Boy now one year and nine months old

It's been too long since I added to this blog and now our second child is nearing 21 months. He is still getting used to eating food, sometimes spitting it all out after chewing it for a whlie. We love watching him when he has the motivation to eat on his own, using the spoon on his own to scoop his food makes him look like he's really growing up.

In terms of words, he knows probably around 200 words. However, sentences would not exceed three words. Most used phrase would be "don't do that" with a wave of his finger. He's pretty cute when he gets angry and doesn't have the words to speak, so he babbles something in an angry tone. When he is smacked, he would say something like, ow, ouch. Words he's still trying to say include water = dada, tofu = egg.

The most fascinating thing about kids is how different they can be from each other. They have their own character and the boy is very affectionate, coming to us and pulling our faces close to his or patting me enthusastically to get my attention "daddy daddy daddy!"

His favourite toy is any ball, whether we are in the shop or at home, if there is a stack of toys, he will seek out the ball first. He is pretty accurate with his throwing - maybe a baseballer in the making or a basketballer.

He likes to follow his four year old sister around and copy whatever she does, even the manner in which she says things, he will copy. He draws everywhere, on the wall, on the security screen, even on the tv if he could reach. He climbs everything and enjoys being chased around the house and pushing his truck/bus around saying "ready? go!"

Parenting is really enjoyable and it shows us how the simplest experiences with our children can be so rewarding.

Little Fess or Adult Fess for babies?

Recently we have been battling a baby's blocked nose and asked the question whether we should use the adult Fess saline solution or the exorbitantly more expensive Little Fess. We noticed that recently, the adult Fess bottles have changed their labeling to say that it is not suitable for babies which was not the case before. On their website, it says this -

FESS Little Noses Spray is ideal for older babies who tend to wriggle around a lot. The spray is preservative and additive free with a unique filter in the bottle to keep the saline hygienic and germ free. It also comes with a FESS Nasal Aspirator to gently remove excess mucus. The FESS Little Noses drops bottle makes it ideal for newborn babies by allowing a more gentle application of non-medicated saline into the littlest nose. FESS Little Noses Spray is also individually packaged and therefore, is ideal for parents who may already have an Aspirator.

A little digging and we found that the preservative used by Fess called benzalkonium chloride for the adult Fess, could be doing more harm than good. Our conclusion was to go for the expensive Little Fess which is much cheaper at Chemist Warehouse than other pharmacies ($8.39).

Baby Now Going on Eight Months

Before we had our little girl, I was quite excited about keeping a blog about all the things that she would do and sharing my perspective of being a new dad. However, I've come to realize why dad blogs are few and far between. The fact is, much of the time that I am at home, I need to be getting water, preparing her bath, feeding her or keeping her entertained. At the same time, we don't want to be in front of the computer too much because she starts to be very curious what it is we are doing with this glowing screen of the computer.

Now she is almost eight months, Sitting up quite well now and able to balance from falling off. She enjoys being surprised and having our face close to hers. She also finds it funny to have her hand run over our face. She still likes holding her feet in the air and when she is being carried, she likes to bend backwards to the left and to the right. We have been feeding her cottage cheese with fish and mashed vegetables and she loved it. Last night, she started crying very hysterically which we suspect to be her first nightmare. She was sobbing for quite a while after that as well.

As a dad, it's been fun making her laugh, smile, stare and interact with me. Sometimes I just want to hug her and hold her tightly wondering whether she understands this as an act of affection for her. What we know is that she is quite attached now with us. As soon as she sees us turn her back on her, she can start crying. As soon as she is picked up, she stops as if she was never crying. Many people say that this is the best age for a baby because they can't crawl and walk away and are quite happy to sit on your lap, watch people and play with their hand, studying the opening and closing of their hands as if it were a new toy.