Mummy's entry - 21 months update

This update is more on her behaviour and speech.

I'm not sure if it's the fact that her behaviour now is preparing us for the "Terrible Twos" that all of us will be facing soon but whatever it is, she is getting incredibly cheeky and naughty.

At times, she can be the sweetest angel and at times she can be such an ugly monster!

She doesn't want to put back her things anymore when we ask her to. Instead she will tell us to put them back for her with her "Mummy, pu back" or "Papa, pu back" (put back). We have to encourage her to put it back together but when she is in one of her foul moods, we have no choice but to threaten her with her "Naughty Corner".

When we're going out or returning home, we will need to use the lift in our condo. So this little girl will tag along and when we have entered the lift, she will just stand at the entrance and stopped to look at us for our reaction. Or if she is in the lift, she will not leave with us immediately but will wait inside, smile and see our reaction. I'm at the verge of just letting the door shut and leave her in there but it doesnt't help that we have 16 floors in our condo (and some people may consider this abusive)! Anyway, we will pretend that we are just going to let her be by letting the door close a little and she will quickly budge. There were a few times that there were other people in the lift and we had no choice but to carry her along.

She is very possessive and territorial lately. She will not share her toys with anyone, not even us. Even after explaining many times to her the concept of sharing (and I'm told by her babysitter that she will share at the nursery although at times, she will be very bossy), she will give in some times.

About a month back, our neighbour's daughter, Jasmine came into our place for the first time and Rye Li was protesting all the way with her "don wans". But we ignored her, well we explained to her that she was here to play with her and that she would not take back her toys. Still, she cried when Jasmine sat on her car and played with her toys. We just let her to cry while we reasoned with her again and again as we wanted to teach her the concept of sharing her toys with others. Ever since that day when we asked her whether Jasmine can come over and play, she will reply "don wan".

A few weeks back, she had the chance to go over there for the first time, she willingly went into their place and helped herself to Jasmine's toys. Surprisingly, Jasmine allowed her, she is 4 months younger than Rye Li. I took the opportunity to stress this point, how Jasmine is willing to share with her so she also must share her toys with Jasmine. But this didn't work, she still say "don wan" when we ask her whether Jasmine can come over.

These days it is "i don wan" and she will stress on the "i". Even when I threaten her with the naughty corner she will say "i don wan".

This girl knows how to irritate us (or so she thinks) by ignoring us when we ask her to do something. We know she heard us but pretends not to and will only do it when we nag her.

She is pretty stubborn too and I feel that I'm partly to be blamed for this as I use alot of reverse psychology on her. When I know she's being difficult, I will scold her and tell her to cry. At times, I threaten her with her naughty corner that she can stand there and cry. Most times, she will not cry but just sulk.

When I want her to eat/drink or even do something, her initiall responses will be "don wan" and I will just add "ok, don't want, done! no need to...." and she will react to this and say "i wan". I know, I never said I was a good mom!

She knows when she is naughty too and acts like it is cool to be naughty and shows it off at times. One time, she refused to brush her teeth during her shower and I totally gave up in forcing her. When she came out from her shower, she went and tell her papa "i din brush teeth" (I didn't brush my teeth) and smiled.

On her speech, she has picked up alot of words and most of the times will be the parrot, and repeat the words that we have just said.

She can come home from the nursery and boast to us:-

"I pay garden" (I played at the garden)

and then,

"I pay chide" (I played on the slide)

and then,

"I pay chee chaw" (I played on the see-saw)

Also, she can tell us:-

"I eat yice" (I eat rice)

"I pall dum, knee gok bird" (I fall down and my knee got blood) She still says "dum" for down and it is funny to hear her say "i wan get dum" (I want to get down)

She likes to show off and always need to inform us so that we are aware of what she is doing and she will go "mummy/papa chee, chee" (chee = see)

Her persistence in getting the message across to us is really getting to my nerves. You see, before I became a mom, I have always found it irritating when kids keep repeating the same phrase over and over again till they get what they want. I think I may have asked those kids to shut up before.

And now that I have a talking toddler (which feels like payback time!), I have been trying to be as patient as I can (not my natural trait at all). I always pray for more patience and calmness and remind myself not to say "Shut up" when she gets to me. Haha....and no, I've yet to tell her to keep quiet so far. I will usually try to ignore her and suffer in silence or to try and steer her attention to other stuff or quickly give her whatever she wants but I cannot promise I can do this when I'm already in a bad mood. ;)

The following is an example of how persistent she can be:

We were at the supermarket and I bought some strawberries for her. Upon seeing it, she already said that she wants them. I explained to her that she cannot have them yet because they need to be washed at home and then only she can eat them. She seemed to understand it at that time and let it be but several minutes later;

"I wan chawbeyee, mummy, I wan eat chawbeyee"

And I explained it to her again. But several seconds later, same thing. And this repeated over again and again throughout the supermarket, at the cashier, on the way to the car, in the car, on the way home and at home till she got her strawberries.

Oh, how do I get to maintain my sanity?