Allison Abroad: Lola is 11 Months!

Goodness gracious, be still my heart, I cannot believe Lola is turning 1 in just under a month. We are headed to Taiwan for a long weekend to celebrate Lola's and my birthday at the end of November/beginning of December. I planned the trip back in August and I can't believe the time has nearly come to take the trip.

Swimming in slightly warmer days

How, oh how, have the months flown by so quickly? This really is the longest shortest time.

Lola is such a delight - she has increased her vocabulary rapidly recently. Now she knows her nose, her mouth, flowers, lights, curtains, birds, her milk, dogs and, occasionally, will indicate herself when you ask her "who is Lola?" In most of these, she knows it in both English and Chinese! When my parents were here, if we asked her where LaoLao or LaoYe was, she would look toward my mom or my dad. Her favorite concept currently is probably "light," if you ask her in any room or any place where the light is, she will immediately tilt her head back and point a very assertive little index finger up at the nearest light bulb.

Lola has also started to chatter incessantly. She is clearly trying to form words by trying out new sounds, and while some of her "words" come out more like gurgles or chirps, they are all delightful. She also knows how to aim that steady stream of chatter at someone in anger if she is upset - a little boy yanked out her hair clip at the playroom the other day and she really let him have it! She has also gotten into the habit of having some milk right before bed, even if she has just eaten. I was flabbergasted when she repeatedly said "nei nei" which is her shorthand for milk. She really understands and knows how to request verbally what she wants; it boggled our minds.

If you give her shoes, she will know that they are meant for her feet, and try incessantly to put them on. Same with her hair clips - she knows they're for her hair and will tap them on the top of her head.

Her love of dogs has grown rapidly recently, such that we stop at nearly every dog that we see while we are out walking. We also always look at and point at birds. As she has always done, Lola gets very quiet when we are in noisy or crowded public places, and she spends a lot of time observing not just little children but also older children and their parents.

Lola is very strong and able to pull herself up very easily now. She can also stand unsupported but she gets a little shaky or hesitant if she doesn't have something to hold on to. She can walk very easily if we have our hands supporting her under her armpits, or else if she can keep her hands on something for support (bookshelf, table, sofa). We are waiting for the day when she lets go and takes steps unaided! She seems very close.

We struggled with her sleep for a long time (pretty much since she was born, I guess!) but, naps aside (which remain a challenge from day to day), now she is able to fall asleep relatively painlessly. She usually goes down for the night between 6 and 7 pm, and then doesn't wake up until 5 or 6 am. Occasionally she will still wake up at 1 or 2 am, maybe if she's hungry, but otherwise she's sleeping through the night. Lola is still addicted to her pacifier, but it's not so bad because we limit it specifically to when she is sleeping. At some point we hope to start the weaning process (but that thought is so scary that I can't even think about it right now). We also successfully managed to introduce a soft little bunny rabbit for her to sleep with starting about 2-3 months ago, and now it is part of her bedtime routine to clutche the bunny as she falls asleep. In particular, she loves to take the ears of the bunny and rub the tips on her nose and cheek and forehead as she lulls herself into dreamland. It's adorable because she will offer the rabbit ears to any adult near her crib. Michael's, Jovie's, and my noses have all been gently stroked by Lola by means of her toy bunny's ears.

Lola also loves to roll her toys under the TV cabinet and the couch, and then go looking for them. The first time she did it I thought it was a mistake, but it quickly became apparent that she was doing it for sport (and curiosity)!

Where has the little toy gone?

Working hard to determine its whereabouts

She has 8 teeth in total now, and a very healthy appetite. She continues to love all fruits, having tried oranges, watermelon, dragonfruit, pears, plums, figs, blueberries, papaya, kiwi, mango, apples, banana, prunes, apricots, pineapple, and grapes (and I'm sure I'm forgetting some). We have discovered that she likes fish fresh from the market steamed with ginger, cilantro and a little bit of green onion for flavor, and any kind of Chinese soup (especially those with a little bit of sweetness from dates, pears, or sugarcane). She loves gnawing at sweet potato and ears of corn, and has a special fondness for carbohydrates (bread, crackers, and noodles in particular)!

Strongly opinionated and unafraid to declare it

The latest thing that Lola has picked up is her trick of turning around, usually after she has set off mid-crawl for some unknown destination that has struck her fancy, and summoning us with her little fingers of one hand repeatedly splaying out and crooking toward her in a "come hither" motion. I think she picked this up from me because I was trying to cajole her to crawl toward me down the hallway of our apartment. Now she does it everywhere she goes, including to other little babies in the playroom! It cracks us all up. What a funny baby she is!

I wrap up this post with some pictures of Lola in possibly her favorite place - the padded playroom in Sun Yat Sen park. She loves it here - it is the site of many of her gymnastic debuts. It was the site of her first attempts to sit, crawl, stand, and walk, as well as where (we're almost 100% certain) she learned to shriek like a little banshee when happy. She learned here how to clamber onto foam-shaped animals and blocks, as well as how to turn around in around to get herself safely off of a high ledge.