiinally, i get to sleep next to the danna again lolol (Junya was always in between us). But then the thing is, i was having massive withrawal syndrome -_-.
I told the danna, “i miss JunJun.” when he was sleeping in the crib next to our bed. Am i crazy? My separation anxiety is no joke lolol. I have turned into my own baby @.@
Anyway, the sleep in crib thing failed also, because i have decided to move him back to our bed. But this time *i* sleep in the middle. So when i want to hug the danna i turn to my right and i want to cuddle with JunJun i turn to my left.
The best of both worlds. Am i a genius or something!?
Everything is perfect again.
I reason with myself that it is because, i can sleep next to my husband for many decades to come until one of us is gone (touch wood), but i cannot sleep next to JunJun forever. Not even in the next couple of years T___T.
So i just want to do this as long as i can.
But i do plan to wean him off before i fly to Japan end of Sep! Do share if you have any tips on weaning a boob-addict.
Happy 14 months old Jun Jun!
Hi Cheesie, may i know where did u get those wooden bowls/plates/utensils with name engraved?
Cheers!
I got them from Rakuten Japan, it’s a personalized baby shop!
I applied bandaid on my tits(blushing) and let my daughter sucked it, only in one day my daughter let it go..It’s more easier than I expected, and deep down in my (fragile)heart, I realized that I’m the one who didn’t want to wean.
omgggg she never cry ah suck suck suck different wan!
And yessssssss i think i’m the same. I am the one who is not ready to wean @.@
I am also a regular pilgrim. Less fervent than your religious adoration though, I only visit the holy land once every two years. Hahahaha. I want to meet Junya and say hi to him, he’s so cute :3 I like his name cup/ bowl!
Agree about the vanilla-flavour water omg. When I tell other people I like milk and they give me stunned-looking faces I must clarify it’s milk from other countries I like lolol.
Thank you!!! Come meet him! The last tim i saw you he didn’t exist yet hahaha
Ya wor. Yogurt also i cannot tahan T__T. Rather not drink/eat haha
I weaned my son when he was 21 months, i was having hard time weaning him coz he really dependant on my boob to sleep.
I am pregnant for a few months already and everyone kept on pestering me to stop stop stop breastfeeding. I said it is ok. I myself has love hate relationship with breastfeeding as i want to get my body back again, but i also love breastfeeding moment coz it is so easy to calm my son down. hahahaha…
At last suddenly for a few days i kept on saying to my son, “oh you are not a baby anymore, you are little boy now.. Little boy drink “uyu” ” ( milk in Korean , i named my boob as milk, named cow’s milk as “uyu” ).
Then i give him the milk. When he was drinking the milk, i said “because drink uyu already then say bye bye to milk (boob)”. At first few days he cried coz after milk he still want boob. But i kept on saying bye bye to milk. At midnight he woke up and try to find boob, i gave water instead. And he stopped breastfeeding in those few days 😀
And he sleep better too coz he learned to sleep on his own (before, always nurse to sleep), so i get better sleep too ^^
Good luck!!!
Hahaha so cute! Yea i also told Junya that. But stopping breastfeeding will help getting back in shape? Cuz most mommies tell me they gain weight after they wean, not to mention the boobs will shrink back to even smaller size than original -_________-.
Do you know the Japanese way of weaning a baby? 😛 I watched a variety show and they talked about it. It’s to put a tiny bit of wasabi on your nipple and make baby not want to nurse. It sounds cruel but it really worked. Another way is to draw a scary face on your boobs. That one worked to but took a little longer.
Yes i did!!!!! My Japanese friend was telling me the same thing this afternoon.
Wasabi is too hardcore la hahhaa i think it’s more like lemon or something else. Scary face is also a bit hardcore you don’t want your child to hate your boobs ma lol nowadays they draw cute smiley faces, it gives the same effect, but the message is that to let them know that it is now different, and get them to say good bye and it is sort of like a graduation ceremony to boobies XD
I know some people who weaned by going overseas without the kid/s. Maybe move him to the crib a week before your trip? At the same time also introduce him with some “lovely” such as any soft cuddly comforters with tips/knots for sucking/chewing?
My 2.5yo loves his little bunny comforter. He plays with the knots as he falls asleep. I am not associate to this website, just to give you some ideas, https://www.thesleepstore.com.au/shop/tool-box/comforters
Good luck. 🙂
Thank you!! Yes Junya hugs his Geloatoni to sleep hehehe. Yea i’ll keep trying the crib thing. :))
My boy at going on 13mo is now good at climbing (without fear of falling – when we adults are showing the UHH careful AHH pain thingy as he does it..) But he is not into walking, but he crawls super fast! He likes throwing things off the tray on his baby chair, on the floor, the table… every time I said NO firmly and said I will smack his hand when he does it for fun, he keeps repeating it as if my smack on his hands does not stop him from doing it.
As for the chao ah pek seat position, my boy did not escape doing it too! grrr I hated it so much.. really like chao ah beng and I had to tell his dad “there see, that’s your son after you. Genes doesn’t run far eh?!” LOL
I guess all babies have the same patterns, we only hope they learn the good as they grow up.. hahaha..
Happy 14mo JunJun!
Hahhaah it’s really good to know our babies are not the only one behaving like barbarian XD. Junya throws things less now and start to understand things he is not allowed to do, but recently he likes climbing higher and higher omg the worry just never stops does it XD
my experience was gradual. I just latched her whenever I’m with her (I’m a ftwm) and pump the rest of the time. gradually she only latched during bedtime. then one day, she just decided she had enough, cuz when I put her to the breast, she suck twice, looked at me, and said YUCK!
OMGGGGGGG……. I was like Hello! these twins fed you for almost 1 year pls!!!
but anyway which mom can stay angry at their cute baby right. so all is forgiven. I didn’t experience any engorgement though. just like normal. boob size also didn’t shrink until smaller than before pregnancy lah, so I guess that’s a myth?
LOLOL omg she can say yuck at such young age!! Hahhaha so funny! Wa you are the lucky one for having the usual boob size!!
Hi cheesie I am so heartened to read this post of yours. My 10 mth old boy is v similar to junjun, his weight also stagnant for 3 mths now. He weighs 7.7kg now 🙁 I visited pd a few times and was asked to offer more solid food in place of milk, but it’s hard since my kid doesn’t like solids and even when he eats 2 meals a day, his weight is still stagnant. Glad to see junjun gain so much within a mth, at least there is hope for me. Do u have any tips that helped junjun gain so much within a month?
I think if he doesn’t like solid, just continue to give more milk! Junya is okay with solid but he loves his milk, so i just let him have however much he wants (usually 200ml each time, twice a day + night time nursing). Recently he starts to drink more (200 is not enough) so i guess there are phases they go through! At 10m old their weight gain will really slow down, it’s quite worrying but totally normal (as every other mom told me), so pls don’t worry too much! 🙂
U made me teared reading the last part. Too precious, too precious!!!
Vinn!!!!! hahah why you come here wan! i very surprised! <3 Hope you and your own precious are well and healthy 😀
the last picture is just like my baby boy and me every night. he is turning 14 months and I still didnt manage to wean off. He cant fall asleep without boobs. And my baby also only in 7.5kg – 8kg range.