These update posts on Lola are long overdue - it's amazing to me that the last time I wrote one was three months ago, when Lola was 17.5 months. It's quite fun to go back and look at her milestones because in the span of three months she is like a different kid!
Aside from growing taller and gaining weight and becoming stronger (a faster runner, a better climber and a stronger kid overall), Lola has made mental leaps and bounds.
Lola continues to love fruit (almost all fruit - grapes, peaches, watermelon, apple, oranges, banana, kiwi, and plums being among her favorites - with passion fruit being a relatively new development, and carbs (pasta, bread, pizza), and fish (fresh, steamed with ginger and scallions and cilantro). Since her trip to the US, she now knows and loves ice cream. She will often declare food or drink "spicy!" which we think means she doesn't like it, or that it has strong flavor. She still doesn't like to drink milk, went through an intense "spicy water" (sparkling water) phase in the US, and now loves yogurt and cheese even though she started off feeling a bit lukewarm about them.
She is much physically stronger now - she recently managed to climb a small rock wall and a full set of ropes by herself! As Michael exclaimed when he saw the video, "She's free soloing already!" She has gotten much more confident in her physical abilities, which also means she is exactly like the monkeys on the bed that she is singing about - jumping on top of the sofa, on top of her stuffed animals and, most recently, (rather viciously!) on top of the baby doll that we recently re-introduced to her in earnest.
She speaks in both English and Mandarin now, very readily and in full, long sentences. She knows her ABC song all the way through, as well as The Wheels on the Bus, Humpty Dumpty, Bingo, Twinkle Twinkle, Row Row Row Your Boat, I Love You/You Love Me, Monkeys on the Bed, Fly Fly the Butterfly, Rain Rain Go Away, Itsy Bitsy... and I know I am missing at least 5 or 6 more. Her song repertoire is very lengthy and impressive. She also knows a lot of Chinese songs, including I have a Little Donkey, Small Chicken, Two Tigers, as well as a Little White Rabbit rhyme.
She frequently cracks us up with her statements.
When we were in New York, my dad asked her why she wasn't responding to his questions or any of his statements. After a very long pause, Lola said in Chinese, "[I'm] currently resting." My dad got a huge laugh out of that! He said it left him speechless and unable to come back with a witty rejoinder because - well, she said it right! She's resting!
When we were in Rhode Island, Michael was asking Lola all kinds of questions, including (admittedly somewhat annoying) ones like, "Do you love your daddy," and "Is your daddy your favorite person," or things along those lines. And apparently Lola said, "Daddy, be quiet now." We also got a huge kick out of that one.
After we had explained how I couldn't pick her up so readily anymore because I had babies, at one point Jovie told Lola that she couldn't pick her up and that Lola should walk by herself. Lola immediately responded, "oh because Jovie has babies." We all had a bit of a laugh over that one - not quite, Lola, but very impressive deductive reasoning!
When we returned to Hong Kong, I picked Lola up to help her peruse her dresses and decide what she wanted to wear one morning - one of her favorite activities. She immediately exclaimed, in Chinese, while pointing to a long sleeved dress: "this one is too hot!" then while pointing to a gliterry tutu skirt: "this one is no good!" and then, emphatically, while pointing to a flowery dress that she likes: "this one!" I just found it so funny. She is so decisive that she is a marvel. I have so much trouble making decisions now and I wonder, is Lola just this way because she is so spunky and nutty and individualistic, or was I (were we all?) once like that, and society has just scared us out of it?
When my sister was here visiting, she got to witness firsthand how Lola would immediately run to the mirror after donning whatever new outfit or accessory it was at the moment, to check herself out. She does it with sunglasses, hats, shoes, rainboots, and, most recently, a tutu.
Tonight, while I was getting ready to feed Lola dinner, I plopped down the freshly warmed stir fried noodles with veggies and beef in front of her and, before I could say or do anything, she took a huge, theatrical sniff through her nose and declared in Chinese, "It's so fragrant!" I sputtered with laughter. How is she 20 months going on 20 years old??
Lola understands everything, sometimes to our detriment. While talking about the recent protests with my nanny, we both agreed vehemently to avoid taking the MTR if it was possible. And Lola got scared and started crying and said she wanted to take the MTR. If I am reading one of Lola's books to her and she sees yogurt/banana/bread/berries she will suddenly race to the kitchen and ask for it. When I took her to a trial playgroup last Friday, and the teacher asked if she had been to Ocean Park before, she blurted out suddenly that "Lola saw crocodiles and Lola saw panda bears and Lola saw cats." Which, she did, at Ocean Park, just the weekend before. I don't think the teacher had expected such a detailed answer!
Lola likes to refer to herself in the third person, either by her name, or she often will say "She wants" or "She likes." I'm not sure if this is normal but it is pretty adorable and I am not too inclined to stop it, at least for now.
After the trip to Ocean Park, Lola kept telling me she did NOT like to ride horses. But a few mornings later, she also felt the need to add that she also did NOT like to ride in cable cars. That's a pretty sophisticated word in Chinese! She must have picked it up when I mentioned it to her at the park.
Recently, she has really picked up on the "What is this?" question, which she asks in Chinese. She asks it of me and her nanny at almost every opportunity, pointing to all kinds of phenomena or things around her. I'm sure the "Why" question is going to come up very, very soon!
Lola continues to have strong opinions on what people around her should or should not be doing - one of her favorite activities in the morning is to race into my room and wake me up, calling out, "Mama no sleep!" If I am sitting and not participating in activities with her, she will come over and pull on me demanding, "Mama no sit!"
Lola used to be scared of looking at videos containing me, Michael or herself, but now she loves it and, I would say, has a bit of a photo addiction. I cannot really have my phone out around her before she will stop whatever she is doing to demand "pictures." Hence I have stopped getting pictures or videos of her as much! She loves watching videos of herself and one of her favorite activities is reliving past moments that she really enjoyed. She has some favorites that she will request, such as "slide with Daddy" or "Daddy airport" or "little bunny" or "Mama hold you" or "See you tomorrow," each which refers to a video or set of videos around that theme that she likes.
Finally, I've been trying to work on Lola's separation anxiety. She has always had some, to varying degrees, though I think in recent months it has gotten quite bad. She hates to see me leave, and I was always tempted to slip away before. But now I hold her close and speak quietly in her ear, and explain that I have to go to work. I always promise to see her at a certain time, or to take her to do something together when I am back from work. It has worked to varying effect - sometimes she calms down considerably and other times she still insists on dragging me with her. These past few weeks I have often fled the club/apartment/MTR/school with Lola screaming loudly and frantically in my wake. It's not easy...
I once told Lola, probably just about 3 months ago, that she was my "xin gan bao bei" which translates loosely to "precious darling" or "precious sweetheart" Now she fills in the blank with the phrase whenever I begin by referring to any close family member. For example, "Lola is Mama's..." or "Lola is Daddy's..." and, as saccharine as it is, it's totally and completely true!
Aside from growing taller and gaining weight and becoming stronger (a faster runner, a better climber and a stronger kid overall), Lola has made mental leaps and bounds.
Lola continues to love fruit (almost all fruit - grapes, peaches, watermelon, apple, oranges, banana, kiwi, and plums being among her favorites - with passion fruit being a relatively new development, and carbs (pasta, bread, pizza), and fish (fresh, steamed with ginger and scallions and cilantro). Since her trip to the US, she now knows and loves ice cream. She will often declare food or drink "spicy!" which we think means she doesn't like it, or that it has strong flavor. She still doesn't like to drink milk, went through an intense "spicy water" (sparkling water) phase in the US, and now loves yogurt and cheese even though she started off feeling a bit lukewarm about them.
She is much physically stronger now - she recently managed to climb a small rock wall and a full set of ropes by herself! As Michael exclaimed when he saw the video, "She's free soloing already!" She has gotten much more confident in her physical abilities, which also means she is exactly like the monkeys on the bed that she is singing about - jumping on top of the sofa, on top of her stuffed animals and, most recently, (rather viciously!) on top of the baby doll that we recently re-introduced to her in earnest.
She speaks in both English and Mandarin now, very readily and in full, long sentences. She knows her ABC song all the way through, as well as The Wheels on the Bus, Humpty Dumpty, Bingo, Twinkle Twinkle, Row Row Row Your Boat, I Love You/You Love Me, Monkeys on the Bed, Fly Fly the Butterfly, Rain Rain Go Away, Itsy Bitsy... and I know I am missing at least 5 or 6 more. Her song repertoire is very lengthy and impressive. She also knows a lot of Chinese songs, including I have a Little Donkey, Small Chicken, Two Tigers, as well as a Little White Rabbit rhyme.
She frequently cracks us up with her statements.
When we were in New York, my dad asked her why she wasn't responding to his questions or any of his statements. After a very long pause, Lola said in Chinese, "[I'm] currently resting." My dad got a huge laugh out of that! He said it left him speechless and unable to come back with a witty rejoinder because - well, she said it right! She's resting!
When we were in Rhode Island, Michael was asking Lola all kinds of questions, including (admittedly somewhat annoying) ones like, "Do you love your daddy," and "Is your daddy your favorite person," or things along those lines. And apparently Lola said, "Daddy, be quiet now." We also got a huge kick out of that one.
After we had explained how I couldn't pick her up so readily anymore because I had babies, at one point Jovie told Lola that she couldn't pick her up and that Lola should walk by herself. Lola immediately responded, "oh because Jovie has babies." We all had a bit of a laugh over that one - not quite, Lola, but very impressive deductive reasoning!
When we returned to Hong Kong, I picked Lola up to help her peruse her dresses and decide what she wanted to wear one morning - one of her favorite activities. She immediately exclaimed, in Chinese, while pointing to a long sleeved dress: "this one is too hot!" then while pointing to a gliterry tutu skirt: "this one is no good!" and then, emphatically, while pointing to a flowery dress that she likes: "this one!" I just found it so funny. She is so decisive that she is a marvel. I have so much trouble making decisions now and I wonder, is Lola just this way because she is so spunky and nutty and individualistic, or was I (were we all?) once like that, and society has just scared us out of it?
When my sister was here visiting, she got to witness firsthand how Lola would immediately run to the mirror after donning whatever new outfit or accessory it was at the moment, to check herself out. She does it with sunglasses, hats, shoes, rainboots, and, most recently, a tutu.
Tonight, while I was getting ready to feed Lola dinner, I plopped down the freshly warmed stir fried noodles with veggies and beef in front of her and, before I could say or do anything, she took a huge, theatrical sniff through her nose and declared in Chinese, "It's so fragrant!" I sputtered with laughter. How is she 20 months going on 20 years old??
Lola understands everything, sometimes to our detriment. While talking about the recent protests with my nanny, we both agreed vehemently to avoid taking the MTR if it was possible. And Lola got scared and started crying and said she wanted to take the MTR. If I am reading one of Lola's books to her and she sees yogurt/banana/bread/berries she will suddenly race to the kitchen and ask for it. When I took her to a trial playgroup last Friday, and the teacher asked if she had been to Ocean Park before, she blurted out suddenly that "Lola saw crocodiles and Lola saw panda bears and Lola saw cats." Which, she did, at Ocean Park, just the weekend before. I don't think the teacher had expected such a detailed answer!
Lola likes to refer to herself in the third person, either by her name, or she often will say "She wants" or "She likes." I'm not sure if this is normal but it is pretty adorable and I am not too inclined to stop it, at least for now.
After the trip to Ocean Park, Lola kept telling me she did NOT like to ride horses. But a few mornings later, she also felt the need to add that she also did NOT like to ride in cable cars. That's a pretty sophisticated word in Chinese! She must have picked it up when I mentioned it to her at the park.
Recently, she has really picked up on the "What is this?" question, which she asks in Chinese. She asks it of me and her nanny at almost every opportunity, pointing to all kinds of phenomena or things around her. I'm sure the "Why" question is going to come up very, very soon!
Lola continues to have strong opinions on what people around her should or should not be doing - one of her favorite activities in the morning is to race into my room and wake me up, calling out, "Mama no sleep!" If I am sitting and not participating in activities with her, she will come over and pull on me demanding, "Mama no sit!"
Lola used to be scared of looking at videos containing me, Michael or herself, but now she loves it and, I would say, has a bit of a photo addiction. I cannot really have my phone out around her before she will stop whatever she is doing to demand "pictures." Hence I have stopped getting pictures or videos of her as much! She loves watching videos of herself and one of her favorite activities is reliving past moments that she really enjoyed. She has some favorites that she will request, such as "slide with Daddy" or "Daddy airport" or "little bunny" or "Mama hold you" or "See you tomorrow," each which refers to a video or set of videos around that theme that she likes.
Finally, I've been trying to work on Lola's separation anxiety. She has always had some, to varying degrees, though I think in recent months it has gotten quite bad. She hates to see me leave, and I was always tempted to slip away before. But now I hold her close and speak quietly in her ear, and explain that I have to go to work. I always promise to see her at a certain time, or to take her to do something together when I am back from work. It has worked to varying effect - sometimes she calms down considerably and other times she still insists on dragging me with her. These past few weeks I have often fled the club/apartment/MTR/school with Lola screaming loudly and frantically in my wake. It's not easy...
I once told Lola, probably just about 3 months ago, that she was my "xin gan bao bei" which translates loosely to "precious darling" or "precious sweetheart" Now she fills in the blank with the phrase whenever I begin by referring to any close family member. For example, "Lola is Mama's..." or "Lola is Daddy's..." and, as saccharine as it is, it's totally and completely true!
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