Ian at Eleven Months Old!

I'm eleven months old!

Major news - Ian took his first few steps (five actually!) on the day he turned eleven months. He also stood solo all by himself - this time I was an eye witness, so yeayyy for Ian! When holding on to the (insert name of furniture) for stability, he actually has the confidence to let go of his grip and launch himself walking. Unfortunately, there was one incident in which he released his grip to the kitchen gate, and when he started losing his balance he frantically looked for the gate bars to steady himself. Unfortunately, just his luck, both his arms went through the gaps of the gate bars and he ended up smacking his face on the gate *ouch*

Hanging from the wet kitchen safety gate.

However, come the second half of his eleventh month, he was talking bolder step forwards and gradually increasing his number of steps. And although his steps are still slow and unsteady, he definitely prefers walking rather than crawling. As I am typing this, I am watching Ian walking from one end of the living hall all the way to the dining table (where my laptop is). So yeah, Ian is officially walking!!! Congratulations baby, you beat Abang Aiden's record of walking at one year plus one day old. *clap*clap*

Practicing on the walker. But he doesn't need this anymore to walk. *yeayyy!!!*

Ian now knows how to call out to people. He will call out "Heh!" or "Huh!" if he wants you to look at him. Ian is also getting more and more assertive by the day. He will make his dissatisfaction known by crying out in frustration, especially when we take away the TV remote control that he's sucking on. On rare occasions that he is really unhappy, he would simply fling his body backwards - it's his signature way of showing that he's having a fit of temper. He will also cry if you walk out the front door - he wants to tag along! If he is awake when I am going into the car to head to work, he would insist on following me into the car and would cry when the maid tries to coax him out of the car. So much drama in the morning!

He loves spluttering out water during his meal times. His clothes are usually drenched by the end of the meal and even a bib doesn't help much. He's even starting to hate the bib around his neck. But he loves to eat adult food! Nowadays if we were to eat out, it is much easier to make him stay put in the baby chair by sharing our food with him (bread, rice, cake etc.) rather than tempting him with toys and such. His mouth is always open in anticipation!

Loves trying adult food.

Munching on Edamame, pods included!

Ian is also turning to be another Mummy's Boy - whenever he sees me he would crawl or walk quickly so that I would pick him up. If the maid is holding him and he sees me, he would cry out to get my attention and look at me with puppy eyes hoping that I would take him. If I am holding him and the maid or Hubby attempts to take him (to feed him, or shower or whatever) he would actually push her hands away and turn away from her. If they insist on taking him, he would cry! Definitely on the way to become a clingy Mummy's Boy!

Getting clingy with Mummy.

He is also becoming more manja by the day. Although he doesn't exactly understand the meaning of no, he knows that when we say no, we are not happy with what he is doing. So if we say no to him (or even raise our voice just slightly), he would tear up and cry miserably. And of course, he needs Mummy to pujuk him. Huwaaaa... very manja!

Sprouted his second and third teeth this month too. Loves to bite (read:nibble) on us, it is getting quite painful! Here is his updated tooth chart:

Sadly, in the middle of the month (night of 12th to be exact), Ian cried and cried the entire night, his hands and feet became cold as if he was in a lot of pain. We thought his teeth was sprouting hence the pain, but the very next day he started developing spots on his legs and hands. We brought him to the doctor and they confirmed that he had Hand Food Mouth Disease (HFMD). It was so sad because he was simply covered with spots and was running a very high fever. Needless to say, I became a work-from-home mum that week. Aiden was also infected with HFMD as well, but because he had a similar episode when he was smaller, his outbreak this time wasn't as bad as Ian.

Spots everywhere!

Poor Ian covered in calamine lotion. Lost a lot of weight too.

And guess what? Despite HFMD being rare in adults and all that, I got infected as well. I didn't have any spots but my mouth and throat were full with painful ulcers. It was so painful that I could only have porridge (bubur lambuk!) and lost nearly 1kg from the fluid diet. I was away from the office for 2 weeks; one week taking care of the kids and one week being quarantined at home. My bosses were very specific, "If you are contagious, stay away from the office"! Oh I obviously welcomed that directive with open arms! *grin*

To doze off and drift into deep sleep, Ian needs to have his back rubbed. Which is no easy feat especially as he tosses and turns to find the most comfortable sleeping position. He is also a very buas sleeper. When placed in the correct position, he would almost immediately toss and turn horizontal, and the next morning upside down from the initial position where we left him.

Sleepy baby.

Ian loves watching Sesame Street videos, especially Elmo. I guess babies love the vibrant colours and music because I remember Aiden enjoying the same at about the same age. One night Ian woke up and refused to go back to bed and in the end he watched Elmo videos while I was half asleep pressing the play button every time the video ended. Ian even kisses the characters by kissing the tablet!

Ian also enjoys keeping Aiden on his toes. He would press the off button on the DVD player which would make Aiden soooo angry! Sometimes when Aiden is playing with a toy, Ian would insist on holding the toy too and Aiden would get frustrated because as an older brother, he has to give in to Ian. Aaaahhh.... I can foresee a lot of sibling fights in the future.

The two siblings.

Aiden bullying his brother by forcing Ian's hands to flap up and down. 

Despite all the crawling and the walking, Ian is much chubbier than Aiden at the same age. Ian is now wearing clothes that Aiden wore when Aiden was 18 months old! His feet are also much chubbier. To my frustration, he couldn't fit into his brother's Ferrari shoes nor Aiden's orange crocs. Ian's hair is also much thicker now, but he still loses to Aiden in the thick hair category. Physically, Ian is also tall, similar to Aiden. He is also very creative in his sitting positions; we have seen him bersila, bersimpuh and many other ways of sitting that would simply crack us up in laughter.

Loves pushing his car back and forth.

Ian is very anal about getting himself cleaned. Insists that we wash his poop immediately or he would cry in frustration. He obviously took after me in that attribute!

"I have poop, Mummy! Wash me!!!"

Ian also recently discovered the joy of playing ball. He would squeal in delight every time Aiden kicks the ball or especially if we hold him under his armpit and swing his legs to "kick" the ball so that he can play with Aiden. When he sees the ball, he would walk to the ball and attempt to kick the ball (sometimes successfully) with his feet! Super proud Mummy moment there! We also discovered that Ian knows how to cheer! Just yesterday Hubby dukung Ian in his arms and engaged with a game of ball with Aiden, and whenever Hubby scored and cheered "yeayyyy!", Ian would also say "eyyyyyyyy". Super cute!!

And that brings us to the close of Ian's eleventh month. By the way, I am publishing this blogpost a day earlier, because..... Ian is turning a year old on the 29th which is tomorrow, and obviously deserves a special blogpost in itself. In Ian's words, "Eyyyyyy!" Happy birthday to Ian, Mummy and my Papa!