Phew
Poor Alex has been working his socks off the last month or so, which was very tiring for both of us because his working late meant I'd have to get dinner and so, for the last month or so, the two of us have been falling asleep straight after putting Boo to bed. Which is why I haven't been updating the blog much.

Boo, however, is getting cuter by the day. My lovely colleagues say that, of course, and I find it hard to disagree especially when she's done something particularly cute.

But she has also taken up an annoying habit of screeching like someone's branded her with a poker when displeased. Even over something relatively minor, like not being able to get the lid off her box of crayons. I keep telling her in a firm, low voice that I do not like her screaming but it doesn't seem to be sinking in.

However, the only other baby in the babies room older than her has now moved up to the bigger children's room and I have long suspected her of being the teacher of Boo's screaming - because she used to do it all the time when I was a regular visitor to the nursery at lunchtime. So hopefully now she's gone baby will lose the nasty habit. She'd better or I may just have to start kicking her backside everytime she does it so the message sinks in faster.

Anyway
On to the cute things. Baby is starting to use words, finally. Words beyond her realm of immediate demand, that is. Here is the full list of her words:

Mama: Now said in a tone of query. Like 'Ma-maa?' Instead of her previous, rather haphazard 'Mamamamamumumm' which didn't seem to distinguish between me and food. She calls Alex Mama as well though, when he's within sight. If either of us are out of sight, she uses:

Yaaah: I first thought maybe this is why it's 'Ayah' in Malay. But no, she'll also call 'Yaah' up the stairs if she wants me and I've come upstairs to get something.

Mumum or Umm: For feed me. Umm is used when she is particularly hungry.

Yeah (pron. yeh): Not to be confused with Yaah. This is definitely 'Yeah' as in yes. So if you ask her 'Boo, do you want some milk?' She'll say 'yeah'. My colleague Suniti, who is now the lunchtime feed visitor in the baby's room, says she waved bye to Boo the other day and said 'Good-bye, Isabel' and Boo gave her a dismissive wave and said 'Yeah'. If you ask her: 'Boo, do you want some ice-cream?' She will say 'Yeah!' Yeah!' and nod her head enthusiastically.

Entry in Boo's diary from last week: ' I had a very long conversation with Milly today but all we were both saying was 'yeah'.' God I thought I wouldn't have to deal with this sort of monosyllabicism till she was a teenager!

Mo': As in 'Gimme mo' food, momma.' Usually said while pointing to said food.

Please and thank you: Ha, I wish. We keep trying to make her say please and ta when she asks for food and gets it. Bizarrely, she tends to interpret this as 'ayn'. So if you go 'Boo, what do you say? Say please if you want the food.' She'll think and go (very pleased with self) 'ayn'. Ditto when you ask her to say thank you. Now at least 'ayn' sounds closer to thank you but I can't work out the association with please.

Yak-yak: Which is 'quack-quack', which is what she says when she sees a duck. Due, I'm sure, in no small measure to the fact that she loves the toy duck my mom and dad bought her, which goes, yes, 'quack-quack, quack-quack'.

Nye-night: Which she says when she wants to go to sleep. Was told this by the nursery girls and have only started using this with her. But she's definitely happy using it.

Buk: As in book. Said only when in very good mood and pressed by me when she wants a book from her little collection on our shelf.

And lastly, get this:

Flannel: I thought the nursery girls were pulling my leg but Suniti said she was also in the room when baby said 'flannel'. Flannel???! She hasn't said it for me yet. I can't imagine her saying it because at home she hates having her face wiped. When she sees me starting to wet the cloth (flannel!) to wipe her face, she immediately turns away from me, and buries her face in my shoulder in an effort to avoid it.

But then I've also learned that at nursery she is a very easy-going baby who's never, apparently, thrown a tantrum. The girls were laughing two weeks ago when she refused to put her jacket on to come home with me, and lay on the floor crying instead. They said they'd never seen her do such a thing.

Argh must go to sleep soon, it's already 2am and it's my turn to wake early tomorrow with Boo. Must write last three things though:

I was feeding her some biscuit from the table and I kept giving her small pieces of it. Each time she wanted some more I'd make her say please and thank you. After about the fourth time, she just walked up to me, give me a big kiss on the lips. Then she pointed at the biscuits on the table and commanded, 'huh'.

She's walking really well now, so when the sun's out we take her to the park to let her wander around. Last weekend we learned there is no point trying to get her to walk along a particular path or anything because now she realises she can walk, she only wants to go where she wants to go. And she usually wants to go to the nearest muddy puddle.

We also took her to Ikea last Sunday, to buy her a stool so she can sit on it when she wants to draw. Boy did she have a good time wandering among and under the shelves. We may have just discovered a more impoverished and dusty but free version of soft play areas.

Yesterday she started turning around on the spot. She was so pleased with herself, she kept doing it over and over and finally, of course, fell on her backside because she was dizzy. Funny pig. She's had quite a few spills recently because she can go so much faster now. The other day she launched herself off the sofa again and gained a little bump above her left ear. But there's very little chocolate cannot console.

Tomorrow the plan is to go buy her a raincoat or waterproof all-over suit; wellingtons; and a potty.

Latest pix from Boo
Yes, sorry it took so long to arrange them but it's still been kind of busy.

Play, do
She loves her birthday present from her beau, Sam, and his mum. Looooves it with a rub-it-in-the-table-and-my-face passion. It's great because she can play with it for about 20 minutes without getting bored. She doesn't really need her pacifier much any more but I tend to make her have it when playing with play-doh. Reduces the chances of her eating the stuff.










































Have I mentioned she loves her shoes?
Once she's strewn her toys about the living room and decided none of them are worth her attention anymore, she'll walk over to her boots - usually particularly when we've been out walking in mud - and attempt to put them on herself. She will scream if you try to help her before she's realised she can't do it herself. So never, ever help my daughter put on her shoes. Just sit in a distance and laugh. And if you applaud when she cheers herself (say 'Yaay!' and clap a lot), she will love you.












Here she is, commanding Uncle Vik to help.









Monkey puzzle
Of course we tested Vik's boast that he could teach Izzy to sort the shapes in her shape-sorter in about an hour or two. His confidence in his ability - and hers - took a bit of a blow though, when he saw within the first two minutes that she hadn't worked out the old monkey puzzle; ie that the hole in the side of her cookie jar toy is big enough to put her hand through, but not big enough to elt it out again with something in it. Vik admitted defeat shortly after. It was a valiant effort, though, Vik. Try again at 18 months.

Bopping Boo
And here she is enjoying a book Papa bought her. It's about some animals who play different instruments in a band. Her favourite page is this one, which has a duck playing a particularly snazzy tattoo on some drums. When she listens to it, she'll point her fingers in the air and bop along to the music. Sometimes I sit with her and move the page repeatedly so we get a continuous bop going. She loves it.

Maybe there was some use to naming her Hui Qin after all. The nursery girls always tell me she loves the singing sessions there. She copies the actions to most songs, and will applaud at the end of each.

One evening I took her to the CBeebies website and we watched a video of their toothbrush song together ('You put your toothbrush in, you put your toothbrush out/In, out, in, out and brush it all about...' sung to the tune of Hokey Cokey) and she liked it so much she even tried to join in the second bit, when it goes 'O-oh, brush your teeth in circles/O-oh brush your teeth in circles'. She did the 'O-oh' bits at the right time. Haven't managed to get her to repeat it since, but if I sing the song while she brushes her teeth, she'll rock her body back and forth to the tune.

These are the songs she knows and, given the right mood, will do actions to:
Incy Wincy Spider (clear favourite)
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Baa Baa Black Sheep
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Wind the Bobbin Up
Roly Poly

I'd sing more for variety but can't for the life of me work out any more actions to more songs. Apparently she also loves some song involving a crocodile going snap snap snap but heck if I can find a shop with a CD of the song. As it is I keep embarrasing the staff at the nursery by making them teach me songs they sing to Boo which I don't know. Must try to teach her Tepuk Amai Amai for local flavour.