Monday, June 02, 2008
Dominic at 2 Years and 5 Months Old
2-JUNE-2008:
I am hoping very much that Dominic is having a happy day at the nursery today. For the past 4 days, he had not wanted to go to the nursery. In the morning, his face fell instantly and he put on a pouty face when we mentioned school, and he kept saying "Mummy, dun want school". For 4 days, he cried everytime daddy dropped him off at the nursery, and every evening when I stepped into the nursery to pick him up, I heard his cries before I even saw his face. Although the caregiver assured me that he was fine throughout the day and had not been crying all day, I was concerned that Dominic wasn't having a good time there. The most important thing is that he is happy. I don't quite understand why he suddenly dislikes it so much, while he was perfectly fine before.
Today, Dominic didn't cry when daddy dropped him off. On one hand, I'm glad that there's at least some improvement. On the other, I'm anticipating the cycle to repeat when (and if) we place him in a new nursery.
At times, Dominic does things that make my heart melt. Just two days ago, he suddenly grabbed my hair on both sides of my head and pulled my face towards his, and then he gave me a few smooches on the face and mouth. And then, yesterday when daddy was doing the dishes, he suddenly yelled "daddy!", ran over to daddy, hugged his legs and (mind the phrase) kissed his butt. When he's good, he's such an angel. If not ...
Dominic is easily "triggered" if he's in a "bad mood". I'm not sure what causes the bad mood but it's most probably tiredness. When he's in that bad mood, he tends to make all sorts of requests (or should I say demands?) - "Mummy, orange juice". "Mummy, dun want chicken". "Mummy, take pillow, take blanket". "Mummy, dun want this diaper. Mummy, Pooh bear diaper". "Mummy, dun want take off shoes. Mummy, go outside". He will keep on making demands - when I give him this, he'll ask for that. If I don't give it to him, he starts crying and screaming. While crying, he'll still continue asking for this and that. He'll keep on crying until finally he makes a "reasonable" request, for example asking for a handkerchief to wipe his tears, and then when I do so, he stops crying. After that, he'll be fine. He just needs to let it out.
Dominic at 2 years and 5 months old is repeating more and more of the phrases we say to him, and with that, I realized that he uses many of the phrases and words incorrectly. "Mummy is here". What he really meant was (I think), "Mummy, come here". When another kid tries to take the toy that he's playing, he said "No, share!". I'm not sure what he thinks "share" means but obviously he wasn't going to share his toy with the other kid. Daddy advised that instead of teaching him to share we should teach him to take turns. And that's what happened. At the playground, I said "Dominic, wait for your turn", and he waited for his turn - very good. Then when it was his turn and there was another kid behind him, he said Mummy, wait turn", and he let the other kid go first!
Dominic at 2 years and 5 months old runs away when I ask him to pick up his toys. It was my fault, really. I don't ask him to put away his toys anymore because it was (I felt) too tiring for me. Most of the times, the toys are just scattered all over his bedroom floor when he goes to bed and will remain there until I pick them up. When he wants that certain piece of Lego, he'll make mummy search high and low for it. He never asks daddy to look for it because he knows that daddy will just ignore him.
Dominic at 2 years and 5 months old weighs about 12kg and still likes to be carried. One day:
Dominic: "Mummy, pao"
Me: "You're a big boy now and you're too heavy. Mummy cannot pao you anymore."
Dominic: (Looking up at me with big, round pitiful eyes) "Small pao?"
How could I resist that? From then onwards, "small pao" means a big hug while I'm on my knees and he wraps his legs around my waist. Or it can also mean a brief pao where I carry him up onto the kitchen counter.
